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Laxmi Ratan Shukla Returns As The Bengal U 23 Coach

Laxmi Ratan Shukla returns as the Bengal U-23 coach

Former Bengal all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla returned to the cricketing fold when he was appointed as the Bengal U-23 coach ahead of the new season. Shukla had called it quits from all forms of cricket in order to join politics back in 2016. He became an MLA from Howrah and then served as the minister of State Sports and Youth Services under Aroop Biswas.

The former all-rounder was made the Howrah district president of TMC but stepped down from his post before the last assembly polls in order to return to cricket and give his time to the game. “Let’s work together. Looking forward,” is what Shukla had to say after his appointment as the Bengal U-23 coach.

Meanwhile former India legend VVS Laxman has been retained as the batting consultant for the senior team while Shib Shankar Paul, a former Bengal fast bowler was appointed as the bowling coach of all the Bengal squads.

"On behalf of the Association, I wish the Former Cricketers who have been given newer responsibilities all the best and am confident that they would be able to use their wealth of experience to help Bengal Cricket earn laurels in the forthcoming domestic season," CAB president Avishek Dalmiya was quoted as saying in a statement.

There have been some changes made to the personnel in the women’s team. Rituparna Roy has been appointed as the head coach while Charanjit Singh would serve as the assistant coach of the senior women’s team.

"We have made some new appointments keeping in mind their merit and talents. We want Bengal cricket to shine and we have made changes that we deemed fit to that end," CAB Secretary Snehashis Ganguly was quoted as saying by PTI.

"We wish the new appointees all the best and hope they can get the best out of the various Bengal teams,” he further added.

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Mohammad Azharuddin part of the new working committee to take care of domestic cricket

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formed a ‘working group’ in order to ensure smooth conduct of the domestic matches. The group includes former Indian skipper and Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president Mohammad Azharuddin, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Avishek Dalmiya, Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) chief Jaydev Shah and Rohan Jaitley who is the head of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). Meanwhile, Yudhvir Singh from the central zone, Devajit Saikia from the Northeast zone and Santosh Menon from the south zone will form the rest of the group. This seven-member working group will be directly working with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, vice-president Rajiv Shukla, secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Dhumal. It must be noted that the BCCI apex council body had decided to form a 10-member committee on 20th June to scrutinise on the compensation package and other aspects of domestic cricket. The premier domestic competition for red-ball cricket, Ranji Trophy had to be cancelled last year. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the BCCI to conduct a curtailed domestic season. However, they are planning to host a full-fledged season this time around with more than 2,000 matches slated to take place. Here are the working group members from different zones Mohammed Azharuddin, Santosh Menon (South zone), Rohan Jaitley (North zone), Avishek Dalmiya (East zone), Jaydev Shah (West zone), Yudhvir Singh (central zone), Devajit Saikia (Northeast zone).

