Ravi Shastri rates Virat Kohli in highest league among Indian captains of the past

Cricket in Commonwealth Games: India Women to play Australia Women in opening encounter

The women’s T20 cricket will be included in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 and will take place at the Edgbaston Stadium from the 29 July. The bronze and gold medal matches will be played on August 7 while the tournament will commence with the encounter between India and Australia. India will then play Pakistan on July 31 and Barbados on August 3. “The women’s cricket T20 competition will be held at the Edgbaston Stadium from the 29 July, with the bronze and gold medal matches taking place on 7 August. The first match on the schedule will see Australia take on India in the early session,” the ECB said in a statement. Matt Kidson, Director of Sport for Birmingham 2022, said: “Not surprisingly we have already sold thousands of tickets for both the netball and cricket T20 sessions through our ticket ballots, but we know that some fans have been waiting to find out the details of the match schedules before choosing which sessions they want to attend, so we’re expecting these sports to sell quickly, when ticket sales go live.”

“We won so much, people weren't used to us losing,” Ravi Shastri describes criticism of Team India

India were the firm favourites to win the T20 World Cup being played in the UAE as they were deemed a well-rounded team covering all the bases. But, it turned out, they could not produce performances in the big games against New Zealand and Pakistan and were knocked out of the tournament before making it into the knockout stage. It was also a critical tournament for the team management with all of the skipper Virat Kohli, head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar being in their roles for the last time. Coaches’ tenures were to end after the world cup and Kohli had announced he would relinquish captaincy from the format. Now, having left the Indian team as the coach, Ravi Shastri has opened up on the losses that knocked them out of the tournament and the fallout of those losses on the side. Shastri has said that people are not used to Men in Blue losing games in the recent past and hence there are “pistols and pens' ' coming out after solitary loss and downplaying the numerous wins they have had as a side. He said that the side has learnt to take losses on their chin and move on accepting it as a part of the sport. "In India, Cricket is a religion. You win 5 games and then when you lose, pistols and pens come out, and sometimes it's acidic. You just got to take it on the chin. We won so much, people weren't used to us losing," he said. However, he reiterated his rating of the current Indian team as “the greatest team” and said that their performance in the last few months have vindicated his early rating as well. He said that people tried to discredit his views of the team but the team has produced the goods to live up to his claims which was called as “ bold and bombastic” by his critics. "This was a young team in transition over the last 7 years. Many in the media didn't know the potential of this team. I said that this was the greatest team and knew what i said and they lived up to it. They (media) called my statements bold and bombastic. I have taken the bullet for 7 years”

England coach Chris Silverwood leaves Eoin Morgan to decide his own future

England head coach Chris Silverwood has put his weight behind limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan and said that it’s on him to decide on the future. "He's got to make that decision himself," Silverwood said on Thursday according to an ESPNCricinfo report. “His mind had already gone on to the next [World Cup], what do we need to do, what are we looking for. As soon as those conversations start, in my mind, that is it for us: he's in. He wants it, and he wants to lead. I think he will make his mind up when he's ready,” he further added. The Morgan-led side lost to New Zealand in the semi-final after Daryl Mitchell and James Neesham produced a brilliant batting display. Talking about the loss, Silverwood admitted that the players were disappointed. “We have got a group of lads who are hurting, which you can understand as well. To get so close, touching distance, and then to have it snatched away… we had the game under control for a lot of the time, [but Neesham] came in and played some exceptional shots, made life difficult for us,” he said. England had been in some brilliant form during the T20 World Cup but bowed out of the tournament after suffering a defeat in the semis.

T20 World Cup | Video: Wade smashes three sixes off Shaheen Afridi to take Australia into final

Australia wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade certainly played one of the most crucial knocks of his career on Thursday against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final in Dubai. The left-handed batsman struck a quickfire 41* off 17 deliveries which included four maximums and a couple of fours during the course. But, what made the headlines was him smashing three consecutive sixes in the penultimate over of the match against Shaheen Afridi to take his side over the line. Australia needed 22 in the final two overs and Shaheen had the ball in his hands for the 19th. The Australian side had managed to gather only two runs in the first two deliveries but what happened next was a sheer blunder from Hasan Ali. Afridi was up against Wade on the third ball of the over and the batter whipped it uppishly. Hasan, who was stationed in the deep, had a chance of grabbing a catch but he overran it and dropped an important one. Wade then took just three deliveries to wrap the match and help his side move into the final. The Aaron Finch-led side will now meet New Zealand in the title clash on Sunday in Dubai.