Babar Azam gets relief from Lahore High Court in sexual harassment case

Boiled by Shakib’s allegations of misrepresentation, BCB to reconsider his IPL NOC

Ace Bangladesh all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan seems to be in trouble after his no holds barred interview in which he alleged the Bangladesh Cricket Board for misrepresenting his letter. The BCB is now thinking to reconsider the No Objection Certificate (NOC) given to him to play the Indian Premier League (IPL). Responding to Shakib’s allegation that he might not have read his letter properly, Akram Khan, the BCB Cricket Operations head, said, "What does it imply? If someone is saying that I don't want to tour Sri Lanka, where we have two Tests, to prepare for the World Cup, then what does it actually mean?" He further went on to say that the board would reconsider the 33-year-old’s NOC if he wants to play Tests and tour Sri Lanka for the upcoming series. "I heard that he said that I didn't read his letter. Perhaps I misunderstood his letter. He wants to play Tests, from what he has said. In the next couple of days, we will discuss his NOC. If he has an interest, he will play Tests in Sri Lanka," Akram was quoted as saying to cricbuzz. Earlier on Saturday, 20th March, Shakib in an interview to a cricket website had alleged Wasim Khan in particular of spreading rumours that the top-rated ODI all-rounder, who is also at number five in Test rankings, doesn’t want to play the longer format. "I did not mention anywhere in my letter that I do not want to play Tests. I mentioned in my letter that I want to play in the IPL to prepare myself properly for World Cup (T20 World Cup) but despite that Akram Bhai has repeatedly said that I do not want to play Tests," Shakib had said. The BCB is planning to convene a meeting soon to discuss the Shakib matter.

Ross Taylor fails to recover from hamstring tear, to miss 2nd ODI against Bangladesh

Ross Taylor has been ruled of the second ODI as well in the series against Bangladesh, after missing the first ODI. Taylor has not recovered completely from a hamstring tear in his left leg and hence, will sit out of the second game to be played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is also not available for the series against Bangladesh and it would mean the Blackcaps will play one more game without their batting pair. The Blackcaps won the first game of the series comfortably on the back of dominant performances from bowler in Dunedin and the stand-in captain Tom Latham would be hoping for a similar return in Christchurch to seal the series in the second game itself.

Mohd. Azharuddin’s betting case to be reopened threatens TCA President

Telangana Cricket Association President Yendala Laxminarayan has threatened to drag former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin to the courts again. He is thinking of seeking a home ministry intervention in the alleged match-fixing allegations involving the 58-year-old former India star. Perturbed by Azhar’s meddling with TCA’s affairs, Yendala said that the members of the TCA are going to request Home Minister Amit Shah to reopen the fixing case against the legendary batsman. “We are looking to request BCCI to challenge the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh High Court’s relief given to Azharuddin from life term ban,” Guruva Reddy the secretary of TCA told newsmen. TCA, a non-affiliate cricket body, representing various districts of Telangana is looking to set up shop by getting affiliation from the BCCI. The TCA President also alleged mishandling of funds and flouting of Lodha committee recommendations by Azharuddin at the Hyderabad Cricket Association as President. Azhar represented India in 99 Tests and 334 ODIs.

IND vs ENG | 1st ODI Preview: Top sides building up to yet another riveting series

The caravan that started in Chennai and offered riveting contests between the bat and ball over the course of two years has reached its final course of action in Pune. The Test series where all the action began and the following T20I series lived up to their expectations of providing tough battled from both sides and the fans would be expecting nothing but another spell of highly-competitive cricket from the top two sides. Before the start of the white-ball leg of the tour, it was made a contest of ideas on how to play in limited-overs cricket. England have been known for playing in a going all guns blazing style while India have had a reputation for setting up games and playing calculative cricket before the series. The ODI series between two limited-overs to start off at a similar note with two ODI giants sitting comfortably at a distant corner in terms of ideas on how to play in the 50-overs format. However, Virat Kohli had made an admission about India planning to shed off their usual style of playing T20 cricket and instead of adopting a fresh approach on the lines of the oppositions’ ideas. Will India do that in ODIs as well and look to attack England in a berserk manner like the Eoin Morgan’s side likes to do to other teams? Highly unlikely proposition this is on the eve of a three-match ODI series between the two sides scheduled to start tomorrow in Pune. The ODI series will have the least number of matches compared to the Test and T20 series and the move was made to accommodate more T20s in order to allow enough game time for both sides to build up towards the World T20. The ODI World Cup in two years away and hence there are not many stakes lying around this ODI series except the perpetual competitiveness of Eoin Morgan and Virat Kohli and their hatred for loss. For India, it will be a return of Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the format after missing out due to injuries. Both of them were injured in the IPL and could not make it to Australia where India were plummeted to the floor by the Australian batsmen on flat pitches of the Sydney Cricket Ground. On the missing list, Indian will not have the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who is yet to recover from a fracture and hence have brought Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj to try new options with the ball in ODIs. Ravindra Jadeja will be another important omission from the team as he is still recovering from a finger dislocation, and it has handed an opportunity for Krunal Pandya to replicate his form from the Vijay Hazare Trophy to international cricket. England, on the other hand, will be without Jofra Archer who has been ruled out due to a recurrent elbow injury and Joe Root who has been rested. Joe Root’s absence will allow opportunities for the likes of Sam Billings to finally break into playing XI. India vs England: Match Details Match No.-01 Date and Time: March 23, 01:30 PM IST, 08:00 AM GMT Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports, Hotstar Pitch conditions The pitch at the Maharashtra Cricket Association ground in Pune is likely to be a flat one. The last game these two sides played in 2016 turned out to be a high-scoring ground where both the side scored runs in excess of 350 and India won the game on the back of twin centuries from Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav. Team News India India have handed maiden call ups to Prasidh Krishna and Krunal Pandya. However, the former is a doubtful starter in the first game of the series with the presence of in-form bowlers in Shardul Thakur, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the T20I series. It will be some sort of comebacks for both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan when they will walk together to open the batting for India. Dhawan will be making his comeback to the ODI team after going out of favour from the playing XI of the T20 team, while Rohit will be returning to his best-suited format after missing the series against Australia due to injury. KL Rahul, who was dropped from the final T20I of the series due to poor form will compete with Rishabh Pant for the wicketkeeper-batsman slot in the playing XI. However, Rahul is likely to retain his place on the back of strong performances in the format in the last few years. In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal will be back after missing the last two game of the T20I series, while India will be tempted to go for the left-arm spin of Krunal Pandya over Kuldeep Yadav’s chinaman as Pandya has been in terrific form with the bat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Strongest XI Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK) Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj England Joe Root has been rested from the ODI series and it would be a massive opportunity for Sam billings to seal a spot for himself over the three games against India. Billings was one of the prominent successful batsmen in England’s last series against Australia last year. However, there is a lack of clarity on the spot he will be played as the trio of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan has come back after the all-rounder missed the ODI series against Australia. Another member rested from the series—Chris Woakes’ absence will open the door of playing XI finally for Moeen Ali who warmed the beaches throughout the five-match T20I series. The absence of Archer will put the onus on Mark Wood to bring success for England with the new ball and other prospects in Curran brothers will also get chances to showcase. Strongest XI Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sam Billings, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid, Tom Curran