3:00 AM ET Big Picture Pakistan have been pushed this T20I series, in a manner they weren’t against Australia, but no matter the challenge thrown at them, they seem to find a way in this format. The detractors are finding it harder to explain away Pakistan’s spell of dominance as a purple patch, a streak of good fortune, or a consequence of playing against weaker teams. They have now put…
12:46 PM ET Liam Brickhill The build-up to the World T20 is well underway, and unofficial warm-up games between England, West Indies, South Africa and India drew huge crowds to the Sir Vivian Richards cricket ground in Antigua on Thursday. South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk called the atmosphere at the ground “the best” she had ever experienced at an international. “It was close to one of the biggest [crowds],”…
Kings XI Punjab’s director of cricket operations, Virender Sehwag, reacts in the field 12:41 PM ET Virender Sehwag‘s innings at Kings XI Punjab has come to an end. Having played for the franchise for two seasons, Sehwag served initially as Kings XI mentor in 2016 before taking up the additional role of head of cricket operations and strategy last January. However, having roped in former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson…
12:21 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Ambati Rayudu has called time on his first-class career in order to focus on limited-overs cricket. Rayudu, who recently made a comeback into the Indian ODI side, communicated the decision to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) on Saturday. Rayudu will continue to play international and domestic matches in the shorter versions. He had a successful outing in India’s recently concluded five-match ODI series against West…
Dasgupta: T20Is will be the real competition (1:31) Deep Dasgupta feels this will be a big opportunity for young Indian players to establish themselves (1:31) 3:00 AM ET p class=”news-sub”>Big Picture The last time India played an international match without either Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni, with neither injured, was during the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka in March, that ended memorably with Dinesh Karthik’s escape to victory against Bangladesh….
9:29 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff West Indies allrounder Andre Russell will not be part of the T20I series against India, after it emerged on the eve of the first match in Kolkata that he was injured and had not yet arrived in the country. Russell was one of seven players supposed to join the T20I squad over the last three days, but his absence during the training sessions at Eden…
6:13 AM ET The responsibility of being the wicketkeeper-batsman in India’s T20I middle order is in safe hands despite MS Dhoni’s absence from the squad for the series against West Indies, according to stand-in captain Rohit Sharma. With Dhoni being dropped for the first time since he established himself as an India cricketer, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik have the opportunity to lay claim to the vacancy. “Dhoni has been…
5:30 AM ET Mohammad Isam in Sylhet Rajin Saleh has announced his retirement from first-class cricket, bringing an end to one of the longest professional careers in Bangladesh’s modern era. He will play his last game in the National Cricket League’s (NCL) last-round which begins on November 5. He started his career in the 2000-01 season which was Bangladesh’s second first-class season. Rajin, who played 24 Tests and 147 first-class…
3:00 AM ET Alex MalcolmESPN Close Alex Malcolm is a Melbourne-based sports journalist and broadcaster. He has been a long-time contributor to ESPNcricinfo and reported for the AFL website for four seasons. He has also worked as a television commentator calling Australian Rules Football, Athletics and Tennis for a number of networks. Queensland 4 for 269 (Renshaw 89, Hemphrey 68*) v Western Australia A patient 89 from Test hopeful Matt…
Cricket Australia problems don’t bother me – Steyn (1:00) Dale Steyn is prepared for Australia’s batsmen and focussed on plans for them, but he isn’t interested in the off-field drama (1:00) 3:00 AM ET Big Picture The last time these two sides met…hang on, you don’t need reminding of that. In a quirk of scheduling, the opposition against whom Australia (albeit in a different format) suffered one of the most…