Mitchell McClenaghan feels players cannot be questioned for the cancelation of Pakistan tour

Virender Sehwag still optimistic of Devdutt Padikkal breaking into the T20 World Cup squad

Former Indian opener and arguably the most destructive batsmen of his time, Virender Sehwag is of the opinion that young opening talent Devdutt Padikkal still has an outside chance of making it to the T20 World Cup squad if he performs well for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the remaining 7-8 matches. Barring Padikkal, Sehwag named three other batsmen who he will be watching with intent during the 2nd half of the tournament. “My first choice will be Ishan Kishan followed by Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul and Sanju Samson. These four I will be intently watching. I have loved Devdutt's batting and if I have to pick one amongst the four, he is my man,” Sehwag was quoted as saying by PTI. “Who knows, if he does well, he might be drafted in as that Indian top-order for the T20 World Cup,” he further added. Padikkal had a dream start to his IPL career in 2020 when he amassed 473 runs in 15 matches, finishing as the leading run-getter for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in that season. He kept up the good work even in domestic cricket scoring runs consistently before earning a maiden national call-up for the tour of Sri Lanka. Padikkal struggled against the quality Sri Lankan spinners and didn’t quite return with impressive scores. Padikkal did struggle in Colombo which was one of the toughest conditions during the tour of Sri Lanka but he is a good player against spin. Before this season was suspended midway, Padikkal had struck 195 runs in 6 matches which included a sensational century against the Rajasthan Royals. Sehwag is confident of the fact that he will come good in the second half of the IPL. "100%. We have around seven matches minimum left for the teams. That means you still have a platform to perform and those who are on the fringes could still impress the Indian selectors who would be watching the tournament closely. "Since ICC allows a window to change teams, I will not be surprised if there are some changes in the original squad," Sehwag said. The second half of the Indian Premier League kicks off later today (September 19) with arch-rivals Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings locking horns against each other. Padikkal will return to action with RCB’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday (20th September).

David Hussey backs Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana to come good in 2nd leg of IPL

Kolkata Knight Riders and former Australian batsman David Hussey has backed the likes of Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana to come good in the second half of the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Calling them the future superstars of Indian cricket, Hussey is of the opinion that the duo is all set to ‘shock the world’ with their display of batting in the IPL. KKR will need both of them to come good if they harbour any hopes of making a turnaround in the second leg and make the playoffs. "Both quality players. Both are quality people too. They are both determined to do very well for this team and themselves. Both have had a taste of international cricket and I think they are about to shock the world that they are the next generation of Indian players." Hussey was quoted as saying in a video on KKR's official website. "Not just for one or two series. They are there for a decade, long time. If they get going, look out for us at the IPL", he further quipped. While Rana batted well in patches in the first half of the season. Gill had a relatively poor time with the bat scoring just 132 runs in 7 matches to Rana’s 201 runs in as many matches. Both Rana and Gill have got the taste of international cricket. While Gill established himself as a Test opener before a shin injury ruled him out of the Test series in England, Rana recently made his international debut when the Shikhar Dhawan led Indian white-ball team visited the Lankan shores in August. Gill has recovered from the shin injury and is expected to play a monumental role in KKR’s chances in the second leg. Gill who was part of the ICC Test Championship final XI will be making a return to cricket after the injury while Rana last played in Sri Lanka where he appeared in an ODI and a couple of T20Is. Meanwhile, KKR will restart their campaign with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday in Abu Dhabi.

