MS Dhoni to mentor Team India during 2021 T20 World Cup

In a surprise call during the World Cup squad announcement on Wednesday, 8 September evening, the BCCI has announced that former India captain MS Dhoni will be joining the national team as a mentor for the World T20 2021 slated to take place in UAE and Oman in October-November. The BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, confirmed that the wicket-keeper batsman would be taking up the role. 

“I spoke to Dhoni in Dubai. He was okay with the decision and agreed to be a mentor for Team India for the T20 World Cup only. I spoke to captain, vice-captain and Ravi Shastri also, they all are on the same page,” Shah said. 

Dhoni has been one of the most successful Indian captains and is the only skipper to lift three ICC trophies. India won the World T20 in 2007, 50-over World Cup in 2011 and Champions Trophy in 2013 under Dhoni’s leadership. 

The wicket-keeper batsman hung his boots from international cricket on August 15, 2020, and last played for India in the semi-final of the 50-over World Cup in 2019 against New Zealand. India lost the semi-final and bowed out of the tournament. 

The BCCI announced the squad for the tournament on Wednesday and the side would be led by Virat Kohli while opening batsman Rohit Sharma would be his deputy. 

The Indian team is scheduled to start the campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on October 24. 

SQUAD: Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami

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BAN vs NZ | 4th T20I: Bangladesh create history, win another T20I series

Bangladesh created history on Wednesday in Dhaka after beating New Zealand in the fourth T20I of the five-match series to take a 3-1 unassailable lead. Riding on some brilliant bowling display, the home side once again rattled the Blackcaps batting order and bundled them out for 93 in 19.3 overs. Nasum Ahmed and Mustafizu Rahman scalped four-wicket haul each while Mahedi Hasan and Saifuddin had a wicket each to their names. The visitors had another disappointing start to the proceedings after losing a couple of early wickets before captain Tom Latham and Will Young joined hands and steadied the ship for the team with a 35-run stand for the third wicket. But Latham’s departure for 21 off 26 saw a fall of wickets at regular intervals and New Zealand were soon left tottering at 91/8 to eventually get bowled out. Young top-scored with 46 off 48 during the course. In reply, the home side too lost an early wicket after Liton Das was undone by McConchie for 6 off 11. But Mohammad Naim and Shakib Al Hasan then complied 26 runs for the second wicket before Shakib was sent back in the hut by Ajaz Patel. The left-hander was stumped out for a run-a-ball 8. Patel then had another scalp in a quick succession after he cleaned up Mushfiqur Rahim for a duck. Bangladesh were in a spot of bother at 32/3 when Naim was joined by captain Mahmudullah in the middle and the two batsmen put 35 runs for the fourth wicket before Naim was runout for 29. But Mahmudullah and Afif Hossain made sure that there were no more fall of wickets as they anchored the side to a win in the last over. Mahmudullah remained not out for 43 off 48 that included a couple of maximums. Latham later lauded Bangladesh and also accepted that the visiting team failed to put up a defendable total in the innings. “We were probably a bit under-par. We were looking at around the 110 mark but ended up a bit light. Credit to how Bangladesh batted. We got early wickets but they had it under control,” he said after the match. Bangladesh have been in some good form in the T20I format. They earlier defeated Australia 4-1 in a five-match series and followed it with this winning triumph against the Kiwis. The two sides will now face each other in the final T20I on Friday.

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CPL 2021 | SLK vs GAW: On the charge Kings face listless Warriors

Nearing the business end of the tournament, the Guyana Amazon Warriors really need to pick themselves up if they are eying the Semi-Finals position as they seem to be struggling with only three wins from seven games in their kitty. The major problem with the team is that they are losing too many wickets upfront and the lower batsmen including skipper Nicholas Pooran and all-rounders like Odean Smith are unable to utilise the stretch of death overs or big-hitting overs. The Warriors need to straighten it as soon s possible otherwise it is going to be a tough ride ahead. The Kings on the other hand have been on a roll, winning three consecutive games coming into this match. Their batters are in great form with the likes of skipper Faf du Plessis even hitting a hundred and Roston Chase in the form of his life hitting back to back fifties. So for the Warriors to even think of winning, they would have to bring out their best game on the field. How will this turn out, only time can tell? Remember, in their last meeting, the Kings had defeated the Warriors by a huge margin of 52 runs. St Lucia Kings vs Guyana Amazon Warriors: Details Match Number: 22 Date and Time: September 09, 2021, 04:30 am IST, 07:00 pm Local (Sep 08), 11:00 pm GMT (Sep 08) Venue: Warner Park, Basseterre Broadcast: Star Sports Live Stream: Fancode Pitch Report The pitch at Basseterre has been getting slow with each passing day, although some wickets are also showing encouraging stuff. However, to expect what a wicket would do is not an easy job, but one thing is sure that if it is going to be a new wicket, then run-scoring might just be easy. Weather Forecast The weather at Warner Park will remain hot and humid with humidity of 80% at the time of the start of the match. The temperatures would remain in the higher twenties with the moderate evening breeze blowing. A captain winning the toss would look to bowl first and try and chase it into the night. Probable XI St Lucia Kings Andre Fletcher (wk), Faf du Plessis (c), Roston Chase, Tim David, Samit Patel, Jeavor Royal, Keron Cottoy, Alzarri Joseph, Kesrick Williams, Wahab Riaz, Keemo Paul Guyana Amazon Warriors Brandon King, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (c & wk), Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Kevin Sinclair, Gudakesh Motie, Imran Tahir Dream XI Team Wicketkeepers Nicholas Pooran Batters Shimron Hetmyer, Faf du Plessis, Tim David, Keron Cottoy All-rounders Mohammad Hafeez, Odean Smith, Roston Chase Bowlers Imran Tahir, Jeavor Royal, Kesrick Williams Vice-Captain Mohammad Hafeez Captain Roston Chase