Jasprit Bumrah took leave from Indian team to marry: Report

Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is likely to get married very soon and hence he had sought leave from the Indian team citing personal reasons. Bumrah was released from the squad for the fourth Test, and according to an ANI report, the speedster is set to tie the knot with a sports anchor in the coming days.

"He informed the BCCI that he is getting married and has taken the leave to help in preparations for the big day," ANI quoted an unnamed source in BCCI.

Bumrah has been rested for the T20I series that will take place after the completion of the ongoing Test series as well and as per a Cricbuzz report, he is likely to miss the ODIs series against England.

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Winning World Test Championship equals to winning World Cup: Ajinkya Rahane

For Indian skipper Virat Kohli the road to the World Test Championship is not an extraordinary journey, or he is at least downplaying the occasion whenever he has been asked about the all-important final to be played at Lord’s. For other Indian players who represent India only in the Test format, the WTC final and a triumph will be as extraordinary and special as winning an ODI World Cup. This analogy was first given by pacer Ishant Sharma who before his 100th Test had said that India are on verge of something special, and he hs now received backing from his vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane. Addressing a virtual press-conference on Tuesday, Rahane reiterated Ishant’s feelings about the WTC final and said that the team is gelling in nicely and has an eye on the final, while they are more focussed on keeping their approach centred to the fourth Test against England. “Absolutely, Ishant was spot on in what he said. Winning the WTC is equal to winning the World Cup. We are all focusing on that, having said that, the focus right now is to play the fourth Test against England. Ishant was completely right,” said Rahane said. The pitches in the ongoing Test series between India and England have been challenging for batsmen of either side, and both England and India have collapsed in three matches so far. Rahane said that banking on defence is the key to succeed on such pitches and batsmen have to adapt on playing the line of the ball and at the same time not thinking about the vicious turn or lack of it on the previous balls. “When you play on spinning tracks, you have to play the line and you know that. In India, we haven't played so many games in the last two-three years. When you play on that spinning and seaming wickets, it's all about playing the line, when the ball is spinning too much, you do not have to think about it, you just have to play the line, if you miss the ball, you miss the ball. Backing your defence and ability on seaming and spinning wicket is something we follow,” Rahane added. Rahane himself has struggled with the bat in the series, except for one innings when he batted for more than a session and stitched a mammoth partnership with Rohit Sharma to take India past the 300-mark in the first innings. He failed in the only innings of the last Test and India will need him to come good in the fourth Test when a spot in the World Test Championship is at stake.

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Surprised at the exclusion of Mohali stadium for IPL: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

The cricket stadium in Mohali has been excluded from the list of the grounds that will host IPL 2021. Expressing his disappointment on the same, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has appealed to the BCCI and the ICC to reconsider the decision. “I am surprised at the exclusion of Mohali Cricket stadium for the upcoming IPL season. I urge and appeal to @BCCI and @IPL to reconsider their decision. There is no reason why Mohali can’t host IPL and out government will make all necessary arrangements for safety against #Covid19,” the CM tweeted. Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Chennai are the cities that have been shortlisted so far but the BCCI is yet to take a final call. Earlier, the board had also decided that the IPL fixtures can’t take place in Mumbai with the rise in COVID-19 cases. "There is still a month left for the IPL to start but obviously some decisions need to be taken. It will be risky to have a single city IPL in Mumbai if there is steady rise in cases that's happening right now," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity. "So cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata will be ready to host matches. Ahmedabad, in all likelihood, will host the play-off and final match of the IPL," he said. The IPL 2020 was held in the UAE due to the pandemic. Mumbai Indians defended the title after beating Delhi Capitals in the final. MI now have five IPL titles to their name while CSK is the second most successful side with three winning triumphs to their name.

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PSL 2021: PCB's Covid-19 protocols under scanner as bio-secure bubble turn insecure

