Afghanistan Cricket Board gets UAE visas, ODI series against Ireland to go as planned

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final ends in a tie

The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab (Pakistan) ended in a tie and the trophy was shared between the two teams in Karachi. Chasing a target of 356 in the second innings, Punjab were bowled out for 355. Punjab had steady start to the chase but then lost wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 202/6. Captain Hasan Ali hold the fort strong at one end and smacked an unbeaten 61-ball 106. Unman Salahuddin had notched up a half-century earlier. Said Khan picked up a four-for while Arshad Iqbal scalped three wickets. Earlier, Pakhtunkhwa batted first and scored 300 in the first innings. Kamran Ghulam scored 76 while Adil Amin struck 75 before getting out. For Punjab it was skipper Ali and Waqas Maqsood who gave a hard time to Pakhtunkhwa. Ali picked up a four-wicket haul while Maqsood removed three batsmen. Central Punjab in reply, scored 257/9 (D) in the first innings. Salahuddin scored 60 while Saad Nasim and Qasim Akram were also among runs as the two reached individual half-centuries. Irfanshullah Shah picked up four wickets. Pakhtunkhwa then rode on Kamran Ghulam’s 108 to hand a big target to Punjab and ended the second innings at 312. Maqsood bagged four wickets in the second innings. Eventually, the clash ended as a tie.

Travis Head can be future captain of Australia, but doesn't merit a place now: Shane Warne

It’s a known fact that legendary leg spinner Shane Warne rates Australian batsman Travis Head very highly and he sees him as one of the futures of Australian cricket. But the modest scores in the first two Test against India, and especially the way he has been dismissed by the Indian bowlers have not impressed Warne one bit. He has said that Head could well be a future captain of Australia, but at this point of time, he has too many flaws to even get a place in the Test team. Warne has gone a step further and has asked for his exclusion from the side, and suggested the left-hander to go back to domestic cricket to iron out the issue with his technique, especially on committing unproductive and highly risky shots. “We know what a talent he (Head) is, he’s probably a future captain. He still could be, but he’s got to get in the side first and at the moment I wouldn’t have him in the side. He’s got a little technique deficiency he needs to sort out first,” Warne told ‘Fox Cricket’. Head has scores of 7,38, and 17 in the three innings he has batted in the series, and his dismissal in the last two innings at the MCG drew severe criticism from former Australian players who called Head not disciplined enough to take his time. On both the occasions in the MCG Test, Head was dismissed caught in the slips off deliveries he could have easily left alone. Head and Wade used to form the lower idle order of the Australian batting line up in Tests, but the emergence of all-rounder Cameron Green, who has looked in supreme form, has made the option of playing both the left-handers an unviable one for the team management, especially if Will Pucovski is trusted to partner David Warner at the top of the order. Australia are yet to announce their playing XI for the third Test starting on January 07 at the SCG, but certainly Travis Head will find himself at best in a spot of bother if not axes from the playing XI.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla resigns from minister's post

West Bengal Minister of State for Sports and former cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla has resigned from his post of a minister from West Bengal government. Shukla also quit as the Trinamool Congress district president in Howrah but he continues to hold the position as TMC MLA. Shukla’s decision of resigning from the post came days after TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari quit from Mamata Banerjee's cabinet and later joined BJP. He made headlines earlier after donating his three months' MLA salary along with BCCI pension to help fight the COVID-19 in the state. "It is the need of the hour that we all contribute to the best of our abilities. I have already donated three months of my MLA salary to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Also, I get pension from BCCI. I have donated three months of my BCCI pension," Shukla told PTI on Friday. The right-handed cricketer has played for Bengal and was a part of Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. He also represented India in 3 ODIs picking up one wicket. Shukla scored over 6000 runs in 137 First-class matches including 9 tons and 37 half-centuries while scalped 172 wickets. In 141 List A matches, the right-handed all-rounder notched up 2997 runs and picked up 143 wickets. He retired from all forms of cricket in December 2015.

Natarajan gearing up for Test debut at SCG? Pacer drops a hint in tweet

Since the time, Umesh Yadav was ruled out of the ongoing Test series against Australia, there were talks about India handing a Test debut to pacer T Natarajan, who could bring another dimension to the pace attack which doesn’t have any left-arm seamer. And now, Ntarajan himself has dropped hint on what could well be a fairy tale debut at the SCG on January 07, although he is the latest addition to the Test squad after the injury to Umesh Yadav, and he will trump the likes of Navdeep Saini, and Shardul Thakur if he earns his maiden Test cap. The left armer tweeted a photo of him in a test kit, and said that he is all set to embark on new challenges that may come his way. India pacer T Natarajan is having the time of his life, and he is making sure to make the most of it. After impressing all, including the team management and selectors in the IPL through his astute variations, the left rm quick was added into the Indian touring party to Australia as a net bowler as the Indian batsmen were looking to work on batting against Mitchell Starc. His hard work in the IPL and skills to get the best of the batsmen out in IPL paid off with good luck as Varun Chakravarthy was ruled out of the T20 series against Australia and Natarajan earned the maiden call up to the Indian side. Later on, Navdeep Saini felt a giggle, and it allowed Natarajan to get into the ODI side as well.