Faf du Plessis fails to recover from concussion, leaves for home without playing in The Hundred

Faf du Plessis, who were to lead the Northern Superchargers in the first edition of the Hundred failed to recover from the concussion he suffered while playing in the Pakistan Super League and he is now heading home. He revealed his health and travelling update on his Instagram profile on August 13.

“Unfortunately im on my way home as I haven't recovered as quick as I would have liked from my concussion to play some sort of part in @thehundred for the @northernsuperchargers this year. Great bunch of guys and I've really enjoyed the look and feel of this tournament.”

"I would like to thank the @ecb.uk.co, the @northernsuperchargers and also every single person who has gone out there way to make sure that my brain health remains the most important priority and not how fast I play cricket again. I'm really so grateful for all the support through this difficult injury and feel like I'm very close to playing again."

Before the start of the tournament, it was believed that the Superchargers skipper will miss just the first three games but he could not recover quickly enough to play “some sort of part” in their journey.

He had injured his head after colliding with his Quetta Gladiators’ teammate Mohammad Hasnain while fielding in the game against the Peshawar Zalmi on June 13.

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Dinesh Chandimal to play for Bhairahawa Gladiators in Everest Premier League

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Zimbabwe confirms Men’s Ireland-Scotland tour, Women’s team to play Thailand at home

The Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed that its senior Men’s side would be touring Ireland and Scotland this August and September to play a three-match ODI and five-match ODI series against Ireland and a three-match T20I series against Scotland. While the Chevrons would start their Ireland campaign with the first T20I on August 27 Clontarf, it would play the second game there as well before moving to Bready for the next three T20Is on September 1, 2 and 4. The T20I series will be followed by the three ODIs, all slated to take place at Stormont on September 8, 10 and 13 respectively. This series would be part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League, which is the qualifying tournament for ICC ODI World Cup 2023, which will take place in India. Post their stay in Irish territory, they would move to neighbouring Scotland for a brief stay where they will play three T20Is on September 15, 17 and 19 at Edinborough. After Pakistan Women’s trip was cut short due to Covid-19 in April this year, Zimbabwe Cricket has now worked and arranged a series for its senior women's team. They will play Thailand at Takashinga in Harare, in a three-match T20I series and a four-match ODI series. The Zimbabwe Emerging Men’s team will also be playing at the same time as they will tour neighbouring Namibia, where they will play three T20s and as many one-dayers against Namibia Eagles at the iconic Wanderers in Windhoek.

U19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand retires from Indian cricket

Former India U19 skipper Unmukt Chand has retired from Indian cricket. The right-handed batsman announced his retirement in a social media post. “Cricket is a universal game and even though the means might change, the end goal is still the same- to play at the highest level. Also, a huge thanks to all my supporters and well wishers for always carrying me in their heart. There is no better feeling than being loved and appreciated for who you are,” he wrote. Chand has been one of the Indian captains to lift the World Cup at the junior level in 2012. The right-hander scored a match-winning 111* off 130 deliveries as India chased down a target of 226 runs against Australia in Townsville. In 67 First-Class games that Unmukt played, he scored over 3300 runs at an average of 31.57 that included eight hundreds. He was also capped 120 times in List A cricket where he scored 4505 runs at an average of 41.33 and notched up seven tons. Unmukt was a part of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League where he could only manage to score 300 runs in 21 appearances. He made his First-Class debut for Delhi against Gujarat in November 2010 while playing his first List A match for Delhi against J&K in February 2010.

England confirms Pakistan tour in October, but only after venue is changed

The England men’s and women’s teams will tour Pakistan in October. The men’s teams will take on each other in a couple of T20Is while the women’s teams are slated to play two T20Is and three ODIs. The fixtures will be held at Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium. The T20I encounters will be double-headers which will take place on October 13 and 14 while the women’s ODI series will be played on October 17, 19 and 21 respectively. England's men's team will then take the flight to Dubai on October 15. The England teams will arrive in Islamabad on October 9. The English senior team (men or women) will be touring Pakistan for the first time since 2005-06. The matches were earlier scheduled to take place in Karachi on October 14 and 15 but had to be shifted due to "operational and logistical reasons". PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan expressed delight while confirming the tour. The tour looked in jeopardy after the World Cup schedule was announced as the dates were too close for England to risk travelling to two nations in a short span at such times when Covid is still more than prevalent. "We are delighted to welcome both the England men's team for what will be their first tour to Pakistan since 2005 and the England women's team, who will be touring Pakistan for the first time. Both are additional tours with England men's side scheduled to return to Pakistan in the last quarter of 2022 for white-ball and ICC World Test Championship fixtures," Khan said.