AB de Villiers will not be returning to play for South Africa in the 2021 T20 World Cup, the country’s cricket board said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ab de Villiers will not return to South Africa team
When the squads for South Africa’s tours of West Indies and Ireland were announced on Tuesday (May 18), De Villiers’ name was missing.
This raised a lot of eyebrows only until Cricket South Africa clarified in its press release that the discussions with the now-retired cricketer ended with him deciding to not play for the country again.
“Discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded with the batsman deciding once and for all, that his retirement will remain final,”Cricket South Africa said in its statement.
AB de Villiers was in great form in IPL 2021
AB de Villiers, playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), was in great form during the 14th edition of the IPL.
AB de Villiers
He had played multiple match-winning knocks for his team and had amassed 207 runs in six innings at an average of 51.75 and an amazing strike rate of 164.29 while also hitting 16 fours and 10 massive sixes.
After hitting a match-winning 76 not out off just 34 deliveries against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021, De Villiers had said that he would talk with South Africa coach Mark Boucher about a potential return.
“If I can slot in, it will be fantastic,” De Villiers had said. “I am absolutely interested, with regards to my form, my fitness, we have to get the best 15 together, we will plan accordingly. I am speaking with Boucher towards the end of IPL.”
Faf du Plessis too loses his spot
Faf du Plessis with AB de Villiers
Meanwhile, in another shocking decision, CSA have decided not to include their top batsman Faf du Plessis in their ODI squad against Ireland and T20I squad against West Indies.
Faf retired from Tests earlier this year but was expecting to contribute especially in the T20 format with the World Cup looming later in the year. It remains to be seen if he is not available or not considered for the tours.
The suspension of IPL 2021 has put a delay in the team expansion plan for the multi-million dollar league. The BCCI had planned to add a couple of teams in the roster with one of the teams based out of the mighty Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
BCCI postpones the plan of IPL Team Expansion
There were reports that the board would take out a tender regarding two new teams but now they have deferred it to July 2021. Earlier they were to release the tender in May 2021.
“Time is not right to even talk about the new IPL teams at this stage. We have to first decide the way forward on the suspended season and then only decisions can be taken on the new teams for IPL 2022. No discussion in this regard is happening at this stage in the BCCI. We don’t see any moment on this before July”, a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.co
BCCI’s Losses Will Go up to Rs 2500 Crore
If the suspended IPL 2021 isn’t completed, the Indian cricket board is estimated to incur losses of around Rs 2,500 crore, says BCCI president and former India captain, Sourav Ganguly.
The T20 league was canceled earlier this week once players and support staff began testing positive for coronavirus despite being in bio-secure bubbles for a significant period.“If we fail to complete the IPL, the loss will be close to INR 2500 crore (USD 340 million approximately). That is going by early estimates,” Ganguly told The Telegraph.
“There has got to be a lot of shuffling. Only a day has passed since we suspended the IPL. We have to speak to other boards and see if a window can be made available before the T20 World Cup. A lot of things are involved and we will slowly start working on them,” he said.
IPL board has not yet revealed any official announcement regarding the IPL reschedule.
Shiv Sunder Das, the former India men’s Test opener, has been appointed as the batting coach of India Women for the upcoming tour of England, while Abhay Sharma has been named the fielding coach.
Shiv Sunder Das appointed as batting coach
Rajkuvardevi Gaekwad, the current Baroda women’s selection panel chief, replaced long-time manager Trupti Bhattacharya, who served in the role until the home series against South Africa in March.
Das, who previously worked with the India women’s A team, including during the 2020 quadrangular series in Patna, told ESPNcricinfo he has been appointed only for the seven-match England tour.
India Women cricket team
“This is the first time I have been assigned a job with the India women’s national team, so it’s a quite exciting time for me,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to it. It will be a good challenge for me because I’ve toured England as a player and played a lot of league cricket. Conditions-wise I’m a bit familiar, so it will be nice to add value to the team. My focus is only on the England tour as of now because I’ve come in for the England tour.”
TOS understands that official confirmation to the largely new-look support staff of India Women was sent by Monday, with the touring contingent – including a 21-member playing squad – for the England assignment set to assemble in Mumbai on May 19.
