South Africa captains apologise to sponsors for their board’s betrayal

In what comes as a strong statement in the face of the ongoing turmoil in South Africa’s cricket administration, the South African Cricketers’ Association, the body representing all the players, men and women in the rainbow nation, has come out with an open letter to apologise to sponsors of the game. The letter is signed by SACA President Kyle Zondo and all three national captains including Dean Elgar, Dane Van Niekerk and Temba Bavuma.

"As players, we wish to speak directly to the many sponsors of our beloved game ... [and] ... recognise and acknowledge that your involvement in the game supports our careers and provides funding for the development of the game throughout South Africa,” read the SACA letter.

The players further went on to say, “We apologise for the actions of our administrators who have undermined and betrayed your commitment to the sport." Terming the decision taken by the Cricket South Africa’s board members to not honour their words of ratifying the constitution to make the board look more independent, as being taken in "bad faith”, the SACA said that it was "disrespectful not only to the Sports Minister’s office but to all cricketers and the public".

Nathi Mthethwa, South Africa's sports minister, had given a warning and announced April 18 as the last date for board members to yield to the Ministry’s demands of setting up a more impartial and independent cricket board by adapting to a new constitution. But that wasn’t done.

"Government intervention in the sport will have dire consequences, the full extent of which we do not yet know," SACA's release said. "These outcomes will in turn impact touring, broadcast rights and sponsorship deals. Ultimately the financial viability of the game will suffer and cricket at all levels will be severely prejudiced," the SACA wrote.

Asking the public to "continue to support cricket” SACA, said, “It is the most wonderful game, and we are immensely proud to represent you on the field."

The Association then lashed out at the Cricket Board’s member council for not keeping the games’ and player’s interest at the top, rather than its own mala fide motives. "The members’ council has now acted contrary to the wishes of the minister, the Nicholson recommendations, King IV governance principles, and international best practice - how can this be in the best interests of our game?"

Discover more

IPL 2021 | CSK vs RR: What Experts said as Super Kings weave spin-web around Royals

The Chennai Super Kings have won two in two to go to the second position in the table after having lost their opening encounter against Delhi Capitals. They defeated Rajasthan Royals by a huge margin of 45 runs to seal their victory on Monday night, 19 April at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Royals, while chasing a target of 189 at the Wankhede Stadium wasn’t really up to the mark as they ended up at 145-9 after being 78-2 at one point in time during their chase. Jos Buttler was the best RR batsman on the night and looked the most comfortable while he was batting out there. For CSK, it was their latest recruit Moeen Ali who once again gave a decent start for his team and returned to pick three wickets for just seven runs in his three overs in the second innings. In the batting department, Faf du Plessis was the highest scorer with 33 while the rest of the guys chipped in. Chetan Sakariya picked three wickets, including that of MS Dhoni. Captain's Viewpoints MS Dhoni, the Chennai skipper was pretty pleased with the win. Talking about why he bowled the first six overs with the same two bowlers in Sam Curran and Deepak Chahar, Dhoni said, “I always look at what's the best to do at any point of time.” "For the second time in Mumbai, the ball was turning and gripping. His behind wicket advice about the dry ball turning more was just one example of he has not really lost touch with the game, although his batting reflexes are not the same as five years ago. Commenting on that the Chennai Skipper said, “Even the wet ball was spinning. If the wet ball was turning then the chance of the dry ball turning is high. It was good to have Moeen as the wicket became a bit more sticky [than usual].” It was CSK’s first-ever win batting first at the Wankhede. Although Chennai Scored 188 and it turned out to be way more than enough, the 39-year-old felt that they were still short. “Glad we scored 180, I thought we could have got more. The first six balls I played could have cost us in another game,” an honest Dhoni reviewed his performance (17 balls 18 runs.) Dhoni was at his vintage best during the post-match presentation as he talked about he is not as much bothered about performance as about getting fit. According to the Jharkhand born, performance can never be guaranteed, neither as a 24-year-old nor as a 39-year-old, but being unfit is a greater burden on his soldiers. “Getting old and being fit - those are two difficult things! When you're playing you don't want anyone to call you unfit. I have to keep up with younger guys, they run a lot, but it's always challenging,” concluded the Helicopter shot owner. Sanju Samson, the Rajsthan skipper who ended on the losing side was bitterly disappointed. “I think it was a good score to chase down, but we lost too many wickets in the middle,” he said. Praising the bowlers, Sanju said, “I think our bowlers bowled really well but they [CSK] batted very deep. Maybe 10-15 runs extra conceded in the end.” The spinners played an innings breaking role against the Royals and dew not coming on was a great shocker for the Kerala born Rajasthan captain. “We never expected that [the ball to spin so much].. The dew didn't come, the ball was turning and that was a bit shocking to see,” said the 26-year-old. Talking about his form, which he seemed to have lost after the first game in which he scored a century, Samson said, “I think it's very important to maintain a good composure throughout the tournament. This format demands scoring runs at a high-risk rate.” “Sakariya has been doing really well. We've lost but definitely, there are positives,” he concluded citing a positive from the game, probably the only positive. Expert Opinion The Experts were of the opinion that the Rajasthan skipper is wasting away his talent by not being consistent. Boria Majumdar, a cricket journalist and historian was the first to point that out. Boria followed this with a problem-posing question for CSK as they have really struggled at the opening spot. Then veteran Journalist Ayaz Memon too deplored Rajasthan for not applying themselves on the crease during the chase. Harsha Bhogle was of the opinion that the game can change in very few moments and praised CSK for lapping up an opportunity that they got without any contribution of theirs in the first place. Vikrant Gupta praised Captain Cool for having the captaincy wits even now. He did that, but not without acknowledging the fact that as a batsman, Dhoni is actually getting worse with each passing day. And then our Mr Funnybones, Gaurav Kalra entered the list, not with funny comments but rather an emotional one with respect to Dhoni. The Jharkhand player had asked Jadeja to turn the ball after it was changed in the 10th over after Buttler hit one into someplace in the stadium that it couldn’t come back from there and a dry ball was introduced in the game. The ball did turn enough to bundle out the Royals, just almost. The Super Kings from here would now play two more games at Wankhede against Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 21 and 25. Royals too have a similar trajectory, as after playing their two games at Wankhede against the same opponents as CSK, the two teams will move to Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

