Mithali Raj attains top spot in ICC Women’s ODI player rankings

Bhuvneshwar Kumar sees no change of role, offers mental health help after elevation to Vice-captain

As senior players are there on the tour of England, India selected a fairly young squad with a mixture of experienced players such as Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the tour of Sri Lanka. Both have been named captain and vice-captain of the side that will be managed by Rahul Dravid as the head coach. However, Bhuvneshwar downplayed the talks that the tag of vice-captain will change his role in the side which was always centred around helping young players in ways of improving their game and mental abilities. “Yes, on paper, it is my role (vice-captain), but I don’t think things will change. I think being a senior player my role is to do things that help other players in improving their skills and mental health,” Bhuvneshwar told Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has suffered long and rigorous injuries in the last few years that put him out of contention for the longest format and the upcoming England tour. However, his prowess and variety in the white-ball formats are as good as any in the game. India would be looking forward to having him in a dual role of both striking with the new ball and containing in the latter half of the bowling innings. He always had the ability to swing the ball and with new additions in his arsenal such as the knuckle ball, Bhuvneshwar has become a potent threat for opposition batsmen.

Seven England squad members test Covid-19 positive, Stokes to captain England against Pakistan

Seven members of the England squad in the series against Sri Lanka have tested positive for Covid-19 that includes four support staff. The remaining all members of the squad have been deemed ‘close contacts’ as per the statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board. "In collaboration with Public Health England, Public Health Wales and Bristol Local Health Authority, those impacted will now observe a period of self-isolation from July 4 following the UK government's protocol on quarantine. The remaining members of the party have been deemed close contacts and will also isolate,” ECB said. As a result, all of the England players who played in the series against Sri Lanka will not take further part in the English summer when England are due to host Pakistan. The ECB has said that the series with Pakistan will go ahead as planned and England will plate under the leadership of Ben Stokes while the new squad will be announced in a few hours time. "The ECB have confirmed the Royal London ODIs and the Vitality IT20s against Pakistan will go ahead. Ben Stokes will return to England duties and captain the squad - which will be named in the next few hours,” ECB added. Just yesterday, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced lifting off of the Covid-19 related restrictions in the country and the latest development in the England camp might come as a fresh setback for the ECB.

ZIM vs BAN | One-off Test: A pursuit to amelioration

Bangladesh have become a decent force in the white-ball cricket especially in the last few years but they still have to prove their mettle when it comes to the longer format of the game. In a Test career that spans over 20 years now, Bangladesh have suffered defeats in 92 matches out of the 123 that they have played and have a win percentage of just above 11. While they do have players who are capable of getting fruitful results for the side, the Asian team hasn’t been able to produce much successful results for themselves. Bangladesh are now on a tour of Zimbabwe where they are scheduled to play a one-off Test which would be followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is. Zimbabwe on the other hand too don’t really have a great Test career to talk about and the story is pretty much similar or probably more disheartening in comparison to that of Bangladesh. From being an unsuccessful side to facing suspension from the longer format, Zimbabwe have seen it all. They became a Test playing nation in 1992 but accepted a voluntary suspension from the format in 2005 only to return back in 2011. They did lose around 6 years but the time that they spent before the suspension or have been spending after the return hasn’t really been great. In 114 Test appearances, Zimbabwe have only tasted success on 13 occasions, have suffered defeats in 73 games and only have a win percentage of 11.40. The two teams would be coming into this one-off Test after suffering defeats in their last respective series. While Bangladesh lost 1-0 to Sri Lanka in a two-match series, Zimbabwe were thumped 2-0. The only positive for Bangladesh was that they didn’t lose both the matches and didn’t concede an innings defeat unlike Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe lost both their matches against Pakistan by innings. Well, as they say there is always a new beginning to everything and this should be the only mind set when the two teams take the field in Bulawayo on Wednesday. Match Details Match: ZIM vs BAN, Only Test, Bangladesh tour of Zimbabwe, 2021 Date: Wednesday, July 07, 2021 - Sunday, July 11, 2021 Time: 1:00 PM Venue: Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo Pitch Report The track in Bulawayo is expected to have something on offer to the batsmen while the fast bowlers might get some help in the initial part of the match. So, if you win the toss, bat first, try to negotiate the first session of play and post a good first innings total to take the upper hand. Team News Zimbabwe: The home side have some experienced players in the line up with the likes of Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams there. Fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani had a good run in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League where he peppered the batsmen with some short deliveries at a good pace. The pacer would look to continue the form in the upcoming fixtures for his side as well. Apart from this, Zimbabwe had earlier called up four uncapped players, Chivanga Tanaka, Joylord Gumbie, Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Dion Myers in the squad. Bangladesh: Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo is pretty confident that wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim who had earlier sustained a finger injury is likely to be available for the one-off Test but opener Tamim Iqbal’s availability is still under dark clouds. Tamim is recovering from a knee injury. "Mushfiqur is pretty confident that he will be fit to play. He has done his rehab really well. Everything seems to be on track. I am pretty confident that he will be playing," Domingo said on Monday. "We are still not 100 percent sure about Tamim. There's still a lot of doubt regarding him. I think a decision will be made in the near future." On the other hand, Bangladesh had called-up Mahmudullah after he was fully fit to bowl. Mahmudullah’s inclusion in the side can provide some boost with both bat and ball. The visiting team looks pretty stable with some experienced players in the unit at the moment. Probable XI Zimbabwe: Kevin Kasuza, Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams (c), Dion Myers, Luke Jongwe, Milton Shumba, Regis Chakabva, Donald Tiripano, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque (c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed Fantasy XI Mushfiqur Rahim, Brendan Taylor, Tamim Iqbal, Craig Ervine, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (C), Sean Williams, Taskin Ahmed, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani (VC)

