Twitter goes gaga over Suryakumar Yadav’s arrival in international cricket

BCCI plans T20I series against New Zealand & South Africa ahead of T20 World Cup

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to host New Zealand and South Africa cricket teams in October 2021 to prepare India for the upcoming T20 World Cup. People in the know confirmed to TOI that the itinerary for the two series is worked upon by the respective boards. “The modalities of the series are being worked upon by and both the teams will visit India in October. The board is aware of the fact that players need to be in touch with the game before the World Cup,” a board member in the know of the events was quoted as saying by TOI. India and South Africa are anyways slated to play a full-fledged series as compensation for the Covid-19 forced postponement of South Africa’s India tour. India return from their England tour which will also involve the World Test Championship in June. According to the ICC Future Tours Programme, the SA home series should be held in October right ahead of the T20 World Cup. The New Zealand team is scheduled to visit India for a 5 match series (2 Tests, 3 T20s) post World Cup and they would not necessarily mind shifting the T20 leg given the much-needed exposure in subcontinental conditions. The only hurdle Asia Cup also seems to be getting out of the way with Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ehsan Mani suggesting that they would look to hold the tournament with amicable cross-border relations in 2023.

ICC postpones World T20 and U-19 World Cup Qualifiers

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been forced to postpone several important qualifying tournaments for three premier competitions due to new Covid-19 strains developing in various countries of the world. The postponed qualifier events were scheduled to be held in the run-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup, Women's 2023 World Cup and U-19 men's Cricket World Cup 2022. Chris Tetley, ICC's head of events, while confirming the news said that ICC had no other option but to postpone the tournament. "As part of the ICC's comprehensive contingency planning process we have decided to postpone three Men's T20 World Cup 2022 qualifying events and the Africa U19 Men's Cricket World Cup Division 2 due to COVID-19," he added. Along with the threat of Covid-19, the costs of creating bio-bubble and looking after so many teams at once would have a significant logistical overhead on the ICC and thus postponement was the wise decision. Now the Asia A Qualifier involving Bahrain, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will be played between October 23 and 29, which was slated to be played between April 3-9. Similarly, the Sub Regional Africa A and B will now be played between October 25 and 31. The top teams of the Sub Regional Qualifiers held in South Africa would travel to Nigeria, to take part in ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier which will be held between November 24 and 27. Kenya and Nigeria are the already qualified teams for the Africa Qualifiers. Women's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier has been postponed by a month and will be played in October. Due to the postponement of the U-19 Men’s CWC Asia Division 2 Qualifier, Oman and Singapore have been promoted to the U19 Men's CWC Asia Qualifier on the basis of their performances in the five previous editions of the event.

Watch: MS Dhoni caught napping by young CSK pacer

The Chennai Super Kings are preparing for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League by playing intra-squad matches in Chennai. In a match on Wednesday, March 17, the skipper MS Dhoni was clean bowled by an impressive young pacer Harishankar Reddy. Reddy, who has been a regular feature for the Andhra team in the Indian domestic circuit was picked in the auction earlier this year by the CSK at a base price of Rs 20 lakh. Reddy made his T20 debut in the 2018-20 season and until now has picked up 19 wickets from 13 matches at an economy rate of 8.34 runs per over.

Tamim Iqbal to miss T20I series against New Zealand due to personal reasons

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal who is also their ODI captain will miss the T20I series against New Zealand for personal reasons. The series will begin on March 28 after the completion of the ODI series and Tamim has said that the decision has been communicated to the head coach Russell Domingo and the national selection committee. "Before coming to New Zealand, I had informed the head coach and chief selector that I won't be available for the T20I series. It is for personal reasons. My best wishes are with the team. When the coach said that we have an opportunity to do well here, it includes the T20Is as well,” Iqbal said on Thursday. Bangladesh selectors are yet to announce the squad for the T20I series and the presence of Iqbal, who is their only centurion and the biggest run-getter in the format would have been crucial for Bangladesh’s success in New Zealand as the team is on the path of preparations for the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in India later this year.