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ECB Chairman apologises to PCB for cancelling tour, assures full tour next year

The England and Wales Cricket Board chairman, Ian Watmore has apologised to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for cancelling the white-ball tour and promised that the English team will tour the country for a three-match Test series and five ODIs next year. 

"I'm very sorry to anyone who feels hurt or let down by our decision, particularly in Pakistan. The decision the board made was an extremely difficult one and the board made it with the primary consideration being the welfare and mental health of our players and staff,” Watmore said in his first public statement after cancelling the tour. 

"We've recommitted to a proper tour, a scheduled tour, of Pakistan next year and will get on with planning that. We will have longer to plan that trip,” he added. 

First, New Zealand had cancelled their limited-overs tour of Pakistan minutes before the start of the first ODI citing security reasons and then England also abandoned their trip. 

Watmore also confirmed that the ECB had made a decision without consulting the players. 

"The board took the decision based on its own judgments and it didn't go out to consultation. Had we decided to go forward with the tour we'd have had to put the proposals to the players, but it didn't reach that," said Watmore. 

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IPL 2021 | MI vs PBKS: Hits & Flops as Pandya-Pollard show overshadows Ravi Bishnoi heroics

Well, it was always coming and that the power-packed batting lineup of the Mumbai Indians took so long to come with their might in the end overs was only a respite for the other teams. The Kings XI Punjab were not he lucky bunch of people though as they could not prevent themselves from the wrath of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya in the final phase of the game. The Kings fought hard with the ball and tried all their tricks till the pair of Pollard and Pandya were not present together in the middle and as soon as the big man from Trinidad started middling the ball, there was not much left for the men in red to do in the game. The Kings had to engulf yet another loss after coming so close with incredibly good spell of bowling in the initial phase but the failure of batsmen turned out to be the main difference as they fell short of a defendable total against Mumbai. Here, we’ll analyse the best and worst performances of the second clash of the day between the Mumbai Indians and the Punjab Kings. Hits Ravi Bishnoi When the Kings dropped Ravi Bishnoi from the playing XI against the Rajasthan Royals in their first game of the UAE leg, there was widespread criticism of the Kings management over their refusal to back a young and promising leg spinner. The night against the Mumbai Indians was a perfect occasion for the rookie spinner to show what he brings to the table and that he is not a one-season wonder. He was instrumental in the Kings’ defence of 125 runs against the Sunrisers Hyderabad but that performance came at a spin-friendly pitch at Sharjah and hence the game against Mumbai was a litmus test. He is not a conventional leg spinner who uses the googly as variation and instead he uses it as his stock delivery but batsmen are refusing to see his peculiarity. The Kings did not have too many runs to defend and breaking through early was essential for their cause and Bishni turned out to be the man for KL Rahul. First, he enticed Rohit into playing a lofted shot when the ball was not near to him and followed that up with a beauty of googly to get through the gap between bat and pad of Suryakumar Yadav to send him back to the pavilion on a golden duck. He was on a hat-trick and delivered another googly that Saurab Tiwary could barely defend. His four overs produced only 25 runs against Mumbai that is considered a brutal batting unit against spinners and hence his performance can’t go unnoticed. Bishnoi is just 21 years old and by all accounts has a long and bright career ahead. He has not been able to earn an India call up yet but that is not too far from his reach if he maintains consistency with his craft. Hardik Pandya The struggling journey of the Mumbai Indians in this edition of IPL can be truly depicted in the journey of Hardik Pandya. Once a flourishing all-rounder, he has been reduced into a batsman and as soon as the form left his bat, there were agonising repetitive failures in the past. The fitness issues did not leave him even in the UAE leg of the tournament and he could feature in the first two matches that Mumbai lost. Then, he came back against the RCB but could not contribute anything and the side slipped into another loss. Hardik walked out to bat past the halfway stage and was carrying a bag of bad form and dodgy fitness of the recent past. He had a formidable challenge in the form of Bishnoi to combat before moving ahead to the big and crucial task of taking the Mumbai Indians. Hardik knew that the game was hanging in balance and his side was heavily reliant on him and Pollard after the fall of Saurabh Tiwary. He accepted his lack of form and chose not to take risks initially to take the game deep