T20 World Cup | Emotional Asghar Afghan receives guard of honour from teammates, Namibia

Former Australian cricketer Peter Philpott dies of prolonged illness

Former Australian Test player and New South Wales skipper Peter Philpott has died of a prolonged illness, aged 86. Philpott played eight Tests and took 28 wickets at an average of 38.46. He had a far longer career in first-class cricket and played 76 games taking 245 wickets at 30.31 and making 2889 runs at 31.36 runs per innings. Cricket Australia mourned Philpot’s loss and said that he was a “teacher” who could offer a lot of his understanding and perspective of the game to other cricketers. The board rated him as a cricket of “rate enthusiasm” with his craft and spirit. “Peter Philpott was more than just a wonderful cricketer, he was a man who had a rare enthusiasm for his craft, and for the game of cricket itself. As teacher and coach, Peter had the generosity and wisdom to share his knowledge across the globe and helped shape the careers of countless cricketers. We extend our deepest sympathies to Peter’s family and friends, and to all those whose lives he touched,” Richard Freudenstein, Cricket Australia Chair, said. They called the past few days an “extraordinarily sad” period following the loss of three former cricketers such as Alan Davidson, Ashley Mallett apart from Philpot. “With the deaths of Peter Philpott, Alan Davidson and Ashley Mallett, this has been an extraordinarily sad few days for Australian cricket. We share our thoughts with all those across the world who are both mourning the loss and celebrating the lives of three men who had such an uplifting influence on the game of cricket.”

Our batting cost us more than anything: Bangladesh selector Habibul Bashar on failed T20 World Cup campaign

Bangladesh have lost three games in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup and its chief selector, Habibul Bashar who is travelling with the side in the UAE, said that batting has let the team down and has been the main reason for the team’s failure. “Our batting hasn't lived up to our expectations. We have to improve in the powerplay, especially, if we want to do well in the T20s. We need power-hitters in the late order. Other teams score at ten an-over in the end overs, but we also lack in that area,” Bashar was quoted as saying in interaction with Bangladesh media. Like every World Cup in recent years, Bangladesh came to this World Cup with high hopes, especially having beaten Australia and New Zealand comprehensively in Dhaka. But in the very first game of the World Cup, they lost their composure while chasing just 140 against Scotland and lost the match by 6 runs. They however went in to qualify for the Super 12, but over here too, they have been disappointing. "Everyone is quite upset. We created an opportunity against West Indies. It would have been a mental boost had we defeated them. Now we know that we missed the opportunity,” said the former Bangladesh captain on the team’s three-run loss against defending champions in a game that they dominated for the most part before eventually losing it. On being asked as to what could be done to prepare better for the next edition of the World Cup in 2022 in Australia, Bashar said, "I think in our next domestic T20 tournaments, we should have better batting wickets, where the scores can be around 180 to 200 consistently. We play in the same wickets repeatedly in tournaments like the BPL. This prevents better batting in powerplays, and building power-hitters down the order,” "I am disappointed (with the outcome) as a selector. We are a settled ODI side. We have had ups and downs in Test cricket, but we haven't found consistency in T20 cricket,” he added before going on to promise to fight even harder in the remaining two games of this World Cup and end it on a high. "We have two more World Cup matches remaining and although we know that we are virtually out of the running for the semi-finals, we still want to finish the tournament on a positive note," he said. Bangladesh will play against two very tough oppositions in Australia and South Africa in its last two Super 12 matches.

T20 World Cup | Martin Guptill recovers from injury, available for selection against India

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill has recovered from his toe injury which he suffered against Pakistan in the team’s first clash at the Super 12 stage. The 35-year-old was hit in the toes while batting nad it changed shades because of the blow. "It went a different shade of colour for a period of time. But he trained yesterday and he's training again tonight, so it's great to see that he's available and fit for selection," New Zealand coach Gary Stead said in a media interaction before the team’s clash against India on Sunday in Dubai. Though Guptill has never quite performed against India in the 12 T20I matches that he has played, having an average of 17, which is almost half his career average of 32, bit the kind of danger he brings into the xi and especially with his experience, he can be a game-changer in just a span of five overs, more so if New Zealand bat second in dewy conditions. Along with Guptill, Adam Milne, who was added to the main squad after Lockie Ferguson’s injury, will also be available for selection in this game. Both India and New Zealand have lost their opening games to Pakistan and thus in the context of getting the second spot in the group, this match is virtually a knockout.

Babar Azam scored match-winning knock against India with his mother fighting for life on ventilator

It has been revealed by Pakistan cricket captain Babar Azam’s father Azam Siddique that his son played the match against India knowing that his mother was fighting for life on a ventilator back home. His mother had undergone surgery and is now recovering well, but the three games that Pakistan played in the Group stage, in all three of them, Babar had at the back of his mind, the condition of his mother which till then wasn’t stable. Writing an Instagram post, Mr Siddique informed how his son played under severe distress but still didn’t lose his composure. "It's time for my nation to know some truth,” Babar’s father said in the post. “Congratulations to all of you on the victory in the three games. There was a big test at our house. On the day the match was against India, that day Babar's mother was on a ventilator. Babar played all three matches in severe distress. I came here so that Babar may not get weak,” he added. In the match against India, Babar scored an unbeaten 62 to see his team through by 10 wickets in a record jinx breaking game. In the match against New Zealand he did get out cheaply but his team was rescued by experienced Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali. And in the Afghanistan game, he once again scored a crucial fifty but got out an important juncture of the game. But Asif Ali once again made sure that Pakistan ended up on the right side of a tense game. In the next two games, Pakistan play Namibia and Scotland which look easy and if they win the two, they would go to the semi-finals as the top-ranked Group 2 team.