![Shreyas Iyer and England team [Source: AFP]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1767109855640_shreyas_iyer.jpg?type=hq)
Shreyas Iyer and England team [Source: AFP]
The return of ace Indian batter Shreyas Iyer has been reportedly delayed owing to his rapid weight loss. Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been ruled out of the remainder of the BBL 2025-26 season for the Brisbane Heat. In other news, the ECB has unveiled England’s entire squads for the upcoming ODI, T20I series in Sri Lanka as well as for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup.
Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Tuesday, December 30.
Shreyas Iyer return delayed: Report
The return of Shreyas Iyer into the national squad has been reportedly delayed. While the cricketer was initially supposed to check out of the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) on December 30, he will now have to wait until January 7 next week to receive his Return to play (RTP) certificate. As reported by the Times of India, Iyer has suffered rapid weight loss due to the abdominal injury he suffered during India’s ODI series in Australia a couple of months ago.
Shaheen Afridi out of remainder of BBL 2025-26 for Heat
Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing BBL 2025-26 season for the Brisbane Heat. The speedster sustained a knee injury, prompting the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to call him back to the country for rehabilitation, thus keeping one eye on the upcoming 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Shaheen Afridi has also struggled for the Brisbane Heat with the ball this BBL season, picking up just two wickets in four matches at expensive bowling averages and economy rates in nearly all his appearances.
Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh rise in ICC T20I rankings after SL heroics
Blistering India Women stars Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh made rapid gains on the latest ICC Women’s rankings for T20I batters. While Verma gained four rungs to climb to the number six spot on the latest batting charts, attacking wicketkeeper-batter Ghosh leapfrogged seven players to occupy 21st position on the rankings with 593 rating points.
The two cricketers enjoyed the surge in ICC rankings owing to their match-winning heroics for Team India in the ongoing five-match home T20I series against Sri Lanka Women. Shafali Verma herself has top-scored in the series by clubbing 241 runs at a staggering strike rate of above 181 and an average of 80.33.
Gunalan Kamalini makes record debut for Team India Women
Mumbai Indians star Gunalan Kamalini made her international debut for Team India Women through the fifth T20I of the five-match series against Sri Lanka Women at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Replacing prolific opener Smriti Mandhana in the process, Kamalini became the seventh youngest Indian Women cricketer to make her T20I debut, doing so at a tender age of 17 years and 163 days.
In her maiden international innings, the teenager managed to score just a run-a-ball 12 before getting trapped in front by Sri Lanka spinner Kavisha Dilhari.
Harry Brook to lead as ENG name squad for SL series, T20 World Cup
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has unveiled the entire England squad for the upcoming white-ball series in Sri Lanka, as well as for the entirety of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Harry Brook will lead the English team in the multi-nation tournament, and he will be assisted by the likes of senior pros like Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and others.
