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We would be the first to launch women’s T20 league in Asia: PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja said that the board is planning to launch a women’s edition of the Pakistan Super League. If the PCB are able to pull it off then it will be the first nation in Asia to have an exclusive professional contract-based women’s cricket league where players from various other nations can participate. 

Announcing it in a video released by the PCB on their official Twitter handles, Raja said, “We have lots of programs in the pipeline and with this visit by Tom Harrison (ECB CEO), a lot of things have cleared up. We will be the first and only of its kind nation to launch an Under-19 version of our main T20 league the PSL.”

“We are also planning to launch the Women’s PSL as soon as possible and Inshallah we will be the first nation in Asia to have a women’s league functioning,” he further added.

Through his first in Asia comments, Ramiz intentionally or unintentionally highlighted the plight of the Indian women cricketers who have been demanding a women’s IPL for quite some time now. With the success of The Hundred Women in England and the smooth running of the WBBL and Super Smash (Women’s) in Australia and New Zealand respectively, it was only fair that the richest cricket board announced a women’s IPL. 

Hopefully, after this big announcement by Pakistan, the BCCI might take note of the voices echoing from eternity for a women’s IPL. 

Pakistan was also the first board under the leadership of Ehsan Mani to announce the 1-year maternity league for its female cricketers with all contracts automatically renewing next year.

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T20 World Cup | Semi-Final | ENG vs NZ: Settled Kiwis look for redemption against injury-ridden English unit

Flashbacks run across everyone’s mind with Ian Smith in the commentary box screaming at the top of his voice. An incredible finish to the main game and then a tied Super Over made the 2019 World Cup Final an exceptional game, one that is difficult to forget. But it is never going to be the same again as boundary counts no more decide the fate of the game even when Super Overs remain tied. Instead, now teams are going to be put back in the field again and again in the Super Over till one of the sides are truly and deservingly declared the winners. And what better occasion could the Blackcaps have asked for than to face the English counterparts in an ICC event knockout game two and half years later to redeem themselves of the ghosts of the Lord’s that has been following them since June 2019. Come November 10th, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium would be lit up to welcome the two of the biggest contenders for the T20 World Cup who have put up brilliant performances in the Super 12 stages and will fight one more time to remain alive to seek the ultimate glory. What's at stake? Everything is at stake for both the teams who are searching for success in the shortest format of the game. To be fair, England have had the privilege to be the champions in the T20Is as well as in the ODIs and hence it is the Kiwis who have a lot at stake for them. Right from the 2015 World Cup, they have made it to all ICC tournaments’ semi-final stage at least (except the 2017 Champions Trophy), but haven’t been able to lift the trophy until recently in the inaugural World Test Championship. Along with the possibility of reaching the finals, for England, their reputation of being the fiercest side in the T20 format is also at stake. Having been defeated by the South Africans in an inconsequential game, it was a warning enough for them to remain grounded in the competition. Hence, Eoin Morgan and men would be wary of what’s to come and not get ahead of themselves just because of their reputation in the format. What needs to change? For New Zealand, Mitchell Santner being out of touch is not a good sign and given the number of right-handers in the English batting unit at the top, it might be a great ploy for Kane Willaimson to get him early in the attack and force both Buttler and Bairstow to make some errors in judgement. For England, Dawid Malan’s form has been a cause of concern. It isn’t that bad that you can drop him, but he is not playing the match-winning innings expected from him either, making it very tough for the selectors and skipper Morgan to take a call on him. But given the gravity of the situation, Moeen Ali could be promoted at number three, also to tackle the leg-spin and the left-arm spin of Ish Sodhi and Santner respectively. England vs New Zealand: Match Details Match Number - 42, Semi-Final Date and Time: November 10, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 06:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report It has been informed to both parties that pitch strip number seven would be used for this special game. The seventh strip is the central wicket and boundaries therefore would remain long and far even though the ground has been witness to long sixes over the course of the tournament. Mohan Singh, the chief curator of the wicket died in mysterious circumstances on the day of the Afghanistan-New Zealand clash and hence this pitch would be curated by a new chief curator. The pitches at Abu Dhabi have generally been lively and high scoring and a wicket of the same trait is expected in this game as well. Weather Forecast The temperature at the stadium will fall from 28-degree Celsius at 06:00 pm to 26-degree Celsius by 10:00 pm and similarly, the humidity will increase from 49% to 57%. There would be a light breeze blowing and it being a 06:00 pm start at local time, dew in large amounts is expected in the second innings. Thus a captain winning the toss would look to chase in all circumstances. Team News England The English side would be forced to make yet another change in their XI and Sam Billings, who has travelled with the team for quite a long time, might just bear fruit for his patience. Probable XI Jos Buttler (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan, Sam Billings, Eoin Morgan (c), Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood New Zealand The Kiwis are a settled unit and with no injuries barring a slight concern for Kane Williamson. It has been a while that he has been nursing an elbow injury but it is unlikely that he would be sitting out a clash as important as this one. They would be playing the same combination which has won them four matches in a row. Probable XI Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult CE XI Fantasy team Wicketkeepers Jos Buttler Batters - Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Dawid Malan All-rounders - James Neesham, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone Bowlers - Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid Vice-captain - Kane Williamson Captain - Moeen Ali