New Zealand players and support staff reach UAE, to fly out home in the course of next week

New Zealand cricket has defended its decision to abort the tour of Pakistan on the day of the scheduled start of the limited-overs series. It was just in the lead up to the opening ODI that NZC announced that they have cancelled their tour with immediate effect after a “specific and credible threat’. The players and the support staff arrived in Dubai in a special charter plane in the early hours of Sunday as per reports in the Cricbuzz. A team of 34 members which includes 21 players and support staff will undergo a mandatory 24 hour of quarantine in their Dubai hotel before leaving for home in the course of the next week. 21 of them will return home “as flights and Managed Isolation and Quarantine rooms become available” said New Zealand cricket in their official statement. Meanwhile, the remaining players will stay in UAE and join the New Zealand national T20 team with the T20 World Cup slated to be played in UAE and Oman from 17th October. Without divulging much about the nature of the security concern which New Zealand cricket received on the day of the start of the ODI series, NZC chief executive David White stated that “everything changed” instantaneously on Friday, just hours before the start of a historic series. White further stated that after hearing from the NZC’s security consultants who were present at the venue they were left with no choice but to abort the tour without playing a game. "We appreciate this has been a terribly difficult time for the PCB and wish to pass on our sincere thanks to chief executive Wasim Khan and his team for their professionalism and care," White stated. As per reports in the Cricbuzz, White further added that the intel was shared to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) but it was not possible to specify the details in public. "What I can say is that we were advised this was a specific and credible threat against the team. We had several conversations with New Zealand government officials before making the decision and it was after informing the PCB of our position that we understand a telephone discussion was conducted between the respective Prime Ministers. "Unfortunately, given the advice we'd received, there was no way we could stay in the country. Everything changed on Friday," White said. "The advice changed, the threat level changed and, as a consequence, we took the only responsible course of action possible,” he concluded.

T20 Blast | Semi Final 2: Kent set up final date with Somerset courtesy Bell-Drummond and bowlers

Riding on a brilliant knock of 82 by Daniel Bell-Drummond and exceptional bowling efforts by Fred Klassen and Matt Milnes, Kent set up a final date with Somerset in the final of the Vitality T20 Blast. It was a brilliant all-round performance that ensured that Kent defeated Sussex quite convincingly in the end by 21 runs. In conditions suited for the batters, it was the Kent skipper Sam Billings who won the toss and opted to bat. Drummond started off with some delightful shots and shared a 24 runs stand with his opening partner Zak Crawley in less than 3 overs before the dismissal of Crawley. Denly who joined Drummond at the fall of Crawley’s wicket looked a bit out of place and was dismissed for 3 after struggling for 8 deliveries. The middle-order couldn’t quite get going but Drummond at the other end continued his good work and kept ticking the scoreboard along and found the boundaries in crucial junctures of the game. There was a mini-collapse in the 11th over which saw Kent losing 3 wickets in 5 deliveries for the addition of a solitary run. However, Drummond set his foot forward and settled his nerves as he saw wickets falling in a cluster at the other end. Yet again it was the 45-year-old Darren Stevens who showed his class even at such a ripe age. Along with Drummond, he shared a crucial 42 runs stand in quick time to get Kent back into the game and after Drummond was dismissed on 82, it was Drummond who took the onus on hismelf to take Kent to a competitive score. Stevens eventually remained unbeaten on 48 of 27 deliveries as Kent posted 168 in their allotted 20 overs. The run chase began well for Sussex with Philip Salt smashing a couple of crisp boundaries in the first over. However, it was Fred Klassen, the most successful of the Kent bowlers who got the wicket of Salt. The innings never really took off as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Luke Wright, Ravi Bopara, Delray Rawlins and David Wiese couldn’t quite get going and was dismissed cheaply. Bopara was the top run-scorer from the four scoring a fluent 22 while Harrison Ward chipped in with 21. With the score reading 57/5 and then 89/6, it was all down to George Garton to see his team through. He took on the Kent bowlers and struck 4 fours and 3 sixes during his exceptional knock of 41 of just 23 deliveries. Until he was there, Sussex still had hope. His wicket at an untimely time proved to be the final nail in the coffin for them as they were eventually skittled out in the final over for 147 runs, handing Kent a comprehensive 21 runs victory. Brief Scores Kent- 168/8 in 20 overs (Daniel Bell-Drummond 82, Daren Stevens 47, Tymal Mills 3/33) Sussex 147 all-out in 19.1 overs (George Garton 41, Fred Klassen 4/17, Matt Milnes 3/22) Kent won by 21 runs