Ishan Kishan rules Twitter after emphatic India debut

IPL 2022 to have 10 teams competing for the trophy: Reports

The Indian Premier League might have 10 teams starting from the 2022 season with the auction for the remaining two teams taking place in May this year. If sources are to be believed, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s top brass including those from the IPL Governing Council held a meeting on Saturday, 13th March and decided to pursue this idea. "The 10 team IPL will roll on from next year and the bidding process and finalisation of the new franchises will be completed by the month of May this year," PTI quoted a senior BCCI source on conditions of anonymity. Once the bidding process is done in May 2021, the teams will then have a lot of time at hands before the mega IPL auction, which would most probably take place in January 2022. "Once the teams are finalised, they can start their operational work which takes considerable time," the source further added, making it clear that the development is very much on the cards. The 2021 edition of the IPL would begin on April 9 with the opening fixture between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Dhaka Premier League returns in T20 format, BPL gets deferred

Various changes in the Bangladesh Domestic cricket has meant that the Dhaka Premier League, an important domestic ODI league for players across Bangladesh would return to the folds this year, but not in 50 overs format. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) have mutually decided that with the T20 World Cup approaching, it would be better to give the players a much-needed practice before the showpiece event in India this October. While the DPL would be played in May this year, the Bangladesh Premier League’s 8th edition has been deferred to 2022 and the franchise could not have the full-time availability of all Bangladesh Internationals. 'Naturally, it will help (playing DPL in the shortest format) ahead of the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup as we feel it will benefit us in preparing our cricketers for the global event,'' Cricbuzz quoted Kazi Inam Ahmed, chairman of CCDM as saying. “we will be holding the league from May 6. It will be in the T20 format as a continuation from last season, so we are abandoning the single round that was held last year,” he added. The salaries of the players participating in DPL would be reduced as the clubs are also finding it difficult to sustain themselves in the pandemic. Mr Inam further clarified that it was the players’ interest that forced him to start the league as soon as possible. ''Players told me that they are desperate to return to competitive cricket, even if their payments get reduced. So we are doing this league for the players' sake. Clubs have had financial difficulties too so we will make a decision about player payments after discussing the matter with the board president,'' he said. Talking about the postponement of the BPL, the next edition would be staged from January 14 to February 18, 2022, while the ninth edition would be held from January 3 to February 17, 2023.

Punam Raut’s ton in vain as du Preez, Goodall lead Proteas women to series win over India

South African women didn’t have to sweat it out much as they chased down a considerably tough total of 266 with much ease against the Indian women to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. Mignon du Preez and Lara Goodall were the heroes for the Proteas women with their timely knocks of 61 and 55*. The pair of Goodall and du Preez was formed in the middle as skipper Laura Wolvaardt was dismissed for 53. The two women then added the runs that mattered the most. Du Preez as usual scored at a brisk pace, this time around at more than run a ball. Goodall and du Preez added 103 runs in just 94 balls, breaking the Indian women’s plan of choking the rainbow nation in the middle overs of spin. Even after the partnership was broken by Rajeshwari Gayakwad, the South Africans didn’t panic as the remaining 31 runs, required from 34 balls, were achieved in just 26 balls. Marizanne Kapp’s 18 ball 22 played an important role in achieving that result as well. At one point in time, India might have sneaked their way back when Sushma Verma was too late to remove the bails behind the wicket as Goodall made it back after stepping out off a Deepti Sharma delivery. South Africa had then needed 16 off 18 balls. Earlier in the day, Indian women with the help of Punam Raut’s third century in 72 games (104 off 123 balls) which included 10 fours, reached a competitive total of 266. Skipper Mithali Raj and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur too played vital innings of 45 and 54 respectively. Mithali also became the first and till now the only woman in international cricket to reach 7000 ODI runs. This Proteas victory at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow means that India would now have to wait for the three-match T20I series to exact the revenge. The T20I series would begin on 21st March after the last ODI finishes on 17th March.

Twin centuries & one blistering Prithvi Shaw knock light up Vijay Hazare finals

Mumbai were crowned champions of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Sunday after they defeated Uttar Pradesh in the title clash in Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. Chasing a massive total of 313 runs, Mumbai rode on Aditya Tare’s maiden List A hundred and captain Shaw’s brisk 73 off 39 to get over the line in the 43rd over. Tare took 107 deliveries to score his unbeaten 118 runs. All-rounder Shivam Dube played a vital role in Mumbai’s win after he stitched a stand of 88 runs for the fourth wicket. Mumbai began the proceedings well after openers Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal put 89 runs on the board for the first wicket. But they lost a couple of wickets in quick succession to see Shams Mulani coming in at number 4. Tare and Mulani then steadied the ship for Mumbai and scored 88 runs for the third wicket. But Mulan’s departure in the 31st over had the side in a fair bit of bother before Dube and Tare joined hands and anchored the chase. Yash Dayal, Shivam Mavi, Shibam Sharma and Sameer Choudhary picked up a wicket each for Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, UP after winning the toss elected to bat first and posted 312/4 in 50 overs, courtesy an exceptional batting display from opener Madhav Kaushik. Kaushik remained not out on 158 off 156. Kaushik’s opening partner Samarth Sharma notched up a half-century as the two provided a good start to the team. Both the batsmen began the innings in a cautious manner but started to accelerate as soon as they got their eye in. UP did lose a couple of wickets in the middle overs but Akshdeep Nath and Kaushik’s partnership of 128 runs for the fourth wicket helped them posting a big total on the board. Tanush Kotian scalped a couple of wickets for Mumbai while Prashant Solanki had one to his name. Kaushik’s 158* is now the highest score in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Final while Shaw ended the tournament as the highest run-getter. The right-handed Mumbai batsman scored 827 runs in 8 matches at an average of 165.40 and four centuries. This is the fourth instance when Mumbai have lifted the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Winning captain Shaw hailed the team’s performance and credits everyone for success. “Everyone contributed in this tournament, it wasn't an individual. From the support staff, the players, this trophy goes to everyone. Tare batted so well today. It could have gone anyway in that situation and everyone was happy for him because finishing isn't easy. I have been captaining from a very young age. I have captained under-14s, under-16s, under-19s, India A and I enjoy this process. It was difficult in Australia, and the only thing I wanted to do was go back and work hard, fill the gaps and come back strongly,” he said.