BBL 11 | Renegades surrender against Thunder, suffer a huge defeat by 129 runs

David Warner lavishes praise on Matthew Wade for his knock vs Pakistan in T20 World Cup

Australia lifted the T20 World Cup 2021, their first in the format. While David Warner was adjudged Player of the tournament, the left-handed batsman gave a lot of credit to Matthew Wade who played a blinder against Pakistan and helped the side etch a win in the semi-final. Wade hit Shaheen Afridi for three maximums in a row on the final three balls of the penultimate over to seal the victory for the Aussies. “In those situations, I can’t play the shot that he plays. If I was out there, I would never have hit that six because I can’t play that shot. Having a guy like him to come in like he did…” said Warner on Backstage with Boria show. “Specifically in Australia, they wrote Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis off. They said they can’t win games for Australia. Yes, they can. They won the biggest game for us.” Chasing 177 in 20 overs, Australia were left struggling at 96/5 in the 13th over but an unbeaten stand of 81 runs for the sixth wicket between Wade and Marcus Stoinis took them over the line. While Wade remained unbeaten at 41 off 17, Stoinis chipped in with 40* off 31. The Australian side eventually defeated New Zealand in the final.

Ramnaresh Sarwan made member of West Indies’ Youth and Senior Men’s selection panel

Former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan was appointed as a member of the panel of Senior Men’s and Youth Selection Committee. The Cricket West Indies (CWI) made the announcement after having appointed Desmond Haynes and Robert Haynes as Chairmans of the Panel respectively. After being appointed as West Indies’ selector, the 41-year-old would now have to give up his role as Chairman of the Guyana Cricket Board’s Senior Selection Panel. CWI President, Ricky Skerritt, while speaking on the appointment said, “I am delighted to confirm that Ramnaresh Sarwan has agreed to accept the post of selector on CWI’s Men’s Senior and Youth Panels. He is a student of the game, and knows what is required of our young cricketers in order to achieve international success. The Board of Directors are confident that Mr. Sarwan will add enormous value to the cricket system.” Sarwan on his part said, “I want to thank CWI and everyone involved for giving me this opportunity to again serve West Indies cricket, as a member of the selection panels. I’m passionate about the game of cricket and especially West Indies cricket and once asked to contribute, I didn’t hesitate. I look forward to working with my colleagues, The Most Hon. Dr Desmond Haynes and Mr Robert Haynes, and the two Head Coaches, as well as everyone else involved in the development of this sport we love and respect so much.” Sarwan will be a member of the Men’s Senior and Youth Selection Panels until 30 June 2024, The classy right-handed batter, Sarwan played 81 Test matches, 181 One-Day Internationals and 18 T20 Internationals for the West Indies between 2000 and 2013. He scored 5842 runs in Tests, including 15 centuries and 5804 runs in ODIs, including five centuries. He was a member of the West Indies team which won the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy in 2004.

'What message does that send to rest of the group?': Warner opens up about his sacking as SRH skipper

Australia opener David Warner was sacked from the SRH captaincy after leading the franchise in six games of IPL 2021. Moreover, he wasn’t really considered in the XI as well. Opening up about it, the left-handed batsman has said that it sent a wrong message to the youngsters in the side. “If you are going to drop a captain and then not pick him in the team after what he has done, what message does that send to the young kids in the team? What message does that send to the rest of the group? What hurt me the most is that the other guys are now thinking, ‘oh, this could happen to me’," said Warner. The Australian batter further insisted that having conversations could have been a way. “At the end of the day, whatever happens, cop it on the chin. If you want to have those conversations, just have them. It’s not hard. Don’t shy away from them. I am not going to bite. I am going to sit here and accept that for what it is because you are not picking me in the team,” he further added. Interestingly, SRH had lifted the IPL title under Warner’s captaincy back in the 2016 edition. Warner had a great turn around after the series of disappointments as he emerged as the Player of the tournament in T20 World Cup 2021. Australia lifted the T20 World Cup for the first time.

The Ashes | 4th Test, Day 4 Report: It’s Usman Khawaja’s world, we are just living in it

Just when things had finally started to look good for the visitors on Day 4 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, England’s hopes of having just one good day at the Ashes were ripped apart to shreds. Joe Root’s men, after their debacle in the first three Tests finally looked like putting up a fight, courtesy, Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood’s incredible partnership on Day 3 of the fourth Test. After putting up a total that was close enough to what they would have thought safe, England struck blows after blows straight into the heart of the Australian batting line up. In no time, Australia were four down within 90 runs with their entire top order back in the hut. Wood was dealing blows close to 150ks per hour and Jack Leach was beating the Aussies in flight. But that was it. That was just about it. Since the start of the tour, all England have wanted is one normal day in their lives. Their preparation for the tour was a mess with uncertainties floating around player availability due to strict Covid policies in Australia. Once they arrived, their preparation was hit by a massive storm which forced them to stay indoors. And since taking the field, stuff has gone through the roof for Root and his men. After all that toil, just when things seemed to be falling into play early on Day 4, the threat arrived from the most unlikeliest of places. Out of favour left hander, playing his first Test match after two years, Usman Khawaja scored his second century of the game. One would have thought that a man making his comeback under pressure would be content after making a century in the first innings, but clearly they were wrong. Not only did Khawaja make a hundred, he made it at such a rapid rate that England were blow away from the game in just one session of play. Khawaja, batting with the young Cameron Green put up a partnership of 179 runs in just 238 balls. They together scored at a SR of 75.2 on a fourth day SCG pitch, after an awful period of play from the Australians. England found the change of momentum difficult to comprehend as James Anderson and Stuart Broad, two of their most experienced bowlers, went wicketless throughout the second innings. The England bowlers looked in dire state in front of Khawaja’s movement that at times reminded the commentators of Brain Lara at times. Khawaja swept, reverse swept and at times danced down the track to slap the ball through the on side, and amongst all this chaos, stood still the hanging head of Joe Root, standing at slips. Khawaja became the third person after Ricky Ponting and Doug Walters to score twin hundreds at the SCG and now has more runs than his closest competitor Marcus Harris having played 5 innings less than him. It became apparent in just four days that Khawaja belongs, and belongs in a way that Australia would not have thought was possible having backed Harris throughout the current campaign. At the end of day 4, England might not have lost a single wicket chasing a steep 388, but they are clearly not in a position to win this Test match. They would come out again tomorrow hoping to survive what could possibly be a rain affected day. In that case, the crowd, the fans and the experts would rightly be left with the one and the only important talking point of this Test match - Usman Khawaja. Could this possibly cement his place in the Australian Test squad? Time will tell… But SCG will forever remember the smiling assassin, who knocked his critics out of the park making a comeback after two years for the prestigious Baggy Green.