Bio-bubble was breached & compromised during PSL 2021: PCB

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s independent fact-finding committee has confirmed that there was a bio-bubble breach during the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The final report of Dr Syed Faisal Mahmood and Dr Salma Muhammad Abbas was handed over to PCB chairman Ehsan Mani on March 31. Mani will now study the report and will share the details with the board members.

A source though has said that the report from the committee has confirmed that there was a bio-bubble breach.

The PSL was earlier put to halt with immediate effects after the rise in COVID-19 cases. "Following a meeting with the team owners and considering the health and wellbeing of all participants is paramount, the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to postpone the HBL Pakistan Super League 6 with immediate effect. The decision was made after seven cases were reported in the competition, which had started on 20 February," the statement on the PSL official website read.

The PCB had earlier faced the heat from the players and former cricketers. All-rounder Shahid Afridi went on to say that it was unfortunate the PCB had failed to have a plan B if something like this comes up.

Former skipper Inzamam ul Haq slammed PCB and suggested that the board should have taken care of the players in a better way. “I would request the PCB to properly look after these players because if you don’t, incidents like Hafeez getting himself tested privately will happen,” Inzamam said.

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Have enjoyed working with Prithvi Shaw: Ricky Ponting

India and Delhi Capitals batsman Prithvi Shaw was back among runs in the recently-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy after becoming the highest run-getter in the tournament. Shaw who was the skipper of the Mumbai team led his side to the title win. The right-handed batsman had a forgettable Australian tour earlier. DC coach Ricky Ponting has said that he has enjoyed working with Shaw. "I've tried (taking Shaw under his wing) the last two years and I've really enjoyed working with him," Ponting told cricket.com.au. Ponting further revealed that the right-handed batsman had a different approach to his batting. “He had an interesting theory on his batting last year – when he's not scoring runs, he won't bat, and when he is scoring runs, he wants to keep batting all the time,” Ponting said. The former Australia captain suggested that the right-hander has the ability to play for India for a long time. "Maybe (his training habits) have changed for the better, because (his success) won't just be for the Delhi Capitals, I'm sure you'll see him play a lot of cricket for India as well in the coming years," said Ponting. DC will begin the IPL 2021 against Chennai Super Kings on April 10 in Mumbai. The Delhi-based franchise had the most successful run in the 2020 edition after they made it to the final for the first time but lost to Mumbai Indians.

SA vs PAK: Toe injury rules Shadab Khan out of ongoing tour of South Africa, Zimbabwe

Pakisan vice-captain in white-ball formats Shadab Khan has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing tour of South Africa and upcoming tour of Zimbabwe due to a foot injury. Shadab took to his Twitter account o share the development about his foot injury which he said occured due to a ball hitting his toe while batting in the second ODI against South Africa. He was batting at the number six position when South Africa pacer produced a toe-crushing yorker at 151kmph to hit Shadab on his foot. The ongoing ODI series between Pakistan and South Africa is levelled at 1-1 with one more game to go. The ODI series will be followed by a fpur-match long T20I series against the hosts to wrap up the tournament. Later, the men in green will travel to Zimbabwe for a Test and T20I series against the hosts. Shadab has earned a name for himself based on bis wicket-taking leg spin and lusty hitting in the later phase of the innings. However, he has not been fruitful with the ball in the first two ODIs of the series and ended up conceding 64 runs in the last and 45 runs in the first ODI without tasting any success in terms fo wickets.

IPL 2021: Shakib Al Hasan wants to score a century, claim fifer in same game

KKR all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has put a lot of stake on the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League and he is looking forward to making the most of it. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Shakib said that he is looking to mount unprecedented records in IPL by scoring a century with the bat and claiming a fifer in a same match. He went on to say that, the Kolkata Knight Riders have all their bases covered, but they will prove to humongous challenge for the opposition teams in the bowling department. On the question of his previous best perfomnaces in the league, Shakib rated the 2014 edition as his best performance in the league. Shakib has had a stellar career at the international stage and that his all-round bailities have always been rated highly by various franhcises based on his availability. He picked the defending champions Mumbai Indians as the team he is more eager to play against in the upcoming edition of IPL. Shakib was bought for by the KKR in the auction earlier this year for Rs 3.20 crore as the franchise went for someone who could offer balance to the team and also play important role on slow and low pitches. The KKR will commence their campaign in IPL 2021 on April 11 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

My heart started pumping, didn’t know what to do: Shahrukh Khan explains surreal feeling of auction day

Punjab Kings signed up Tamil Nadu all-rounder Shahrukh Khan at Rs 5.25 crores in the IPL Mini auctions. That feeling of being such a highly-priced player has not sunk in yet for the 25-year-old middle-order batsman. “Being here, among such stalwarts of cricket feels amazing,” said Shahrukh in a video upload by the Kings on their official website. Talking about the D-Day when the auctions took place, the Chennai born said, “The auction started at around 3 pm and we were practising at the Holkar Stadium then [for the Vijay Hazare Trophy which was about to start].” “I had told our physio to give me a call when my name comes up and luckily my name only came up once the practice was over,” added the beastly built all-rounder. “When my name came, my heart started pumping and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t expect it to rise as much as it did. We were in the team bus and all the guys were watching the auction with me and with every passing bid for my name, they kept on cheering. It felt really nice receiving so much support from the teammates on such a special day.” The right-hand batter and medium-pace bowler feels that the inputs he had been getting from senior players are great. “I have been having a lot’s of conversations with everyone around here and I am getting to learn a lot as well,” he said. Reacting to the high price that he had received in the auctions, Shahrukh said, “I didn’t know the extent of the price until and unless I got calls from each and every media house.”