Rohit Sharma takes over Virat Kohli as India announce squad for New Zealand T20I series

Azeem hasn’t done anything for personal gain: Moeen Ali expects thorough changes after Yorkshire incident

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club revelations shook the cricket world earlier this week. The ongoing saga about the systematic racism across all levels of the club made headlines for all the wrong reasons, with the entire cricketing community calling out the club for its botched handling of the investigation. A movement started by former club captain Azeem Rafiq in 2020, Yorkshire have been criticised time and again for their way of dealing with things. For example, in the investigation report, the club claimed that racial slurs from a Yorkshire player was ‘friendly banter’ and should have been taken in the same spirit. Speaking from the UAE to ESPNcricinfo, England international Moeen Ali extended his support to Rafiq and stated that his actions would encourage a lot of players to speak out against racism. "I wouldn't say I'm surprised but there's probably more stories out there that people haven't heard of," Moeen said. "The fact it's come out is great because, going forward, people [will] have to think about what they can or can't say in terms of discriminating against people and knowing what people feel and go through." The left handed batsman said that destigmatising mental health was the need of the hour and said that Rafiq’s persistence would be aiding that conversation. "What Azeem has done, he is not doing it for any personal gain, I think he wants change and that's what he's pushing for.” Ali said that the unfolding of the saga had become a part of “open discussion” in the English dressing room and that the team is taking learnings from these conversations. Everybody has a story in our changing room about their own background and it helps with people coming from all different parts of the world as well," he added. "Massive credit goes to the coaches and Eoin Morgan for really pushing it so that everybody's just normal with each other. It just feels like home to be honest with you."

Virat Kohli to rest for the first New Zealand Test, Rohit to lead in T20Is: Reports

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli will be taking a rest in the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand starting November 17 at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. He would also not be part of the Kanpur Test which would be played in Green Park from November 25 and would only join the side in the second Test scheduled to start from December 3 in Wankhede. Meanwhile reports also suggest that Rohit Sharma, the current Indian vice-captain for white-ball cricket, will lead the T20I team in the three-match series with most of the players, who were part of the T20 World Cup squad. But certain inclusions and exclusions to counter the bio-bubble fatigue are likely to be made. While KL Rahul is likely to get the vice-captaincy in the shortest format, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in the first Test. The two Tests are part of the World Test Championship and mark the beginning of New Zealand’s title defence. Varun Chakravarthy is likely to get an axe while Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami might be rested for the T20Is to remain fresh for the Test series. Thus Harshal Patel and Kartik Tyagi along with Arshdeep Singh might come into the reckoning. The decision on Virat Kohli’s captaincy in the 50-over format will not be taken now as ODI has no relevance as of now and it will be confirmed after the announcement of India’s squad to South Africa, a series scheduled in December.

Mohammad Hafeez opts out of Bangladesh T20Is, Iftikhar Ahmed named as replacement

The veteran Pakistan all-rounder, Mohammad Hafeez has pulled out of the Bangladesh tour where Pakistan were scheduled to play three T20Is in Dhaka starting November 19. He was replaced by the in-form Iftikhar Ahmed, another ageing all-rounder who missed out on the 18-men T20 World Cup squad. Hafeez is the only one from the World Cup squad who is not in the squad announced for the Bangladesh series. The rest of the 14 members remain on the squad along with three reserves in Usman Qadir, Shahnawaz Dahani and Sohaib Maqsood. The Pakistan cricket team will be flying out straight to Bangladesh after their T20 World Cup assignment and will not be taking any sort of break before heading into the series. Post the T20 series, there will be Tests played between the teams as part of the World Test Championship. The squad for it will be named later on. As far as the coaches and support staff are concerned. Pakistan has kept Saqlain Mushtaq as the team’s interim coach while bowling consultant Vernon Philander would remain with the side till the first match as well. Pakistan squad Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir

WBBL 2021 | Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma fail as Thunder record sixth loss in nine games

Sydney Thunder Women’s marquee overseas players, the Indian duo of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma failed big time as the defending champions recorded their sixth loss in nine games in the Women’s Big bash League 2021, making their chances of defending their title slimmer by the day. Playing against Adelaide Strikers Women in an away game, the Thunder Women could only get up to 158-6 in their 20 overs chasing a total of 177. Smriti failed to get into the double figures and was removed for seven runs by Jemma Barsby. Phoebe Litchfield and Isabelle Wong tried their best to rescue the sinking ship with their quickfire 40 (28) and 43 (17) respectively, but it wasn’t enough. Deepti Sharma remained unbeaten on 17 off 14 balls. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss Strikers Women chose to bat first and rode on brilliant counter-attacking innings of 54 off just 32 balls from South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt. A patient innings from her compatriot Dane van Niekerk of 58 off 46 balls helped Adelaide’s cause to post a daunting total of 176 in their 20 overs. India’s Deepti Sharma was the most expensive bowler as she conceded 35 runs in only her two overs. In another match, veteran Grace Harris was once again at the top of her game as she scored a measured 54 off 39 balls to carry the Brisbane Heat Women over the Sydney Sixers Women. She was well supported by the other three batters and especially Georgia Voll, who remained unbeaten on 48 off 41 balls to chase down the target of 160 with eight wickets and nine balls remaining. Earlier in the afternoon at the Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide, Sixers Women won the toss and decided to bat first. With the help of Ashleigh Gardner’s unbeaten 88 off 52 balls, the women in pink managed to reach 159-2 in their 20 overs.