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T20 World Cup | West Indies defeat Bangladesh in contest of mediocrity to live another day

Mayank Kumar

What was going on its way to becoming the poorest game in terms of mediocre performances by both sides turned to be the most closely fought game of the tournament so far and in the end, West Indies finished just a notch above Bangladesh by the barest of margin of 3 runs.

Chasing a total of 143 runs which was always a par and fight score on that Sharjah pitch and the out of form batting lineup of Bangladesh ensured that the men in maroon finally got off the mark in the tournament.

The game was also a witness to some remarkable and freakish developments and the injury to Shakib Al Hasan was one of the most impactful developments for Bangladesh. 

However, Bangladesh tried to find a blessing in disguise and tried to solve two miseries with one pill and promoted him up the order to make the best use of the powerplay and to cover up for his limitations due to injury and hide the out of form top-order batsmen.

The move did not work though and as he could neither get going nor provide them with the sold start expected of him and the Bangladesh side had yet another wobbly start. His partner Mohammad Naim was once again struggling for touch and could not provide any momentum with the bat.

Liton Das, who is on the brink of losing his place from the playing XI steadied the ship along with Soumya Sarkar, who looked primed to get off the rut he has been so far in the tournament.

Liton first stitched a 31-run partnership with Sarkar and then stitched another partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim. But, none of them could take the attack to the opposition and it meant the Windies were right back in the game as soon there took the wickets of Sarkar and Mushfiqur.

After Mushfiqur’s departure, the onus of taking Bangladesh home fell on the shoulders of skipper Mahmudullah. However, he could not get going straight away but found two boundaries in the next two overs to keep themselves in the race.

With 22 needing off the final 12 balls, Mahmudullah found a six off the very first ball of Bravo. The experienced bowler though made an impressive comeback and maintained a stiff equation of 13 runs from the last seven balls and then picked up the wicket of a well-set Liton on the final ball to shift the equilibrium towards the Windies.

West Indies competed strongly with abysmally in the field in the final over and misfielded balls one after another to match their opponent, who dropped as many as three catches in the field. However, Andre Russell held on to his nerves and found a brilliant yorker on the final ball to deny them any boundary.

Earlier, Bangladesh had won the toss and sent Windies in to bat first. The defending champions made expected changes in their side in the game they desperately needed to win to stay alive in the tournament.

To their liability though, none of Chris Gayle, who was promoted back to the top and the man in form Evin Lewis could get going, and Windies found themselves in a precarious situation all over again.

However, they were not without a stabiliser in the middle with the bat and Roston Chase did the job of holding the innings together brilliantly.

Wickets and chaotic situations such as the voluntarily retired hurt of Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell’s run out while backing up at the non-striker end never allowed the Windies to launch an offensive against Bangladesh spinners.

It was all pale for the men in maroon but only till Nicholas Pooran did not arrive at the crease. He was due for a substantial innings and he came out all guns blazing with sixes one after another against Bangladesh’s star spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

His audacity and sumptuous timing with the bat helped Windies to stay on course and whatever the job was left to take them to a respectable total, was completed by Jason Holder without making any fuss about it.

It was a game of sheer mediocrity and hence in a most fitting finish, the game ended up with an over where all of the loose display of cricket was displayed on full-on mode.

West Indies survived to live another day in the tournament while Bangladesh have been all but knocked out of the tournament as other teams in their groups are looking sharper than them and there is slim chances of their rise to the top four of the tournament.

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IPL | List of players most likely to be retained by franchises before mega auction

