Completely respect team management's decision of continuing with Pant as DC skipper: Iyer

PCB receives Biryani bill of Rs 27 lakh for security officials deployed for New Zealand team: Report

New Zealand had cancelled their limited-overs tour of Pakistan a few hours before the first ODI citing security issues and this was followed by England abandoning their tour to the Asia country as well. Now, there are some reports doing the rounds that the Pakistan Cricket Board had spent almost INRT 27 lakhs on the food bills of the officers who were in charge of security of the New Zealand side. The reports further suggest that there were five SPs and over 500 SSPs (police officers) who were deployed for the security of the Blackcaps along with the Pakistan army. The New Zealand Cricket in a statement had said that the tour had been called-off due to security reasons. “The side was to play Pakistan this evening in the first of three ODIs in Rawalpindi, before moving to Lahore for a five-match T20 series. However, following an escalation in the New Zealand Government threat levels for Pakistan, and advice from NZC security advisors on the ground, it has been decided the BLACKCAPS will not continue with the tour,” NZC said in the statement calling off the tour. Both New Zealand and England have been facing fire on the social media and from the former Pakistan cricketers for cancelling the tours.

IPL 2021 | DC vs SRH: What Experts Said after DC produce fine all-round performance

Delhi Capitals etched an easy win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Wednesday night after chasing down a target of 135 runs in the 18th over. The Capitals lost an early wicket in the form of Prithvi Shaw who was undone for 11 off 8 by Khaleel Ahmed after getting caught by Kane Williamson who took a brilliant catch running backwards. Later, Dhawan who has been in top form in this edition was joined by Shreyas Iyer who was playing his first match of the season for DC. The left-right duo stitched a stand of 50 runs for the second wicket before Dhawan departed for a 37-ball 42. DC captain Rishabh Pant joined Iyer in the middle and the two batsmen made sure that they didn’t lose any more wickets. While Iyer remained unbeaten at 47 off 41, Pant struck 35* off 21 to take the side home. With the win, DC have now moved at top of the points table. Earlier, in the day, SRH never really got into the groove and lost opener David Warner for a duck. The left-hander’s wicket saw fall of wickets at regular intervals for the Sunrisers and the side was reduced to 90/6 to eventually get reduced to 134/9 in 20 overs. Abdul Samad top-scored for SRH with 28 off 21. For DC, it was the fast bowlers who did the job as Kagiso Rabada returned with figures of 3/37 in 4 overs while Nortje picked up a couple of wickets at the cost of just 12 runs in 4 overs. The left-arm spinner Axar Patel also bagged a two-for during the course. The DC captain expressed delight at starting the second leg of the season with a fascinating win. “We discussed that we had a good first phase, and we are happy to start the second phase this way. We said the same thing about focusing on the process and giving it 100% every day,” he said in the post-match presentation. SRH skipper Kane Williamson admitted that the side didn’t really start off well and they eventually fell short of 25-30 runs in the end. “We didn't start well, didn't register a decent partnership but never got any momentum, some good scores in the back-end, but pretty much 25-30 runs short. We did bowl well, we have defended modest scores in the past, but it wasn't to be today which was a bit of a shame,” he said. Experts Opinions Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra posted some funny tweets and hailed the DC fast bowlers for their speed. Journalist and commentator Ayaz Memon lavished praise on Dhawan, Iyer and Pant for their batting efforts. “Table toppers DC flex their muscle in bowling and batting. Fine all round performance. Restricting SRH to a measly 134 virtually decided the issue before Dhawan, Iyer and Pant made it a cakewalk. Serious issues for SRH, most important being Warner’s continuing run of low scores,” he tweeted. Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan praised the Delhi Capitals after the convincing win over SRH. “Delhi capitals team to beat now and in the future,” he wrote on Twitter. Former India bowler RP Singh hailed the way Dhawan and Iyer batted while also lauded Nortje for his bowling. “Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer scoring runs and Nortje taking wickets. Business as usual for Delhi Capitals,” he tweeted. DC will now play RR in Abu Dhabi while SRH will be up against Punjab Kings in Sharjah on Saturday.

Only batter or batters, no batsmen anymore: MCC introduces new changes in the law

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has announced a revolutionary but much-needed change in the Laws of Cricket as it abandoned the use of the term batsmen and adopted a more inclusive term ‘batters’ to make it more gender-neutral and accommodative for women’s cricket, which has seen an amazing rise in its stature in recent years. “The changes are effective immediately and updates have been made to the Laws of Cricket published at lords.org/laws, with the Laws of Cricket App and printed editions to be amended accordingly at their next updates,” Lord’s, the headquarters of MCC and also known as the home of cricket wrote on its official website. The people in the cricketing fraternity also welcomed the official change although many websites and apps had started using the term a few years ago itself. MCC further said that the move to “batter” is a natural progression, aligning with the terms of bowlers and fielders that already sit within the Laws. Jamie Cox, Assistant Secretary (Cricket and Operations) at MCC was thrilled with the change and hoped that with changing time the sport would keep on evolving and becoming all the more inclusive. “MCC believes in cricket being a game for all and this move recognises the changing landscape of the game in modern times. Use of the term “batter” is a natural evolution in our shared cricketing language and the terminology has already been adopted by many of those involved in the sport,” Cox said. It is the right time for this adjustment to be recognised formally and we are delighted, as the Guardians of the Laws, to announce these changes today,” he further added.

Afghanistan Board chairman to visit Ganguly in UAE, denies on-purpose non-broadcast of IPL

Afghanistan Cricket Board chairman Azizullah Fazli has denied any government intervention in broadcasting the Indian Premier League in the cricket-loving nation of Afghanistan. He rather called it an unfortunate incident that there were not enough start to go on with the broadcast at Radio Television Afghanistan, the official broadcaster of the richest cricket league in the Afghan nation. "At the moment, they only have two staffers that's why the issue arose. We hope it will get resolved in a couple of days and IPL will be telecast,” the ACB chairman was quoted as saying by New Indian Express. Fazli, who was appointed the chairman after the regime change in Afghanistan further said that he is planning to meet BCCI President Sourav Ganguly in UAE this month and might come to India sometime soon to discuss the cricketing future of his country which once DPTED India’s Noida and Uttarakhand as it’s home ground. "I will reach there on September 27 and will stay there for five-six days. We are trying to fix an appointment with Ganguly. One of my acquaintances is in talks with the BCCI president," said Fazli. "Dates are not confirmed yet but I will definitely like to visit India as the BCCI has helped us a lot and we hope it continues to extend cooperation,” he added. Earlier this week, it was rumoured that IPL is not airing in Afghanistan even after its top cricketers playing in the league because the Taliban government did not approve of women watching sports, where cheerleaders and music is given preference.