Haris Sohail ruled out of ODI series against England due to injury

ZIM vs BAN | Only Test, Day 1: Das misses out on ton after stabilising a crumbling Ban innings

Liton Das might have missed out in a well deserved hundred agonisingly by only five runs, but he made sure that his team were removed from the clutches of yet another batting collapse. In his endeavour, the wicket keeper batsman was helped by an experienced Mahmudullah Riyadh, who remained not out on 54, when Bangladesh ended the first day at 294-8. Having lost six wickets for just 132 with all big names like Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and skipper Minimum Haque back in the hut, Das and Mahmuddulah joined hands at a very difficult time in the Tiger's innings. However, Das chose attack as his best defence, racing away to what would be only his 9th fifty in his 25th Test. Attacking all the bowlers, the 26 year old made a niche for himself and was almost about to reach his maiden Test hundred when a moment of spur turned out to be his demise. The right handed batter, trying to pull his way to a hundred, gave into the Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor and bowler Donald Tiripano's plans, pulling a short ball straight to an awkward fine leg, set up just for any such shot only. But before getting out, Das had added 138 for the 7th wicket with Mahmudullah. After Das, Mehedi Hasan Mira went out on the very next delivery putting Bangladesh in a spot of bother once again before the 35 year old partnered with pacer Taskin Ahmed to add unbeaten 24 runs to the total and end the first day's play at 294-8. In the meantime, Mahmudullah reached his 17th Test fifty playing his 50th Test match. Earlier in the day, Bangladeshi skipper Mominul Haque won the toss and decided to vat first. His decision didn't bore much fruit as the visiting team were two down with just eight runs on the board. Both wickets were taken by tall fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani. Haque himself tried to build partnerships, adding 60 for the third wicket with Shadman Islam and 38 for the fourth wicket with Rahim. However, Muzarabani struck again to remove Rahim after Islam had been Islam had been caught of Richard Ngarava's bowling. Shakib and Mominul followed Rahim's suit as they too were out soon, pushing Bangladesh from 106-3 to 132-6. The 24 year old Muzarabani remained the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe, scalping three wickets while Victor Nayuchi and Tiripano picked two each and a solitary wicket fell in Ngarava's account.

The greatest gloves in the east: Watch ICC wish MS Dhoni a Django Unchained style birthday

On July 7, it was the birthday of the greatest captain to have graced the pitch of cricket- MS Dhoni. Having won it all in his career as a captain, one thing that remained a bit underrated in his career was his super-fast bails flicking skills behind the wicket. The International Cricket Council decided to catch on as it prepared a short video in the format of a montage where the stampings by the legend were compiled at one place. As the video plays, one can clearly see MS click the bails with his lightning-fast hands behind the stumps with the Indian players celebrating it. There was not even a second where any fan of cricket could have switched or swayed his head from the video as along with those brilliant stumpings, the amazing background from the Quinton Tarantino movie starring Jamie Fox- Django Unchained. The video sets the mood for the wish as MS Dhoni has indeed been the best man with the gloves behind the stumps. The Jharkhand born is the first captain to have played 200 ODIs and 60 Tests as a wicketkeeper. To his credit, the now 40-year-old has the most stumpings for a wicketkeeper in international cricket. Along with being a wicketkeeper. Dhoni, who ended his career with 634 catches and 195 stumpings across formats, was also the go-to man in terms of DRS calls from behind the wicket.

We still walk in as number one team: Ben Stokes on facing Pakistan with a new squad

The England and Wales Cricket Board were left with no choice but to call on Ben Stokes back who was performing relatively well for his county Durham in the T20 Blast. Rushed on to the captaincy following an overhaul of the squad due to Covid-19 cases in the England camp, Stokes believes that he and the entire new squad will still take the field in the entire series as the number one English side. "The one thing that I told myself to make sure that I told the team, is that although this has been a very quick turnaround of events, in terms of having to pick a new squad, no matter what name is on the back of the England shirt we are walking out there as the No 1 team," Stokes said in a virtual press conference on the eve of the first ODI scheduled to be played in Cardiff on July 8. The 31-year-old New Zealand born said that it is a great opportunity for the young cricketers to showcase that they deserve the call that they have got. "That's an exciting thing to say you are a part of, whether you are an experienced player, a young player or someone who has come into the group for the first time. Situations like these are so rare. You've got an opportunity here to represent your country and let's all just do it with a big smile on our face and just enjoy it as much as we can as a group." Stokes, who has so far played 71 Tests, 98 ODIs and 34 T20Is believe that the experience of County cricket would help the nine uncapped English players in the squad. "One of the reasons for County Cricket is to put your name in the hat for an England call up - although you don't normally go picking 16 new players in a space of a couple of days!," Chuckled the Durham player. "The guys who have been picked have put their hand up in county cricket and deserve to be in this situation, albeit through extreme circumstances. But everyone warrants their place in the squad," added Stokes. The all-rounder, hero of the 2019 World Cup shares a funny incident as to how his wife reacted to the call-up. "After the call happened my wife sent me a screenshot of an article saying 'England aren't going to rush Ben Stokes back'. It's one of these situations that's an example of 'if you don't laugh you'll cry'," said Stokes, who has 7890 international runs and 254 wickets. Earlier, ECB confirmed that the whole new squad and staff have tested negative ahead of Thursday's first ODI against Pakistan.

Thought of quitting the England tour midway never crossed our minds says Babar Azam

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam stated that they never felt the need to cancel the tour of England midway after three of the English players and four support staff tested positive for COVID-19. England had to name an entirely different 18 members squad with Ben Stokes taking the charge. The first team squad was forced to go into 10-day isolation but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was satisfied with the arrangements made by the England Cricket Board (ECB) and will continue with their white-ball series which begins on Thursday (8th July). Pakistan has been the most frequent travelling since the pandemic. This is their second tour of England in a year’s time and most of the players have been in the bi0-secure bubble since May. However, Babar Zam said that they never contemplated calling the tour off as England did on their tour to South Africa last year. "No, we didn't think about it, it didn't come into our minds at any time," Azam was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo. "The PCB and ECB have assured us that they will take care of the safety and health of all the squad members. We must understand that these are unprecedented times of Covid-19. I want to acknowledge my players who have spent the last 18 months in and out of bio-secure bubbles and we have prepared in that. For now we are focusing on cricket and tomorrow's game,” he added. The skipper said that they are well aware of most of the England players but the wholesale changes has resulted in a few homework still to be done on the uncapped and untested players. "We know most of them but there were a couple of new faces in the squad and we sat together with the analyst, we worked on them, we have seen footage of their county matches," Azam said. "They may be new players but they are playing for England so we won't take them lightly. I know a few of them, having played in T20 Blast, and those we don't know we have researched their performances,” he added.