Tainted Avishka Gunawardene appointed Afghanistan batting coach ahead of T20 World Cup

What will happen to Women cricket in Afghanistan amid the relentless Taliban chaos?

In what would have been a great step in the history of Afghan cricket with discussions of 25 women cricketers getting central contracts and moving towards the formation of a national women’s team just a few months ago, now seems like a distant dream with the Taliban takeover of the country. Although the Taliban have been making promises of allowing women to work and get an education, the ground realities with women and children clinging on to the tires of a flying aeroplane, knowing that their fate would be nothing but death, and still just trying to evade the Taliban rule paint a completely different picture. The international cricketing community is also worried about the future of Afghanistan’s full member status which it got in 2017 because ICC requires every full member nation to have a national women’s team. "That was a massive development. We don't know what would happen now,” an ICC source was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz regarding the Afghan situation. Lisa Sthalekar, former Australia Women cricketer and a member of ICC Women's Cricket Committee was equally worried about the situation and said, "I have not heard from the ICC on what is happening as far as women's cricket in Afghanistan. But personally, I am concerned about what is happening there." Shafiqullah Stanikzai, former CEO of Afghanistan Cricket Boardnad the man who led the team to permanent membership of the ICC in 2017 believes that cricket wouldn’t be much affected by the recent developments in the country. "Cricket in Afghanistan began from refugee camps and we have come a long way. With very limited resources, we climbed our way up to full membership," he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. Stanikzai further said that cricket has given Afghans a new identity and even after the complete makeover of the country which is all but certain to happen in time to come, it will continue to grow. "I hope and pray that cricket in Afghanistan continues to grow. For us, it is beyond a sport, a game. Cricket has given us an identity making the image of Afghans around the world optimistic. Through cricket, we convinced the global community to invest in our talent and in Afghan youth. I hope this continues,” he said. The national team is currently in preparation mode for a limited over series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka.

'Virat hasn't had a great start': Tendulkar explains reason behind Kohli's lean patch

India skipper Virat Kohli hasn’t really been among runs for quite sometime now. The right-handed batsman in fact began the England series on a disappointing note after getting out for a golden duck in the first innings of the first Test in Nottingham while failing to contribute with the bat at a crucial juncture in the second innings of the second Test at Lord’s. Former India great Sachin Tendulkar has pointed out the issues that Kohli is facing in England. "Virat hasn't had a great start. It is the mind that leads to technical errors and if the start isn't good you start thinking about a lot of things. Because anxiety levels are high you tend to over compensate your movements," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by PTI. "When a batsman isn't in good form you either go too far across or don't move your feet at all. That happens to everyone. Form is also your state of mind along with the body working in harmony," Tendulkar added. Kohli has scored 0, 42 and 20 in the three innings that he has batted on this England tour so far. The right-hander is visiting England for the third time in his career. He had a terrible run in 2014 where Kohli only managed to score 134 runs in 5 matches but made a roaring comeback in 2018 to notch up 593 runs on the tour. India went 1-0 up in the five-match series on Monday after winning the Lord’s Test by 151 runs. The two sides will meet each other in Leeds for the third match which is scheduled to begin on August 25.

India is the team to beat says two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Daren Sammy

India has made it to the knockout stage of every World event in cricket starting from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and two times T20 World Cup winning captain West Indian Daren Sammy believes that for any team to be able to win the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman, they would have to go past India once again. Stressing upon the fact that the Indian players come into international cricket with a lot of experience, Sammy said, “India is the team to beat. The experience, their T20 players come into international cricket with, whether it is from India's domestic T20 cricket or the IPL, you see all the countries go there and get the experience.” “Apart from the World Cup, I think this is if not, the most pressure situation (tournament), where the players will be under and India has that formula,” added St. Lucia born while speaking in a video uploaded by the ICC on the occasion of the revealing of the schedule of T20 World Cup 2021. Recounting his own experience how important it is for every team to go past India in every tournament, Sammy said, “In 2016, when we left our homes, me, the coach and all the guys said -- in order to win this tournament, you will have to go through India. Whatever stage it is, you will have to go through India, whether it is the final, the semi-final.” Though India is the official host of the tournament, it will be played in UAE and Oman. Speaking on whether or not it will be disadvantageous to the hosts, Sammy said, “Yes, it has shifted to the UAE, but don’t forget, before that, all the Indian players would have completed the IPL and got used to these conditions.” “It is not surprising to me that the Indian cricket board chose this place, at this time, to complete the IPL and it will also benefit the other teams. But you will have to go through India in any tournament,” Sammy concluded his argument as to why India are the favourites for the tournament.

Playing in IPL 2021 will help in getting used to conditions for World T20: Jamieson

New Zealand and RCB player Kyle Jamieson is considering the remainder of the IPL 2021 as preparation for the upcoming World T20. While the remaining fixtures of the IPL will be played in September-October in the UAE, the World T20 will begin a couple of days later on October 17 and will be co-hosted by UAE and Oman. The pacer has said that playing in the IPL would help him get used to the conditions ahead of the World T20. "It certainly gives us, [and] me a little bit of a head-start in terms of getting used to those conditions and those grounds," Jamieson said. "It's nice to have a block of T20 cricket going into the World Cup and, like I said, just a good chance to practice some T20 skillsets in the venues we're going to be playing on." Jamieson was snapped by the Bangalore-based franchise for a sum of Rs 15 Cr earlier this year. In 7 matches that he has played so far for RCB, the New Zealand player has scalped 9 wickets at an average of 24.55. IPL 2021 was earlier suspended on May 4 after there was a Covid-19 outbreak within the franchises and the cash-rich league was later moved to the UAE. This would be the second consecutive year when the IPL will be held in the UAE. The Virat Kohli-led side had won five out of the seven matches that they had played and were sitting at the third spot in the points table when the tournament was halted. The tournament will now resume on September 19 in Dubai where Mumbai Indians will face Chennai Super Kings. The final of the tournament will be played on October 15 at the same venue. The World T20 will commence on October 17 with Oman taking on PNG in the opening encounter while the Kiwis will begin their campaign against Pakistan on October 26 in Sharjah.