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World T20 2021 | ICC Acting CEO confirms Afghanistan's participation

Clearing the air on their participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup, ICC Action CEO Geoff Allardice on Sunday said that the Afghanistan cricket team are preparing as “normal” for the global event. Allardice echoed the status of Afghanistan in the ICC membership structure and said that being a full member, they are all set to play in the group stage of the tournament. "They are a full member at the ICC and the team is preparing for the event (World Cup) at the moment (and) will be playing in (the) Group league. In terms of their participation, it is proceeding as normal," Allardice said in a virtual conference call. There have been uncertainties surrounding the fate of the game in Afghanistan after the takeover by the Taliban. After forcing itself to power, the Taliban had sacked Hamid Shinwari from the post of CEO of Afghanistan Cricket Board and replaced him with Naseed Zadran Khan. Allardice maintained that the ICC has been in continuous communication with the ACB officials and that it is firm on its objective of supporting the development of the game in the country. "Yes, I think, when the change of regime took place in Afghanistan in August, we have been in regular contact with their cricket board, the Afghanistan Cricket Board and our primary function is to support the development of cricket in that country through the member board," Allardice said. ICC’s CEO statement more or less confirm Afghanistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup but at the same time, he refused to give clarity on the future of the country as ICC’s member nation. He said that the ICC board will consider the changes that have taken place or are likely to take place in the near future in the next round of meeting "We are waiting to see how things unfold under the different regimes in that country and we will do that through the cricket board. The ICC Board will consider it when they next meet, which is looking like at the end of the T20 World Cup,” Allardice concluded. After administrative changes in ACB and subsequent banning of Women’s game in the country, there were threats of isolation from other rich boards such as Cricket Australia. However, the ICC Acting CEO statement has put all those speculations to rest, albeit for the foreseeable future.

The Ashes 2021-22 | England announce 'strongest available' 17-man squad

England announced their 17-man squad for the Ashes 2021-22, scheduled to start in the second week of December. The statement by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) rated the squad under the leadership of Joe Root as the “strongest available”, but the lack of experience with as many as 10 members visiting Australia for an Ashes series for the first time, will be a cause of concern for English fans. Apart from skipper Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Rory Burns and Dawid Malan form the core of the batting unit with the likes of Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed and Dan Lawrence adding youth quotient to it. The experienced duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad leads the bowling group with the likes of Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Craig Overton forming the overall strength of the pace battery. Chris Woakes is the only pace-bowling all-rounder in the squad. There are only two spinners in the squad in the form of Jack Leach and Dom Bess, both of whom did not play even a single game in the recently-concluded English summer. As expected the duo of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have not made their return to the squad and it will be the second consecutive away Ashes series that Stokes would be missing. There were a lot of uncertainties surrounding the fate of the Ashes 2021-22 in wake of stringent Covid-19 containment measures in place in Australia, but Cricket Australia’s move to address the England players' concerns helped break the deadlock followed by a green light for the tour by the ECB. The first Test of the Ashes series is scheduled to start on December 09 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

World T20 2021 | ICC announces grand monetary prizes for champion, runner up, semi-finalists

The T20 world cup is going to begin on 17th October. The preparations for it are in full-flow. Meanwhile ICC, on Sunday, has also announced prize money for the winners. “The winners of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be awarded prize money of $1.6 million while the runners-up will take home $800,000,” said an official statement. “The two losing semi-finalists will be rewarded a prize money of $400,000 each,” said the released statement. $5.6 million has been allocated for the entire tournament that will be shared by all the sixteen teams. “The ICC will also continue to award a bonus amount for every win during the Super 12 stage of the tournament, as was the case during the 2016 edition of the tournament. The victors during all the 30 matches during the Super 12 stage will take home an amount of $40,000 — amounting to a total pot of $1,200,000.” ICC has also announced a cash prize of $70,000 for those teams that will be knocked out in the Super 12 stage. “The same set-up is in place to reward teams during their Round 1 victories, where again, they will be rewarded $40,000 during the 12 matches during the stage, totalling $480,000. The four teams which get knocked out during round one will get $40,000 each from an overall prize pool of $160,000,” the official statement said. India is set to play their first match against arch-rival Pakistan on 24th October.

Selectors add more net bowlers amid Chakravarthy’s injury

The Indian selectors are planning to add a few more players to India’s T20 World Cup team as net bowlers. They have not finalised the list of the bowlers. However, the injury that the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy faces, has drawn attention of the selectors. If the reports are to be believed, pace sensation Umran Malik and Harshal Patel have been asked to stay in UAE after the IPL gets over. The last date for submission of the final team list to ICC is on Sunday, i.e. 10th October. “Chakravarthy was selected because he was fit to play. If his injury can be managed through the World Cup, he will certainly be in the team,” a top BCCI official was quoted as saying by TOI. Yuzvendra Chahal, who didn’t find a place in the World Cup squad as Rahul Chahar was picked in his place, has performed better in this IPL. News of his staying back was also doing the rounds. “No decision has been taken on Chahal. It’s unfortunate that Mumbai Indians had dropped Rahul Chahar from playing XI. If Chahal will be asked to stay back as a cover will be decided once the selectors and team management discuss the situation,” the official said.