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Babar Azam reiterates Ravi Shastri’s stand on bio-bubble and mental health

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has reiterated the thoughts of former India coach Ravi Shastri who said in the last game that bio-bubbles have been extremely difficult for Indian players. He had stated at the pre-match interview with Ian Bishop yesterday that the Indian players have been mentally and physically drained, shifting bubbles constantly since the last six months. Shastri, who has a stellar record as a coach in international cricket said that it was high time that the players went on the break. "Look they are always ups and downs in professional cricket but yes players do get disturbed and uncomfortable by remaining constantly in a bio-secure bubble environment," Babar Azam spoke ahead of Pakistan’s clash against Australia in the semi finals of the T20 World Cup. "As a player, you need to relax and be ready to absorb the pressure. But at times when things are not going well, you need space and you need to refresh, go out,” he further added. Pakistan have been one of the most travelled teams after the onset of COVID-19 and have toured all across the globe including the countries with strict regulations such as in England and New Zealand. Azam spoke about the mental health side of things while living in a bio-bubble for an extended period of time and said that it is a spiral once negative thoughts enter your mind. "If you can't get out of the bubble, negative thoughts do enter your mind and affect your performances," he explained. He stated that Pakistan try to counter the same working as a unit and talk to each other through the hardships. His statement comes right after the decision that the Pakistan team will be travelling directly to Bangladesh to play an international tour after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup.

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SMAT: Knockout berths decided, big guns Mumbai, Punjab, Baroda out of the race

It was the final day of the group stage in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22 (SMAT). The final day ushered many surprises as hot favourites and big guns of domestic cricket, Mumbai, Baroda, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh were unable to get past the group stage. On the other hand, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Bengal, Maharashtra and Saurashtra came from behind and took upon the hot favourites to march into the last 11 which will be distributed into pre-quarterfinals and quarterfinals. Captain Samson anchors Kerala to pre-quarters In what was an amazing counter-attacking partnership between skipper Sanju Samson and Sachin Baby, the duo led Kerala to a win over Madhya Pradesh and then cross their opposition in a head to head tie at the points table to book their place for the pre-quarter-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Both the players remained unbeaten after completing their respective fifties. They added 110 off just 58 balls and made the chase of 172 look like a cakewalk. Skipper Vijay Shankar, Jagadeesan drag TN to quarters In another virtual qualifier, Tamil Nadu were up against Punjab with both the teams stuck at 12 points each and the winner going to the quarterfinal as their net run rate was higher than Maharashtra which had already finished at 16 points from its five games. First Tamil Nadu restricted the explosive Punjab batting unit combining IPL regulars such as Shubman Gill, Prabhsimran Singh, Abhishek Sharma and Mandeep Singh to only 145 in their 20 overs and then skipper Vijay Shankar played the captain’s knock to secure the win. Along with Shankar’s unbeaten 59 off 40 balls, Narayan Jagadeesan’s 67 off 47 balls was also crucial in the chase. Easwaran, Mukesh shine in Bengal's win over Karnataka In another elite group clash, Bengal overtook mighty Karnataka as the group leaders which also had heavyweights such as Mumbai and Baroda to top the table and qualify directly for the quarterfinals. Courtesy of very disciplined bowling from Bengal bowlers, especially Mukesh Kumar, who took three wickets, the Karnataka batting - studded with stars such as Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal and Manish Pandey was restricted to 134. In reply, Abhimanyu Easwaran played a persuasive knock of unbeaten 51 off 49 balls to guide his team to victory. Pankaj Jaswal's five wicket haul takes Himachal past Andhra Till the very last game, Himachal Pradesh were not even in the reckoning of qualifying to the quarters or pre-quarters as better teams such as Haryana and Andhra Pradesh had better balance and form supporting them. However, on the day that mattered the most, Pankaj Jaswal picked a great five-wicket haul to reduce Andhra to 118 all out, chasing a comfortable target of 149. Courtesy of this win and Haryana’s loss against Rajasthan, which finished as the only unbeaten side along with Hyderabad among the Elite group teams at the group stage, Himachal finished at number two in their group. Knockout Games In the knockout matches, the top five teams from each elite group have already marched to the quarter-finals. Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Hyderabad are those sides. Among them, Gujarat and Hyderabad will face each other in the quarterfinals while the rest will await the results of the pre-quarter-finals. In the pre-quarterfinals, second-ranked teams of the five Elite groups, combined with Plate group topper Vidarbha will face each other in three matches to determine the three quarter-finalists who will face Bengal, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. In the first pre-quarterfinal, Vidarbha will face Maharashtra while Himachal would be up against Kerala in the second one. In the last match of the pre-quarter-final, two domestic against in Karnataka and Saurashtra will clash with each other. All the pre-quarterfinals will take place on November 16 while the quarterfinals will be held on November 20, with the semi-finals taking place on November 20 and the final on 22nd.