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Mohammed Siraj Loses His Father To Lung Cancer

Mohammed Siraj loses his father to lung cancer

Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj’s father Mohammed Ghouse, 53, died due to a lung ailment in Hyderabad. He had been admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad for a long.

“My dad’s wish was always this – mera beta, Desh ka Naam Roshan Karna (my son, you should make my country proud). And, I will do that for sure,” Sportstar quoted Siraj as saying from Sydney.

Siraj, 26, who has represented India in three T20Is and a single ODI so far said that his father always wanted him to play for his country and he is happy that he could at least fulfill this wish of his father while he was alive. “I lost the biggest support of my life. It was his dream to see me play for the country and I am glad that way I could realize that and bring joy for him,” he said.

The Hyderabad pacer has done well in this year’s IPL playing for RCB. It was during one of the matches in the league after which he revealed that his father’s lung condition is worrisome. “My dad is unwell these days. His lungs are in bad shape so he has difficulty breathing. I am really worried about that. I can’t even go home to meet and motivate him. I talk on the phone but whenever I do, he starts crying,” he had said.

“I can’t even talk for longer hours because I don’t like seeing him crying. So I disconnect the phone early because I can’t hold myself for long. So, I pray to God for his good health. He was admitted to the hospital before the last game. I was really concerned that dad was in the hospital,” the Hyderabad born who has been chosen for the Test series which begins on 17^th December added.

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New Zealand’s Greg Barclay one vote away from becoming next ICC Chairman

The elections for the new chairman of the International Cricket Council, the governing body of the game worldwide is in full swing after the chair has remained vacant without a permanent chief for long after Shahashank Manohar’s term end in July this year. Greg Barclay, New Zealand Cricket's representative on the ICC board, is one of the favorites for the position which is currently being held by Shashank’s deputy and Interim Chair Singapore’s Imran Khwaja. In fact, Barclay is just one vote away from becoming chair of the global governing body with a 10-6 lead after the first round of voting concluded on Wednesday. With two more rounds of voting to go, the Kiwi needs one more vote to get a 2/3rd majority and hence the ICC chair. According to the new rules in the ICC constitution, a two-thirds majority is required to overthrow the sitting Chair. Barclay, who joined the ICC as the NZC representative in 2014, has the backing of the BCCI, Cricket Australia, and the ECB - the "big three" in the game and was introduced as an Independent candidate after Colin Graves, former ECB president couldn’t find much support. Khwaja's position is however backed by PCB president Ehsan Mani and the ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney. While Khawaja is an advocator of having more ICC tournaments and thereby more money coming the way of ICC and getting distributed among the nations that need it, Barclays would likely go the way of the big three which want more bilateral tournaments to boost their coffers.

LPL: Sohail Tanvir and Ravinderpal Singh test positive for covid-19

Already floating in troubled waters the rescheduled Lankan Premier League today got more trouble coming their way as two of Kandy Tuskers’ foreign recruits in Canadian batsman Ravinderpal Singh and Pakistani speedster Sohail Tanvir have tested positive for the dreaded covid-19. When Hashan Tillakaratne, the coach of Tuskers was told about Tanvir’s positive result he said, "We have to talk to the franchise owners and find somebody to replace Tanvir.” Tanvir hasn’t yet been ruled out of the tournament so far. Earlier Singh, 32, who was confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19 had traveled with the fellow team members in a bus as well as with Star all-rounder Andre Russell in a flight. "[Singh] has been sent for treatment at another hotel in the area, which has been set up like a hospital," Anil Mohan, CEO of the IPG Group, the organizing company of the LPL told ESPNcricinfo. "He is not at the same hotel as the others, and they are all in their bubble. The others will be training and preparing for the tournament as usual," he added. The 35-year-old Tanvir who has vast experience of T20 cricket having played 353 games was initially not part of the team and was drafted only after Wahab Riaz and Liam Plunkett had withdrawn from the tournament. Earlier Chris Gayle, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Lasith Malinga too pulled out of the league citing personal reasons.

Aus vs Ind: Health Officer not sure if Adelaide Test would go as planned

Venue for India's first Test match in Australia, Adelaide, has been experiencing a fresh surge of Covid-19. 551 new cases have been reported in the past week and it has cast doubts on whether the Test series could go as planned by Cricket Australia. What has further aggravated the issue is South Australia’s Chief Public Health Officer, Nicola Spurrier’s statements on the present Covid cases where she fumed that she did not have a crystal ball to make the pandemic go away. Responding to the reporters on the questions of the Adelaide Test, she said, “I can't tell you exactly...I don't have a crystal ball. But what we are doing now is putting us in the best position possible to be able to have that cricket match." The Health Officer however assured that the government and Department of Health are doing everything possible, even going out of the way to make sure that cases dip and Tests are held as per schedule. “The reason we are doing what we are doing, which is pretty drastic...is because we want to get back to the state of having just a few restrictions and to be able to do things like have the cricket," she said. On its Australia tour, Team India would play four Tests, three ODIs, and three T20Is, and it would start with the first ODI on 27th November in Sydney.

Getting Kohli out early key to winning matches against India: Pat Cummins

Australian speedster Pat Cummins feels that getting the opposition captain Virat Kohli out early in the game would give a lot of boost to him and the team and strengthen their chances of winning the matches. He gave the example of how it is the same for England and New Zealand too. "I think every side has that one or two batters and they are the big wickets. Most teams have their captain - Joe Root for England, Kane Williamson for New Zealand. You feel like if you get their wicket that goes a long way in winning the game," Cummins was quoted as saying to 'Fox Cricket'. "He (Kohli) is always a big one. You commentators talk about him non-stop, so hopefully, we can keep him quiet," he added. Even though he is getting used to the bio- Bubble conditions, Cummins seemed excited to be back in the Aussie nation after 3-4 months. "It's good to be back here in Sydney. We've been in the middle of it (cricket in bio-secure bubbles) for three or four months now so we're starting to get used to it," he said. "We went over to the UK and had a good tour there. Most of the boys here have been playing T20 matches in the last few weeks and the other guys coming in will be playing shrewd cricket. So, it feels like we are all firing up and got a lot of stuff behind us," added the New South Wales bowler saying that the team is confident of pitting on a good show. "Whatever conditions we come up with, I have got a couple of tools I can go to," Cummins, who has taken 145 scalps in limited-overs international for Australia said.