Ramesh Powar was appointed as the head coach on a two-year contract on Thursday. The tenure of the rest of the support staff, where Tracy Fernandes has been retained as physio, remains unclear.
The nine-member support staff slated to tour England includes trainer R Naresh, performance analyst Sandeep Raju, and masseuse Neerja Desai.
Former India international and National Cricket Academy spin-bowling coach Narendra Hirwani, who worked as the spin consultant with India Women under former head coach WV Raman through July 2019 to March this year, doesn’t feature on the list.
Sharma, the former Railways wicketkeeper, has had stints with the India men’s sides and was the fielding coach of India Women for the South Africa series.
India’s fixtures in England include a one-off Test that begins on June 16 in Bristol and three ODIs and three T20Is, the tour-ender scheduled for July 15.
India wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has reportedly tested negative for coronavirus while in quarantine clearing the way for him to join the rest of the Test squad announced by the BCCI earlier this month for the England tour. Though Saha was named in the 20-man Test squad, his availability was subject to fitness.
Wriddhiman Saha joins England tour squad
According to ESPNcricinfo, Saha has been allowed to visit his family in Kolkata after spending two weeks in quarantine in Delhi. He thus will enter the Indian cricket team’s bio-bubble in the week leading up to the departure for UK.
Saha is one of the three members of the Test squad including KL Rahul and Prasidh Krishna whose availability for the tour depended on fitness. Rahul underwent surgery for appendicitis while Krishna had tested positive for coronavirus.
Last week, Saha had dispelled the rumors surrounding his health via social media. “My quarantine period is still not over. As a part of the routine check-up, 2 tests were done, out of which 1 was negative and the other one came as positive.Otherwise, I am doing much better. Requesting everyone not to spread misleading stories/information without the whole context,” he had written.
The India squad is expected to assemble in Mumbai along with their families before departing for Southampton for the WTC final. There, they will have to undergo a 10-day quarantine at a team hotel which is within the premises of Ageas Bowl. The WTC final gets underway from June 18.
Tushar Arothe slams Indian women's Cricket Team selection committee
Former Indian women cricket team coach Tushar Arothe, who too enjoyed a successful stint with this time, from 2017-2018, talked to Cricketnext, about various aspects that are hampering women’s cricket in India.
Tushar Arothe on Indian women Cricket Team
The former Baroda Ranji player minced no words and admitted that there are a few problems that need to be dealt with, rather quickly.
Following are the Excerpts of the interview to the Cricketnext
On WV Raman’s Sacking
Well, I believe there were over 35 applications for the post. Then, they shortlisted it to eight. I don’t really know what the criteria was or how did they scrutinise the applications. I personally think it is a little unfair on Raman.
If you look at his tenure, he took the girls to the final of the T20 World Cup, and most of the other period under him, went in lockdown due to Covid-19. So once can’t really judge his tenure.
Also, if you’re looking at the South Africa series, these girls were playing a lot of cricket already, but the Indians girls were playing after a year and were rusty. So he had no chance to work with the girls, and there was no camp. So they could have given one more year to WV.
Why no Extension for Raman, and Why Someone like Ramesh Powar — Who Was Removed Earlier, Brought in?
Well, we had all heard about the problem between Powar and Mithali Raj during the World Cup in West Indies, 2018.
But now it’s a fresh start and now someone who has a stronghold in the team, should intervene and take a stock of the whole situation and make sure that both the parties are on the same page this time around.
Whatever happened in the past, we need to forget it here. It is the future of the Indian team we are talking about, here. I mean both need to have the same goal now, which is winning the World Cup, and not lose in the semis or finals.
Why are So Many Coaches Being Changed, That Too so Frequently?
Simply put, there is a lot of politics in women’s cricket. In comparison, men’s cricket is very transparent. What I have seen from very close quarters in the team is that, there is a lot of appeasement going on. I think the blame falls on former women players.
Also, it is about the culture in the team. If the team doesn’t do well in a tournament, the coach is sacked. If a player doesn’t get along well with the coach, the latter is changed at their behest.
You look at the coach before me, the way Purnima Rau was treated after doing so well with the team is beyond belief.
