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

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.

Tim Paine backs Steve Smith to regain Test captaincy; hints of retirement after Ashes 2021-21

Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine has endorsed Steve Smith as the candidate for captaincy after he leaves the role somewhere at the end of this year. Piane backed Smith saying his tactics are as good as it gets and that he was thrown into captaincy in the first spell when he was not ready to tackle it. Paine said that the events in South Africa in 2018 will not happen again for sure and he will duly support Smith’s reinstatement as the skipper of the Australian Test team. “I think so. Obviously, I don’t make that decision but the time I played with Steve as captain he was excellent. Certainly tactically he is as good as you get,” Paine said. He’s probably a bit like me when I was at the start of my captaincy journey in Tasmania — he was thrown into a very big role at a very, very young age and he probably wasn’t quite ready for it,” News Corp Media quoted Paine as saying. “But by the time I came in he was growing into that role and getting better and better. Then obviously South Africa events happened and he’s not doing it anymore. But yeah I would support him getting that job again.” Addressing the question of how long he will be there as the captain of the side, Paine said that he will be there at the helm for at least six Tests and that his fate will be decided after the completion of the Ashes series scheduled for the end of this year. “At least another six Tests,” said the 36-year-old, who is locked in for a home summer featuring one match against Afghanistan and the five-Test Ashes series. If I feel like the time is right and we’ve beaten the Poms 5-0, what a way to go out. But it might be a tight series and we might be chasing 300 on the last day and I’m 100 not out and hit the winning runs — and then I might go again,” Paine added. Following a home series loss to India, pressure mounted on Cricket Australia and Tim Paine but the Tasmanian has survived in his job and will lead the side for a six-Test long Australian summer starting with a solitary Test against Afghanistan.

Dwayne Bravo reveals Pollard's entry to Mumbai Indians on his 34th birthday

The inseparable love affair between Kieron Pollard and Mumbai Indians is for everyone to see. Mumbai Indians without Kieron Pollard is simply unimaginable but what transpired the MI team owners and the management to pick Pollard in the squad? He has been a stalwart for the five-time champions and has been part of the triumphant campaigns on all five occasions. He has been a phoenix for the most successful team in the competition and has played an instrumental role in their rise to the top. As the mighty fellow turned 34, Harsha Bhogle conducted a video session with Dwayne Bravo for Cricbuzz, where the all-rounder revealed how he persisted the Mumbai Indians to pick Pollard in 2010 Auctions. Bravo was part of the Mumbai Indians set-up and had insisted them pick the hard-hitting Pollard and the rest as they say is history. During the conversation, Bravo also recalled the fact that how MI owner Nita Ambani always thank him for his contribution in bringing Pollard to the Paltans squad. “For me whenever I see talent, I know talent and you know (sighs) Pollard, the first time I asked when Mumbai needed a replacement for me I suggested Pollard’s name. I also recommended Dwayne Smith and that’s how got into the squad. He was my replacement. The following year when there was the Champions League in Hyderabad, I called Rahul and said come and sign Pollard. Rahul and Robin Singh, from Delhi and Mumbai. Bravo recalled the fact that how he had called Pollard to the lobby. Not all cricketers can afford to leave a life of an Indian cricketer. So for a young 19-year-old guy to get a huge contract coming from Trinidad, it was indeed a big thing. Ever since his introduction to IPL, Pollard has never been released by the Mumbai Indians. “The contract was around 200 USD and I called Pollard in the lobby. He saw the contract, 200 USD, for us coming from Trinidad, 19 year old getting these big amount is wowww, he said Dwayne are you serious, I said yes. They gonna sign you for now. And in that Champions League Pollard had a sensational time. Everyone wanted to know that who was the new kid in the block?” Bravo quipped. “When the scouts came around and Mumbai already signed him, I think it was forced to go into a mini-auction and IPL had set that no franchise can go more tha 750 sonething to get him. Mumbai bid for them and got him and now see Mumbai are inseparable without Pollard,” Bravo added. Bravo also recalled the fact that how Pollard started to get affected when he was getting picked in favour Bravo. However, he gave him signs of encouragement and told him to justify his decision to back Pollard. He also expressed his happiness at the fact that the dynamic powerhouse is one of the best. “We started playing together in the team and then I started getting dropped and he started getting picked. It affected him so I told him don't worry, as long as you perform then I can justify my decision that I backed you,” Bravo said. “I am very happy that this guy is one of the best going around. Mrs Ambani still thanks me for Pollard, thankyou thankyou because of you we got Pollard and all those things. And our friendship also developed from there,” the all-rounder signed off.