IPL 2020: Jason Holder disappointed with lack of racism discussion

The topic of racism is likely to hit the Indian Premier League once again as the West Indies captain and Sunrisers Hyderabad player Jason Holder has expressed disappointment at players and team management not talking about the issue at all. He was also disappointed at players and teams not opting for taking a knee gesture before the start of a game in the ongoing season of the IPL.

"To be honest I haven't had one conversation up here around it. Sometimes it seems it has gone unnoticed, which is a sad thing. I guess it's for us to re-highlight the importance of it, for people to understand what is happening in the world,” Holder said to the Cricket Writers' Club after winning a venerable Peter Smith award for outstanding representation of the game to the public along with his West Indies team.

Notably, the comments have come at an interesting time as Holder was called in as a replacement for the injured Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh by The Sunrisers Hyderabad, the same franchise where former West Indies captain Daren Sammy had complained of subtle racism during his tenure as a player in IPL.

He urged a better understanding of the problems that he and other black players face and the kind of harsh world they come from. He said that the inequalities that black individuals face are right there in our faces and it’s the education that can help eradicate this social issue of racism.

"It's really important people understand where we as black people are coming from, and understand the harsh reality of how the world is set up. There are inequalities out there, some of them are very much in our faces, some are done discretely, but there are inequalities and I think it's just a level of education,” Holder added.

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India-Pakistan tussle: Lalchand Rajput to miss Zimbabwe's tour of Pakistan

Souring ties between India and Pakistan was visible when the touring party of the Zimbabwe cricket arrived in Pakistan for their next series without their coach Lalchand Rajput. As per a Tweet by the Zimbabwe Cricket, Lalchand Rajput will miss the series after the Embassy of India in Harare made an appeal to the Zimbabwe cricket board to exempt Rjaput from going to Pakistan due to the travel guidelines the Indian government had issued for the citizens before their planning to go to Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Embassy in Harare had issued a visa to Lalchand Rajput. According to the provisions to play in a biosecure bubble, Zimbaweans have gone through a covid-19 test in Harare before boarding the flight to Pakistan while another set of scheduled tests took place in Pakistan after their landing in the country. The Zimbabwean team has landed in Pakistan only after an inspection by a five-person delegation sent by the Zimbabwe Cricket earlier this month to assess the arrangements for the teams' biosecure bubble. Pakistan and Zimbabwe will play three ODIs in Rawalpindi before the tour shifts to Lahore where the teams will play three T-20Is. Zimbabweans are touring Pakistan for the first time since 2015 when they were the first side to break the impasse of bringing international cricket back to Pakistan.

IPL 2020: Rishabh Pant recovers from hamstring injury

The Delhi Capitals are on a rampage in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League and the ammunition for the Shreyas Iyer-led team is set to be bolstered with the return of wicketkeeper-batsman Risabh Pant who has recovered from a grade 1 hamstring strain. Pant missed out on the last three games Capitals played and Alex Carrey was brought in to do the glove work for the team. News Agency ANI quoted a source from the Delhi Capitals camp saying that Rishabh Pant is fit and raring to go. However, the team management will take a final call before the toss in the match against the Kings XI Punjab tonight. Rishabh Pant is a sort of character who is always in the news as the video of him pranking Ricky Ponting while the Delhi Capitals’ coach was giving an interview to the commentators went viral. The video was hailed as the one depicting the healthy and relaxed team environment prevalent in the Delhi Capitals’ squad and the kind of mood the players and support staff are in during the IPL 2020. The Delhi Capitals have won seven games out of nine they have played in IPL 2020 so far and are sitting comfortably at the top of the points table.

COVID-19: England tour to South Africa likely to go ahead as planned

The proposed England men's senior cricket team’s tour to South Africa is set to go as planned as the Cricket South Africa and the England and Wales Cricket Board have reached a consensus on allowing English players to train in the quarantine period after their arrival in the country. As per various media reports, the South African government had allowed an exception to the touring English cricket team from the regulation put in place for people coming into the country from places of ‘high risk’ of covid-19 infection. After the agreement, the ECB is all set to send English players via a charter flight to South Africa on November 10 for a series that will see the Proteas back in action after a long hiatus enforced by the coronavirus pandemic. The Sith African white-ball teams will walk onto the field in national jerseys after March 2020 when the white-ball side had to return from Indian after the pandemic had hit India. The ECB and the CSA were at loggerheads over the issue of provision for training in the quarantine period of English players and the English cricket board had made its intention clear to the embattled South African cricket board of not touring in case the training provisions were not made. England and South Africa will lock horns for a three-match ODI and a T-20 series of an equal number of matches that will split between Newlands, Cape Town and Boland Park, Paarl. Both these series, like the cricketing event of the near past, will be played behind closed doors. The proposed England men's senior cricket team’s tour to South Africa is set to go as planned as the Cricket South Africa and the England and Wales Cricket Board have reached a consensus on allowing English players to train in the quarantine period after their arrival in the country. As per various media reports, the South African government had allowed an exception to the touring English cricket team from the regulation put in place for people coming into the country from places of ‘high risk’ of covid-19 infection. After the agreement, the ECB is all set to send English players via a charter flight to South Africa on November 10 for a series that will see the Proteas back in action after a long hiatus enforced by the coronavirus pandemic. The Sith African white-ball teams will walk onto the field in national jerseys after March 2020 when the white-ball side had to return from Indian after the pandemic had hit India. The ECB and the CSA were at loggerheads over the issue of provision for training in the quarantine period of English players and the English cricket board had made its intention clear to the embattled South African cricket board of not touring in case the training provisions were not made. England and South Africa will lock horns for a three-match ODI and a T-20 series of an equal number of matches that will split between Newlands, Cape Town and Boland Park, Paarl. Both these series, like the cricketing event of the near past, will be played behind closed doors.

CSK in turmoil: Kris Srikkanth tears into MS Dhoni

One of the most vocal supporters of MS Dhoni’s captaincy over the year, former Indian opener Kris Srikanth has criticised the Chennai Super Kings’ captain for his remark on youngsters lacking the spark to push older players out of the playing XI. Discussing the game between the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals which the men in yellow lost after an abject surrender with the bat while batting first, Srikant tore into the process of MS Dhoni’s captaincy and said that he respects Dhoni being a great cricketer but he does not accept the views Dhoni has of the team at the moment. Srikanth said that all the talks of process, process does not bode well if he gets the selection process wrong and misread the team's need and requirement based on condition. Srikanth who is fondly called as ‘Cheeka’ was dishing the comments of MS Dhoni about the lack of youngsters in the playing XI when he said: “It's fair enough this season we weren't there. Maybe we didn't see as much spark from some of our youngsters. Maybe going forward we bring them in and they play without pressure," after the loss against the Rajasthan Royals. Srikanth specifically pointed out the selection of Kedar Jadhav and Piyush Chawala after repeated failures in the season so far and the outlook they presented in the team. Srikant went a step further and asked if Dhoni had seen some spark in Kedar Jadhav which he found missing in youngsters he pointed out. The Chennai Super Kings have been going through a turmoil in the ongoing season of the IPL and have lost seven out of the 10 games played so far in the season. MS Dhoni has irked many fans and experts by his questionable moves in team selection and captaincy while fielding and batting without intent in the IPL 2020.