Tim Paine points out 'spots up for grabs' as Australia shaping up for Ashes series

Australia Test captain Tim Paine has reiterated the competition for spots in the batting lineup in the upcoming summer when his side will be hosting Afghanistan and England for an all-important Ashes series. Paine has alerted the contenders about the schedule of the next season of the Sheffield Shield where they will get an opportunity to press on for a place in the side before the Test against Afghanistan. There are certain openings in the batting order with both Travis Head and Matthew Wade losing their place in the side at some stage last summer and there will be few more if Australia will make it to the final of the T20 World Cup. If not for the T20 World Cup and quarantine related norms, Australia will have a fairly settled batting lineup leading up to the first Ashes Test at Gabba. David Warner will be fully fit and raring to bat at the top of the order followed by Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. The lower middle-order looks settled with Cameron Green and skipper Paine himself and that leaves only two positions that of the second opener and the number five batsman up for the grab. Will Pucovski, who made an enterprising debut against India at the SCG last summer before disintegrating his shoulder should be favourite to partner Warner with Marcus Harris waiting in the wings for his chances. "[It should be] very competitive, there's a few spots up for grabs there's no doubt about that. We are lucky that we get four or five Shield games before the Afghanistan Test, and some away in the T20 World Cup, so they'll be opportunities for guys to press their case in the first few rounds of Shield cricket. The Afghanistan Test will be an important game as well if some of our guys are not here,” Tim Paine said in a virtual press conference. "It will be up for the guys to grab their opportunity and think every batter around the country will be licking their lips at the moment thinking there is an Ashes series in Australia with a couple of spots up for grabs." Big players such as Warner and Smith will come into the Ashes series without any match practice with the red ball if Australia go all the way in the T20 World Cup which can be a bit of concern. However, Paine concedesd the problem as part and parcel of the modern-day game and has chosen to bank on their experience to adapt having done those sort of adjustments successfully before to excel in the Ashes series. "It's part of modern-day cricket. You have to be able to chop between tournaments and formats. Normally those players doing it, the three-format players, are the very best at it and are used to doing it. I don't see it as a huge issue,” Paine added. "We know the conditions here in Australia. If we can get a few games into those guys would be ideal but they are really experienced and either way, our team will be ready to go." Steve Smith is recovering from a recurrent elbow injury and could well opt-out of the T20 World Cup to be played in the UAE and Paine has already expressed his selfish satisfaction of a possible option.