Home
Cricket News
Not A Single Months Rest Team India Players Jam Packed Schedule In 2021

Not a single month’s rest! Team India players' jam packed schedule in 2021

After a lean 2020, which mostly saw players chilling at home due to the pandemic, 2021 would be a hectic year for Team India. The Indian cricket team is scheduled to play a total of 14 Test Matches, 16 ODIs & 23 T20Is this year from January to December. All this is still a bilateral tournament.

Apart from the bilateral tournaments, Team India would also play the Asia Cup T20 and ICC T20 World Cup. InsideSport has reported that BCCI is committed to honoring all commitments of canceled series, events in 2020, and in such a scenario the 12 months are all packed with continuous cricket which includes the Indian Premier League as well.

“We understand it will be tough on the players but we are obligated to honor FTP (Future Tour Programs) commitments. We have a bigger pool of talent now and players we will make sure players get ample rest before called in for India duties. Rotation policy will surely come into play”, a BCCI official was quoted as saying.

The team after returning from Australia in January will host England for four Tests, four T20Is, and four ODIs, in what would be an over two-month-long tour of India for the Poms.

Once that gets over, the IPL 2021 would start in late March and go on till mid of May. This IPL might also see rejig as a mega auction is expected for 2021. In June Virat Kohli and Co. will travel to the island nation for a three-match ODI and five-match T20I series. Over there itself, the Men in Blue would defend their ACC Asia Cup T20 from June end to mid of July.

Before traveling to England in late July, the bench strength of the Indian team would be tested as they would travel to Zimbabwe to fulfill their FTP commitments. In England, the team would play the five-match Test series over two months. This would also mark the start of the second edition of the World Test Championship.

South Africa would be traveling to India as a preparatory before the T20 World Cup where the Indian team would play three ODIs and five T20Is in October. In November, the much anticipated ICC T20 World Cup would be played in India itself.

Soon after the World Cup, India will welcome New Zealand for two Tests and three T20Is to be played between November and December.

At the end of the year, The Indian cricket team will travel to South Africa for a series of three Tests and as many T20Is.

Discover more

England confirms Pakistan tour, it's first ever in 16 years

England and Wales Cricket Board announced that the England limited-overs side will tour Pakistan in October 2021 for a two-match T20I series to be taken as a preparatory tour for the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in India in November 2021. The two T20Is will be played in Karachi on 14 and 15 October 2021, while the team would land in Pakistan on 12th October and depart for India on 16th. It would be the first tour of Pakistan for the England team in 16 years as the ECB confirmed it Tuesday evening following last month’s invite by the PCB for a short tour in January 2021. Although England have played bilateral series with Pakistan in 2012 and 2015 that had taken place in UAE as the team last toured Pakistan in 2005 and played three Tests and five One-Day Internationals. “It’s a real pleasure to announce that the England men’s IT20 squad will be playing in Pakistan in October 2021. This will be the first time since 2005 that an England team has toured Pakistan and as such it represents a significant moment for both nations,” Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive Officer said in a Press Release. Stressing that both ECB and the Pakistan board have a strong relationship, Harrison said that the ECB was delighted to be able to play its part in ensuring the safe return of international cricket to the ‘wonderful nation of passionate cricket fans’. Wasim Khan, PCB Chief Executive was also happy with the announcement and said that it will serve as a watershed moment in international cricket's return to Pakistan. “I am delighted to confirm that England will be touring Pakistan to play two T20s in October 2021. This will open the door for both Test and White Ball tours in 2022-23. We also expect Australia to visit Pakistan for their FTP commitment in early 2022, with England returning for both Test and White Ball tours in 2022-23,” he said.

Sudeep Tyagi retires from all forms of cricket at 33

Former India and Uttar Pradesh paceman Sudeep Tyagi, who was once touted to be the next big thing in the Indian fast bowling department announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Tuesday, 17th November. Tyagi, who played four ODIs and a lone T20I for India is only 33, but injuries and lack of form led him to take such a drastic decision. “I want to thank each one of you who has supported me. I have achieved what is every player’s dream to represent the country and wear the Indian flag is a dream I lived,” he wrote in a note on Twitter. The Ghaziabad-born made his India debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka in December 2009 at the Feroz Shah Kotla on a pitch that was considered unsafe and the match was called off. In that game, Tyagi picked up a wicket as well. His last game in Indian colours came against South Africa in February 2010 in an ODI at Ahmedabad. The UP speedster came into the reckoning when he picked up a 10 wicket haul on Ranji debut and followed it up with a nine-wicket haul in his second game and was instrumental in taking UP to the finals of the 2007 Ranji season. A good season with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL in 2009 meant that he was drafted in the Indian team as a ‘great future prospect’. Tyagi thanked MS Dhoni the Indian captain under whom he made his debut. He also thanked UP stalwarts in Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, and RP Singh for their guidance in his parting note. “I want to thank M.S Dhoni under whom I played my first ODI. I thank my role models Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, RP Singh alongside whom I had the opportunity to debut my career for UPCA,” he wrote. Apart from UP, Tyagi also represented Hyderabad and Saurashtra in the Indian domestic circuit and in total took 109 First class and 31 List A wickets in a career marred with plenty of injuries.