I think, in my case, what went wrong was I asked the players to focus on competing with the top sides and prepare accordingly for them.
Some players didn’t really like my approach since I also told them that the effort put in during their 2017 World Cup campaign — where they reached the final — wasn’t going to be enough in the future.
Why is Fielding Still a Grey Area for Team India?
When I took over, the girls were doing only one session per day, which is not enough at all — during the camp. I arranged for two sessions in a day for the team, since this is not a team of a charitable trust.
This is the Indian women’s cricket team, which needs to train like champions to be champions. In fact, I used to squeeze in a special session for three girls everyday, where we would do specialized, skill-based training.
Initially, the girls were all for it, but it all started to change, when I pushed them a little bit harder over their fitness. This is clearly the one area where we are still lacking. If you’re not fit, your fielding certainly goes for a toss. Again, this wasn’t a welcome move for some.
It’s not like I asked the girls to sweat it out alone, while I chill in the hotel room. No. Each and every staff member used to be present in every training session to work on the grey areas. All I can say is, the two seniormost players are still ready to give their best in every session, and every other player should learn from them.
How is the Bond Within the Team, or How Was it During Your Tenure?
I can’t really talk about the current scenario, but can certainly talk about my time as the coach. In my first assignment as coach, in South Africa, I didn’t see a great bond in the girls. We used to focus a lot on team gelling and team-building exercises.
So it did reap benefits for the team then. I think for the common good of the team, the girls will have to display that camaraderie every time they step on the field. Senior players again have a big role to play, they need to lift the team up now.
How Can All the External Factors be Handled Well by Those in Power?
I think players should be made accountable for their’s and team’s performance. That’s how the responsibility will come in the team.
And the other would be, ex-women players — who do have any business with the team or its functioning, should strictly stay away. I feel currently, that is not the case and there is an involvement of unnecessary people as well. I mean, they all mean well for the team, but it is clearly not helping, says Tushar Arothe.
Is Selection Still a Problem in Team India?
The selectors don’t have a vision. We were playing against South Africa after a long break. Shikha Pandey was not included in the team and I heard that she was rested. I mean, how do you rest a player who hasn’t played for 12 months? It is a complete mess.
Look at Taniya Bhatia, the safest pair of hands in the team. She wasn’t included in the team. Now again for the tour of England, these players are back. I ask, on what basis were they left out, and have been brought back now, says Tushar Arothe.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has proposed an intriguing change that he needs in the IPL playing XI format if the cash-rich league played with 10 teams in the upcoming seasons.
Sanjay Manjrekar Proposed a change in IPL
Manjrekar feels there are a lot of Indian players and henceforth needs five foreign players in the playing XI of each team on the grounds that numerous quality players are sidelined all through the season.
He felt regardless of whether five foreign players include in the playing XI, there will in any case be sufficient freedoms for Indian players to thrive.
Sanjay manjrekar
“If IPL is going with 10 teams then you got to have five foreign players per side. Despite that, you will have 10 Indian players playing in the XI. They are a lot of Indian players,” he said on ESPNCricinfo.
“When there was no IPL, T20, or 50-over cricket, only 13-14 players in the 70s or 80s played at the highest level and that’s where you got the cream of Indian players playing,” Manjrekar added.
“You already have plenty of Indian players and it is a shame to see some quality foreign players sitting out only because they can’t play more than four. So even if we go five foreign players, plenty of Indian players will get the opportunity,” he further said.
On Sunday, India’s legendary Sachin Tendulkar opened up about his mental health struggles and how he suffered from severe anxiety for over a decade while playing as an international cricketer and representing his nation at some of the biggest stages.
How Sachin Tendulkar Got Rid of Anxiety
For a legendary player like Sachin Tendulkar living off the cricket field is really the worst thing that one can undergo. Sachin who announced his retirement on 2013 picks up the bat to get part in Road Safety rules tournament.
A tournament where legendary players from all around the world get part to play the league match.
India Legends
“Over period of time I realised that besides preparing physically for a game, you have to prepare yourself mentally also. In my mind, the match started long before I entered the ground. The anxiety levels were very high,” Tendulkar said in an interaction organised by Unacademy.
