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).

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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.

I will rate this performance very highly, up in No 1 or 2 says Hayden Walsh after match-winning spell

Riding on a sensational display of spin bowling by Hayden Walsh Jr, West Indies managed to register a sensational come from behind victory against the Aussies in the opening T20I to go 1-0 up in the five-match series. The leggie who bagged three crucial wickets of Mitchell Marsh, Dan Christian and Ben McDermott rated this performance very highly and placed this performance at 1 or 2 at the international level. Walsh had tested positive for COVID-19 in Bangladesh and had a pretty mediocre season with the ball in the Super50 tournament. However, his performance earlier today will definitely make him a prime contender for a spot in the T20 World Cup slated to be played in UAE later this year. "Personally, it's a sigh of relief," Walsh said after spinning his team to a memorable victory. "I've been preparing for a long while. After my mishap in Bangladesh where I tested positive for Covid, I didn't really have a good Super50 and I'm really happy that I'm just back. I would put this performance up there, probably one or two." Walsh who was playing an international game after a substantial gap was introduced into the attack a bit late than expected by stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran. However it worked wonders for his team as after conceding 10 runs in the first over, Walsh Jr was all over the Aussie middle order like a rash and from a commanding position, Australia slipped to a position of relative discomfort. The leggie along with left-arm pacer Obed McCoy ran through the Australian lower middle order and the tail bagging the last 6 wickets for just 19 runs to bowl Windies to a dramatic victory. "To come in when the pressure is on and Australia could have walked the game at that point, I really enjoyed changing the game there," he said. "In the team meetings we talked about the huge wind factor. I just really enjoyed just reading the conditions and reading the situation of the game,” W alsh concluded. The 2nd encounter is slated to be played at Darren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia tomorrow (Sunday).

Ellyse Perry opts out of The Hundred

Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry has opted out of ‘The Hundred’ tournament due to personal circumstances. Perry, who was due to play for Birmingham Phoenix is the latest addition to the tally of international players to pull out of the inaugural edition of the competition. Earlier, New Zealand’s Sophie Devine who was also a part of the Birmingham team had opted out "in order to be in the best position to prepare for international cricket, particularly with the ICC Women's World Cup due to be held in her native New Zealand in February," according to an ECB release. Head of the women's competition Beth Barrett-Wild expressed her disappointment on Perry’s decision. "We are obviously very disappointed that Ellyse Perry has had to withdraw from the Hundred due to personal circumstances, but we completely understand her decision and wish her all the best," Beth Barrett-Wild said. David Warner, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Williamson, Kagiso Rabada, Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy and Sophie Molineux are some of the other players who have opted out of the tournament. The women's Hundred is slated to begin on July 21 and the final will be played on August 21. Oval Invincibles will play Manchester Originals in the first match of the tournament at the Oval.