ICC confident of hosting World Test Championship final as planned amid India's Covid-19 threat

The final of the World Test Championship scheduled to be be played between India and New Zealand from June 18 will go ahead as per the plan, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has said on April 19. It said that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) along with the other cricket boards have suggested the ways to host international cricket tournaments amid the highs of Covid-19 pandemic. “The ECB and other Members have demonstrated how we can stage international cricket safely in the middle of a pandemic, and we are confident that we can continue to do that and that the World Test Championship Final will go ahead as planned in June in the UK,” ICC said in its media release. The statement comes in the wake of the United Kingdom putting India on the ‘red list’ of countries and banning all travels from the country as the number of cases have started to set new record each passing day in the last few days. “We are currently discussing with the UK Government the impact of countries being on the ‘red list’,” an ICC spokesperson said. The WTC final has already been shifted from Lord’s to Southampton in the wake of Covid-19 enforced crisis in the city of London. The Blackcaps have already announced their squad for the final against the Indian team while the men in blue are yet to announce their team.

Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine comeback to Zimbabwe T20I squad to be led by Sean Williams against Pakistan

Two experienced players in Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine have made a comeback into the Zimbabwe T20I set up for the upcoming three-match home series against visiting Pakistan. Both these players missed the T20I series against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi but were part of Zimbabwe's tour of the Paak nation in November 2020. Sean Williamson, 34, would continue to lead the side in absence of their regular white-ball captain Chamu Chibhabha. The right-hander batting all-rounder has been ruled out with a thigh injury since February. There have been three uncapped players named in the squad including batter Tadiwanashe Marumani, fast bowler Tanaka Chivanga and offspinner Tapiwa Mufudza. All three of them have been in great touch in the recent domestic season in the Logan Cup, the First Class competition as well as the domestic T20 competition. There is another man’s entry into the side which is surprising and that is of 26-year-old Luke Jongwe. The all-rounder last played a game for the Chevrons in 2016 as a teenager. Primarily a bowler, Jongwe has taken 32 wickets and scored 296 runs in 22 ODIs and eight T20Is combined. The T20 series begins with the first of the three games at the Harare Sports Club on April 21st. The two teams will also play two Tests at the same venue starting April 29. Zimbabwe T20I squad Sean Williams (capt), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Wesley Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tapiwa Mufudza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tiripano

Rashid Latif calls free hit an opportunity for corruption

HIghligintg the flaws in the rules of the game, former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has said that the rule of awarding free hit to the batting after a bowlers bowl a non-ball provides players and administrators with a perfect opportunity to corrupt the game. Sharing his opinion on his Twitter timeline, Latif lambasted the rule of a free hit as the worst ever rule or law to be introduced in the game of cricket. Notably, the rule of free hit was introduced in the game in the year 2007. At first, it was applicable for all foot fault no balls but later in 2017, the ICC extended the rule to all types of no-balls including the ones due to more or less number of fielders inside or outside the 30-year circle in the white-ball formats of the game. Latif, 52, played 37 Tests and 166 ODIs for Pakistan at the highest level in the period between 1992 and 2003. He could muster only one century with the bat along with seven fifties in the longest format. With the gloves behind the wicket, Latif took 119 catches and affected 11 stumpings while in the ODIs, he affected 220 dismissals that included 38 stumpings and 182 catches.