KKR spinner Varun Chakravarthy's India debut under cloud

Varun Chakravarthy’s debut for the Indian national team is under doubts once again. After being snubbed for the Australia series Down Under, owing to his shoulder injury that plagues him during fielding, reports suggest that Chakravarthy might be dropped from the T20 series against England.

Cricbuzz’s  Vijay Tagore has reported that the 29-year-old spinner from Tamil Nadu has not done well in the new fitness standards set by the Indian team.

According to the new benchmark, Indian professionals are required to complete a 2 kilometre run under 2 minutes or scored a 17.1 in the Yo-Yo test.

The Tamil Nadu spinner broke into the contention for the Indian team on the back of his exemplary showing in the Indian Premier League 2020. He picked up 17 wickets from 13 matches at a strike rate of just above 18. His best showing came against eventual runner-ups Delhi Capitals where he picked up 5 wickets for just 20 runs.

Cricbuzz further reported that while Chakravarthy’s throwing improved in his three months at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, his running, went for a toss.

Considered a T20 specialist Chakravarthy has not represented his state team in any of the domestic competitions post the resumption of cricket in India.



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PSL 6: Winless Quetta’ fight for survival face Islamabad hurdle

Sarfaraz Ahmed might have shown all his emotions on the field. He might have played brilliantly with the bat. But all this has still not been able to get his team to win as bowlers have faltered continuously to let down the skipper. Another thing that has not gone in favour of Sarfaraz is that he hasn’t been able to win even a single toss in the tournament so far. Now that his team face Islamabad United, who faced their first defeat in the PSL in their last game against Peshawar Zalmi, all these things need to fall in place for the Gladiators. While this is going to be their first clash in the PSL this year, over the years, Quetta have dominated the side from the capital. In their last six meetings, the men in purple have defeated the Sherus from Islamabad five times including in their last meeting in PSL 2020. However this year Quetta haven’t looked in their own, giving an opportunity for Islamabad to fight back and improve their records. Quetta in search of sense to put in their bowlers' head Apart from the team batting second winning the game, the other thing that has been consistent in PSL 6 is Quetta bowlers their head in the death overs. The suggestion of changing the bowlers wouldn’t do much good either as almost all the bowlers have had the same fate in the death. Only a calm talk with them by the management alongside the skipper Sarafarz can do some magic. Some calmness needs to be put through Sarafaraz’ head as well. He seems to lose his calm very early in the game and goes all animated disturbing the bowler’s frame of mind. He too needs to calm down and like a good captain, get a plan made in the dressing room and try to execute it on the field instead of haplessly shouting at the troops. Few changes would most likely be seen in the Quetta fold with Usman Shinwari making way for Naseem Shah and Tom Banton making a comeback. Islamabad searching form for skipper Shadab Khan The skipper of United, Shadab Khan really hasn’t found form in this edition, either with the bat or with the ball. Primarily a bowling all-rounder, Shadan has been batting up the order in this season, albeit without much success as he has only scored 11 runs in the last three innings. Bowling wise too he has had only had one wicket in three games so far. Once he is in form, most of the problems that Islamabad has been facing in batting, prominent being nobody being able to bat responsibly after Alex Hales’ departure would most likely be solved. The introduction of Fawad Ahmed and Paul Stirling didn’t work out in the last game and if Gregory regains fitness before this game, he would most likely be back in place of Fawad to add more balance to the batting unit. Islamabad United vs Quetta Gladiators: Match Details Match Number- 12 Date and Time: 01 March 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 07:00 pm PST, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: National Stadium Karachi Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony SIX, Sony LIV Pitch Report The pitch for this game would be the same as used in the Karachi vs Lahore game and thus it might be a bit on the slower side, at least for the first few overs of the first innings. Later on, with dew settling in, the ball would start coming on to the bat nicely and it would soon turn into a graveyard fo the bowlers as the NSK has always been. Weather and Toss Karachi leg of the PSL has been fortunate enough to have ideal weather for playing cricket. The temperatures, even during day games, have generally been in the low thirties and high twenties. There is dew no doubt, but apart from that, with no rain and no heatwave, it has helped viewers enjoying to their fullest. The weather is likely to remain the same in this game as well. As far as Toss is concerned, the skipper winning the toss would do the same that he has been doing for the past 11 games, bowl first. Probable XI Islamabad United Philip Salt (wk), Alex Hales, Paul Stirling, Shadab Khan (c), Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Fawad Ahmed/ Lewis Gregory, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr Quetta Gladiators Faf du Plessis, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Tom Banton, Azam Khan, Saim Ayub, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Nawaz, Zahid Mahmood, Dale Steyn, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah Dream XI / Fantasy XI Sarfaraz Ahmed (vc & wk), Asif Ali, Alex Hales (c) Faf du Plessis, Mohammad Nawaz, Ben Cutting, Faheem Ashraf, Lewis Gregory, Zahid Mahmood, Dale Steyn, Hasan Ali

