• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Axar Patel Out Shaheen Afridi Flops And Shafali Potm December 15 Cricket Highlights

Axar Patel out, Shaheen Afridi flops and Shafali POTM – December 15 Cricket highlights

Aakash Saini

Axar Patel and Shaheen Afridi [Source: AFP, @saadimalik22/x]Axar Patel and Shaheen Afridi [Source: AFP, @saadimalik22/x]

Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remainder of India’s home T20I series against South Africa. Shaheen Afridi had a BBL debut to forget against Melbourne Renegades. In other news, Simon Harmer and Shafali Verma won the ICC Player of the Month awards for the month of November 2025.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Monday, December 15.

Axar Patel officially ruled out of remaining SA T20Is

Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing T20I series against South Africa, as confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The cricketer also missed the third T20I on Sunday, December 14 owing to an illness. The selection committee has now named Shahbaz Ahmed as his replacement for the upcoming T20Is in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.

The 32-year-old played the first two T20Is in Cuttack and New Chandigarh last week, where he managed to pick up three wickets in two innings and scored 44 runs at an average of 22 with the bat.

PSL 2026 to clash with IPL as Mohsin Naqvi announces window

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi has announced a playing window for the upcoming PSL 2026 season. The cricket administrator pinned the tournament to run from March 26 to May 3, thus ensuring that the Pakistani T20 league will once again coincide with the IPL 2026 season in India.

The IPL 2026, much like its preceding editions, will also follow the March-June playing window next year.

Shafali Verma, Simon Harmer win ICC Player of the Month awards

South African spinner Simon Harmer won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for the month of November 2025. The cricketer played a key role in South Africa’s comprehensive 2-0 series win in India, picking up 17 wickets in the process, including nine in the series-deciding second Test in Guwahati.

Explosive Indian women’s opener Shafali Verma also won the same award under the women’s category, despite playing just one match in the entire month. The youngster faced South Africa in the final of the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup, and delivered a ‘Player of the Match’ performance with her electrifying 87-run knock with the added bonus of two big wickets.

Chris Green to lead Sydney Thunder over David Warner in BBL opener

All-rounder Chris Green has been appointed as Sydney Thunder captain over injured David Warner for their first match of the BBL 2025-26 season. Warner recently suffered an injury on his right leg while playing at a beach alongside his children. The Thunder franchise also roped in local player Charlie Anderson as Warner’s replacement in the squad.

The Sydney Thunder team will be facing Hobart Hurricanes in their opening match of the BBL 2025-26 season on Tuesday, December 16 in Hobart.

Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi flop on BBL debut

After Babar Azam, fellow Pakistan stars like Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi also failed to leave a mark on their respective BBL debuts. In match number two of the BBL 2025-26 season between Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat, Rizwan washed up 10 deliveries to score just four in an innings where the Renegades mounted 212-5 in 20 overs. In the same innings, Brisbane Heat quick Afridi conceded 43 runs from just 2.4 overs before he was taken off the attack by the on-field umpire.