IND vs NZ | 1st Test: Shreyas Iyer set to make Test debut

This is something we are really waiting for: Harmanpreet Kaur on women's IPL

Harmanpreet Kaur is hopeful that the women’s IPL will take place sooner than later which would eventually help the domestic players as they will get the opportunity of playing with international cricketers. "I think we have been looking at this for a long time and I hope, you know, sooner this women's IPL will also start and we will also invite overseas players over there so that they can also share their experience with our domestic players," said the Indian T20 captain. "I think this is something we are really waiting for and I hope, you know, this will start,” she added. The right-hander created history after she became the first Indian to be named WBBL player of the tournament while playing for Melbourne Renegades in the current season of the Australian domestic T20 tournament for women. The Renegades will be playing the Challenger on Thursday where they will face either of the two among Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers. Harmanpreet, who has played 12 games so far has scored 399 runs at an average of over 66 and scalped 15 wickets at an economy rate of 7.46. The final of the tournament is scheduled to take place on Saturday in Perth. The Perth Scorchers Women side has already registered a place in the title clash.

IPL 2022 likely to begin on April 2: Reports

The next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is likely to commence on April 2, 2022, with Chennai being the first-choice venue for the first match. The schedule of the tournament is yet to be finalised by the BCCI. A mega auction is slated to take place ahead of the IPL 2022 as the IPL will now have two new teams. Earlier, RPSG Ventures Ltd had bought the Lucknow franchise while CVC Capital got the ownership of the Ahmedabad-based franchise. The tournament will now have 10 teams and 74 matches during the course. "I know you all are waiting to see the CSK play at Chepauk. Well, the moment is not very far. The 15th season of the IPL will take place in India and it will be more exciting than ever with two new teams joining. We have a mega auction coming up, so it will be interesting to see what the new combinations look like," the BCCI secretary Jay Shah said during his recent speech in Chennai at a function. The 2020 and half of the 2021 edition of the cash-rich league were held in the UAE. The MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings are the current champions of the IPL as they defeated KKR in the final in Dubai.

Lahore session court puts stay on PCB suspension of PSL broadcast deal with PTV

A Lahore sessions court has put a stay on Pakistan Cricket Board’s new tender to find a new broadcaster for the Pakistan Super League as well as its domestic tournaments and home international series. The stay has been put on the account of Pakistan Television Network (PTV)’s request as it has appealed to the court that the PCB has arbitrarily cancelled the $200 Million deal inked between the two parties in 2020 which allowed PTV the right to broadcast PSL and Pakistan’s domestic cricket for three years. The state-owned broadcaster PTV and the PCB deal was signed in the presence of Imran Khan, the Pakistan Prime Minister, who is also PCB's patron-in-chief. Along with PTV, the PCB also signed a deal with I-Media Communications Services, to ensure the PCB's broadcast content is not redistributed illegally by cable operators. However, as has come to light after the PCB unanimous cancellation of the deal that I-Media was not able to meet the required standards that PCB had set. Also, PTV was broadcasting the matches on Standard Definition and PCB wanted it to be broadcast on High Definition and thus the decision was taken to cancel the deal. A Sports, launched by ARY group is one of the few HD channels in Pakistan and it also broadcasted the recent T20 World Cup. Hence it seems like the PCB is inclined towards getting the PSL broadcast in HD in the domestic market as well and thus this cancellation has come. The international rights of the tournament are sold separately.

You may see three spinners playing the first Test: Gary Stead

India and New Zealand will be up against each other in the two-match Test series slated to begin on Thursday in Kanpur. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has talked about the conditions and India and pointed out as to why it is difficult for the touring teams to win Tests here. "You have to look and realise how teams come here often and don't win. That's the enormity of obvious challenge. The traditional way of playing four seamers and one part-time spinner can't be the way to go over here. You may see three spinners playing in this game,” Stead opined. Talking about the practice matches, Stead suggested that both the sides haven’t had a chance for that considering the present condition. “In this Covid world, it is difficult to get practice games but India is also coming on the back of T20s and is on a similar boat to what we are." The Blackcaps suffered a 0-3 defeat in the T20I series and will look to turn the fortunes for themselves in the Tests. The two sides last played against each other in a Test during the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship. The Kane Williamson-led side defeated India.