before unleashing the close to his best power on the Kings bowling attack. With 40 needed off the last four overs, Hardik decided to open up his shoulder and despatched Mohammed Shami for a four and six to show a glimpse of his brutal best. Kieron Pollard was a more than able partner and he reduced the equation to a comfortable 16 runs of the last two overs by foiling the tactics of Arshdeep Singh. Hardik made sure the men in blue did not need all of 12 balls and called out the bluff of Shami, who kept him double guessing by bowling short outside off stump with no fielder back to defend shots. The Mumbai Indians are known for peaking at the right moment and the win over the Kings by the usual mode of aggression by Pandya and Pollard could just be the start of another Mumbai fire going into the business end of the tournament. Aiden Markram Amid all the ridiculous selection and strategic calls the Kings have taken this season, first the selection and then inclusion of Aiden Markram in the playing XI has been one of their best decision. He was in red hot form against Sri Lanka just prior to the UAE leg of the IPL and hence he was roped in as a replacement for Dawid Malan. While Malan could not find a place in the team, Markram’s form has been valued highly by the Kings management and the young South African has repaid the faith shown in him. On the night against Mumbai, he was the lone man fighting with the bat and he was the glue that held the Kings together. He has not found it easier to hit big shots but has not looked out of place either. After the failure of KL Rahul, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, he sticthed valuable partnership with Deepak Hooda to propel the Kings to a score they could dare to defend. He was perfectly fine in changing the tempo of the innings as he started to change the course of his and Kings’ innings with the crisp boundaries of Trent Boult and Rahul Chahar. Markram has been touted very highly in South African cricket and the ease with which he has batted in his maiden appearance in the league that has not treated foreign batsmen too well on first occasion will go a long way for him in the near future. Flops Suryakumar Yadav More than 400 runs for Mumbai Indians at number three for the last three editions of the IPL and not so long back Suryakumar Yadav could not set a foot wrong on the cricket field. His truckload of runs in the domestic cricket and IPL compelled fans to show severe disappointment in his non-selection in the India T20 squad. The opportunity came and he was all set to grab all of them with both hands. He announced his arrival on the big stage with all his swagger and flair. His IPL exploits earned him an ODI cap and then a place in India’s extended Test squad for the series against England. However, like the form of every other batsman, his form has also hit a stumbling block and all stakeholders of his form such as he himself, the Mumbai Indians and the Indian T20I team, a slump in form could not have come at a worse time than the current one. He has looked like a pale shadow of the batsman he has been and although he could not spend time at the crease against the Kings, the fact that he failed to pick Bishnoi off his hand was some failure for a batsman of his standard. Stepping down the track and hitting spinners over cover for fun has been his go-to shot in the shortest format and it appeared he tried to do so while being frozen in the crease and Bishnoi’s googly rattled his stumps. There is a lot riding on Surya’s bat for Mumbai and India in the present and near future and he would do well to have a word with himself or Mahela Jayawardena, who has been a champion batsman of big occasions to sort out whatever is not working for him. Mohammed Shami Mohammed Shami has all the ingredients it takes to be a great fats bowler in all formats. He has a deceptive bouncer, an accurate yorker, nice wrist and seam position to extract best through the air and off the surface, but yet he has not cracked the T20 code yet after so many years at the highest level. His contribution was essential for Kings’ chance in the game and he was the culprit who killed their efforts in what turned out to be the final over of the game. Hardik Pandya was struggling to get going and he offered him a leg-stump half volley to get back all his lost rhythm and confidence in the 17th over before trying to play a bluff game with him in the penultimate over. Hardik was setting up to play straight deliveries but Shami was gambling on bowling outside off stump to flummox him. After beating him on a couple of occasions, Pandya was up for the challenge and he could preempt the batsman’s move and became a victim of his own bluff. His bluff was brutally called off by Pandya, who smashed him for 17 runs and sealed the game for Mumbai and left the Kings’ team and fans scratching the head on what his attempts were in the final two overs. The Mumbai Indians got to 10 points after the win over the Kings but will have to wait for others to fail while keeping his regained form on track to get to the first four on the points table. On the other hand, the Kings looked muddle in their tactics and had to pay a big price of slipping to sixth on the points table.