Lockie Ferguson available for selection in challenging series vs India: New Zealand coach Stead

I had told Langer he will be Man of the Tournament: Finch joyous after his prediction on Warner comes true

Australian skipper Aaron Finch was over the moon when David Warner was adjudged Player of the Tournament for ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Finch in a post-World Cup media interaction said that he had assured coach Justin Langer that Warner was going to be the game-changer in this tournament for the Aussie unit. "Without a word of a lie, I promise you, I called Justin Langer a few months ago and said, “'Don't worry about Davey, he'll be Man of the Tournament’,” said Finch in the post-match press conference. However, the right-hander believed that post-tournament, it should have been Adam Zampa who should have got the prized trophy. "I thought Adam Zampa should have been Man of the Tournament personally, but he's [Warner] a great player. He's one of the all-time great batters. And he's a fighter,” Finch said. “He's someone who when his back is against the wall, that's when you get the very, very best of David Warner. It was a special finish to the tournament for him, the last couple of knocks,” the 35-year-old added. Talking about the match, where Australia chased down a historic 173, the highest in a T20 WC final, Finch said that Mitchell Marsh’s knock of 77 was the turning point in the game. "I think the turning point was when I got out, for Mitch Marsh to be able to come in and play the way that he did. He was outstanding. That partnership with David was brilliant; the way that they put the pressure back on the opposition was exactly what was needed at the time,” said Finch, who himself was removed for a paltry five off seven balls.

Tamim Iqbal misses out on Test series against Pakistan due to thumb injury

The poor run of injuries seems to continue with Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal. After sitting out the T20 World Cup, the explosive opener has lost out on yet another opportunity to play for his country owing to a left thumb fracture, an injury that he has been nursing for a while. He has been ruled out of the two Tests series against Pakistan scheduled to be played at Chattogram and Dhaka in late November and early December. "The fracture had almost healed but my thumb remained swollen. So we wanted to have another X-ray, which revealed that there was a fracture,” Tamim was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. “Probably there were two, but it didn't come out in the first scan. The finger has gone back into the split. I can't move it. The whole process has to start again,” added the ODI captain of the Tigers, who had already made himself unavailable for the three-match T20I series against the visiting Pakistan side which begins on November 20th at Dhaka. The 32-year-old, who last played for Bangladesh in July this year, was injured while playing Everest Premier League in Nepal in September. He was not part of Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup squad and it seems he would have to wait for yet another series to start playing again. Bangladesh next play New Zealand in an away series starting on the eve of the new year.

T20 World Cup | ICC reveals team of the tournament led by Babar Azam

The International Cricket Council revealed its ‘team of the tournament' after a blazing T20 World Cup, held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The selection of the team was made by a five-member panel that included commentators Ian Bishop, Shane Watson and Natalie Germanos along with journalists Lawrence Booth and Shahid Hashmi. Bishop, speaking on the process of the selection stated that they wanted to pick the players in their natural positions but they had to make compromises owing to the exceptional performances of certain individuals. “We endeavoured to select players as close to their initial team position where possible. This intention was not always a reality, as some compromises had to be made.” Bishop said. The team comprises of five specialist batsmen in David Warner, Jos Buttler (wk), Babar Azam, Charith Asalanka and Aiden Markram, Moeen Ali playing as the spin bowling all rounder, two spinners in Wanindu Hasaranga and Azam Zampa along with three pacers, Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood and Anrich Nortje. Australia, without any question, has the most representations in the team with three of its players occupying key positions. Finalists New Zealand have only one player in Trent Boult representing them in the team of the tournament after his incredible showing of 13 wickets in the tournament with an economy of just 6.25. He was exceptional in the final as well picking up 2 wickets for 18 runs in his spell of 4 overs. The team is led by Babar Azam who equalled Mathew Hayden and Virat Kohli’s record of hitting four 50s in the tournament, subsequently taking home the record of most runs scored in the 2021 edition of the World Cup. He scored 303 runs at an astonishing average of 60.60 and was followed by David Warner with 289 runs to his name. Bishop stated that he rues the non-selection of Mohammad Rizwan, but with the top three of this team in such mind-boggling form, it would not have made sense to push Rizwan so far down the order. “The top three in the order were so outstanding that we could not leave any of them out. Notable absentees include Mohammed Rizwan who was simply outstanding and courageous in his performance. However, we could not fit him into the team too far outside of the opening position where he is most suited and successful.” Shaheen Shah Afridi was selected as the 12th man for this team.

Adil Rashid confirms Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racism on Michael Vaughan

In a big development in the Azeem Rafiq racism row, current England spinner Adil Rashid has confirmed that Michale Vaughan, the former Yorkshire and England captain indeed used the sentence, “There are too many of you lot; we need to do something about it." Azeem had earlier alleged that Vaughan had used this term during a Yorkshire County game in 2009 when Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the Pakistani pacer along with three players from the Muslim community were part of the Yorkshire playing XI. There is still one player who has not come forward to support Rafiq while the other two in Rana Naved and Rashid have confirmed the allegation. "I wanted to concentrate as much as possible on my cricket and to avoid distractions to the detriment of the team but I can confirm Azeem Rafiq's recollection of Michael Vaughan's comments to a group of us Asian players,” Rashid said in a statement quoted by ESPNCricinfo. The repercussions of this statement by Rashid could be huge in the case of Vaughan’s future career as he has already been stood down from his next Radio 5 Live programme, the Tuffers and Vaughan Show, by the BBC. Rashid came forward with the statement as he was encouraged by the fact that a Parliamentary Committee seems to be trying to improve the situation and change can be expected from that. “These can only be positive developments. I will of course be more than happy to support any official efforts when the time is right. For now, though, these matters are of an intensely personal nature and I will not be commenting on them further. I ask you to respect my privacy and allow me to focus on my cricket,” said the England leggie. So far Garry Balance and Vaughan have voluntarily named themselves as being part of the investigation conducted into the allegations made by Rafiq of institutional racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. More names are expected to be revealed when Rafiq, a former Yorkshire captain himself gives evidence in front of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee on November 16.