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Former all-rounder Mirwais Ashraf named acting chairman of Afghanistan Cricket Board

Former Afghanistan all-rounder Mirwais Ashraf has been appointed the new acting chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board. He replaces Azizullah Fazli, who had been appointed only four months ago replacing Farhan Yusufzai who fled the country after the regime change. Thus Ashraf has become the third acting chairman of the board in only four months. 

Hasan Akhund, patron-in-chief of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and the acting prime minister of the country appointed Ashraf at his post through a direct notice issued earlier this week 

Ashraf, who is considered one of the early players to popularise the game alongside Afghan cricket legends such as Mohammad Nabi and Asghar Afghan, made his international debut in 2009 and featured in 46 ODIs and 25 T20Is for the country which includes being a part of two T20 World Cup campaigns in 2010 and 2014 and an ODI World Cup campaign in 2015. 

The reason behind the new change is because the ruling regime wants someone capable of speaking out his mind at ICC meetings and also getting rid of the malfunctions in the system. 

"The government is trying to bring in more competent people with expertise in technical aspects of the game - commercial, business and marketing. If Afghanistan can produce world-class players with this broken system back home then imagine what they can do with a competent board.,” a director in the board was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.

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SLC makes it mandatory for LPL franchises to have two extra local players over and above drafted picks

In a bizarre announcement Sri Lanka Cricket, the Governing Council of the Lankan Premier League 2021, has decided to forward 10 names each to the five franchises of the league and make it mandatory for them to pick at least two players from the 10 choices. Reasoning this move, the SLC in a press release said, “Despite the overall success, Sri Lanka Cricket has observed that franchise owners have opted not to select certain national players and some young players who play excellent domestic cricket and are considered potential future stars.” “Considering the above deficiency and in the interest of the game of Cricket in Sri Lanka, the Governing Council of the Lanka Premier League 2021 decided to forward the names of 10 deserving players, who missed out during the Player draft, to all the franchise owners, and make it ‘mandatory’ for each franchise to select two players out of the given 10 into their squad, thus expanding the squad strength from 20 to 22,” the statement added. It would be interesting to see how all the office franchises, who initially did not pick the players would react to this move and an extra burden from an authoritative notice. In this year’s edition, the Lanka Premier League 2021 received 673 applications from foreign players and a total of 1031 players (local and overseas) went into the draft. The five franchises, namely Galle Gladiators, Jaffna Kings, Colombo Stars, Kandy Warriors and Dambulla Giants have picked 20 players each in the draft which include six overseas players in each team. The LPL 2021 is scheduled to begin on December 05th and would be played till the 23rd of the same month with all league games scheduled to be played at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo with the qualifiers and final to be played at Hambantota.

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T20 World Cup | Semi-Final: Hasan Ali lets Pakistan down as Matthew wades the way for Australia

Shaheen Afridi, the most lethal weapon for Pakistan was handed the ball by skipper Babar Azam when Pakistan needed to defend 22 off the last two overs and Afridi almost delivered as after giving only two singles on his first two balls, he got Matthew Wade to commit a mistake and a mistimed hit was flying straight to Hasan Ali at deep mid-wicket, all the Pakistani hopes were riding in that catch as the wicket would have meant a new batter and anew batter facing Shaheen Afridi is never a pretty sight for the batting team. But Hasan, who had just conceded 15 off his last over and finished his spell at 0-44 in the four overs dropped the sitter. That might be the biggest drop of his career so far as it meant that not only did Australia get two easy runs, but the morale of the entire Pakistani unit was gone although Shoaib Malik tried his efforts best to console Hasan Ali. What happened in the next three balls was pure carnage by Wade. On the fourth ball, he got down on one knee and played a scoop over fine leg for a six. The next ball was at length and slower as well, it sat up nicely and was dispatched over Hasan Ali at mid-wicket for a six. Needing six from seven, Wade once again chose to play the scoop, going down on his haunches, he hit it over Mohammad Rizwan’s head for a six to finish the game in style. Wades’ knock of 41 off just 17 balls was the deciding factor as Australia won the game by five wickets and marched into only their second ever T20 World Cup final where they will face their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand on November 14 in Dubai itself. The 33-year-old wicket-keeper batsman sporting a handsome moustache proudly received the Player of the Match award. The Aussie chase hadn’t started in an ideal way whatsoever, rather it was the worst possible start with skipper Aaron Finch getting out on a golden duck and Mitchell Marsh surviving a close LBW call. David Warner on the other hand kept bowlers at bay and remained busy throughout his knock of 49 off 30 balls. He added 51 with Marsh before the latter was caught by Asif Ali off Shadab Kahan’s bowling. Shadab would go on to then get the wickets of Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Warner as well, all in a span of 19 runs to push Australia from 77-2 to 96-5. It was then that Marcus Stoinis and Wade got into a partnership. They kept hitting a boundary in an over and didn’t let the run rate get above 13 at any point. It was their unbeaten partnership of 81 off just 40 balls that got the Aussies through. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss Australia put Pakistan to bat first. As always, Babar and Rizwan gave a steady start and added 77 for the first wicket before Babar got out trying to accelerate. Rizwan completes his fifty and scored a 52 ball 67. But it was the innings of Fakhar Zaman in which he hit 55 off just 32 balls, smashing Micthell Starc for three sixes that got Pakistan to a comfortable 176 in 20 overs. Adam Zampa was the best Aussie bowler with figures of 1-22 in his four overs. Even Pat Cummins bowled a beauty of a 19th over, giving away just three runs and stopping the Pakistani side from getting past 180.

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T20 World Cup | Semi-final: Who said what on Twitter after Australia march into final

Australia marched into the final of the T20 World Cup with an emphatic 5-wicket win over Pakistan on Thursday in Dubai. Chasing a stiff target of 177 in 20 overs, the Aussie side lost an early wicket after captain Aaron Finch departed for a golden duck as he was trapped in front of the stumps in the very first over by Shaheen Afridi. But opener David Warner who was then joined by Mitchell Marsh steadied the ship for the side and the two batters put up a 52-run stand for the second wicket before Marsh was sent back in the hut for 28 off 22. The Kangaroos then lost a few wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 96/5 when Marcus Stoinis was joined by Matthew Wade. The two batsmen began to rebuild the innings cautiously and then unleashed a counter attack in the later stages of the game. Hasan Ali who had a tough day at the office gave away 27 runs in his final two overs to eventually return with figures of 0/44 in 4 overs. Australia then needed 22 off the last two overs. The Babar Azam-led side did have a chance to make a comeback in the game but Hasan dropped Wade at deep mid wicket and the left-hander didn’t really look back afterwards and wrapped up the match in the penultimate over itself. Wade struck Shaheen for three maximums on the last three deliveries in the over on the trot to guide his team to the title clash. For Pakistan, it was Shadab Khan who was the pick of the bowlers after he scalped four wickets at the cost of 26 runs in 4 overs. Earlier, in the day, Pakistan rode on some fine pieces of batting from Babar Azam, Mohmmad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman to post 176/4 in 20 overs. Rizwan and Fakhar both notched up individual fifties during the course of the innings. Australia will now play New Zealand in the final on Sunday in Dubai.