PSL 2022 | Qualifier: Multan Sultans recover after early blow against Lahore Qalandars

BAN vs AFG | Afif Hossain’s maiden half century paves way for Bangladesh’s turnaround in 1st ODI

Afif Hossain scored his maiden half century and went up to remain undefeated at 93 to grant Bangladesh an unlikely victory on Wednesday, 23 February at Chattogram, Bangladesh. The talented left-hander alongside Mehidy Hasan Miraz put together an incredible 174* run stand for the 7th wicket to win the nail-biting game from a precarious position. Needing a paltry 216 runs to win in the second innings, Bangladesh were looking to make easy work out of the situation, but were slapped back into reality after young Fazalhaq Farooqui rattled the top order. The young Afghan took four wickets in the first five overs, cleaning up the entire Bangladesh top order for just 18 runs, stamping his authority on the game. Farooqui’s pace off the pitch and little hints of movement here and there troubled the entire order and established players like Tamim Iqbal found him hard to negotiate. After Farooqui was done feasting on the top order, spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan weaved their magic and got two huge wickets of Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan in quick succession. Just when things looked in the bag for the visitors, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi made a big mess of things by keeping relaxed fields and bowling his fifth bowling option in the game. Credit should not be taken away from Afif and Mehidy though, who stuck by the tough phase of play negotiation Rashid Khan and brought Bangladesh back in the game by stabilising the innings. Once they had seen Rashid through, both batsmen proceeded carefully to put away bad balls and keep the scoreboard ticking with singles. The game plan was to have smaller goals in the middle and take the match over by over since the scoreboard pressure was not there. At the end, this led to both batsmen playing 225 balls between them for the highest 7th wicket stand in Bangladesh’s ODI history and giving them a victory by the margin of 7 balls. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh pacers brought in their full arsenal of pace on and pace off deliveries to skittle Afghanistan for a paltry 215 runs. Mustafizur Rahman was the star of the show and picked three wickets. Shakib Al Hasan and Taskin Ahmed did fairly great as well and picked up two wickets to their names. However, it was Mehidy Hasan that actually choked the opposition with his tight lines and finished his 10 overs with three maidens and 28 runs, although without getting a wicket. For Afghanistan, barring Najibullah Zadran, no player capitalised on the starts and that meant that they were at least short by 30-40 runs in the wicket. Hasan was adjudged the man of the match for his exceptional control over the game and in the post match interview heaped praises on Afif for his ability to play in tough conditions. Hasan said that when he found it difficult to get going, Afif’s stroke play eased the pressure in the game. Bangladesh will be hoping to bounce off this incredible victory and seal the three-match series in the very next game. Captain Tamim Iqbal looked very pleased with the duo's efforts in the middle and explained that at a point he did not believe that Bangladesh could actually win the game. He hoped that Bangladesh can translate this into more amazing performances running up to the World Cup year.

IPL 2022 | Breakdown of venues and number of matches they will host

The Indian Premier League is right around the corner. With the mega auction wrapped up earlier in the month of February, one of the most coveted franchise leagues in the world is all set to begin by the end of March. According to reports in the Indian media, the 10-team tournament will begin on either March 26 or 27 and run till the end of May, with the day of the final game speculated to be the 29th of May. It was already proposed earlier that the group stage games will be hosted in Maharashtra inside a strict bio-bubble, but the details have now been finally revealed. Cricbuzz reported that three stadiums in Mumbai - DY Patil, Wankhede and Brabourne will host 55 matches among them, while 15 matches will be played in the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. While the venue for playoffs has not been decided yet, it has been largely speculated that Ahmedabad could host all the games in the Narendra Modi Stadium. The IPL will have a little more complicated setup this year, with two more teams having been added to the earlier roster. This would mean quicker deterioration of the pitch conditions and further logistical challenges that already occurred in the last year while hosting the first phase of the IPL.

'Have no issues; looking forward to playing all the games' - Rohit Sharma on workload management

Last week, Rohit replaced Virat Kohli as Test skipper to become the all-format captain of Team India. Following the development, there were concerns around his workload management given the fact that he will soon be 35 and has struggled with recurring injuries in the last 24 months.

IND vs SL | 1st T20I: Riding high on confidence, India look to continue dominance on home soil

Riding high on confidence, India will now be up against Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series scheduled to begin on Thursday (February 24, 2022) in Lucknow. But ahead of the series, the hosts have suffered a setback as Deepak Chahar and Suryakumar Yadav have been ruled out of the fixtures after sustaining respective injuries. But the good news for the home side is that Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have returned to the squad. The side that would be led by Rohit Sharma will also be without the services of former skipper Virat Kohli and wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant as the duo has been rested for the T20Is. India will be coming into this series on the back of a terrific performance against West Indies in the limited-overs fixtures. Sri Lanka, on the other side, are coming into this series after suffering a 1-4 defeat against Australia in a five-match T20I series. Match Details India vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20I Venue: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow Date & Time: February 24th, at 7:00 PM IST and Local Time Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar Pitch Report The track is expected to have something on offer for the pacers while the batters can also get some assistance. A good scoring game is on the cards. So, if you win the toss, elect to bat. Team News India: India suffered a blow ahead of the series after Deepak Chahar and Suryakumar Yadav were ruled out due to injuries. “Deepak sustained a right quadriceps injury during bowling while Suryakumar suffered a hairline fracture during a fielding attempt in the third and final T20I against the West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday. They will now head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further management of their injuries,” the BCCI said in a statement. Sri Lanka: The visitors also had a setback after all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga was tested positive for Covid-19 again. "Wanindu Hasaranga, who was in isolation after contracting COVID-19, has once again returned a positive result when a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) was conducted on the player yesterday (February 22). A PCR test too confirmed the result," SLC said in an official statement. "He was first found to be positive during a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) conducted on February 15, 2022. The player was transferred to Melbourne from Canberra and will remain in isolation until he returns a negative PCR Test Report," it added. Probable XI India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Bhuveshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Dusmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Kumara Fantasy XI Ishan Kishan (WK), Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Ravindra Jadeja (C), Dasun Shanaka (VC), Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Maheesh Theekshana