“I felt the anxiety for 10-12 years, had many sleepless nights before a game. Later on, I started accepting that it was part of my preparation. Then I made peace with times I was not able to sleep in the night. I would start doing something to keep my mind comfortable.”
That “something” included shadow batting, watching TV and playing video games in the wee hours of the day. Even making his morning cup of tea helped him prepare for the game.
Sachin also spoke about how making cups of tea, and ironing clothes also helped him get over the feeling of uncertainty and get ready for the match.
“I would pack my bag the day before the game, my brother taught me all of it and it became a habit. I followed the same drill even in the last match I played for India,”said the 48-year-old, who retired after playing his 200th Test match in 2013.
“When there is an injury, physios and doctors examine you and diagnose what is wrong with you. The same is the case with mental health. It is normal for anyone to go through ups and downs and when you hit those lows you need people around.
“Acceptability is the key here. Not just for the player, for people around him also. Once you have accepted you start looking for solutions,” he added.
A report claims that More New Zealanders watching cricket than ever before
More New Zealand peoples watched cricket than ever before during the first season of New Zealand Cricket’s six-year deal with Spark Sport and TVNZ.
As per the findings, more people watched women’s cricket than ever before, more young people watched cricket and more cricket was viewed by fans “on the go” – via a range of mobile devices.
Cricket Viewers increases in New Zealand
In a press release, NZC said that this was made possible because of the combination of a free-to-air and digital subscription, a “ground-breaking arrangement which is taking cricket to not only more Kiwis but demographics of New Zealanders previously lost to the game”.
The six matches screened live on TVNZ 1 reached 1.86 million viewers, while almost 240,000 Spark Sports viewers watched cricket during the summer. The most viewed T20I during the Australia series attracted 1.24 million viewers. The final ODI between New Zealand Women and Australia Women in Brisbane was viewed by 840,300 fans.
NZC CEO David White said the results exceeded expectations and he was confident the reach will continue to grow.
“We’re hugely encouraged,” he said. “The production was professional; the look and feel was fresh and appealing – it was everything we were hoping for.
“On top of the increase in viewership, our latest census is also indicating a significant increase in the number of New Zealanders playing cricket – including a 12% increase in the number of female participants, and a nine percent increase in the number of males.
“We’ve also had excellent crowd attendances across the season, and we were well on track for sold-out crowds throughout the Australian men’s tour before COVID took its toll.”
Head of Spark Sport, Jeff Latch, said that getting younger audience on the board via streaming services was the game-changer. “To see these numbers in the first months of our six-year partnership is really encouraging, particularly when you consider sports streaming is still new to many New Zealanders and a sports streaming business like ours takes time to grow,” he said.
“It shows that New Zealand households are embracing streaming, which is consistent with the global experience, in which it is now the norm. We’ve unlocked a new younger audience with streaming given that close to half (47%) of our customer base is aged under 34 years old but are still catering to the traditional fan through TVNZ.”
Virat Kohli seems to have left an indelible mark on Australian Test captain Tim Paine, who says he will “always remember” the Indian skipper for being the world’s best batsman, capable of also getting under the opposition’s skin with his competitiveness.
Tim Paine praises Virat Kohli
Kohli and Paine have had a fiery rivalry which goes back to India’s 2018-19 tour of Australia. Their on-field spats were an interesting sub-plot during the historic showdown in which India became the first Asian country to win a Test series Down Under.
“For Virat Kohli, I’ve said many times, he seems the type of player you would love to have on your team,” Paine said on the Gilly and Goss podcast. “He is competitive, he is the best batsman in the world.”
Virat Kohli
Paint further added that Kohli is a player he will never forget. “He is challenging to play against and he can get under your skin because he is so good and he is so competitive. But yeah, for me from where I came from, sharing a feud with him four years ago, He is certainly someone I will always remember,” he said.
Clarifying his comments on the Indian team creating distractions, Paine said it was one of the several things he had commented on and that he credited the tourists for simply outplaying them in the series.
“I did say that they simply outplayed us and that they deserved to win but they left that one out. The Indian fans have been slamming me on social media. They say that I’m making excuses again but it’s all good fun,” Paine said.
