Shakib Al Hasan set to miss New Zealand tour as BCB grants him leave

Yorkshire appoint new Managing Director as sacked support staff plan legal action against club

Darren Gough, the former England all-rounder has been appointed as the new Managing Director of cricket at the Yorkshire Cricket Club. The North England club and its new Chairman Lord Kamlesh Patel and ECB in support are trying to bring back the people to support it once again after the Azeem Rafiq fiasco. This appointment comes in days after the entire coaching and support staff being sacked by the club as a reaction to Rafiq’s claims. The 16 members of the support staff, who were sacked unanimously by the YCC on December 4 after its former skipper Rafiq made claims of racil abuse before a Parliamentary Committee, have now decided to file a legal suit against the club. They have jointly written a letter to the Yorkshire Board which is headed by chairman Lord Kamlesh Patel, who was appointed after Martyn Moxon, the director of cricket of Yorkshire was sacked along with other board members. In the letter, the sacked support staff which includes head coach Andrew Gale, a club legend, have written that Rafiq's claims have done immense damage to the club and further accused him as a man on a mission to bring the club down. Ever since Rafiq’s case came in the limelight, major sponsors cut off their ties with one of the famous English cricket clubs and the England and Wales Cricket Board also barred it from hosting international matches in the near future. Gough pledged to bring back the glory to Yorkshire in his first press statement as Managing Director of Cricket. “Yorkshire County Cricket Club has been part of my life since my earliest days in cricket when I made my debut in 1989, and I spent 15 happy years at the Club. Like many, I have followed how the Club handled the recent racism allegations with sadness and anger,” said Gough who represented England in 58 Tests and 159 ODIs from 1994 to 2006. “I want to play my part in rebuilding cricket in Yorkshire and I am looking forward to working with the exceptionally talented group of players here. I share Lord Patel’s vision for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and the collective determination to face the issues head-on with a series of positive actions. The change will not happen overnight, but I am certain that we can make Headingley roar again,” he added.

Test careers at stake as Rahul Dravid hints at 'difficult selection decisions' going forward

Between the conclusion of the series against New Zealand, where players sitting on the bench took their opportunity to shine bright and underperforming senior players sank deeper in trouble to the tour of South Africa scheduled to start towards the end of the year, India have to deal with a lot of selection conundrum but the coach Rahul Dravid is not at all worried about what he called “good headache”. The headache would have been there during the series against New Zealand as well if Ajinkya Rahane would not have suffered injury as in that case the team management would have to give up on one among Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Shreyas Iyer to accommodate captain Virat Kohli in the playing XI. Iyer scored a splendid century in his debut Test and earned a good case for himself while Mayank Agarwal brought back his best with the bat to score a splendid hundred on a tough pitch in Mumbai. To accommodate both on the tour of South Africa, India will have to look beyond the duo of Cheteshwar Pujara, who has not scored a century in the last three years and Rahane, who has scored runs at an average of 24.39 in the last 16 Tests. Both Dravid and Kohli gleefully accepted the “good headache” they have to deal with in the coming days and months while the former went on to concede that India may well be headed towards taking “difficult selection decisions”. However, he also outlined that clear communication and giving proper assessment to players on why the team management took a particular decision would make life easier for all the people. “It's a good [selection] headache to have, see young boys perform well. There's a great desire to do well and everyone's pushing each other. There might be some difficult selection decisions to take going ahead, but as long as we communicate why we do it and what we expect from players, it should be fine,” Dravid said to Star Sports after the conclusion of the second Test against New Zealand. If Dravid’s words are any hints to go by, India could well move beyond Rahane and Pujara, if not immediately, then at some point in the near future if they don’t pick up their form quickly. Whatever call they take with respect to their place in the side and playing XI or introduction of young players who are in form, this call will set the stage for the Kohli-Dravid era of Indian cricket.

IPL 2022 to have 20 games in neutral venues to support state associations

The Indian Premier League will have 10 teams from the upcoming season and utilising that factor, the Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to host at least two home games of each team in neutral venues to support the state associations who do knot have an IPL team. The idea came up in the board’s Annual General Meeting in Kolkata on Saturday, December 04th. The decision will be made soon. The idea developed when BCCI asked all state associations involved in the meeting to build international quality stadiums. “A small association hosts international games every three or sometimes four years. A few state associations argued that they have built stadiums and are not getting any competitive games,” a member of the state associations was quoted as saying by Indian Express. It will be better if the BCCI decides to have IPL games in these smaller venues too so that they can get some revenue at the same time generate interest [among the locals],” he added further. Reasoning as to how the IPL games would help, another member that attended the AGM said, “If these ten teams decide to play two games each then 20 matches can be played in a neutral venue. It will help states to generate revenue and at the same time, help state associations too. The Indian board has informed us that they will look into it and speak to the IPL franchise.”

Virat Kohli relies on 'discussions' to solve India's problem of plenty before tour of South Africa

India have had the problem of plenty for so many years but it has gone another level in the recent past as now the team management has to take massive decisions that can put careers at stake and can have a long term impact on the overall state of the side. The Virat Kohli-led team have struggled severely due to the poor form of their number three, four and five in the last two years. None of them has had a commanding series or extended period of success with the bat and it has put enormous pressure on the openers and the lower order to rescue team every now and then. Their problems and “headache” compounded when the players who were sitting on the fringe grabbed their opportunities with both hands and put the senior players who have become non-performing assets on the edge of their seats. As skipper Kohli opted out of the first Test and Rohit Sharma sought rest from the entire series against New Zealand, reportedly India were eager to try Shubman Gill in the middle order behind their vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane. However, an injury to KL Rahul forced them to bring Gill back to the top of the order and handed Shreyas Iyer a Test debut. As has been the case in the recent past for Indian players, Iyer grabbed the opportunity and hit a magnificent hundred and fifty in two innings to make a strong claim for himself in the middle order. When Kohli returned, he and Rahul Dravid had to take a tough call of choosing one among Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer for the two middle-order slots on either side of his number four position. However, an injury that sparked speculation and controversy, helped the team management with some time to decide on the future of Rahane, who has scored runs at an abysmal average of 24.39 runs per innings in the last 16 Tests. Now, Rohit and Rahul are all set to return for the tour of South Africa and India have Mayank Agarwal ready in the form to occupy the seat on the flight as the backup opener. It leaves only the middle-order slot for Gill, and that too in a two-way competition with Iyer and Rahane but Kohli suggested that there are a lot of issues and “discussion” to happen before zeroing in on Gill for the middle-order role. He said that the tour of South Africa will be a big challenge and he would want to embark on the tour only after ensuring absolute clarity on the roles each player are supposed to play on the tour. "Those are discussions we are going to have now with the selectors," he said. "It is a good headache to have but you always want clarity in these things. And understand that it is always great to know exactly what you want to do before you head into a series like South Africa. Those things are very important to address, and we are going to have discussions straight away when we get to the hotel now." "That's a discussion that needs to take place: who we think are specialists in certain positions," Kohli said. "These are not things I can sit here and answer in a press conference. You need discussions on these things, you need to analyse what is best for the team and the individuals as well, and come to a common conclusion. "More often than not, issues are discussed, and we come to a collective decision, which feels the most balanced. That's the same process we are going to follow moving forward as well. It is upon lengthy discussions where everyone puts in their ideas."