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Virat Kohli explains Jasprit Bumrah's leave ahead of final Test match against England

Jasprit Bumrah's request for leave owing to ‘personal reasons’ came as a big surprise to the viewers of the game. Considering he was playing his debut home series in the longest format, the shocker of a request got amplified over social media, given India’s top-ranked pacer was allowed to bowl just six overs in the pink-ball Test. Post India’s 10-wicket victory in the day-night game, the Board of Control for Cricket in India in a release stated that Bumrah was not going to be a part of the fourth Test match squad. "Jasprit Bumrah made a request to BCCI to be released from India’s squad ahead of the fourth Test owing to personal reasons. Accordingly, the fast bowler has been released and he will not be available for selection for the fourth Test," BCCI wrote. Clearing the air around the situation, Virat Kohli in a chat with the official broadcaster shed some light on the lead up to the decision and stated how Bumrah mentioned his workload management in the third Test. “Bumrah said I'm getting workload management while playing the game and Ishi said 'I'm playing my hundredth game and not getting a bowl’,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation. In comparison to Indian spinners’ 68 overs the duo of Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah bowled a combined total of 11 overs in the game. Notably, the pacers were not given a single over in the second innings as the spinners feasted on the English batting line-up who were bundled out for a meagre 81, their lowest score against India. Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel bowled 15 overs each (2nd innings) while Washington Sundar was lucky to bowl four deliveries in the entire game. “Eventually, he (Washington Sundar) was happy that he got three balls in the whole game. He didn't get any with the bat also - poor guy. Bizarre game - I've never been part of a Test match where things have moved so quickly,” Kohli added. India are set to take on England for one last scheduled Test match from 4-8 March to be hosted at the refurbished Motera stadium in Ahmedabad which is expected to be played on another square turner. Reports have suggested that Bumrah was granted leave keeping the packed upcoming schedule in mind, where the players are scheduled to play in the IPL, T20 World Cup, England away series and potentially the ICC Test Championship Final.

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PSL | Dale Steyn left fuming over Simon Doull's 'mid-life crisis' comments

South Africa legend and one of the finest fast bowlers to have ever graced the game, Dale Steyn was drawn into an avoidable controversy in the 2021 edition Pakistan Super League. Playing his first game for the Quetta Gladiators on February 26, Steyn was left fuming after finding out that commentator Simon Doull mentioned how Steyn was suffering a ‘mid-life crisis with the hair’. Steyn took to Twitter yesterday, 27 February evening and asked the community to identify the commentator. 10 mins after a fan dug out the clip of the incident, Steyn lashed out on the same stating that the commentator’s job was to talk about the game. “If your job is to talk about the game, then do that.” Steyn wrote on the microblogging site. He further went on to elaborate that it was never okay to use a public platform, viewed by millions of people to shame an individual for their weight, choices and ethnicity. While Steyn did not name or attack former New Zealand international himself, it was understood from the scheme of things. “...if you use that airtime to abuse anyone for their weight, sexual choices, ethnic backgrounds, lifestyle etc or even hairstyles, then im afraid I have no time for you as a human. You and anyone else like that to be fair.” Steyn further added. Playing his first game in the 2021 PSL, Steyn picked two wickets for 44 runs in a losing cause for the Quetta Gladiators. Defending a target of 199, the SA speedster conceded 21 runs in the penultimate over against Sherfane Rutherford and Wahab Riaz, who deposited him all across the park. Post his lambasting of Doull, he thanked people for the support and stated that he was hopeful for Quetta winning the remaining fixtures in the T20 league.