Although the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League concluded just two weeks back, the sense of anticipation for the next edition of the tournament has already been developing thick and fast. What is adding fuel to the fire for the interest and excitement about the next edition are the additions of two new franchises and a mega auction that will take place later this year, which has the potential to change the complete or substantial look of almost all franchises. As per various media reports, the IPL governing council has allowed franchisees to retain a maximum of four players that can be in two combinations such as either three Indian players and one overseas player or two players each from India and two foreign countries. It’s unlikely that there will be the option of Right to Match card option in the auction this year and the franchisees will have to contend with four retentions and needless to say they will have to make some tough choices considering they have to pick a core for the near future. Here, we’ll list out the probable players who are most likely to be retained by their current side before the mega auction. Chennai Super Kings Defending champions the Chennai Super Kings have their tasks cut out in deciding who they want to retain for the next few editions and a lot of their permutations and combinations will depend on what their talisman MS Dhoni decides to do with his IPL career. He did not reveal his plans and gave a mixed reply on whether he will be back for the next edition and there’s no prize guessing who will their first retention if Dhoni wishes to play one more season. Probable retentions If MS Dhoni wishes to play, the other three retentions could be Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar. They will have a tough time giving up the likes of Moeen Ali, Faf du Plessis, and Sam Curran but such is the nature of the league. The Super Kings have always focussed on maintaining the Indian core and hence it is highly plausible that all their retention could be Indian players. Mumbai Indians The most successful IPL franchises too have many headaches to deal with while deciding the only four players who are to be retained before the main auction. There is more than certainty on the position of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, and they have as many as four terrific players to choose from for the other two spots. The quartet of Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan, who have played a significant role in making the Mumbai Indians a side they have become now and retaining or releasing anyone of them would be a tough call for the Mumbai side. Probable retentions Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan Punjab Kings For the Punjab Kings, the pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have been an indomitable force at the top of the order, but they have not been able to produce success for the side in terms of reaching the second stage of the tournament. Hence, it’s unlikely that they will retain Rahul and they can go as far as retaining only two players and one of them could well be Mayank Agarwal. None of their bowlers, except Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh, have been able to produce repetitive match-winning performances and hence the duo can find themselves in the same franchise in the next edition. Probable retentions Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi Royal Challengers Bangalore The case of retentions would have been complicated for the Royal Challengers after their long-standing skipper Virat Kohli announced giving up captaincy starting the next edition. However, he maintained that his home will remain to be RCB till he plays in the tournament and hence the onus is on the franchise to either give him the opportunity or not allow him respectful exit from the tournament. Their big-ticket purchase Glenn Maxwell turned out to be the trump card with the bat in this edition and hence he could be a compelling choice for retention. They also found a bowling version of consistency in Harshal Patel and they could go for him as the only bowler to be retained. Probable retentions Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Harshal Patel Delhi Capitals Rishabh Pant led the Delhi Capitals to the qualifier stage of the tournament this edition and that should mark the end of Shreyas Iyer in the Capitals dugout. The Capitals should not find it tough to select their four players to be retained and there are some obvious names who must not be risked releasing in the auction. They could choose to retain the India duo of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, two players who are touted to be the future of Indian cricket. Despite Shikhar Dhawan being the most prolific batter in the side, he might be let go given the constraints around his age. Barring those two, Delhi would surely like to keep the services of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, who have bowled exceptionally well in tandem and are just 26 and 27 years old respectively. Probable retentions Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje Rajasthan Royals The Royals could not break the streak of inconsistent performances and missed the playoff bus for one more season in the 14th edition and the management should be looking to constitute a side around Sanju Samson. They have had a core of brilliant England cricketers but their on and off presence with the side in the tournament has not helped the side on a consistent basis and hence it’s highly likely that the Royals would not retain anyone except Sanju Samson. Sunrisers Hyderabad The Sunrisers Hyderabad found themselves in turmoil in the last edition and first they changed their captain from David Warner to Kane Williamson. However, results did not follow and it would be interesting to see how much the Sunrisers management values Williamson’s role. If they don’t retain him, there could well be just two retentions from their side and those two could be a batsman and a champion bowler of the format. The option of a young and dynamic batsman in Abdul Samad would be a compelling choice but it’s unlikely they would retain him. Probable retentions Jonny Bairstow, Rashid Khan Kolkata Knight Riders The Kolkata Knight Riders ran a spirited marathon to the final of the 14 edition of the tournament under the leadership of Eoin Morgan, but his horrible form with the bat is unlikely to fetch him retention from the Knight Riders. They have been helped immensely by Andre Russell and their CEO Venky Mysore had all but confirmed he will be a “Knight Riders” till he plays the league and hence he should be on the retention list unless something untoward happens between now and the mega auction. The Knight Riders would also be compelled to retain both Venkatesh Iyer, who was the find of the tournament earlier this month and Shubman Gill but it’s unlikely both of them will get the nod. They would also be keen to retain Lockie Ferguson, who has been an asset for them and has provided a rapid pace bowling option in the absence or alongside Pat Cummins. Probable retentions Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Shubman Gill

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Yorkshire takes no action on Azeem Rafiq racial abuse issue, devastated cricketer wants ECB to step up

The Yorkshire County Cricket Club in a shocking statement said that no current employee or player could be held responsible for seven counts of racial abuse met to its former captain Azeem Rafiq. This statement comes after the club apologised to Rafiq in August this year, confirming that the player was indeed subjected to inappropriate behaviour. But not holding anyone responsible for the crime is one thing that most of the people and the player himself are unable to digest. In its official statement, the Yorkshire administration mentioned that it has sent the full copy of the report to England and Wales Cricket Board to support in board’s independent enquiry into the matter. It further said that after the independent committee, which comprised of seven members and investigated the matter for a year after Rafiq raised the issue in early 2020, the club also carried out its own investigation. “The Club has also carried out their own internal investigation following the findings in the Report after which they are able to report that they have come to the conclusion that there is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or Executives that warrants disciplinary action,” it said. “None of this diminishes the importance of the findings or that fact that there is much the Club can learn from the Report. It was important for Azeem to raise the issues and without him doing so we would not have the Panel’s recommendations which are an important part of the Clubs continuing journey,” the statement further added. Naturally, Rafiq was shaken by such a baseless and out of the blue announcement by the club to not hold anyone responsible for a crime that they admitted was committed. In a series of Tweets, the former county cricketer and England U-19 captain let his anger out. "Wow, just when you think this club couldn't get more embarrassing, you find a way," Rafiq tweeted. "Still awaiting the FULL report. Thanks for mentioning the people that have provided your PROTECTION & give green light to RACISM. Interesting timing again,” he said n another tweet, trying to implicate the fact that half the enquiry committee members were Asian and still they couldn’t find anybody guilty of the racism that they themselves admitted happened. Rafeeq’s spokesman said that it was time that Yorkshire board members did at least something good and resigned voluntarily for the crimes they have committed. "It is inconceivable that there are no current employees who should not have been disciplined for their conduct. Yorkshire's failures continue to mount up and it is time that board members - for once - do the decent thing and resign,” said the spokesperson. The ECB acknowledged that they have received the full report from Yorkshire and are going to investigate the matter thoroughly. "This is a matter with many serious allegations at its heart and the ECB’s regulatory team will now consider the Report as part of its investigation. We anticipate that it will take time for the regulatory process to reach its conclusion, but it is imperative that this is completed thoroughly and with fairness to all involved,” the board said.