T20 World Cup | Semi-Final: Sam Billings replaces Jason Roy in playing XI, Blackcaps remain unchanged

BBL 11 | Mohammad Nabi signs for Melbourne Renegades for fifth consecutive time

Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi has re-signed with the Big Bash League side Melbourne Renegades and this will be his fifth consecutive year with the team. The right-hander expressed delight and said that it feels great to join the Renegades again. “It's great to be linking up with the Renegades once again. Going into my fifth Big Bash campaign, I feel like part of their family," Nabi said. "I hope we can win another title and give our fans something to smile about after such a difficult time for everyone." Renegades coach David Saker said that Nabi has been an integral part of the middle-order and can play crucial roles with both bat and ball. "It's great to have a player of Mohammad Nabi's quality locked in for BBL 11," said. "Nabi has been an important part of our middle order and has the ability to change games quickly. He has the flexibility with both bat and ball to play various roles for our team. We're looking forward to what he can bring this year," added Saker. Nabi has a huge experience of playing T20 cricket and has featured in more than 300 games in the format, scoring 4815 runs and has scalped more than 290 wickets so far. The BBL is slated to begin on December 5 with Sydney Sixers taking on Melbourne Stars in the opening match in Sydney.

IND vs NZ | Half vaccinated citizens allowed in by Rajasthan govt for Jaipur T20I

The Rajasthan Cricket Association announced that half vaccinated citizens, meaning that those who have got at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccination, will be allowed to enter the stadium for the first India vs New Zealand T20I to be played at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on November 17. RCA Secretary Mahendra Sharma, while speaking to the media said, “Guidance was sought from the Home Department of the state government on entry of spectators in the match while also complying with Covid-19 protocols. We have got permission in this regard by the department for the entry of spectators in the match.” "According to guidelines issued by the state government, spectators should follow Covid appropriate behaviour like mandatory use of masks, sanitisation, thermal screening, proper ventilation and vaccination with at least one dose of covid vaccine by all spectators, staff and players," he added. However, there was a catch for those who are vaccinated only once and it was that they have to bring a Covid-19 negative RT-PCR report while coming to the stadium. Those RT-PCR reports are not to be older than 48 hours. While Jaipur will be hosting its first-ever international match in eight years, the other two T20Is will be played on November 19 in Ranchi and November 21 in Kolkata respectively. The Kiwis will also play two Tests as part of the World Test Championship 2021-23 and they will be played in Kanpur (November 25-29) and Mumbai (December 3-7) respectively.

A player can’t be one dimensional: Venkatesh Iyer hopes to deliver with both bat & ball in India outing

All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer played a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ turnaround during the second leg of the Indian Premier League and he has now received the call for the T20I series against New Zealand at home scheduled to begin on November 17. Talking about his game, Iyer insisted that being an all-rounder he maintains focus on both bowling and batting. “My workload management has been good so far. I am an all-rounder, so I have to be equally focussed on both aspects of the game. That's what I have been doing right from my age-group state level days. It's so far not been a very big issue," Iyer told PTI in an interview. He further added that he has worked pretty hard on red-ball cricket and admitted that to play for India, a player can’t just be one dimensional. "I have always worked hard on my red ball game and it has been my conscious effort not be one dimensional.” "If you have to play for India, you have to be consistent across formats and that's why I have put in a lot of work in both departments of the game. As much as I have worked on my batting, I have also worked on my bowling," said Iyer. The Indian team is slated to play a three-match T20I series against New Zealand and the side will now be led by Rohit Sharma who has been handed over the T20I captaincy after Virat Kohli had decided to step down from the position with the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. Apart from Iyer, Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel have also been rewarded for their brilliant show in the recent past.

England to compensate for postponed tour, Men’s team to play extra T20Is during Pakistan vist in 2022

In an effort to win back the support of the Pakistan Cricket Board, the England and Wales Cricket Board CEO Tom Harrison has confirmed an extended tour to Pakistan in the months of November-December in 2022. On his two-day visit to Pakistan, Harrison confirmed that not only will England fulfil its commitment to touring Pakistan for a full-fledged series, but it will also play two extra T20Is as a show of goodwill to Pakistan Cricket Board. The extra matches would be played as a gesture to thank Pakistan for their support shown to English cricket when they toured the English nation during a raging pandemic in 2020. "Myself and ECB's Senior Director Martin Darlow visited Lahore to talk face-to-face with the PCB around some of the things that have happened over the past few weeks, leading to the cancellation of our tour in October," Harrison said in a statement to the media. "We’re happy to announce that we’ll play two extra white-ball T20Is on our men’s tour of Pakistan in September/October 2022. We will then return after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia to complete the Test match element of that tour. This is just to reaffirm our commitment to Pakistan cricket to getting England teams, men's and women's teams, eventually playing in Pakistan at home. I don't think there's a cricketer in England who doesn't want to test their abilities against the huge talent this country has and in the conditions they know best,” he added that his side will now be playing seven T20Is along with the three Tests as part of the World Test Championship. On his part, Ramiz Raja, the PCB chief thanked Harrison and ECB for showing their large-heartedness and making a trip to Pakistan and discussing issues at length.