IPL 2021 | Harshal Patel equals Dwayne Bravo's record of most wickets in one IPL season

PCB, PSL franchises reach agreements on issues related to revenue sharing

All the six franchises of the Pakistan Super League have accepted the new proposals from the Pakistan Cricket Board that included the creation of a central revenue pool for the tournament, locking dollar rate, and Covid-19 relief for the editions for the tournament ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. These proposals were made to them in the latest round of governing council after the election of Ramiz Raja as the chairman of the PCB. The issue of central revenue pool and a fixed dollar rate has been contentious for the franchise in the past and the PCB would be elated to resolve the issues before the next edition. Ramiz Raja expressed his delight in reaching a consensus on the issues that he said were causing “distraction and harm” to the brand of the PSL. He called the agreement a stepping stone towards building a “stronger relationship” with franchises on the path of “unprecedented heights” for the PSL. “The longstanding matters between the PCB and the franchises were causing distraction and affecting the reputation of the brand. I am delighted that all matters have finally been resolved, which is a big step forward in building a stronger relationship with the franchise owners as we look forward to working with them to take the HBL PSL to greater and unprecedented heights,” Raja said in the PCB statement. Franchises owners also shared satisfaction over PCB accepting their long-standing demands, which they said is an indication of their commitment and resolve to make PSL better than it has been in the past. “HBL PSL is very close to our hearts. Since 2016, we all have worked very hard to bring it to where it is today. The acceptance of the PCB offer is an indication of our commitment and resolve to making the HBL PSL a bigger and better league that is participated by the best players, commercially supported by the elite companies and watched live by the passionate cricket fans in Pakistan as well as globally,” The franchise owners said in a joint statement. Ramiz Raja has been in action since rising to the top of the PCB brass and although he has a lot of issues at his table to find resolution of, he is not ducking any of them as of now.

Ireland's Amy Hunter becomes youngest player to score international century, takes over Mithali Raj

Amy Hunter is an exciting enough name to get your brain cells working, but here it’s not the actor, rather a 16-year-old schoolgirl from Ireland, who hit the international cricket running by becoming the youngest centurion ever (male or female) in the game’s 144-year-old professional history. The Belfast born all-rounder, who hit unbeaten 121 against Zimbabwe on October 11, which was also her 16th birthday, replaced India Women’s skipper Mithali Raj at the top of the list of youngest centurions. Raj had scored her debut century at the age of 16 years and 205 days and incidentally against Ireland Women in 1999. Hunter, who plays for Typhoons in the domestic set up was one of the keys to Ireland Women reaching their highest ever ODI total as they scored 312-3 in their 50 overs against Zimbabwe in the fourth and final ODI of their bilateral series in Harare. Being asked to bat after losing the toss, the women in green lost their opener, Leah Paul, early on. But then Hunter joined Gaby Lewis and the two put up 104 for the second wicket before Lewis was removed as well. Laura Delany then accompanied Hunter for a 143 run partnership. It was during this partnership only that Hunter became only the fourth Irish woman to score an ODI century and the first to do it outside Ireland. The 16-year-old hit eight fours in her 127 ball knock of 121. After Delany’s wicket, Hunter and Orla Prendergast managed to get Ireland past 300 for only the second time in their entire ODI history. Zimbabwe Women, who are playing only their first-ever ODI series and who did well to win their first-ever ODI itself early on in this series, could only get to 227-8 with Josephine Nkomo top-scoring with 66 of 106 balls. With this 85 run win, Irish women also sealed the series 3-1.

KL Rahul to part ways with Punjab Kings before next IPL: Reports

It has come as a shocking revelation that Punjab Kings and its skipper Lokesh Rahul might part ways with each other ahead of the start of the new season in 2022. Since a mega auction would be held before the 2022 IPL, it is also being assumed that a lot of franchises have shown interest in signing up with the current Orange Cap holder. According to a Cricbuzz report, the franchisee refused to speak on the issue while Rahul, currently part of Team India’s World Cup squad and in the bio-bubble in UAE, was also not available for comments. Rahul was signed up by the Kings in the 2018 edition of the IPL for a four-season deal and in the mega auction, the franchise has the option to either retain him or buy him back using the Right to Match card. But it is being speculated that both the franchise as well as the player want an amicable exit. During his stay at Punjab Kings, of which he went on to become the skipper in 2020, the 29-year-old scored 2548 runs in four seasons across 55 games at an average of 56 and a striker rate of more than 130.

Adani Group, Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG buy Tender Invitation for two new IPL franchises: Reports

The Indian Premier League is willing to take its number of teams to 10 from the upcoming season and hence put out an Invitation to Tender (ITT) documents for sale for the two new franchises. The last day to buy the ITT was October 10 and reports suggest that big companies such as the Adani Group, Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharma, Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma, Sanjiv Goenka of RPSG Group are among the front runners to get the desired bid. Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Ranchi and Cuttack are the cities up for grab for business houses to buy a franchise in. According to BCCI, a company or individual with a net worth of INR. 2500 crore turnover of 3000 crores was allowed to buy the ITT. The base price for the new teams is INR. 2000 crore. The ITT document was sold at a non-refundable payment of INR. 10 lakh and the auction will take place in two weeks time and the two new teams would be announced on October 25.