BCCI announces the step-by-step guidance for the team India players for the World Test Championship(WTC) finals.
Indian players will undergo three RT-PCR tests before assembling in Mumbai on May 19 if they return negative tests. The players will then quarantine for 14 days before departing to England on June 2, if they stay COVID19 negative.
BCCI Guidelines for WTC Finals
The agency also quoted a BCCI official about the vaccination plan for the players. Many players, including captain Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, have already taken the vaccine.
Virat Kohli got his First dose of COVID19 Vaccine
“The Indian government has opened vaccination for every person above 18 so the players can take their first dose. But the second dose is the question here and while the BCCI is looking at working closely with England and Wales Cricket Board to ensure players can get a second dose in the UK, if that is not approved by the UK government, we will have the vaccine taken from India for the second dose. Let’s see how that works out in the coming days.”
The players can arrive in Mumbai by either flight or road. The BCCI will reportedly not arrange a charter flight for anyone who is found to have contracted the virus.
“The players have been informed to consider their tour over if they are found positive on their arrival in Mumbai as BCCI will not arrange another charter flight for any cricketer,” The Indian Express had earlier quoted a source as saying.
As many as 20 players including four standby players have been picked for the tour. One of the standby bowlers, Prasidh Krishna, had tested positive for COVID-19 at the fag end of the now-suspended IPL 2021. It is expected that the KKR bowler will be fit by the time the team departs.
India Women squad for the only Test match, ODI & T20I series against England has been announced by BCCI.
India Women Squad for England Tour
Wicketkeeper-batter Indrani Roy from Jharkhand was rewarded with maiden Test and ODI call-up for India’s tour of England next month but senior left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad missed out as she is recovering from COVID-19.
Indrani was rewarded for her string of scores which included 103 against Chattisgarh, 86 against Karnataka, and 49 against Railways in the final.
Rana on her part was the ‘Player of the Final’ for her all-round show while representing Indian Railways.
The likes of Monica Patel, C Prathyusha have been dropped from the squad altogether.
After the conclusion of the ODIs, the Indian eves will lock horns with the English hosts in a 3-match T20I rubber under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur. The opening match will be played in Northants on July 9, while the next two matches are scheduled to be played on July 11 and 15, at Hove and Chelmsford respectively.
This will be the first overseas tour of the Indian Women’s cricket team under newly-appointed head coach Ramesh Powar. The three-member CAC comprising Sulakshana Naik, Madan Lal, and Rudra Pratap Singh interviewed the applicants and unanimously agreed on Powar’s candidature.
Prithvi Shaw with the India's Head coach Ravi Shastri
As the Indian cricket team is gearing up for the World Test Championship (WTC) and the England series after, one question that bothered fans was the exclusion of Prithvi Shaw.
After showcased an impressive performance in IPL 2021 the aggressive opener has been left out from the WTC squad. Later it is revealed that owing to his fitness issue the 21 year old batsman has been dropped out of the long format squad.
Prithvi Shaw misses WTC
A report in TOI says Shaw is slow between the wickets and still has weight issues. A selector has also asked the Mumbaikar to learn from Rishabh Pant who had his own issues once.
“Prithvi is still very slow across the turf for a 21-year-old. He needs to shed a few more kilos. He also had concentration issues while fielding in Australia. Shaw has been working hard since he returned from Australia. He has the example of Rishabh Pant right in front of him. If Pant can turn things around in a few months, Prithvi too can do it,” the BCCI source was quoted as saying.
He was also told to be a bit consistent and sustain the form in a couple of series as he has often failed to justify the faith shown in him by the selectors.
“He has to sustain this form for a few more tournaments. He has often been picked on the basis of one good series and then he has struggled in international cricket, He is too good a player to be ignored for long,” the source added.
Sarandip Singh Backs Shaw
Former selector Sarandip Singh has said that the management must back the 21-year-old as he has the potential to be someone like Virender Sehwag.
“He has the potential to do what Sehwag did for India. You can’t sideline him so early in his career. He has scored tons of runs in domestic cricket after being dropped post the Australia tour. He has corrected his technical flaws also, and look how he played in the IPL,” Sarandeep told PTI.
