Hasaranga reaches career-best second rank in T20I bowling list, Hazlewood makes gains in ODIs list

19-year-old Mohammad Wasim Jnr makes Pakistan debut, match marred by rain

Pakistan handed out the debut T20I cap to Islamabad United fast bowler Mohammad Wasim Jnr. for the team’s first match in West Indies. Wasim, who is just 19-year-old was handed his cap by bowling coach Waqar Younis in a ceremony held ahead of the start of the match in Kensington Oval, Barbados. In a video uploaded by Pakistan Cricket Board, skipper Babar Azam can be seen naming the playing XI for the first of the four T20Is against West Indies and it is during that he introduces Wasim saying that right arm fast bowler would be making his debut. Earlier in the evening, PCB had uploaded another video Babar is seen going into Wasim’s hotel room and personally congratulating him on getting the Pakistan cap. He also advised the young man not to take any pressure and perform as he has done in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League. Wasim, who has so far got 12 wickets in 11 PSL games and is a quick scorer of runs lower down the order was hugely excited for his debut. He said, “I would like to thank the almighty for this opportunity to represent my country. I would inform my mother and father back home about this and would like to thank all my coaches especially Abdul Razzaq (former Pakistan international) who always believed I was good enough to play for the country.” As far as the match is concerned, not a single ball has been bowled after the toss which Pakistan won and decided to bowl first. There are three changes in the Men in Green's playing XI from their last T20I with Sohaib Maqsood making way for Sharjeel Khan as an opener and Azam Khan coming in for Imad Wasim while Mohammad Hasnain made way for Wasim Jr's debut.

R Ashwin wants Women’s IPL soon, says The Hundred is exciting

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed starting a women’s Indian Premier League as soon as p[ossible and the inspiration for that came from him watching The Hundred’s opening match between Manchester Original Women and Oval Invincibles Women. "I watched a women’s game between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals. Though names were different, the game was outstanding, and women’s cricket is here to stay. I’d be glad if women’s IPL is all set to happen,” said the bowling all-rounder in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel. The newest format of cricket, The Hundred has received its fair share of criticism and praises and Ashwin lies on the side of praise as he called it exciting and a festival of cricket. "Hundred format has had an exciting start, and let’s see how it goes. Many believe this format can affect the performances of players. But I have found The Hundred enjoyable, and it can be called a sporting festival season. After tough times, experiencing live sports in cricket is something great,” said the 34-year-old, who would be taking on England as part of Team India with the first of the five Tests starting August 04 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Legends of the game like Sunil Gavaskar have criticised The Hundred as being insipid and not as religiously followed by fans as an IPL or BBL is. Reacting to the criticism, Ashwin, who himself is rated more as a Test player with 413 Test wickets and more than 2500 runs, says that people do not accept change easily. "Those who did not understand this format commented vaguely about frequent changes in rules and formats. To many, innovation is not encouraged and is often misunderstood,” he said. "When someone films a movie, we should watch it in the theatre and then criticise it. Making irrelevant comments even before going to the theatre does not work. We should appreciate the attempt and give credit to it."

SL vs IND | 2nd T20: Gaikwad, Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Chetan Sakariya make T20I debut

With resources in the squad depleting to leave only 11 players to play with for the remaining games of the series, India have handed maiden T20I caps to Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana and Chetan Sakariya. It will be the first appearance at the international level for the duo of Padikkal and Gaikwad, while Rana and Sakariya have had their international debuts earlier in the ODI series. Notably, After the all-rounder, Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19, as many as eight players such as Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Yuzvendra Chahal, among others were deemed closed contacts. The Indian team management decided to not field any of those players in the series and added players who were on the tour as net bowlers in the main squad. The Covid-19 crisis has left Indian batting a bit thin on paper with just five prominent players such as Dhawan, Padikkal, Gaikwad, Samson and Rana to shoulder the responsibility. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to bat at the number six position in the second and final T20Is of the series. India are 1-0 up in the three-match series, but their resources are depleted massively and Dhawan will have to take the onus upon himself to lead the side in this circumstantial phase.

SL vs IND | India add 5 players to main squad, T20 series to go ahead as rescheduled: Report

The postponed second T20I of the series between India and Sri Lanka is all set to go ahead as per rescheduled plan as the BCCI has added five backup players such as Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh into the main squad, Cricbuzz reported. The addition comes in the backdrop of continued suspense on the availability of eight players who have been deemed “closed contacts” of Kruanl Pandya, who tested positive for Covid-19. There were widespread doubts on the viability of the series altogether as India were falling behind in fielding a strong playing XI for the remaining two T20Is. However, Hemant Buch, who is there in Sri Lanka as a member of the TV crew covering the series tweeted earlier today that the second T20 was on. The ongoing tour of Sri Lanka has been grappled with the Covid-19 crisis before its beginning. India had to wait for a period of five days after there were cases in the hosts camp and now the series faced an existential challenge with cases in the Indian camp as well. There will be no change in the date of the conclusion of the series if the second T20 of the series will go ahead as planned.