The ghost of institutional racism is back to haunt England Cricket

After Yorkshire cricketer and former England U-19 captain Azeem Rafiq’s revelation of how ‘institutional racism’ had pushed him to have near-suicidal tendencies, a fresh set of allegations have now been leveled at England Cricket Board by former Test umpire John Holder and former County cricketer Ismail Dawood. Holder, who officiated in 11 Tests and 19 ODIs in an umpiring career spanning three decades said, "I've lived in England for 56 years. And I can tell you, hand on heart, I have never experienced racism before. But when you look at these figures, when you understand what is going on, it is hard to reach any other conclusion.” Divulging details of what made him believe about Institutional racism, Holder narrates a story. "When I stopped working for the ICC, I contacted the ECB to offer my services to mentor umpires. I didn't even get a reply,” he told 'ESPNcricinfo "Instead, ex-players, some of whom have never stood as umpires, were appointed to the role. That is ludicrous. It's like employing someone who can't drive to be a driving instructor,” the former Umpire added. Vanburn Holder, appointed in 1992, who played in 40 Tests and 12 ODIs for the West Indies, was the last non-white umpire on the ECB's first-class list. Ismail Dawood has played for Northamptonshire, Worcestershire, Glamorgan, and Yorkshire and has worked in other sectors in England apart from cricket as well. But according to him, he hasn’t seen a more archaic and institutionalized level of racism, almost comparable to the colonial era, as is practiced in England cricket. He couldn’t make umpiring a career as he couldn’t win promotion to the panel following “Some of this language was used in front of senior ECB managers, which I found extremely disturbing," Dawood said in the statement. “Having worked in different progressive sectors to cricket, I feel the ECB is the last colonial outpost, it is archaic, and any change is mere marketing rhetoric," he added. Dawood said that it seems he has, ‘encountered racial discrimination, dishonesty, and misinformation, cronyism, bullying’ at the ECB, and all of that is deeply rooted in the organization. According to him, England cricket is an ‘isolating place’ for a person from a (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) BAME background. However, the ECB replied by saying that it is trying its level best to make sure that BAME representation among its officials is maintained in a good proportion. "Today's group of professional umpires doesn’t reflect the diverse ECB we are determined to be. We want to see more, and recognize we still have a long way to go as a game to achieve this,” it’s official release said.

Best time for me to take the challenge: Will Pucovski on Australia debut

The talk of the town Australian player Will Pucovski believes that there couldn’t have been a better opportunity than right now for him to make his debut for the Baggy Greens. He says that his fully ready and in the right frame of mind to take on the challenge that is playing for Australia. "It's been a long journey but I don't think I could be in a much better place to take this challenge on," Pucovski was quoted as saying to SEN Radio. Talking about the opportunity that he might get in the upcoming Test series against India, Will says, "It's something I'm really excited for, and people have their different journeys and mine's taken a different path, but two years down the track from Sri Lanka when I was just about to turn 21, I feel like I've put in a mountain of work to achieve my goal of hopefully succeeding and playing for Australia. So, if the opportunity comes, I definitely think I'm ready.” Saying that he wasn’t really ready for the job he was selected to do in 2018, the 22-year-old feels he now understands the task fully. "Last time, not that I wasn't ready to do a job, but you were probably so filled with that sort of excitement of getting picked for Australia that I didn't think too much about the job at hand.” “This time around it feels like 'I've earned the right to be here' and I'm pretty pumped to take the challenge on, even if I don't play, just doing my bit around the squad to hopefully win a series for Australia," he added. Since the current top six are going pretty well, it seems like the Victoria player who scored two consecutive double centuries in the ongoing Sheffield Shield would have to wait for his chance, but he is ready to do that, saying that he can bat anywhere the team demands. “One advantage I do have is I am able to bat wherever is required," he said. Acknowledging that cricket is a ‘mentally taxing’ game causing players to ‘get in their own head quite a bit’ with technical or tactical problems, Pucovski thanks his coach Emma Murray who according to him came into his life at the right time (when he was suffering from mental issue). "It's been massive for me; she's helped me transform the way I look at things, which has been huge, both on and off the field. She came into my life a couple of years ago and it's been a slow and steady process,” he said.