Rohit Sharma’s ruled out of Test series against South Africa

BBL 11 | Watch : An umpiring howler costs Ben Duckett his wicket

Brisbane Heat's star batsman Ben Duckett was not very happy as he was wrongly adjudged LBW by the on-field umpire in the clash against Melbourne Renegades. Duckett got out after scoring 11 runs in 10 deliveries. Trying to play the sweep shot off a Zahir Khan's delivery, Duckett got deceived as the ball crashed onto his front pad. The leg-spinner appealed and the umpire was confident enough to give the decision in the bowler's favour. However, as the replays showed, it seemed the ball would have certainly missed the leg-stump. With DRS (Decision Review System) not available in the Big Bash League, Duckett had no option other than to walk back to the dressing room. Although, he expressed his disappointment at the decision but nothing could have been done due to the lack of technology. Talking about the match, Brisbane Heat gathered an easy win in their encounter against Melbourne Renegades. After winning the toss, Brisbane opted to bowl. As none except Mackenzie Harvey managed to score big, the Renegades could only reach a total of 140 runs. With the vital contributions from Chris Lynn and Sam Heazlett, Brisbane Heat breezed past the target set for them in just 16.5 overs.

Mahela Jayawardene appointed as ‘Consultant Coach’ of Sri Lanka

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena has been appointed as the ‘Consultant Coach’ of Sri Lanka for a period of one year. The right-handed cricketer will be "in charge of the overall cricketing element of the national teams and will provide invaluable strategic support for the players and management teams at the High-Performance Center," according to SLC. More to follow...

Pakistan install drop-in pitches to prepare for T20 World Cup in Australia

In an interesting development, Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ramiz Raja has informed that Pakistan will be developing drop-in pitches in Karachi and Lahore. The move is aimed at the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be hosted in Australia later next year. Raja explained that Pakistan have consistently struggled in those kinds of pitches because of the unfamiliarity with the surfaces and the best way to deal with it is to emulate the conditions here at their home. Raja took the reference of the recently held domestic matches in the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and stated that those pitches were horrible and it is not possible to produce power hitters if the domestic players keep playing in those conditions. He argued that to improve in foreign conditions, Pakistan need to play in drop-ins and in hybrid pitches, where grass is artificially sewn to the ground after preparing a pitch naturally. To make it possible, PCB have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Arif Habib Group which will cost them a total of PKR 37 crores.

BBL 2021 | Zahir is much harder to pick than Mujeeb: Glenn Maxwell

Melbourne Renegades’s Zahir Khan produced a brilliant show with the ball against Brisbane Heat in Queensland on Monday. Zahir returned with figures of 2/27 in 4 overs scalping the wickets of Chris Lynn and Ben Duckett. While Lynn was dismissed for a 15-ball 32, Duckett was trapped in front of the stumps for 11 runs in 10 deliveries. Melbourne Stars captain Glenn Maxwell explained how Zahir makes it difficult for the batters to negotiate him. “Zahir is much harder to pick than Mujeeb because Zahir bowls most of his deliveries with a scrambled seam. So you can't read the seam rotation of his wrist spin to pick him. Have to pay attention to the hand position,” he said. Talking about the match, Brisbane Heat clinched a win by 5 wickets while chasing a target of 141 in less than 17 overs. Sam Heazlett who remained unbeaten at 44 off 29 anchored the side to a win. Earlier, Mackenzie Harvey had struck 71* off 56 for Melbourne to help his side put 140/6 on the board. For Brisbane, it was Bazley who scalped three wickets for 28 in 4 overs while Mujeeb didn’t pick up any wicket but was pretty economical as he only gave 19 runs in his four overs.