Can't write off Virat Kohli in three innings: Ajit Agarkar

WI vs PAK | 2nd Test | Day 4: Shaheen Afridi's six-for pushes hosts on backfoot

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi rattled the West Indies batting line up in the first innings of the second Test of the two-match series in Jamaica. The left-handed bowler bagged a six-wicket haul to put his team in front in the match. Riding on Shaheen’s scintillating spell of bowling, the visitors took a massive lead of 152 runs in the first innings after bundling out the home side for 150. Pakistan had earlier scored 302/9, courtesy a fine hundred from Fawad Alam. Apart from Shaeen, Mohammad Abbas and Faheem Ashraf were also among wickets. While Abbas returned with a three-for, Faheem scaled one wicket during the course. Later, the visiting team scored some runs at a brisk pace and put 176/6 on the board before the declaration was made by captain Babar Azam in the second innings and handed West Indies a target of 329 runs. The hosts didn’t really have a great start to the proceedings and lost Kieron Powell for 23 after he was run out less than 30 minutes before the stumps. Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and Alzarri Joseph who came in at number three made sure that there were no further fall of wickets before the end of day’s play as the Caribbean side concluded the proceedings at 49/1, needing 280 more runs to win on the final day. Shaeen later talked about his performance and said that the wicket was pretty helpful. “It was a (helpful) wicket and in the first innings I just tried to bowl length and work in partnerships and that brought the success,” Shaheen said after the play . “Early on you just try to bowl fuller on supportive wickets,” he added. West Indies lead the series 1-0 at the moment after they clinched a win in the first Test in a nail-biting finish.

Taliban effect: Afghanistan- Pakistan ODI series rescheduled for 2022

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) have come to a mutual agreement to shift the bilateral ODI series between the two teams to 2022. Sri Lanka had to host the series earlier in Hambantota between September 1 to 8 but the ongoing situation in Afghanistan has forced the boards to postpone the fixtures. "The ACB had contacted the PCB on Monday evening, requesting to postpone the series for 2022 citing disruption of flight operations in Kabul, increased Covid-19 cases in Sri Lanka, mental health of their players and non-availability of broadcast equipment," PCB said in a release. PCB Director International Zakir Khan said that the two boards were keen to hold the series but had rescheduled it considering the current situation. "We have worked very closely with the Afghanistan Cricket Board to make this series happen and were keen to play them in the inaugural bilateral series, but we understand their challenges and have, therefore, agreed to reschedule the series for 2022,” he said. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) was earlier forced to shift the series to Pakistan from Sri Lanka as there are no commercial flights taking off from Kabul at the moment. This meant that the team first had to travel to Pakistan by road, then take the flight to Dubai and travel to Sri Lanka from there.

Root feels bad for Azeem Rafiq, calls for more 'conversation' to bring 'diversity' into Cricket

England skipper Joe Root has said that it is hard for him to see his friend and former colleague in County Cricket, Azeem Rafiq going through a tumultuous phase. He recognised the need for improvement in the development of the game as a more inclusive sport in the light of a report by the Yorkshire County over allegations of racism by Rafiq. Prioritising the elephant in the room that is the issue of racism, Root said that there should be continuous “conversations” over it to make the game more “diverse” and create more “opportunities”. "As a former team-mate and friend, it's hard to see Azeem hurting as he is. More than anything, it just shows that there is a lot of work we have to do in the game. It's a societal issue in my opinion. We have seen it in other sports; we have seen it in other areas. As a sport, we have got to keep trying to find ways of making sure this isn't a conversation that keeps happening. We have got to find ways of creating more opportunities, making our game more diverse and educating better,” Root said. "I don't think that just comes from players and administrators: it's from everyone in the game. There has got to be a want and a will to do that. It is something we have to prioritise as a sport and make sure this isn't something that happens again further down the line." Earlier last week, the Yorkshire County had conceded that Rafiq was subjected to “inappropriate behaviour” while he was playing for the county and they also extended a “profound apology” for the same. Rafiq had first reported the allegations of racism late last year following which the county launched an independent investigation and its report was published last week after a lot of controversy over the delay.

Can’t commit to full-time coaching: Mahela Jayawardene after leading Southern Brave to The Hundred title

Having led Southern Brave to a title win in the inaugural season of The Hundred, their chief coach and former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene were asked whether he would consider coaching national teams, now that he has three IPL titles with Mumbai Indians as a coach and one with Brave. Responding to it, the Sri Lankan categorically denied any such plans as of now because he wants to spend time with his family and doesn’t want to live out of a suitcase or on the road all the time. "Having done 18 years of international cricket as a player I don't want to live out of a suitcase for 12 months of the year,” said the man with more than 25,000 international runs in his kitty. Jayawardene however confirmed that his current structure of helping franchise teams as consultants would remain in place. "I'm happy to help out as a consultant here and there (with Sri Lanka) but not on a full-time basis because I would not enjoy that personally,” he said. "This is a good challenge for me and it's early days. I don't do too many tournaments so that I have my personal time to spend back home with the family,” he further added. Having spent a lot of time with Southern brave, Jayawardene feels that Tymal deserves a place in the England squad for the T20 World Cup for the hard work he has done and the kind of talent he possesses. Mills was instrumental in Brave's Eliminator win against Trent rickets and Final victory against Birmingham Phoenix. "I'd be disappointed if he's not on that plane for the World Cup. Throughout the competition, he's been fantastic. Tymal Mills is always going to be an asset. In the shorter format of the game, he knows his skills and it's a hard skill that he's executing,” said Jayawardene about the man who did not consider a single boundary in the knockout stage of the tournament and picked four wickets as well in two matches. With the remainder of the IPL to be played in September-October, the 44-year-old Sri Lankan would have his task cut out as he would be preparing to lead Mumbai Indians to title hattrick with the team having won the titles in 2019 and 2020 under his guidance.