New COVID strain forces New Zealand to change NZ-AUS schedule

The upcoming matches in the bilateral series between Australia and New Zealand men and New Zealand vs England women will now be played behind closed doors and in a different venue owing to a new COVID-19 case in New Zealand which has raised the alert levels in the country. It has severely disrupted the ongoing limited-overs series for both Men and Women. 

Auckland moved to Alert Level 3 ahead of the two matches in February which means the games will now be played in Wellington behind closed doors. Both men and women’s squad will now stay in Wellington following their respective matches. The doubleheader on 7th March which was slated to be played in Tauranga will go on as planned. The decision on crowds will be decided after government advice. 

The decision to move the matches were taken following Prime Minister Jacinda Adern’s decision to impose a week of Level 3 lockdown in Auckland following the Ministry of Health revealed a potentially infectious COVID strain which has affected the 13th individual in February group. 

Meanwhile, the Kiwis Men’s team lead the Aussies 2-0 in the 5 match T20I series while the White Ferns trail by the same margin against the English women in the ODI series. 

Discover more
Top Stories
news

Yusuf Pathan to feature in Road Safety World Series

Former India players Yusuf Pathan, Namaj Ojha and R Vinay Kumar will feature in the Road Safety World Series’ slated to begin on March 5. The three players who retired recently will play for India Legends. The Indian team comprises players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. Apart from this, former Sri Lanka captain and opener Sanath Jayasuriya will play for Sri Lanka Legends. “Sri Lanka Legends have also included Sanath Jayasuriya, Russel Arnold and Upul Tharanga in their team led by Tillakaratne Dilshan,” a media release issued here said on Saturday. India will begin the campaign against Bangladesh legends on March 5 while all the matches will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium. The first edition of the tournament was called-off last year after four matches due to the COVID-19 outburst. Squads: India Legends: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Pragyan Ojha, Noel David, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Manpreet Gony, Yusuf Pathan, Naman Ojha, S Badrinath and Vinay Kumar. Sri Lanka Legends: Thilakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Farveez Maharoof, Rangana Herath, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Kulasekara, Russel Arnold, Dulanjana Wijesinghe and Malinda Warnapura. West Indies Legends: Brian Lara, Tino Best, Ridley Jacobs, Narsingh Deonarine, Sulieman Benn, Dinanath Ramnarine, Adam Sanford, Carl Hooper, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Austin, William Perkins and Mahendra Nagamootoo. South Africa Legends: Jonty Rhodes, Morne van Wyk, Garnett Kruger, Roger Telemachus, Justin Kemp, Alviro Petersen, Nantie Hayward, Andrew Puttick, Loots Bosman, Zander de Bruyn, Thandi Tshabalala, Monde Zondeki, Makhaya Ntini and Lloyd Norris-Jones.

news

Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia ousted from India women squad for South Africa series

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the India Women squad for the South Africa series which begins with the first ODI on 7th March. Veteran speedster Shikha Pandey along with wicket-keeper batsman Taniya Bhatia, both of whom played the T20I World Cup in March 2020, has been ousted from the 18 members ODI and T20I squad. Batter Yastika Bhatia, wicket-keeper batsman Sweta Verma, veteran wicket-keeper Sushma Verma and all-rounder Challuru Prathyusha alongside left-arm pacer Monica Patel are the fresh inclusion in the squad. There is another name that has been a welcome entry into the team and it is that of pacer Mansi Joshi. Joshi would be making a comeback into the Indian side after 15 months, having been troubled by stress fractures. New inclusion in the T20I squad includes Nuzhat Parveen as an extra wicketkeeper and cover for Sushma Verma, who has been named in a T20I squad after 2016. Ayushi Soni, Prathyusha and Simran Dil Bahadur are others who have found a place in the T20I side. While Harmanpreet would lead the Indian women in the shortest format, Mithali Raj would be the skipper in ODIs. All the matches would be played at the Atal Vihari Vajpayee stadium in Lucknow. ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, D Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wk), Swetha Verma (wk), Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C Prathyusha, Monica Patel. T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wk), Nuzhat Parveen (wk), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur. Schedule ODI Series 1st ODI- 07th March 2nd ODI- 09th March 3rd ODI- 12th March 4th ODI- 14th March 5th ODI- 17th March Schedule T20I series 1st T20I- 20th March 2nd T20I- 21st March 3rd T20I- 23rd March

news

Indian team not keen on playing Pink-ball Test: Report

The pitch for the third Test between India and England in Motera has received some criticism after the spinners rattled the batting line ups. While Axar Patel scalped 11 wickets in the match, Ashwin picked up 7, Jack leach and Joe Root got four and five wickets respectively. While the track created some controversies, the Indian players are reluctant to play the pink-ball Test. As per a report in The Indian Express, the feedback of the players is “being taken seriously” by the team management. “What the players say is important. We will take a call soon on whether we should host pink-ball Tests in the future,” a BCCI official told the paper. “The problem when facing the pink ball is that it skids much faster compared to the red ball. Muscle memory makes batsmen believe that the ball will come at a particular speed after pitching, like they are used to when playing with the red ball. But the pink ball comes much faster. This is a major issue. Also, our players are not keen to play Day-Night Tests because the pink ball has too many variables, including difficulty in sighting the ball,” a member of the Indian team management said. Opening batsman Rohit Sharma who scored a crucial half-century in the first innings and remained not out at 25 in the second in India’s 10-wicket win at the Narendra Modi Stadium explained how the batsmen have to tweak the approach while facing the pink ball. “The red ball does not come on so quickly onto the bat. It also has got to do with the conditions in the evening. The temperature goes down a degree or two plus there’s the dew factor as well. But all in all, the pace of the pink ball is slightly quicker than the red ball. It is something that we need to adjust to as quickly as possible and understand what we need to do.” India have so far played three Day-night Test where they have won two and lost one in Adelaide after the side was bowled out for 36.