T Natarajan released from Vijay Hazare squad after BCCI request: Reports

Jaffer resigns as head coach of Uttarakhand, rubbishes 'communal' allegations

Former India Test cricketer and former coach of Uttarakhand, Wasin Jaffer rubbished the allegations of being ‘communal’ levelled at him by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand Secreaty Mahim Verma. A day after tendering his resignation as head coach on the grounds of “interference and bias of selectors and the association’s secretary for non-deserving players”, Jaffer was called ‘communal’ by Verma. The 48-year-old then defended it saying, “...jo communal angle lagaya (the communal angle that has been brought up), that is very, very sad.” Making his stance clear in the matters, Jaffer tweeted, “1. I recommended Jay Bista for captaincy, not Iqbal but CAU officials favoured Iqbal. 2. I did not invite Maulavis 3. I resigned cos bias of selectors-secretary for non-deserving players 4. The team used to say a chant of Sikh community, I suggested we can say "Go Uttarakhand" #Facts” The allegations made against him were that he invited Moulvis in the dressing room, favoured Muslim prayers and changed the team chant, which was a sacred chant from the Sikh community. “Had I been communal, both Samad Fallah and Mohammad Nazim would have played all the games? It’s a very petty thing to say or even think. I wanted to give opportunities to newer players,” Jaffer, who played 31 Tests for India, added. He further said that he always chose players on the basis of merit and not on the basis of religion. Mahim Verma had earlier said that Jaffer’s interference had increased in the matters of team selection to a great level. “After the result in Mushtaq Ali did not meet our expectations, the selectors wanted to try out a few other players but he kept insisting on picking his own team, which is not right as selectors are there, too, to do their job,” Mahim was quoted as saying to Epncricinfo.

PSL 2021: All you need to know about squads, venues, teams, players & crowd entry in stadiums

The sixth season of the Pakistan Super League will begin from 20th February when Karachi Kings will take on Quetta Gladiators at the National Stadium in Karachi. The two teams have previously won the title once each and would be vying for their next title alongside four other teams. The tournament is going to be a 30-day affair with matches being played at Karachi and Lahore for the entirety. The league stage would go on till 16th March while the Playoffs would begin from 18th. In the stadiums, 20% crowd would also be allowed for the games. The number might be raised to 30% subsequently, depending upon the situation of the covid-19 in the country. Islamabad United has won the most number of titles (two) while Karachi Kings are the defending Champions. Multan Sultans and Lahore Qalandars are yet to win a league title till now. Here is a look at all the teams’ squad for the upcoming season. Islamabad United Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Asif Ali, Colin Munro, Hussain Talat, Musa Khan, Zafar Gohar, Hassan Ali, Chris Jordan, Lewis Gregory, Phil Salt, Rohail Nazir, Reece Topley, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Ahmed Saifi Abdullah, Akif Javed Karachi Kings Babar Azam, Mohammad Nabi, Amir Yamin, Arshad Iqbal, Colin Ingram, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Sharjeel Khan, Waqas Maqsood, Dan Christian, Chadwick Walton, Joe Clarke, Noor Ahmad, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Ilyas, Zeeshan Malik, Qasim Akram Lahore Qalandars Sohail Akhtar, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk, David Wiese, Dilbar Hussain, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Rashid Khan, Joe Denly, Samit Patel, Tom Abell, Zeeshan Ashraf, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Faizan, Maaz Khan, Zaid Alam, Ahmed Danyal Multan Sultans Shahid Afridi, Imran Tahir, Sohail Tanvir, James Vince, Khushdil Shah, Rilee Rossouw, Shan Masood, Usman Qadir, Chris Lynn, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Carlos Brathwaite, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohaib Ullah, Adam Lyth, Shahnawaz Dhani, Muhammad Umar, Imran Khan Sr Peshawar Zalmi Haider Ali, Kamran Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Liam Livingstone, Shoaib Malik, David Miller, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ravi Bopara, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Umaid Asif, Saqib Mahmood, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Ibrar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir Khan Quetta Gladiators Sarfaraz Ahmed, Chris Gayle, Anwar Ali, Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Zahid Mahmood, Dale Steyn, Tom Banton, Usman Khan Shinwari, Cameron Delport, Qais Ahmad, Abdul Nasir, Saim Ayub, Arish Ali Khan, Usman Khan

Kyle Mayers narrates how he barely managed to escape from Hurricane in Dominica

Kyle Mayers, the West Indies middle-order batsman who recently became a sensation after scoring a match-winning 210 in the 2nd innings of the opening Test in Bangladesh narrated his scary story of being amidst one of the most ferocious hurricanes which struck Dominica back in 2017. Narrating his story to BCC, Mayers said, “It was scary as I said I plied my trade for Windward Island and we were at based at Dominica at that time. It was a very scary situation you know. Everything happened so fast. We were preparing for a normal storm and that it was okay, it will be a Category One. So then me and my roommate because I had a roommate at that time, we went to do a couple of bits of shopping to buy a couple of stuff just in case. And then just like that, it was Category 5. Then everything happened so fast and it was a bit scary you know but we stayed calm. I always remember my granny telling me after that if anything ever happens like that you pack your passports and the things you really need and keep them close and we did that. We just stuck at it till the end and thankfully we got through. When we went outside to see what the storm had done, it destroyed a lot of Dominica, a lot of people lost their lives. It was hurtful to see as a whole lot of Dominica being devastated. But as cool as we could. We tried to stay as cool as we could be and tried to stay calm in that situation and everything just worked out. The coastguard from Barbados contacted me as soon as the communications came back up and then I got out in the next boat so yes I had to be cool but still, it was scary. “ On the evening of September 18, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Dominica at a whirlwind speed of 160 miles per hour which resulted in mass destruction. The effect of the cyclone was immense on the whole team as it damaged and destroyed roofs of an estimated 90 per cent of buildings which included the Prime Minister’s residence as well. Some of the thickest and strongest old trees were destroyed by the hurricane.

Another setback for Kuldeep, fit Axar likely to replace Nadeem in second Test

Indian chinaman Kuldeep Yadav might have to face yet another setback in the second Test in Chennai. With rumours flying around that Shabaz Nadeem might be benched for the next game, Axar Patel might get a nod for debut ahead of the left-arm wrist spinner. Yadav despite picking up a 5-wicket haul in his last Test, back in 2019 might get snubbed once again for a better combination. It needs to be noted that Axar Patel was originally slated to make his debut in the first Test in Chennai but was ruled out due to injury. “Axar had a minor niggle in the knee and has already started batting in the nets. He is expected to start bowling in the next couple of days,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying to PTI. “He was always the first choice for the opening Test, but a lot will now depend on skipper Virat Kohli, bowling coach Bharat Arun and Ravi Shastri on who finally makes the cut,” the source added, indicating that as and when Nadeem is replaced, the chances of Axar playing his first Test would be more than Kuldeep getting a callback. In First-Class cricket Axar has 134 wickets in 39 games at a good enough average of 27.38. At the same time, he is handy with the bat as well having scored 1665 runs at an average of 35.42 with 13 fifties and one hundred to his credit. Nadeem picked up only four wickets in the first Test and bowled nine no balls to wreck his chances of playing another game. The second Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, same venue as the first one would start from 13th February.