ZIM vs BAN: Mushifiqur opts out of white-ball leg of Zimbabwe tour due to personal reasons

Happy to get the youngsters in the team and see their dreams come true - Shikhar Dhawan

Ahead of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka, India stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan who will be leading the national team for the first time in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma wants his side to remain together and have a good frame of mind ahead of their test against Sri Lanka. With several of the top-notch players in England preparing for the Test series, the new-look Indian side is all set to lock horns against Sri Lanka in six limited-overs matches (3 ODIs and 3 T20s). The series kicks off in Colombo from 18th July. "It is a big achievement for me that I have become the captain of the Indian side. As a leader, my idea is to keep everyone together and happy that is the most important thing," Dhawan said on the Star Sports show 'Follow the Blues'. "We have got a lovely bunch of boys, great support staff, and we have worked earlier as well,” he added. One of the most prolific openers in world cricket, Dhawan shares a good camaraderie with Rahul Dravid who has been assigned as the head coach for the series. "I have a good relation with Rahul Bhai. When I started playing Ranji Trophy, I played against him, and I have known him since then. When I went to play India A match, I was the captain, and he was the coach, so there was interaction. "When he became the director of NCA, we used to go there for around 20 days, so we had a lot of interaction, and now we have good chemistry. And now that we have the chance to play six matches together, so it will be great fun, and I think we all sync nicely," Dhawan added. Quite a few uncapped players have been picked in the squad. However, Rahul Dravid has made clear that only one or two spots is up for grabs and it won’t be possible to give a break to all the players present in the squad. Irrespective of the opportunities they get, Dhawan wants all of them to enjoy themselves and their journey to the national team. "Happy to get the youngsters in the team and see their dreams come true. It's a big thing that these youngsters have come from their respective hometowns with certain dreams, and their dreams are getting fulfilled. "And now, they should enjoy the journey which landed them in team India, and they should know the value of their strength and how to improve it," he said. Dhawan feels that a perfect blend of youth and experience will benefit not only the juniors but also the senior members in the team. "There are seniors in the team, so the youngsters will learn from them, and we will get to learn from the youngsters. Whenever I meet the youngsters they often have new ways of thinking, and I try to learn things which will help us," Dhawan concluded.

CPL 2021: Guyana vs Trinbago to kick off the season, dates amended on BCCI’s request

The 2021 edition of the Caribbean Premier League will start on August 26 and finish on September 15, a statement released by the CPL governing body confirmed. The decision was arrived at after a discussion between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Cricket West Indies (CWI). Earlier, the tournament was scheduled to begin on August 28 and finish by September 19, but with IPL dates clashing, the CWI and CPL governing council changed the dates so that players won’t have to leave the tournament in between to participate in the IPL’s UAE leg. The tournament would begin with the clash between the last year’s champions Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors at Warner Park in St Kitts & Nevis. While the first match would begin at 10 am Local time, which is 07:30 pm IST, the second match on the very same day between Barbados Tridents and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots would be played from 07:00 pm Local time, which is 04:30 am IST. All the 33 matches would be played at the same venue. Every match day two matches would take place except for two days i.e. on Saturday, September 11 and Sunday, September 12 when three matches would be played in one day. The timing for the first and third matches would remain the same as on the other match days when only two matches take place. The second match on a three matches day would start from 02:30 pm Local time, which is 12:00 am IST. The Semi-Finals would be played on September 14 while the Final would be held on September 15, the time of these matches has not been decided as of yet.

Ravichandran Ashwin rattles Somerset, bags 6/27 in county match ahead of Test series

Ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got a much-needed bowling practice ahead of the five-match Test series against England and tormented the Somerset batting line-up during a county championship game while plying his trade for Surrey. Ashwin returned with figures of 6/27 in the second innings to bowl out Somerset for a paltry score of just 69 runs. On the back of his stupendous spell of spin bowling, Surrey managed to bounce back strongly in the county championship encounter after conceding a massive lead of 189 runs. It was spin bowling of the highest order from Ashwin as he ran past the Somerset batting line-up with his guile and variations. Ashwin bagged the wicket of Steven Davis upfront to open the floodgates for a dramatic collapse. He floated the ball around the off stump area and Davis went fishing for it. The ball turned enough to take the outside edge and the keeper held onto a good catch. Soon after he bagged the wicket of Tom Lammonby as the left-handed batsman went for a reverse sweep and gloved the flighted delivery straight to the slip fielder. James Hildreth was his 3rd scalp and a faster off-break breached his defence and struck him plumb in front. Ashwin used his variations brilliantly and none of the batsmen had any answer to his mastery. George Bartlett was his next scalp as he turned one into the right-hander and breached his defence as the batsman was in two minds whether to leave or play. A faster carrom ball brought about the downfall of Roelof van der Merwe as he was struck right adjacent to the stumps. Bem Green was Ashwin’s final scalp as the tweaker bowled a brilliant off break which turned sharply and went through the gap between the bat and the pad and disturbed the timbers. Courtesy his superb spell, Somerset stands a realistic chance of chasing the target of 259 runs. When the piece was written, Somerset needed 230 more runs to win with 8 wickets in hand.

Zimbabwe spinner Roy Kaia reported for suspect bowling action

Zimbabwe all-rounder Roy Kaia has been reported for suspect bowling action by the on-field umpires during the one-off Test against Bangladesh which resulted in a comprehensive victory for the visiting Bangladesh side. Off-spinner Kaia bowled 23 overs during the course of two innings without any success. He had a torrid time with the bat failing to get off the mark in either of the innings as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by 220 runs. It won’t be possible for Kaia to get his assessment done at an ICC accredited testing centre due to the stringent rules in place owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, an expert panel will look into the available video footage of the spinner and take a decision. Kaia can continue bowling in international cricket until the panel gives their decision. His debut for Zimbabwe way back in 2015 in an ODI against Pakistan remains his only white-ball outing for the national team to date. He was included in the Test squad earlier this year which played Pakistan and has played three matches so far. Despite picking more than 100 wickets at the domestic level Kaia is yet to bag an international wicket. Riding on a brilliant knock from Mahmudullah, Bangladesh posted a huge score of 488 in their first innings. Despite a sensational start from the Zimbabwe top order, they failed to rest home the initiative and from a comfortable position of 224/2, they were skittled out for 276 and there was no way back for them. Shadman Islam and Nazmul Hossain Shanto scored centuries in the second innings to set Zimbabwe a daunting target. They were bowled out for 256 with Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan bagging four wickets each.