Author: Sandip Pawar

Jaffna Stallions has reportedly become the third Lanka Premier League franchise to face the axing. After Colombo Kings and Dambulla Viiking were given the axe from LPL last month following a joint action taken by the SLC and league rights holders – Innovative Production Group FZE (IPG), the Jaffna franchise is the next team in line to face termination. The inaugural champions of LPL – Jaffna Stallions are owned by a consortium of Sri Lankan and Indian origin investors based in various parts of the world, including Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the USA. The reason for the termination of all three franchises from the tournament…

Caribbean all-rounder Kyle Mayers has signed for Birmingham Bears for their last three group stage matches of T20 Blast 2021. He will be available for selection in the Bears’ very next game, which is against Worcestershire on Friday. Mayers grabbed the limelight earlier this year by scoring a double-century against Bangladesh in his debut Test match. His unbeaten 210 from 310 deliveries in the second innings helped West Indies get the better of Bangladesh at the Tigers’ home soil. In his 61-matches long T20 career, the all-rounder has scored 688 runs at an average of 16.78 and a strike rate of 110.78. He has…

Angelo Mathews, who last played for Sri Lanka in the home series against Bangladesh, will sit out of the limited overs series against India citing personal reasons. Mathews had requested Sri Lanka Cricket to relieve him from the cricket duties until further notice with ongoing contract disputes yet unresolved. On July 7, SLC revealed that 29 out of 30 players in consideration for the series against India have signed the contracts. The Sri Lankan players have been involved in a dispute with the board regarding the lack of transparency in the central contracts. The players had refused to sign the contracts for…

England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes has been their crisis-man for years and yet again he lives up to the tag with an early return to international cricket, simply because the team needed him. Stokes will be leading the entirely new squad in the ODI series against Pakistan starting July 8. England’s main ODI squad that Eoin Morgan led against Sri Lanka last week had to be isolated amidst the pandemic. Three players and four staff members were found Covid-19 positive, and as a precaution, England put the entire squad in isolation, citing the close contact with positive members. The all-rounder was making a…

Former India captain Kapil Dev has expressed his disapproval for naming a replacement for injured Shubman Gill, citing the move would insult the current players in the touring party. Indian opening batter Shubman Gill’s injury comes as a big setback for the Indian cricket team ahead of the upcoming Test series against England. The young batter suffered a shin stress injury in his leg and is set to miss the entire five-match series in England. Gill has shown immense promise in his short career so far, playing a crucial role in India’s triumph in Australia. The 21-year-old scored a magnificent 91 in…

Mithali Raj played spectacular innings of unbeaten 75 while chasing the target and took India over the line in the third ODI against England in Worcester on Saturday. India Women won the toss and decided to field first, in a rain-affected match reduced to 47 overs a side. Justifying the captain’s decision, India’s Shikha Pandey gave England an early blow by dismissing Tammy Beaumont on duck in the second over of the match. Lauren Windfield-Hill (36)and Heather Knight (46) stitched a 67-run partnership to get them back on track before Sneh Rana dismissed Winfield Hill. Knight joined hands with Nat Sciver to add another 42 runs, but Harmanpreet Kaur broke the stand by dismissing the…

Two West Indian women’s players, Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation, collapsed on the field during a T20I match against Pakistan. The players were hospitalised and are stable.  Two incidents occurred in a span of 10 minutes when the West Indies were fielding. Henry was the first one to collapse on the ground during the fourth over of the Pakistan chase and was stretchered off. A few minutes later, Nation was also taken off. Both the players were taken to a nearby hospital and were reported to be conscious and stable, according to CWI media manager. https://twitter.com/GhaffarDawnNews/status/1411073264366071809?s=19 The Pakistan skipper, Javeria Khan,…

India’s Test series against England is five weeks away, but they have already suffered a setback. There are some doubts about the availability of one of the designated opening batters, who has reportedly injured his leg after the WTC final and is set to miss the first Test, with a possibility of missing the entire series. Recent reports coming from England suggest that Shubman Gill is carrying a shin stress injury for some time, which will take a few weeks to recover from. Further details about which leg is injured and its recovery time have not been disclosed yet. Gill…

Kate Cross, Sophia Dunkley and Katherine Brunt helped England Women win by five wickets in the second ODI at Taunton as the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series against India Women this Wednesday, June 30. In what turned out to be a closely fought contest, Kate Cross’ five-wicket haul, Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten half century, and Katherine Brunt’s valuable contribution helped England Women cross the finishing line by five wickets with 2.3 overs to spare. As it happened, India’s openers Smriti Mandhana (22) and Shafali Verma (44) provided a solid start to the visitors with 56 runs in 11.5 overs. But soon they were reduced to 77/3, with the top 3…

Most of the Australian players, who had pulled out of the West Indies tour citing personal reasons, will be available for the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2021. Australia captain Aaron Finch had previously remarked that it would be hard for the Aussies, who have withdrawn from the West Indies and Bangladesh tours, to justify their participation in the second phase of IPL. But it is now well understood that most of those players who opted out of their International duty will now be available to join their respective IPL franchises for the resumption of the tournament in UAE. Out of nearly 20 players who came…