PCB & CWI hold security talks ahead of West Indies tour of Pakistan

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) held talks regarding the security arrangements as the Caribbean side is scheduled to tour the Asian nation in December 2021. West Indies are expected to play three ODIs and as many T20Is during the tour.

“I had a call with Wasim Khan, the Pakistan CEO, (on Tuesday) morning, to find out everything that had happened during the past week, on the back of New Zealand abandoning their tour and England’s decision not to go there, and to suggest that we have another call later this week with our operational teams to discuss our women's and men's tours that are scheduled for later this year,” CWI CEO Johnny Grave said while talking to Newsday.

“We’ll speak to our Independent Security Consultants, ESI, who we used back in 2018 when we went to Pakistan,” he added.

Earlier, New Zealand had pulled out of the limited-overs tour against Pakistan a few hours ahead of the first ODI citing security concerns and this was followed by the England team cancelling their tour to the country.

Both sides have faced a lot of heat on social media and the issue has boiled over to be a huge talking point about the double standards in world cricket. Several former cricketers have come out in support of the Pakistan Cricket Board citing that the Pakistan national team had travelled under stringent Covid-19 protocols back in 2020, and when the time came to pay them back, both England and New Zealand failed to keep their word.

Discover more

BREAKING | T Natarajan tests positive for Covid-19; SRH vs DC clash to go ahead as scheduled

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer T Natarajan has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been isolated along with 6 close contacts in the SRH camp. Among the six members isolated are SRH's first choice Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar, Vijay Kumar (Team Manager), Shyam Sundar J (Physiotherapist), Anjana Vannan (Doctor), Tushar Khedkar (Logistics Manager) and Periyasamy Ganesan (Net Bowler), said the Board of Control for Cricket in India in its press release. The release further stated that the rest of the members, including the close contacts who have been isolated, have returned negative on the RT-PCR tests that took place on Wednesday morning. BCCI has said that the IPL 2021 clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals which is slated to take place in Dubai on Wednesday will go ahead as per schedule. IPL 2021 was resumed in the UAE after it had been suspended earlier on May 4 as there were instances of Covid-19 cases within the franchises.

T Natarajan 'not disappointed' after being omitted from T20 World Cup squad

India left-arm pacer T.Natarajan wasn’t picked for the upcoming World T20 scheduled to take place in October-November in UAE and Oman. The fast bowler has now said that he isn’t disappointed after getting omitted from the squad as he hasn’t played much cricket in the recent past. He had undergone a surgery for a knee injury in April. "I didn't have any disappointments [at not being selected for the T20 World Cup]," Natarajan said while talking ESPNCricinfo. "I knew it was hard to reach there in a short period of time. A lot of people have told me that I would make the squad, but I didn't expect to be picked in the 15-man squad. I knew I was coming back from injury; I hadn't played competitive cricket for five or five-and-a-half months,” he added. Natarajan further added that a player can’t be selected without having any match practice but insisted if the selection would have been after the IPL had concluded, he might have had made a place for himself in the side. "If maybe the [World Cup] selection was after the IPL, I would have had a chance to make the squad. You can't expect to be picked in the squad without match practice,” Natarajan said. The Indian team that will be led by Virat Kohli in the competition will begin the campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24, 2021 in Dubai.

Marsh Cup: Twin centuries from Philippe & Marsh hand Western Australia thumping win in season opener

Western Australia registered a comprehensive win over South Australia in a rain-curtailed match. Riding on an emphatic and record-shattering partnership between Philippe and captain Mitchell Marsh, WA posted 352/6 in 50 overs during the the One-Day Cup. Philippe and Mitchell stitched a stand of 231 runs for the second wicket and both the batters notched up individual tons during the course. Opener Philippe top-scored with 137 while Marsh struck 111 before getting back into the hut. The South Australia bowlers were then taken on by Ashton Turner who chipped in with a 28-ball 46 while the D Arcy Short, Ashton Agar and Cameron Green also made valuable contributions. The target for South Australia was eventually reduced to 316 runs in 43 overs. While opener and wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey was among the runs as he was the third batsman to score a century in the match, the other batsmen never really got into the groove and the side kept losing wickets at regular intervals and was reduced to 150/7 at one stage only to get bundled out for 237 in the 39th over. Carey carried the bat as remained not out for 128. For Western Australia, Jason Behrendorff was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with a four-wicket haul at the cost of 39 runs in 7.3 overs.

'I planned it': Andre Russell on his perfect yorker to AB de Villiers

There were some unusual scenes during the clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday in Abu Dhabi when Andre Russell cleaned up AB de Villiers on a golden duck with a perfect yorker. In a video released by KKR on their social media handle, Russell has revealed how he planned the delivery and executed it pretty well. "That yorker, I planned it. Because you know, I was bowling hard lengths before into the wicket. AB came out to bat, I know he is a clever player. He was definitely looking for a hard-length ball. You know, I just trusted myself to get the yorker in and it worked. So, I'm happy." "I went to AB after the match and give him a hug,” he further added. RCB didn’t really have a great start to the second of the IPL after they were first bundled out for 92 against KKR and the Knight Riders then chased down the target by 9 wickets in 10 overs. Batting first, the Bangalore side had a steady start to the proceedings despite losing captain Virat Kohli early. Opener Devdutt Padikkal and Srikar Bharat stitched a stand of 31 runs for the second wicket before Padikkal was undone for 22 off 20 after getting caught behind off Ferguson on the last delivery of the Powerplay overs. But the left-hander’s departure saw a flurry of wickets as RCB were left tottering at 66/7 and were eventually bowled out. Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell were the pick of the bowlers after both the players scalped a three-for apiece. Later, Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer dominated the RCB bowling thoroughly and anchored the side to an easy win. Gill was out for 48 off 34 after getting caught by Siraj off Chahal while Iyer remained unbeaten at a 27-ball 41.