T20 Cup to kick off Pakistan’s domestic calendar for 2021-22

Always motivating to play against teams which don’t visit our country that often: Shakib

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who was named man of the series after the team’s thumping 4-1 series win over Australia in the five-match T20I series in Dhaka has said that facing “bigger teams” is always a motivation. “There is always a motivation when you play the bigger teams – normally those which don’t visit our country that often,” Shakib told reporters. The left-handed player further added that the side was riding high on the performance against Zimbabwe. “Also, we had a really good series in Zimbabwe and so everyone was pretty motivated to do well in this series as well. We had never won a series against Australia, and so this was our chance. Hence, we wanted to deliver well as a unit, which is what happened.” The hosts had taken an unassailable 3-0 lead earlier in the series after winning the first three T20Is but the Aussie did fight back in the fourth clash to clinch a win. Bangladesh then dominated the visitors in the fifth and final T20I after bundling them out for 62 while chasing a modest total of 123 in 20 overs. Only two Australia batsmen managed to get to the double-figure mark during the course. Shakib scalped a four-wicket haul while Saifuddin picked up three wickets.

I may have played my last game for NZ: Munro after being ignored from World T20 squad

New Zealand opener and one of the most sought after T20 players across leagues in the world, Colin Munro was fitted to have missed out on a place on the Kiwi squad for the T20 World Cup 2021. The squad was announced late night Monday, 09 August. "Extremely gutted to miss out on this, was definitely a goal of mine that I wanted to tick off," Munro wrote in an Instagram story. "Looks like I may [sic] have played my last game for [the Blackcaps] not by choice,” he added. Since debuting for Blackcaps in 2012, the South Africa born has so far played 65 T20Is scoring 1724 runs at an average of 31.34 and with a strike rate of 156.44. His last match for New Zealand came way back in February 2020 against India. Since then he also lost his central contract and with the emergence of players like Devon Conway, Tim Siefert and Genn Philipps, his place in the squad looked in jeopardy. However, in the period that he could not represent New Zealand the 34-year old averaged 37.94 with a strike rate of 140.21 in various T20 leagues. Coach Gary Stead confirmed that Munro made himself unavailable for Bangladesh and Pakistan tours for which squads were also announced. "He wasn't available for any other tours, and we talked through that decision. In the end, we've had a lot of success with guys in our squad in the last six months. We know Colin is a fine player - and still is - but unfortunately, we [would be] taking the 15 selected plus Adam Milne,” Stead, who would not be coaching the teams touring Bangladesh and Pakistan, but would only be available for T20 World Cup, said. "I'm pleased he's frustrated. When you have a lot of quality players around, you can't fit everyone into 15 players. It's a call we've had to make. I've spoken to Colin about a week ago and he's clear on where he sits,” Stead added further.

Players free to take call on participation in IPL 2021 remainder: Cricket Australia

The remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in the UAE from September 19 when Mumbai Indians take on Chennai Super Kings. Now, Cricket Australia has confirmed that it is not going to stop the players from taking part in the tournament but hasn’t ruled out the chances of a few players pulling out. “Cricket Australia will not stop any players but the chances of few players pulling out can’t be ruled out. New Zealand and England players are returning which is a massive shot in the arm,” the official told Cricket.com. The IPL was earlier suspended with immediate effect on May 4 after positive cases of Covid-19 within the franchises. The cash-rich league will now be resumed in the UAE and this would be the second year on the trot when the IPL will be hosted in the nation. The 2020 edition also took place in the UAE. Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Steve Smith are the Australian players who play for the respective IPL franchises. Fast bowler Pat Cumins who plays for KKR had earlier opted out of the tournament. Delhi Capitals’ new recruit Smith might also not feature in the remainder of the IPL as he is recovering from an elbow injury. The right-handed batsman had earlier stated that he was ready to skip the World T20 slated to take place later this year to be fit for the Ashes. “There’s still a bit of time between now and [the T20 World Cup], and I’m tracking okay at the moment – it’s slow, but I’m going okay. I’d love to be part of the World Cup, for sure, but from my point of view, Test cricket, that’s my main goal – to be right for the Ashes and try to emulate what I’ve done in the last few Ashes series I’ve been involved in,” Smith had told cricket.com.au.

Indian women team set to assemble in Bengaluru for a camp ahead of Australia tour

The Indian women’s squad consisting of a group of 30 players is expected to assemble in Bengaluru on Tuesday for a camp in the lead up to the multi-format tour of Australia which starts next month. Five Indian players, including Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Smriti Mandhana, currently plying their trade in the inaugural edition of the Hundred will join the camp next week. As per reports in ESPNCricinfo, India is slated to depart for Australia from Bengaluru on 29th or 30th August before undergoing a two-week mandatory self-isolation. A final squad will be selected from a pool of 35 players including the ones who will be returning from the UK. Among the 30 players who will be part of the camp, 21 of them was part of the 21 member squad that toured England in June-July. BCCI is yet to make any official announcements regarding the camp but as per reports in Cricinfo, it is understood that Railway’s fast bowler Meghna Singh is among those players who has been asked to join the camp. Mansi Joshi missed out while Amanjot Kaur, captain of Chandigarh has been named in the probable list. The camp will focus on match simulation, skill-based training and rigorous fitness regimes. Intrasquad pink ball matches will be played to get the players acclimatised before playing the historic pink-ball Test in Australia. The multi-format tour will consist of three ODIs, three T20Is and a pink ball Test. Australia is currently the world champions in the T20I format after beating India in the Women’s T20 World Cup last year. They are currently on a 24 match winning streak in the fifty overs format and will look to continue their dream run.