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Hardik return, Faf du Plessis opts for PSL and Wood out – November 29 Cricket highlights

Aakash Saini

Hardik Pandya and Mark Wood [Source: AFP]Hardik Pandya and Mark Wood [Source: AFP]

Hardik Pandya will reportedly be making his return to competitive cricket in the ongoing SMAT 2025-26 season for Baroda. Faf du Plessis has ruled himself out of IPL 2026 auction to play PSL instead. In other news, England fast bowler Mark Wood will not play the second Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series in Australia.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Saturday, November 29.

Hardik Pandya to play three SMAT fixtures for Baroda: Report

Senior Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to make his return to competitive cricket through the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 season for the Baroda cricket team. As reported by the Times of India, the cricketer will likely play three matches in the tournament between December 2 and December 6 next week. Hardik Pandya has already spent 42 days at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) for his rehabilitation after sustaining an injury during the 2025 Asia Cup a couple of months ago in the UAE.

Mark Wood ruled out of second Ashes Test in Brisbane

England fast bowler Mark Wood will miss the upcoming second Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane. He has been excluded from the team citing his workload management, considering the speedster recently returned after recovering from his knee injury, one that he sustained back in February this year during the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in the UAE.

With England 0-1 down in the series, the second Test will be played between December 4 and December 8 next week.

WPL 2026 schedule unveiled by BCCI

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled the entire schedule of the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 season. The opening match of the tournament will be played between defending champions Mumbai Indians and 2024 winners RCB on January 9 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The venue will host each of the first 11 matches of the competition until January 17, before the action shifts to Vadodara for the second half of the WPL 2026 season.

The eliminator and the final will be played on February 3 and February 5 respectively.

Faf du Plessis opts out of IPL 2026 auction to play PSL 2026

Former South African captain and ageing veteran Faf du Plessis has opted himself out of the IPL 2026 auction race. Instead, the 41-year-old has now made himself available for the upcoming PSL 2026 season in Pakistan. Faf du Plessis last played PSL back in 2021 for the Quetta Gladiators.

In IPL, the legendary South African batter played 154 matches, including 92 for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise spanning seven different editions of the tournament. Faf was also a part of an IPL-winning side twice, both for CSK in 2018 and 2021.

Kieron Pollard replaces Nicholas Pooran as MI Emirates skipper in ILT20 2026

Former West Indies cricketer Kieron Pollard has been appointed as the new captain of the MI Emirates franchise for the upcoming ILT20 2026 season, thus replacing Nicholas Pooran in the process. Under the leadership of Pooran, the MI Emirates finished third on the ILT20 2025 points table earlier this year, before losing to Sharjah Warriorz in the Eliminator.

With Kieron Pollard at the helm, the MI Emirates will now face Gulf Giants in their opening match of ILT20 2026 next week at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on December 4.