Problem of plenty: Kiwi all-rounder de Grandhomme points India's toughest challenge in WTC Final

Kiwi all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has said that the immense strength of the Indian team will make the selection of playing XI the toughest task for the team management when they will play New Zealand in the finals of the World Test championship.

"With the amount of players they've got they can cover all bases because they've got real good seam bowlers these days and gun spinner, so I think the toughest thing for them is going to be picking the XI," the ICC tweeted quoting Grandhomme.

There is a fact in Grandhomme’s assertion as India have many formidable options for almost all roles in the team.

If all were to be considered for selection, Indian have to choose two openers among Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal while for all-rounders, the competition will be between Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and R Ashwin.

The bowling department has been enriched with the success of newcomers such as Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur, who will be joining the settled trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has come back after a long injury lay off and has shown keenness to play the longest format and will pose challenges to other pacers for his skills that can be really handy in England.

India and New Zealand will face off in the WTC Final scheduled to take place in Southampton from June 18.

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Sri Lanka confirms Bangladesh tour, team to play three ODIs on the sojourn

The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Wednesday, May 5 confirmed that the national team would be touring Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series starting May 25. All the matches would be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The Lankan Tigers would depart on May 16 for the tour and after undergoing five days of quarantine, will play an intra-squad practice match on May 21 at Savar Cricket Ground in Dhaka. The three-match series would be part of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup Super League in which Bangladesh is currently positioned at number six, while Sri Lanka is at the bottom at 12 having lost all three ODIs against West Indies in March 2021. The series is important in the sense that among 13 teams (12 permanent members and the Netherlands), the top seven teams and hosts India would qualify for the 2023 World Cup directly while the bottom five teams would be involved in a qualifying tournament. The tournament would involve the lower rung associates who would be coming through various layers of qualification. Three remaining two matches of the series would be played on May 25th and 28th at the same venue. All the matches would be day and night and played in empty stands. The Sri Lankan team will depart back home on May 29th.

IPL 2021: Eight of 11 England players reach home, to undergo 10-day institutional quarantine

A group of eight English players barring Dawid Malan, white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan and Chris Jordan have reached back to England on a chartered flight from India. These players would now undergo a mandatory 10-day quarantine in a government-approved hotel at Heathrow Airport. The mandatory quarantine is due to India’s presence on the “red list” in United Kingdom’s travel guidelines. It is believed that the remaining three English players will be boarding a flight back home in the next 48 hours. However, it is not clear how the other members from England, who were part of the IPL 2021, including KKR’s James Foster and Nathan Leamon, Rajasthan Royals CEO Mike Fordham and commentator Nick Knight, would get back home. The biggest contingent at the now postponed IPL was of the Australian players, which was 38 men strong. They are now being sent through Sri Lanka and Maldives’ route, where they will spend the necessary amount of time to qualify for a flight home. All travel from India to Australia is banned till May 15. The IPL Governing Council Chairman Brijesh Patel and acting CEO Heman Amin have confirmed that all the foreign players would be sent back to their countries in a safe passage.

BCCI 'committed' to arrange safe ways for Australians to go back home: Cricket Australia chief

Staying true to the promises made on making sure all players will reach their homes safely, the BCCI is making moves to send all of the Australian players and support staffs involved in the IPL 2021 to either Sri Lanka or the Maldives before they can be eligible for getting entry into Australia for which a chartered flight will be arranged later. There were reports that players and former players who wished to return to their homes in Australia will be staying in quarantine in the Maldives to make themselves eligible for entry into their own country. Now, Cricket Australia's interim chief executive Nick Hockley has confirmed that the BCCI is ‘committed’ to ensure all the players and support staffs reach their respective homes. "What the BCCI is working to do is to move the entire cohort out of India where they will wait until it's possible to return to Australia. The BCCI has been working on a range of options. That's now narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The BCCI is committed not only to the first move but also to putting on a charter to bring them back to Australia,” Hockley said to reporters. After the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League was ‘indefinitely suspended,’ there were uncertainties on the plans for the Australian players and former players who were part of different teams as the Australian government has mandated return from India as a punishable offence.

PBKS co-owner Ness Wadia eyeing September window for IPL 2021 comeback

There are concerns surrounding the future of the Indian Premier League after its 14th edition was suspended due to the rising number of cases in franchises. However, some franchise owners are not worried bout the future and backing the league to emerge stronger out of the latest crisis due to Covid-19. A co-owner of the revamped Punjab Kings, Ness Wadia has said that the league that started in 2008 is the most ‘flexible, adaptable and adjustable’ and it can sustain any sort of circumstances. "This is the No 1 tournament in the world. Not just in terms of value, but also for its adaptability. It is the league that is the most flexible, adaptable and adjustable. Whether the move to South Africa in 2009, to UAE in 2014 and 2020, and whether it being held in India the in most gruelling of Covid situations and circumstances, it always emerged strong. There won't be any impact on the league in future. The decision to suspend is right and I am sure they will hold it again," Wadia told Cricbuzz. Although Wadia backed the BCCI’s move of suspending the tournament in wake of the rising number of cases in the bio bubbles of various franchises and also in the outside world in India, he seems confident the 14th edition will resume sometime later this year. "It is very unfortunate but it is a decision that is correct under the current circumstances. I would say given the drastic increase in cases in the last two-three weeks, it has brought in a new dimension to the planning that was done at the beginning," Wadia added. He echoed optimism in line with the thoughts of IPL chairman Brijesh Patel who earlier today said that the BCCI is looking to find a window either before or after the ICC World T20 scheduled to be played later this year. “I think it ( IPL) will definitely come back, sooner than later. If you look at the cricketing window - September before the T20 World Cup. That could happen,” Wadia told Sportstar. Meanwhile, many overseas players who were part of various IPL franchises have left India and some of them have also reached their home countries.