WI vs Aus | 2nd T20I: Ruthless Windies blank Aaron Finch's men to take 2-0 lead

It was another thoroughly professional all-round performance by West Indies as they stormed past the visiting Australian team by 56 runs to go 2-0 up in the 5 match series. Unlike the opening encounter where West Indies made a dramatic turnaround to clinch the match, they were far more professional this time around and was by far the more superior team on the day. After scoring a more than competitive 196 in their allotted 20 overs on a belter of a wicket, West Indies bowlers raised their hands yet again and delivered the goods as the second string Australian side was bowled out inside 20 overs for the second time in succession. A brisk yet steady start was the order of the day for the Aussies chasing a big total but they were pegged back early as Matthew Wade was removed by Sheldon Cottrell in just the 2nd delivery of the innings. Finch also fell early and Australia had to play catch up for the rest of the innings. Yet again Mitchell Marsh proved his worth at No 3 scoring back to back half-centuries to steady the ship for the home team. He flayed his way around and played some delightful shots during his knock of 54 of 42 deliveries which kept Australia in the game. However he never got any support from the other end and barring starts from Moises Henriques Josh Philippe, none of the other batsmen could get going. They lost their last 6 wickets for 29 runs eventually folding out for 140 in 19.2 overs. Yet again Hayden Walsh Jr proved to be a huge difference bagging three wickets to derail the Aussies in the middle overs. Sheldon Cottrell bagged a couple while Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Fidel Edwards chipped in with a wicket each. Despite the defeat in the opening encounter, Aussie skipper Aaron Finch trusted the process and methods and opted to chase once more. Evin Lewis was replaced by Andre Fletcher at the top of the order and the swashbuckling batsman got into the act straightaway smashing Mitchell Starc for his trademark no-look six of just the 5th delivery of the match. However, he fell cheaply while giving room to a faster one from Ashton Agar which breached his defence and disturbed the timbers. Simmons clubbed three massive sixes during his 21 balls 30 and helped Windies race off to 46 in the powerplay. Just when Simmons and Gayle were looking set, both were dismissed in quick succession as the Aussie bowlers tightened the screws on the middle order. Shimron Hetmyer took the onus on hismelf to push West Indies towards a big score. The powerful left-hander clubbed his way to a breathtaking 36 balls 61 which included a couple of fours and four sixes. Dwayne Bravo who was sent up the order proved his worth with the bat. A 34 balls 47 set the tone for the final fireworks from Andre Russell. The muscle man blazed his way to an unbeaten 9 balls 24 which took West Indies to 196. In the end, the score proved to be a match-winning one by quite a fair margin. Brief Scores West Indies 196/4 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 61, Dwayne Bravo 47*, Mitchell Marsh 1/18) Australia 140 all-out in 19.2 overs (Mitchell Marsh 54, Hayden Walsh Jr 3/29) West Indies won by 56 runs

ENG vs PAK | 2nd ODI: Hasan Ali bags five-wicket haul, registers name on Lord's Honours Board

Pacer Hasan Ali bagged a five-wicket haul in the second ODI of the series against England and registered his name onto the Lord’s Honours Board. England were rocked early as Dawid Malan was dismissed driving on the up against Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi yorked Zak Crawley with an absolute peach. Ali then came back to dismiss Ben Stokes and John Simpson to leave England trailing behind a long way in the game, and put the hosts on the brink with the wicket of Craig Overton. Ultimately, he dismissed Saqib Mahmood to reach the five-wicket haul landmark and wrap up England innings at 247. Pakistan are trailing 0-1 behind in the sthree-match long ODI series and skipper Babar Azam would be disappointed letting England go off the hook after an impressive start with the ball. Other two pacers such as Haris Rauf and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf struggled for accuracy and provided ample amount of loose delivery for England batsmen to cash in on an overcast day in London. Phil Salt went berserk with the bat and top scored at 60 runs but his dismissal derailed England’s momentum in the middle phase of the game. James Vince made good use of the opportunity with a splendid half century but he too failed to convert it into a big innings. England escaped a collapse as Lewis Gregory and Brydon Carse stitched a valuable 69 runs partnership for the eight wicket.

Member of alternative Sri Lanka squad test Covid-19 positive

In a fresh setback to the prospect of the upcoming series between Sri Lanka and India, a player from alternative Sri Lanka under a biosecure bubble in Colombo has tested positive for Covid-19. The latest case will put a serious strain on both Sri Lanka Cricket and the BCCI that have already postponed the ODI series by five days to July 18. Two separate squads have been training in Colombo and Dambulla under biosecure bubbles and Sri Lanka Cricket can ask any one of them to play against India in the series in case the first-choice squad does not come out clean in Covid-19 testing. The player from the alternative squad has test positive while the first-choice squad members who have returned from England have already been under the cloud of covid-19. Batting coach Grant Flower and an analyst have already contracted positive for Covid-19. The ODI series between Sri Lanka and India was scheduled to start on July 13 but in the wake of circumstances due to Covid-19 in the hosts' camp it has been shifted to July 18. The second and third ODI of the series will be played on July 20 and 23 in Colombo followed by a three-match long T20I series from July 25.