Arzan Nagwaswalla idolises Zaheer Khan, but finds selection in Indian team 'hard to believe'

India have announced a surprise pick in their beefed-up squad for the tour of England where they will play as many as six Test matches. The pick —23—year—old Arzan Nagwaswalla has not sunk in the reality of getting on a plan with the senior Indian side and said that he will take some time to ‘digest and believe’ that his dreams are coming true.

“It is really hard to digest and believe, honestly. It will take some time to think about this as a reality,” Nagwaswalla said to Bcci.tv.

He went candid in a chat with the BCCI website and expressed his excitement over meeting great players whom he had seen only on TV before. He said that the Indian team have had great success in the recent past and he will look to learn as much as possible from them.

“I am excited to meet and see all the cricketers jinko abhee tak bass TV par India ke liye achha karte hue dekhaa hai. They have secured some big wins against Australia and England recently. So, I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from all of them,” Nagwaswalla said.

Taking about his inspiration and idol, Nagwswalla said that he always looked up to former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan. He has been in

“My bowling idol and inspiration has always been Zaheer Khan mainly because he has also been a left-arm pacer. I have grown up watching him playing for India and doing really well,” Nagwaswalla added.

Nagwaswalla picked up 41 wickets in 8 games at 18.36 during the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season for Gujarat and India saw an opportunity to groom him as he brings left-arm pace bowling to the table which the senior Indian side lacks at the moment.

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Australian contingent in Maldives after IPL 2021 suspension will be home soon: Report

The wait and desperation of Australian players, support staffs and all other citizens who were stuck in a complicated situation following the suspension of the IPL is soon to be over with Cricket Australia, BCCI and Australian Cricketers Association finally coming with a plan to bring all back home. The contingent had already left India to spend their time in the Maldives before they can be eligible to get back into their country after the federal government announced a ban for people coming from India. Now, as per an ESPNcricinfo report, all the 38 members of the contingent will be travelling to Australia via Singapore on a chartered flight and they will be put under hard quarantine upon arrival in Sydney. Notably, the 14th edition of the IPL was postponed for an indefinite period of time following the Covid-19 outbreak in the biosecure bubbles of multiple teams. The first report of novel coronavirus cases surfaced from the Kolkata Knight Riders followed by the Sunrisers, the Super Kings and the Delhi Capitals. The contingent currently in the Maldives includes big players such as Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, along with former players such as Michael Slater who was there as a commentator.

Brad Haddin reveals how David Warner reacted to his axing as Sun Risers Hyderabad captain

Sunrisers Hyderabad player David Warner was axed from the captaincy of the side after they had a dismal run in the IPL 2021 before the tournament was suspended. The captaincy was handed over to New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson. SRH assistant coach Brad Haddin opened up about Warner’s reaction and said that he took it with “class”. "He took it with class. It was a bit of a shock to everyone. Management decided to go in a different direction to try to spark something within the team," Haddin (while being asked about Warner’s reaction) was quoted as saying by Fox Cricket. While Warner was removed from the captaincy, he was also dropped from the only match that SRH played after this but Haddin was of the opinion that the left-handed Aussie batsman would have made his way back in the side in no time. “I dare say he would have come back in contention in the next few games. He is one of the best in the world in that form of the game. He was still really vocal in the meetings. He handled a difficult situation with a lot of class,” Haddin concluded. Warner has led SRH to the title win in 2016 edition after they defeated RCB in the final.

Sri Lanka Cricket announces Lanka Premier League 2021 schedule

The second edition of the Lanka Premier League will take place between July 30 to August 22 this year, Sri Lanka Cricket has said in its media release. The tournament, into its second year, is likely to be continued to be played under biosecure bubble arrangements, SLC has hinted. However, a final decision on the modalities of the tournament will be taken after discussions with the health ministry, SLC said. "We have found a suitable window to hold this year's edition, whilst we are currently working on finalising the other details of the tournament," said Arjuna de Silva, the chairman of the management committee at the SLC. "Sri Lanka Cricket will assess the country's situation and discuss with the Ministry of Health closer to the tournament to ascertain the health situation in the country prior to taking a final decision on the competition," the release further stated. The LPL was launched only last year with five teams fighting for the trophy in Hambantota. Jaffna Stallions went onto become the first champions of the tournament SLC is hoping will prosper over the upcoming seasons.

Ben Stokes hopes to recover from hand injury in 9 weeks but rules out joining IPL 2021

All-rounder Ben Stokes has confirmed ECB’s stand on the issue of England players joining the second half of the IPL 2021 citing a busy international schedule. Stokes said that England players will have a tough time managing gaps between international cricket and the IPL this year but he will return to the league next year. "We don't know if or when the tournament will be rearranged, but as the ECB have said it could be difficult for the England boys to have a free gap. After this year though, I do look forward to playing a full part again at some point in the future," Stokes wrote in his column for 'Daily Mirror'. "It was tough to say goodbye to the guys at the Rajasthan Royals earlier than I wanted, but the subsequent suspension of the tournament means that everyone is now back early with their families as India tries to get through such a difficult time." Giving an update on his broken hand that ruled him out of the IPL 2021 way before it was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Stokes said that he will return to action well before the initially feared time period of three months. Instead, he said the recovery will take between seven to nine weeks before he will be back in action for England. "I can't put a date on when I'll be back playing again, but as long as things progress as well as they have then I should hope it will be well before the three months that was first feared and more like seven, eight, or nine weeks. You can never know for sure how long these things will take because it is not just about the technical side of healing and getting the bone strong, there is the big issue of having confidence in it to play professional sport,” Stokes wrote further. Stokes missed a large part of the IPL 2021 after he broke his hand while fielding and he is all set to miss the Test series against New Zealand. He is likely to recover in time before the home Test series against India starting in August.