IPL 2021 | Rajasthan Royals draft West Indian Evin Lewis and Oshane Thomas as replacements

BCCI invites tender to own one of the two new franchises in IPL

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has invited the tender to own one of the two new franchises in the Indian Premier league (IPL). The party that would be interested will have to purchase an Invitation to Tender and make a payment of INR 10,00,000 plus GST before making their bid. The amount will be non-refundable. "The detailed terms and conditions governing the submission and evaluation of bids including eligibility requirements, a process for submissions of bids, proposed new teams' rights, and obligations, etc. are contained in the 'Invitation to Tender' ("ITT") which will be made available on receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of INR 10,00,000 (Rupees Ten Lakhs Only) plus any applicable Goods and Services Tax. The ITT will be available for purchase till October 5, 2021," the board said in a release on Tuesday (August 31). "Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT. However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein, shall be eligible to bid. It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid." The eligibility criteria though hasn’t been revealed in the release. The addition of a couple of more teams in the IPL was on the agenda of the BCCI during the AGM that was held in December last year.

Dale Steyn announces retirement from all formats of the game with Counting Crows’ ‘Long December’

Proteas pace ace Dale Steyn announced his retirement from all formats of the game on Tuesday, August 31. The 38-year-old made this announcement through a Twitter post where he wrote a letter that started with the famous lines of ‘A Long December’ by Counting Crows. Steyn, while thanking his family members, teammates, journalists and fans summarised his 20 years career in the lines of his favourite band Counting Crows. “And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe Maybe this year will be better than the last I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself To hold on to these moments as they pass,” wrote Steyn as the opening lines of his retirement letter. The Proteas who played 93 Tests, 125 ODIs and 47 T20Is for his country having made his debut at the young age of 21, said that the journey has been filled with bittersweet memories, but has been grateful nonetheless. He further said that there are too many memories to tell and too many faces to thank and hence he would let experts put it in their words rather than telling about it himself. Steyn has to his credit most test wickets for a South African bowler with 439 scalps at 22.95 apiece. He last played a Test in 2019 against Sri Lanka.

Any series win is big: Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo

Bangladesh have tasted success in the recent past after they defeated West Indies and Sri Lanka in ODIs at home, Zimbabwe across formats in away fixtures and then thumped Australia 4-1 in T20Is on the home soil. Head coach Russell Domingo has now said that any series win keeps a lot of importance for the Bangladesh side. "Any series win is big," Domingo said. "I think winning against Sri Lanka and West Indies in the 50-over format were great achievements. So is winning all three formats in Zimbabwe,” he added. Bangladesh will now take on New Zealand in a five-match series at home scheduled to begin on September 1, 2021 in Dhaka. All the five clashes will take place at the same venue. The tracks during the Australia series didn’t really have much on offer for the batsmen and the bowler thoroughly dominated during the course. Talking about the pitch, Domingo said that he is expecting a good surface. “This time of the year with the humidity and rain around, there’s not much sun,” he said. “I am assuming a good, normal Mirpur wicket where 150-160 is a good score," the head coach added.

Covid forces Windies skipper Taylor’s omission from first T20I against South Africa Women

West Indies Cricket Board announced a 13 member Women’s squad for the first T20I against South Africa Women to be played on Tuesday, August 31 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Regular skipper Stafanie Taylor has been omitted from the squad for the first T20I after being identified as a primary contact of a Covid-19 positive. Experienced off-spinner Anisa Mohammed has been tasked with the duty of leading Windies against a top-notch South Africa Women side. Even after Taylor’s absence, Lead selector Ann Browne-John is confident of seeing his team do well in the first T20I as well as the entire series. "It is unfortunate that Stafanie will not be available for this series but there are a number of experienced players who we would be looking to fill any void," Browne-John was quoted as saying in a press release by WICB. Qina Joseph, who hasn’t featured in any international for the West Indies team in the last four years is likely to play in place of Taylor and Browne-John backed her to do well. "The young player Qiana Joseph brings another left-hand batter option as well as left-arm orthodox bowling which has been lacking in the team,” she said. “This will be a good test coming out of the recent Pakistan series since South Africa is one of the higher-ranked teams,’ added the selector about the team. Taylor, if she doesn’t test positive would most likely be available for the remaining two matches of the T20I series on September 2 and 4 at the same venue in North Sound. The three-match series will be followed by five ODI to be played at Coolidge Cricket Ground and Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Squad for 1st T20I - Anisa Mohammed (c), Deanda Dottin (vc), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman