Super 50 Cup 2021: Star-studded T&T too strong for Guyana on finals day

Bhuvneshwar Kumar resumes training for India after 14-month layoff

India international and Sunrisers Hyderabad strike bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in training for the Men in Blue. Resuming training in India colours after a long break of 14 months, Kumar was seen doing his cardio in visuals shared by the SRH Twitter page. Kumar was last seen playing in the Indian Premier League where he picked up a thigh muscle injury that sidelined him for the entire tournament. It was later revealed that the 30-year-old pacer would be out of action for six months and would be missing in action for the limited-overs fixtures ahead of IPL 2021. However, Kumar got back to fitness quicker than estimated and played eight limited-overs fixtures since January 2021 in the Indian domestic set up where he performed reasonably well with bat and ball. Better even for the Indian fans, Kumar has been called up for the 5-match T20 series against England that is scheduled to start from 12 March. The Uttar Pradesh captain has been bowling his full quota of overs in most games and has returned with four wickets.

Surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra pushes IND-ENG ODI series behind closed doors

The ODI series between India and England will be played behind closed doors due to the surge in the number of cases of the novel coronavirus in Maharashtra. The latest development comes after the Gujarat Cricket Association hosted as many as 50,000 spectators in the third Test between India and England. Maharashtra Cricket Association in its press release said that the Chief Minister has given his go-ahead to host both sides for the ODI series, but the matches can only be held in absence of spectators. Notably, both the ECB and BCCI will not be too keen on playing in front of the fans as the number o cases have started increasing in the state in the last few days. "Keeping the seriousness of the current spike in COVID cases in Maharashtra, after inputs from the Hon'ble Chief Minister, it was decided that permission will be granted for these matches without spectators," the Maharashtra Cricket Association said in a media release. "With this, the uncertainty about holding these one-day internationals has ended and the Association can start preparatory works like obtaining permissions, for smooth conduct of the matches. The three-match ODI series is scheduled to be played in Pune from March 23 rd to 28th at the Maharashtra Cricket Association ground.

R Ashwin takes on narratives around Motera pitch; asks what defines a good Test pitch

India’s premier bowler Ravichandran Ashwin who reached a special milestone in the last Test against was irked by members of English media who kept on asking him the questions around the quality of pitch that was used in the Motera Test. He was asked if the pitch at Motera was a good one and whether the surface allowed a fair contest between the bat and ball. Clearly irked by too many questions on the narrative around the quality of the pitch, Ashwin asked a counter-question on what defines a good Test pitch and who gets to decide the quality of a pitch. The journalist from the UK was relentless, and he asked once again. Ashwin too was not to give up the fight and shot back by putting the onus of scoring runs and taking the game deep into the third and fourth day on batsmen, instead of bashing the quality of the pitch. "Yes, of course. The bowlers want to win the game. The batsman needs to bat well to get runs. No question about it. What makes a good surface? Who defines this? Seam on the first day and then bat well and then spin on the last two days? Come on! Who makes all these rules, we need to get over it and not talk about whatever picture you want to paint,” Ashwin shot back at the journalist from one of the publishers from the UK. “If you're asking if it is a good Test surface, I don't see any of the players coming from England having an issue with the surface. They want to improve, they look like they want to have a contest. Is it the players and the people who are reporting back that want their players to not complete and complain about the pitches? Because we have never done that on any of the tours." A section of cricket pundits and former players have lamented that the nature of pitches that Ashwin has played on and taken wickets would have allowed the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to touch the 800-1000 Test wickets. He does not get bothered by people downplaying his achievements by players, as he said it is been a phenomenon that has been going on since the last decade. He had tweeted taking a dig at people who he said pushes narrative down to the throat of people. "I'm absolutely not disturbed with things being taken away from the context because this is what's been happening for the last decade, if not more. That is why I put out the tweets that I did. I think people need to get the context of what's happening here. There have been some people who have messaged me and said the match has finished in two days. What about all the three pink-ball Test matches we've played, everything's ended within three days' time,” Ashwin said. "I do not know what to say because when somebody just throws an opinion out there about the surface - and having had played the game - unfortunately maybe they've not played the pink-ball Test matches, so they do not understand this facet of the game. My angst against the whole thing is the fact that when people say something there are so many of them who are watching the same picture but are not able to paint a different one compared to somebody who is driving and selling a certain case to us and this needs to stop." Notably, the third Test between India and England ended inside two days with batsmen from both sides failing to read the amount of spin, and natural variations that were on offer off the pitch. India’s left-arm spinner Axar Patel picked up an 11 wicket haul in the Test, while Ashwin himself picked seven wickets across two innings, and in the process went past the 400-wickets mark in the longest format of the game.

Wahab Riaz’s best-ever PSL figures lift Zalmi to numero uno position in Points Table

After a nightmarish bowling performance in the previous game against Quetta Gladiators, where he ended up with his worst ever PSL figures (2-54 in four overs), Peshawar Zalmi skipper came back with a bang to achieve his best ever bowling performance to roll over Islamabad United. Riaz, 35, picked up four wickets to break the back of the United batting lineup. He was greatly helped by Zalmi’s English import Saqib Mahmood, who picked three wickets and ended up with figures of 3-12 in 2.1 overs, while Riaz finished at 4-17 in his quota of four overs. Chasing a total meagre target of 119, Zalmi were rocked by United’s Hasan Ali who dismissed Imam-Ul-Haq for nought in the very first over. Hasan was supported well by Islamabad’s emerging talent Mohammad Wasim Jr., who got rid of dangerous Kamran Akmal in the very next over. The two bowlers kept it tight for the first four overs, conceding only 11 runs in the first four overs. Slowly but steadily, senior Zalmi batsman Shoaib Malik in partnership with Englishman Tom-Kohler-Cadmore started ticking the scoreboard, adding 63 runs in 64 balls for the fourth wicket. When Cadmore was finally removed by a Fawad Ahmed googly in the 13th over, the wicket, instead of being an entry into the game for the United, rather closed the door on them. Because Haider Ali arrived at the crease with six off Ahmed took the game away from United very quickly. He scored an 18 ball 36 and closed in on the target, getting out, just when the Zalmi required three more runs to win. Ali added 47 runs in 25 balls with Malik, who remained unbeaten on 29. Earlier in the evening, Zalmi skipper Wahab invited Islamabad to bat after winning the toss. Even after Alex Hales providing a quick strong start, the other batsmen couldn’t accompany him for long. Irishman Paul Stirling, playing his first game became the first of the four scalps of Riaz while Phil Salt failed once again as he was removed by Mahmood. Mahmood's three-wicket haul pushed him to 10 scalps in just four games making him the leading wicket-taker in PSL 6 so far. Skipper Shadab Khan got run out and Faheem Ashraf, who was promoted up the order played a loose shot, getting out off a Umaid Asif delivery. Soon Alex Hales (41 off 27) also departed, leaving too much to be done by the likes of Asif Ali, Hussain Talat and Iftikhar Ahmed, all of whom failed on this occasion. With this win at the NSK, Zalmi have gone top the table in the league after playing four games. They will next face Karachi Kings on a double header’s day on March 3rd. Riaz, who after conceding 105 runs in his last eight overs, gave his best PSL performance, was awarded Man of the Match.