Sourav Ganguly agrees to biopic, but no clarity on who will play his role

SL vs IND | List of match officials out, timing of games shifted

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of match officials for the upcoming series between Sri Lanka and India. As it has been the trend in the world since the covid-19 pandemic, all match-officials will be from Sri Lanka. The match will be overseen by the ICC Chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle and the four umpires named are Kumar Dharmasena, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Raveendra Wimalasiri, Lyndon Hannibal, and Prageeth Rambukwella. Meanwhile, the start time of the matches has also been shifted half an hour later. The ODI matches will commence at 3 PM, while the T20Is will start at 8 PM. The series has come under the covid-19 cloud after there were some cases in the Sri Lankan camp after their return from the United Kingdom. However, the cases were limited two only two including the batting coach Grant Flower while other players and support staff tested negative for the Covid-19 infection. Both sides have been allowed to train outside after passing the RT PCR testing round and the series is scheduled to start on July 18 in Colombo. India have sent a fairly different side under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan as the many first-choice players are touring the UK for the Test series against England and the World Test Championship final held in June.

The Hundred announces innovative rule to punish slow over rate

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the playing conditions of the game for its brainchild—The Hundred, which is scheduled to take off from July 21 in England. As expected with the concept of the tournament and the format, the ECB has brought in many playing conditions that have not been seen in the regular formats of cricket so far. Out of the many exciting and completely new playing conditions, the ECB has also brought in an idea to stop the games from going beyond the stipulated time limit as it happens in regular forms of cricket due to poor over rate by the bowling sides. To curtail such poor rates and lengthening of matches, the ECB has brought a rule under which the bowling sides down on over rate will be penalised by the umpire in form of loss of an outfielder. Teams, in general, are allowed to position five fielders outside the 30-yard circle but they will be asked to bring one fielder back to circle from the point they will lag behind in the over-rate. The ECB had planned to launch the event in the year 2020 but held it back due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it will finally kick off on July 21.

The Hundred: Five-ball over, 25-ball powerplay to bring new dimensions in cricket

The newest format of the game ‘The Hundred” is slated to begin later this month with the women’s competition starting first on July 21 while the men’s tournament commences on July 22. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has outlined certain playing conditions for the format. The introduction of white card signals, a five-delivery over, DLS, Super Over and the use of DRS for the first time in England’s domestic circuit will be some of the prominent rules that would come into play. The 100-ball tournament will have a Power Play for the first 25 balls of the innings where only two fielders would be allowed outside the 30-yard circle. A bowler can bowl either five or ten balls on the trot. A bowler will only be allowed to bowl a total of 20 deliveries in a match and will bowl two sets of five balls from the same end. The third umpire will have the authority to make the calls for a no-ball while the on-field umpires will hold a white card after the conclusion of the first set of five balls. If a batsman is caught in the middle, the new player will take the strike no matter if the two batsmen have crossed the half-way mark on the pitch. The fielding team would be allowed to take a two-minute strategic time out at any given stage of the innings but only after the Powerplay is over. A mandatory 50-second break at the change of ends after every ten balls will also come into play.

Shadman Islam 'happy' for helping 'upset' Bangladesh give grand farewell to Mahmudullah

Bangladesh opener Shadman Islam has said that the whole Bangladesh squad got upset after their all-rounder Mahmudullah announced retirement from the longest format amid a game against Zimbabwe. However, he said that the team got regrouped quickly and got motivated to win the Test match as a fitting tribute to his career. "When we heard from (Mahmudullah) Riyad bhai that this was to be his last Test, we got very motivated to do well in the Test. We were all upset. He has done a lot for this team. We wanted to win the match for him. We all decided to dedicate the win for Riyad bhai, and thankfully that's what happened," said Shadman, shortly after arriving in Dhaka with the rest of the Test specialists. Shadman was one of the many centurions from the Bangaldesh side in the only Test against Zimbabwe as the tourists pressed on for a win from a position of dominatabale height. His century in the second innings shut all the door for Zimbabwe to come back in the game after conceding a lead in the first innings. He credited his teammates Mahmudullah, Mominul and Taskin for making it easier for him in the second innings after putting up brave fight in the first attempt. "What makes me happy is that my century helped the team to a Test win. We always believed that we were the better team, even in their conditions. Riyad bhai, Taskin bhai and Mominul bhai made things easier for us with their batting. Discussing the nature of the pitch at the Harare Sports Club, Shadman said that Bangladesh backed themselves to bowl Zimbabwe out in the final innings with a cushion of big runs on the board. "The wicket was slightly different in the second innings, so we believed that we could give Zimbabwe a tough total in the fourth innings," he said. Shadman Islam along with other Test specialists have reportedly returned to Bangladesh after a successful tour of Zimbabwe.