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Sri Lanka Announces Full Fledged Tour To West Indies

Sri Lanka announces full-fledged tour to West Indies

International cricket is set to make a return to the Caribbean after the covid-19 as Sri Lanka has agreed to tour the West Indies for a full-fledged three T20Is, three One-Day Internationals and two Tests series.

All the matches would be played in a bio-secure environment in Antigua from March 3 to April 2 behind closed doors. The two grounds chosen for the tour are Coolidge Cricket Ground, which will host an international match for the first time in its history and Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua.

"We are pleased to be able to finally confirm this tour. We have a full schedule featuring all three formats, which is sure to attract lots of attention from our fans, especially following on from the terrific Test Series win in Bangladesh. A lot of detailed planning has gone into the hosting of this tour and we are confident it will be a success," CWI CEO Johnny Grave told the press.

The ODI matches will be part of the ICC Super League. While this will be the first tour to West Indies, the team has so far toured England, New Zealand and Bangladesh during the pandemic.

Sri Lanka tour of West Indies schedule

March 3: 1st T20I at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua

March 5: 2nd T20I at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua

March 7: 3rd T20I at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua

March 10: 1st ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

March 12: 2nd ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

March 14: 3rd ODI at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

March 17-18: two-day warm-up match at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua

March 21-25: 1st Test at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

March 29 to April 2: 2nd Test at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

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India name unchanged squad for last two Tests vs England

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has named an unchanged squad for the last two Tests of the four-match series against England. The board also said that Umesh Yadav will join the team in Ahmedabad after his fitness assessment and will replace Shardul Thakur, who will be released for Vijay Hazare Trophy. The other changes include the release of the likes of Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal. Nadeem played the first Test while the rest two were injury substitutes. All of them have been released for Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Krishnappa Gowtham and Saurabh Kumar have been retained in the bubble as net bowlers. The other inclusions are that of KS Bharat and Rahul Chahar who have been asked to stay back as stand-by players. India made comeback in the second Test in Chennai beating the touring side by 317 runs after being humbled by 227 runs in the first Test. The third and fourth Tests would be played at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, Motera. The third game would be day/ night Test, only the second one in India, after the last year Eden-Garden Test vs Bangladesh. Squad: V Kohli (Capt), R Sharma, M Agarwal, S Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), KL Rahul, H Pandya, R Pant (wk), W Saha (wk), R Ashwin, K Yadav, A Patel, W Sundar, I Sharma, J Bumrah, Md. Siraj.

Root apologises to Moeen Ali for calling the pre-decided team move as his ‘choice’

England skipper Joe Root has apologised to all-rounder Moeen Ali for terming a team decision as his individual choice. If reports in English media are to be believed, Ali, 33, was to return back home after the first leg of the India Test series, but Root in the post-match press conference said that the 33-year-old chose to go home. “Moeen has chosen to go home. It’s obviously been a very tricky tour for him. As we mentioned at the start (of the winter), if players feel like they need to get out of the bubble, then that’s been an option. It is really important that we stand by that,” Root had said in the post-match press conference after the 317 run defeat of his team in Chennai. The comment spurred controversy in the media immediately afterwards and a section of pundit defended Root stating that there was no malice in his comments, but he could have chosen better words. English tabloid Mirror have reported that Root apologised to Ali in the team hotel. Ali was diagnosed with Covid-19 as soon as he landed in Sri Lanka and could not take part in the two Tests that England played in the island nation. In the first Chennai Test, Dom Bess was preferred to Ali and thus the spin-bowling all-rounder could play only one Test in entire England’s South Asia tour.

Key England players to miss New Zealand Test series due to IPL

Top England players like Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes might not be available for England’s Test series vs New Zealand in June this year. In case their Indian Premier League sides make to the Playoffs, they might skip the Test series in favour of playing in the IPL. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) though has informed the IPL franchises that if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decide to name any of the prominent IPL players, part of the IPL sides in the Playoffs, but might not be making it to the first XI, should be released as early as possible. "In the event of ECB Selectors wishing to select a player for the 1st Test v New Zealand whose franchise has made it through to the knockout stages of the Tournament, but who is not featuring in the starting XI, the relevant franchise is requested to release such player early so that they can participate in the Test Match," the IPL email to franchises read, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.com The other players whose availability is under the cloud are the players of South Africa who would be playing their limited over series against Pakistan from April 2-16.

Virat Kohli may face one-match ban: Report

India skipper Virat Kohli might face one-match ban after a heated argument with the on-field umpire during the second Test against England in Chennai. Kohli had a spat with the umpire after English captain Joe Root was adjudged not out due to the 'umpire's call'. The ball tracker showed that the delivery from Axar Patel would have gone on to hit the stumps but the impact was where the umpire’s call played the role. The ICC Code of Conduct mandates issuance of "one to four demerit points" to a player for "dissenting at an umpire's decision". Now it would depend upon the demerit points whether Kohli is found guilty of Level 1 or 2. A player charged with four demerit points is penalised with a ban of one game. The Indian captain did draw some criticism for his reaction. "It was odd that the India team and their captain took the full 15 seconds to work out whether to review or not. They weren’t actually sure what they were reviewing for," DailyMail quoted Nasir Hussain as saying. Vaughan, on the other hand, said: “You can’t have this, I’m sorry. Kohli is such a powerhouse, you can’t have him intimidating the umpire. It’s a stinker of a decision but you can’t be doing that as a captain.” India levelled the four-match series in Chennai after winning the second Test by 317 runs. After riding on some brilliant batting from R Ashwin and Virat, India handed the visitors a target of 482 runs and later bundled them out for 164. Debutant Axar Patel scalped a fifer in the second innings while Ashwin bagged three wickets. The two teams will now move to Ahmedabad for the remaining two Tests. The Third Test will be a Day-Night affair.