Isuru Udana retires from international cricket

Ben Stokes takes "indefinite break" from Cricket to improve mental well-being

In a huge setback and development for England cricket, all-rounder Ben Stokes has withdrawn his name from the squad to face India in the series starting August 04. Ben Stokes were to return to the England Test side after missing out in the last home series against New Zealand. As per the ECB statement, Stokes has withdrawn his name to “prioritise his mental wellbeing and to rest his left index finger”. He was included in the 17-man squad for the first two Tests of the series. The Managing Director of England Men's Cricket, Ashley Giles, lauded Stokes’ “courage” to open up about his feelings and state of mind while reiterating the ECB has always emphasized the need to help players in maintaining mental well being. "Ben has shown tremendous courage to open up about his feelings and wellbeing,” Giles said. Ben Stokes had returned to lead England ODI side against Pakistan and later he admitted the “ridiculous" pain” he endured while playing the ODI series. Stokes had injured his hand in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League earlier this year and the injury is yet to heal after he went through an operation. Stokes’ withdrawal from the big series against India will reignite the debate surrounding the mental health of players amid the Covid-19 pandemic and will complicate ECB’s planning and management for the Ashes series scheduled for the end of this year.

Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav to fly to UK from Sri Lanka on special provision: Report

The duo of Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav, who has been left in Sri Lanka after coming in close contact with Krunal Pandya, who tested Covid-19 positive, will fly to the United Kingdom on July 31, Cricbuzz reported. They will be allowed to enter the country depaite not being a British or Irish citizen and Sri Lanka still being on th red list by the UK government as the BCCI and the ECB have made use of the special provisions for elite sportspersons that allowed footballers and tennis players to enter the counrty for the Wimbledon grand slam. India have travelled back to India leaving all the nine players including Krunal Pandya and players deeemed in closed contacts. Both Shaw and Yadav were selcted as reinforcements for the Indian team in the aftermath of multiple injury concerns in the camp. India were already marred by the injury to Shubman Gill and the injuries to Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar in the practice game against Selected County XI, and injury clouds over the skipper Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane compounded the concerns. The first Test against England is scheduled to start on August 04 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, and keeping in mind the quarantine restrictions both Shaw and Yadav have to face, they would be eligible to play only by the third Test.

TNPL 2021 | Panthers vs Kings: When & where to watch match LIVE, Probable XI, Fantasy XI

Both the Madurai Panthers and the Royal Kings will seek a fresh and turnaround in fortunes when they will come off against each other in the 17th game of the ongoing edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League. Both the sides have tasted just one success in this edition of the tournament out of the three games each played this season. The Panthers will be reliant on Arun Karthik and Jagatheesan Kousik while the Royal Kings will be banking on Baba Aparajith and Sanjay Yadav. The sides have not enjoyed prolonged domination over each other with the Royals Kings having won three of the last five games between the sides while the Panthers have won two. Match Details Match: SMP vs NRK, 17th Match, Tamil Nadu Premier League 2021 Date: Friday, July 31, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Pitch report The surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium is conducive for spinners but the onset of due in the latter part of the game can spoil the party. The team winning the toss should bowl first and reap all the advantages of the pitch before dew sets in should be the go-to mantra for the sides. Probable XI Madurai Panthers Arun Karthik (wk), K Rajkumar, B Anirudh Sita Ram, NS Chaturved (c), Jagatheesan Kousik, M Shajahan, R Mithun, Ramalingam Rohit, R Silambarasan, Kiran Akash, Aushik Srinivas Royal Kings Baba Aparajith (c), Laxmesha Suryaprakash, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Baba Indrajith (wk), Sanjay Yadav, NS Harish, Mohan Abhinav, Arjun Murthy, Sharun Kumar, T Ajith Kumar, V Athisayaraj Davidson Fantasy XI Baba Aparajith(C), Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Baba Indrajith, Arun Karthik(VC), Sanjay Yadav, Ramalingam Rohit, Jagatheesan Kousik, Athisayaraj Davidson, NS Harish, Aushik Srinivas, Kiran Akash

TNPL 2021 | Kings vs Tamizhans: When & where to watch match LIVE, Probable XI, Fantasy XI

The Kovai Kings will be looking forward to consolidating their position on the points table when they will come up against the Tiruppur Tamizhans in Chennai on July 31. The Kings have won two games this season and have faded defeat in only one game out of the four matches played this season. One game yielded no result and the side led by Sharukh Khan will be eager to equate with the Trichy Warriors with three wins this season. On the other hand, the Tiruppur Tamizhans are languishing behind at the number six position on the points table. They have won just one game out of the four games this season and the contest against the Kovai Kings will present one huge set of challenges for them. Match Details Match: LKK vs ITT, 16th Match, Tamil Nadu Premier League 2021 Date: Friday, July 31, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Pitch report The surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium is conducive for spinners but the onset of due in the latter part of the game can spoil the party. The team winning the toss should bowl first and reap all the advantages of the pitch before dew sets in should be the go-to mantra for the sides. Probable XI LKK Ganga Sridhar Raju, J Suresh Kumar (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Ashwin Venkataraman, U Mukilesh, Shahrukh Khan (c), Abhishek Tanwar, N Selva Kumaran, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh, S Ajith Ram, R Divakar ITT S Dinesh, S Siddharth, Tushar Raheja (wk), Maan Bafna, R Rajkumar, M Mohammed (c), S Aravind, P Francis Rokins, Aswin Crist, S Mohan Prasath, K Gowtham Thamarai Kannan Fantasy XI T Raheja, S Sudharsan, S Siddharth, S Arvind, G Raju (C), N Kumaran, M Mohammed, A Tanwar, S Prasath, K Vignesh, A Crist (VC)