BCCI rubbishes reports suggesting Rohit Sharma will take over captaincy from Virat Kohli

Brendan Taylor to bid adieu to international cricket

Zimbabwe wicket-keeper batsman Brendan Taylor has announced his retirement and the ODI fixture against Ireland on Monday will be his last outing. "It's with a heavy heart that I'm announcing that tomorrow is my last game for my beloved country," Taylor stated on a Twitter post on Sunday. "17 years of extreme highs and extreme lows and I wouldn't change it for the world.” "It's taught me to be humble, to always remind myself how lucky I was to be in the position I was in for so long. To wear the badge with pride and leave everything on the field. My goal was to always leave the team in a better position as when I first arrived back in 2004, I hope I have done that." Taylor has been capped 34 times in Tests while has played 204 ODIs and 45 T20Is respectively. He has notched up 2320 runs in Test cricket and is Zimbabwe’s fourth-highest run-getter in the format. The right-hander was the leading run-scorer for Zimbabwe in 2015 World Cup while returned back to the national side for the qualifiers of the 2019 edition. He had signed up for Nottinghamshire as a Kolpak player and featured in three seasons before making a return. Zimbabwe presently lead the series 1-0 against Ireland after they won the first ODI while the second one was washed away due to rain.

Rohit Sharma could replace Virat Kohli as India's white-ball captain after T20 World Cup: Report

Indian cricket is on the verge of a massive change in approach if a TOI report that claims the current Indian captain Virat Kohli is set to step down after the upcoming T20 World Cup and Rohit Sharma will take up the responsibility of leading the team in both the white-ball formats is to be believed. The report has quoted several teams and BCCI sources that seem to suggest that Kohli has set his eyes on the longest format and taking the team to far greater heights than achieved until now. They also suggest that Kohli has realised the responsibility of leading the India side across all three formats have started to take a toll on his batting and hence he will relinquish his leadership role in the shorter formats of the game. “Virat himself will make the announcement. He is of the view that he needs to concentrate on his batting and go back to becoming what he’s always been — the best batsman in the world,” TOI quoted a BCCI source as saying. The report also suggests that Kohli and Rohit are on the “same page” on the issue of change in leadership and they agree it will be a “win-win “ situation for the men in blue. “We realise spin-masters will be at work, giving their own twists to these developments. That’s the reason BCCI is planning this well in advance. In the end, Virat and Rohit are on the same page,” the sources added. If these suggestions of change hold ground come November, it will be another shot at the concept of “split-captaincy” by the Indian team management after a not so long and successful experiment with MS Dhoni and Kohli himself.

CPL 2021 | SKNP vs TKR: Trinbago take top spot after 4-wicket win over Patriots

Trinbago Knight Riders ended the league stage of the CPL 2021 on a positive note after beating St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 4 wickets as they chased down a target of 148 runs in 19 overs to move to the top spot in the points table. TKR, Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors have the same number of points and wins under their belt but the Knight Riders are sitting at the helm as they have a better net run-rate. The Warriors follow Trinbago at number two while Patriots and Saint Lucia Kings are at number three and four respectively. TJR started the chase in a steady manner as Lendl Simmons and Denesh Ramdin put 32 runs on the board for the first wicket before Simmons departed for 20 off 17, courtesy a blinder from Fabian Allen. Ramdin was then joined by Colin Munro in the middle but it took the Patriots just 20 runs to two wickets and reduce Trinbago to 52/3. Captain Kieron Pollard who walked in at number five took the onus on himself and struck a fine half-century and provided the resistance to the side. The right-handed eventually departed for a 22-ball 51 when the team scorecard read 115. Later, Isuru Udana held the fort from one end and anchored the side to a win after remaining unbeaten at 25 off 16. Udana’s knock included three maximums. Fawad Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for the Patriots as he returned with figures of 2/16 in 4 overs. Earlier, SKNP managed to put 147/7 in 20 overs as Joshua Da Silva notched up a half-century while Bravo chipped in with a brisk 25 off 13 during the course. Ali Khan scalped three wickets for Trinbago in the innings. SKNP captain Dwayne Bravo admitted that they needed more runs on the board to defend. “I must say it was a good cricket game, we batted first, we wanted to defend totals, obviously 149 wasn't enough against that batting line-up, happy though that we took it to the 19th over,” he said after the match. TKR will now play Saint Lucia Kings in the first semi-final on Tuesday in St Kitts while Patriots will take on Guyana on Wednesday at the same venue.

CPL 2021 | GAW s JT: Romario Shepherd's all-round performance shows exit gate to Tallawahs

Guyana Amazon Warriors ended Jamaica Tallawahs’ campaign in this CPL 2021 after beating them by 14 runs (DLS Method) in a rain-curtailed match. Batting first, the Warriors didn’t have a great start to the innings as they lost wickets at regular intervals and were soon left tottering at 75/7 when Romario Shepherd and Motie joined hands and steadied the ship for the side. Shepherd chipped in with an unbeaten 31-ball 72 which included six sixes to anchor the side to a total of 142/7 in 18 overs. Imad Wasim was the pick of the bowlers for Jamaica after he returned with figures of 3/15 in his allotted 4 overs while Chris Green and Andre Russell picked up a couple of wickets apiece. Later, the Tallawahs never really got into the groove and witnessed a batting collapse to get bowled out for 128 in 17.1 overs. The Jamaican side were reduced to 89/9 before Green struck a quick-fire 31 off 20 but his efforts weren’t enough to take the team over the line. Shepherd and Odean Smith picked up three wickets each for Guyana while Imran Tahir had two scalps to his name. Jamaica skipper Powell admitted that the batting collapse and the failure of the middle-order was a major reason for their defeat in this clash. “I think we got a good start with the ball, we talk about getting right in the first 5-6 overs and I think we did that and at the back-end we kind of strayed a little from our plans. Just a little bit of hope there (last wicket partnership), but the middle-order didn't stand up and if the middle-order don't do well it's always gonna be difficult. Lots of positives for us,” he said after the match.