Even before the start of the ongoing edition of the Pakistan Super League, there were questions raised about the bio-secure bubble arrangement by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as the Peshawar Zalmi captain Wahab Riaz and head coach Darren Sammy were reported to have flouted the guidelines. The Zalmi duo had met the franchise owner Javed Afridi out of the bubble and an infuriated PCB had to issue a reminder to players and support staff that it will not tolerate any actions that can ‘affect the integrity and credibility of the tournament.’ “The PCB is disappointed that two members of one of the sides showed carelessness and violated the bio-secure bubble protocols by coming into a contact with a person who was not part of the bubble. All players are once again reminded to diligently follow the PCB Covid-19 protocols as the PCB will not allow anyone to affect the integrity and credibility of the tournament,” the PCB had said. The words appeared hollow as later the PCB let off both Sammy and Riaz from the mandatory period of quarantine and the duo was allowed to come back to the bubble only on the basis of negative results. In fact, Riaz was allowed to lead the Peshawar Zalmi side in their first game of the tournament and although he had tested negative for the novel coronavirus infection, a serious lapse in implementation of the protocols by the PCB can not be overlooked. Even before the first ball was bowled in the tournament, the issue of Covid-19 risk must have been a pertinent one for the PCB as one yet to be identified player from the Lahore Qalandars had tested positive for the highly-contagious virus. According to a Dawn report, the player had shown some symptoms and was isolated from the rest of the squad. There have been many reports claiming various episodes of bio-secure breaches by the players and support staff across franchises. Reports have levied allegations that some players have been given a leeway to call their families in the team hotels while other reports have suggested that players and support staff have been ordering food from places outside of the bubble they have been residing in. Another report has claimed that while players, along with support staff and match officials are travelling in and out of their bubbles to the grounds for matches, ground staff have been going to their homes seamlessly like before and that is jeopardising the integrity of bio-secure bubbles. Now, another episode of players testing positive for the coronavirus infection has put a spotlight on the handling of bio-secure bubbles by the PCB. The PCB is asserting that they are unaware of any breaches that may have resulted in Fawad Ahmed contracting the virus, but the addition of three more players on the list of players to have tested positive has put the onus on the PCB and its Event Technical Committee for the PSL. In its latest statement, the board has said that out of 244 RT-PCR tests conducted after Fawad Ahmed’s positive result, three have returned positive results. "We have a strict bio-secure bubble for all teams and we have regular testing and we have now even made it mandatory for all players and officials to have PCR tests every four days. But the fact is how Fawad Ahmed tested positive we don't know because no one can say for certain how he contracted the virus," a PCB spokesman said on the issue of the latest Covid-19 outbreak among PSL franchises.

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Road Safety World Series: All you need to know

The Road Safety World Series will be played in Raipur between March 5 to 21. The first edition of the tournament was called off just after four matches due to the COVID-19 outburst back in 2020. The tournament this year will be played in the newly-built Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur. The stadium has a seating capacity of 65,000. The series is being played to spread awareness towards road safety in the country. Teams: Australia Legends side has pulled out of the T20 series but they are well covered by the two new additions this season from England and Bangladesh. India Legends Sri Lanka Legends West Indies Legends South Africa Legends Bangladesh Legends England Legends Where can I get the tickets for the tournament? The tickets of the Road Safety World Series can be bought from Bookmyshow. Schedule Which channels will telecast the tournament? The Road Safety World Series will be LIVE telecast on COLORS Cineplex, COLORS Kannada Cinema, FTA channel Rishtey Cineplex from 7 pm IST onwards from March 4, 2021. How to live stream the Road Safety World Series? The LIVE streaming of the Road Safety T20 matches will be on Voot and Jio apps and websites. Full Squads of the teams: India Legends: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Naman Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Noel David, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Manpreet Gony. Sri Lanka Legends: Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Russel Arnold, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Sanath Jayasuriya, Manjula Prasad, Malinda Warnapura, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Chamara Kapugedra, Tillakratne Dilshan, Dulanjana Wijesinghe. Bangladesh Legends: Khaled Mahmud, Mohammed Sharif, Mushfiqur Rahman, A N M Mamun Ur Rashed, Nafees Iqbal, Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Khaled Mashud, Hannan Sarker, Javed Omar, Rajin Saleh, Mehrab Hossain, Aftab Ahmed, Alamgir Kabir. South Africa Legends: Morne Van Wyk, Alviro Petersen, Nicky Boje, Andrew Puttick, Thandi Tshabalala, Loots Bosman, Llyod Norris Jones, Zander de Bruyn, Monde Zondeki, Garnett Kruger, Roger Telemachus, Jonty Rhodes, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Kemp. West Indies Legends: Brian Lara, Dinanath Ramnarine, Adam Sanford, Carl Hooper, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Austin, William Perkins, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Pedro Collins, Ridley Jacobs, Narsingh Deonarine, Tino Best, Sulieman Benn. England Legends: Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Philip Mustard, Monty Panesar, Nick Compton, Kabir Ali, Usman Afzaal, Matthew Hoggard, James Tindall, Chris Tremlett, Sajid Mahmood, James Tredwell, Chris Schoefield, Johnathan Trott, Ryan Sidebottom.