Author: Sandip Pawar

Australia’s options to find a new limited overs captain get thinner, with all-rounder Mitchell Marsh ruling himself out of the race. The 30-year-old was one of the top contenders for the role after Aaron Finch retired from the fifty-over format last month. Marsh, who has battled injuries throughout his career, said captaincy is not on his radar right now and wants to focus on keeping his body fit. “Probably not to be honest, I’m out of the race. I’ve had to get the body right for this World Cup. The World Cup is such an exciting prospect for all of…

England began their tour of Australia on a positive note as they defeated the hosts by eight runs in the first of three T20Is ahead of the T20 World Cup. Alex Hales and Jos Buttler hammered fifties at the top before seamers held their nerves to seal a victory in a high-scoring first T20I at Optus Stadium on Sunday. Hales was the top scorer of the match with 84 off 51, while David Warner kept Australia ahead of the game with a brilliant 73 off 44. Buttler also smashed a 32-ball 68 for England. With the ball, there were several impact performers…

England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler expressed his eagerness to unlock Ben Stokes’ true potential in the T20 format. He also revealed Liam Livingstone could be racing against time for the T20 World Cup. Having fully recovered from the calf injury which kept him out of the second half of the Hundred and the entirety of the Pakistan series, Buttler marked his return to action with the first T20I against Australia in what is their final preparation phase. Speaking ahead of the first game of the Australia series at Optus Stadium, he announced his availability and also talked about the new role Ben…

Former Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez was not amused with Pakistan’s tactic of promoting Shadab Khan up the order versus New Zealand in the tri-series fixture on Saturday. The Men in Green were proactive in their latest fixture when they floated Shadab up the order. The move was successful as Pakistan went on to win the match by six wickets and 10 balls to spare. The player was promoted to number four in the sixth over of the innings when Pakistan were struggling at 37 for 2, chasing 148. Shadab smashed 34 runs in just 22 balls, including two fours and…

Indian batter Shafali Verma starred with 55 off 44 and 2 for 10 with the ball to help India claim a dominant victory in Saturday’s Asia Cup game against Bangladesh. The 18-year-old had an extended run of poor form in recent months but she returned among runs in her last couple of outings in the Asia Cup. She scored 46 off 39 balls against Malaysia women and most recently struck 55 in 44 balls versus Bangladesh on Saturday. Prior to her knock versus Malaysia, Shafali had failed to cross the 20-run mark in 10 successive innings for India across formats…

In yet another development of the Indian Premier League franchises globalizing their brands, RPSG Group has appointed former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir as their global mentor for all teams. Gambhir will now see over Durban Super Giants in the new SA20 league – a team that Sanjiv Goenka-led RPSG Group acquired. “He is one of the sharpest cricketing minds going around. The group feels he can not only add value in Indian conditions but across the cricketing map as well,”a statement from the RPSG Group read. Gambhir is a two-time IPL-winning captain and was a crucial part of the Lucknow…

West Indies have controversially dropped middle-order batter Shimron Hetmyer from their squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia as he missed a “rescheduled” flight for the marquee event on October 3. Shamarh Brooks has been brought in as a replacement, Cricket West Indies confirmed. The board stated picking Brooks was a “unanimous” call by the selectors after Hetmyer’s decision not to join the plane for Down Under, even as he requested the board to rearrange one for him.  https://twitter.com/cricketaakash/status/1577146191674241027 The remainder of West Indies’ Australia-bound playing contingent left in different groups on October 1 upon the conclusion of the…

Being included in the Tasmania squad to face Queensland in the Sheffield Shield this week, The former Australia captain Tim Paine is set to make his return after taking time off from the game. The 37-year-old will be playing his first first-class match since April 2021. Paine returned to the club at the weekend where he kept the wickets and also made an unbeaten 20. “Was nice to blow off some cobwebs. Been training for five or six weeks. Ready to go. Excited, a bit nervous, but looking forward to it.”he told reporters at Hobart airport. Jeff Vaughan, Tasmania’s coach told…

Cricket South Africa’s ambitious project SA20 league has its countdown laid down – 100 days away from kicking off. A total of 33 matches will be played in the tournament, beginning on January 10 and running into February. The SA20 league comprises six teams – Durban Super Giants, Johannesburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape. All six franchises are acquired by groups that own the respective Indian Premier League teams. The CSA held a player auction for SA20 on September 19, which garnered plenty of interest from around the world. The young sensation…

Bengal seamer Mukesh Kumar and Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar earned maiden India call-ups for the three-match ODI series against South Africa on October 2. The two players are fresh faces part of an alternate India squad to be led by Shikhar Dhawan, missing all those selected in the main T20 World Cup touring party. The series begins on October 6, the day India’s Australia-bound playing squad leaves for a preparatory camp in Perth. This meant the selectors had to pick an ODI squad that misses the entire usual first XI bar Dhawan. From the World Cup touring contingent, only…