Page 10 - Cricket News

Shafali backs India's middle order to deliver in Bangladesh semifinal

India opener Shafali Verma on Wednesday backed the team's middle-order to come good in the women's Asian Cup semifinal against Bangladesh, saying a few low-scoring games should not be a concern ahead of the crucial clash. India will take on Bangladesh in the semifinal on Thursday. India's middle order has struggled for runs in the last three matches, but Shafali insisted there was no reason to panic. "Well, I would say there is a bit of bad days. But they all are very good players. They all are very good batters. And just talking about Bharti (Fulmali) and Richa (Ghosh), they all are very good finishers and even doing the great thing in middle order as well. So, I am pretty sure they will do well for our team," she said. India have had four days to prepare for the semifinal, with Shafali saying the break helped the players recover and train well. "We had good preparation. We got four days of break and on those days we recovered well and we did practice as well. So, we all are read

Harshit Rana unlikely to be fit for India's T20I series against Afghanistan

India pacer Harshit Rana is unlikely to be fit in time for the three match series against Afghanistan beginning here on September 13. Rana, who last played for India on the England tour, was included in the India squad for the three games in Delhi subject to fitness. He was also named in the Asian Games squad. "He has not yet fully recovered from his hamstring injury. He will need more time," said a BCCI source. Rana was nursing a hamstring injury like Washington Sundar, who has been deemed fit for the Afghanistan series. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Nitish Reddy, nursing knee and quadriceps injury respectively, were also included in the India squad subject to fitness. Bumrah has been out of action since India's ODI tour to England in July with a left knee injury. "Both Bumrah and Reddy are on track for their comeback," the source added. After the Afghanistan series, India play a one-off game against Japan in Tokyo on September 22. They open their Asian Games o

Sri Lanka Cricket faces Rs 188 crore loss as ICC pulls women's event rights

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is facing an estimated revenue loss of USD 20 million (Rs 188 crore) after being stripped of the hosting rights for next year's inaugural ICC Women's Champions Trophy tournament. The tournament, originally slated to be hosted by Sri Lanka, has been relocated to India and will take place from February 14 to 28, 2027, with matches scheduled in Mumbai and Vadodara. "There will certainly be a hosting fee paid to us. I believe it is around 2 million dollars. At the same time, the SLC would have to incur expenditure sprucing up places and getting the facilities up to scratch," Prakash Schaffter, SLC's transformation committee secretary, told reporters. While withdrawing the event from Sri Lanka, the ICC cited ongoing government interference and the absence of an elected administration at SLC. Last week the ICC announced its decision to move the six-nation tournament to India as Sri Lanka's current governing body revamp operation was not in line with the world ...

ENG vs PAK 3rd Test: Where to watch live streaming of today's Test match?

SonyLIV, through its app and website, will live stream the England vs Pakistan 3rd Test in India for free

England vs Pakistan 3rd Test: Playing 11, live toss time, streaming details

England will be looking to secure a 3-0 clean sweep against a depleted Pakistani side at Edgbaston

What challenges await India's Test side in New Zealand? Santner explains

Mitchell Santner calls Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ODI masters ahead of India's New Zealand tour, discusses the Test challenge and explains the two-Test format.

Sony Sports to live telecast Afghanistan vs India T20I series in India

Afghanistan will host India in the three-match T20I series starting September 13 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi

Melbourne Renegades up for sale as CA opens BBL to private investors

The Renegades sale follows months of discussion within Australian cricket over whether private investment could provide a stronger financial and commercial foundation for the BBL and WBBL

Kadowaki named captain as Japan announces 15-member squad for India T20I

The match, to be played under the Suzuki Cup banner, will be Japan's first meeting with India in men's international cricket

Ishan Kishan reflects on captaincy journey, says it has helped him grow

Ishan Kishan on Monday said taking up Jharkhand's captaincy role in 2024 helped him grow as a person, as a cricketer and as a leader of men, keeping him away from his wild child days. After losing the BCCI central contract in late 2023, Kishan returned to his state side, and accepted the leadership role, which he gladly continues to do whenever available. After a tumultuous phase, Kishan has now returned to the India fold albeit in the white ball formats. "You have to take responsibility. If you don't take it now, when will you? It's not like I am a 22-year-old and have just broken into the team. When we were very young, we used to rely on our senior players to score runs and thought we would just support them," Kishan said during the post-day press conference. "But now, being an established part of the squad, I feel it is crucial that I take up the primary role of scoring runs and making sure the team's total climbs because of me," he said. Leading East Zone, Kishan made a brilli

Gill will only get better from here, remains a work in progress: Nehra

India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill is still a "work in progress" as a leader and will get better with experience, his Gujarat Titans team head coach Ashish Nehra said on Monday. Nehra and Hardik Pandya forged a highly successful captain-coach partnership after joining forces when Gujarat Titans entered the IPL in 2022. They guided the franchise to the title in its debut season and took it to the final again in 2023. Pandya's departure paved the way for Gill to take over as GT captain, and the youngster led the side to a runners-up finish in the last IPL season. "They are very, very different. You are talking about north pole and south pole. Both of them were like me, not somebody who has done much coaching," Nehra said, comparing Pandya and Gill. "Both of them were not somebody who has done much captaincy, but you learn on your way forward, and suddenly somebody is pretty much doing captaincy for India in two formats. He is only going to get better." The former India pacer wa

Bavuma to lead South Africa in Australia ODIs; de Kock and Coetzee included

Captain Temba Bavuma was named in South Africa's one-day international cricket squad on Monday for a three-game series at home against Australia this month. Bavuma will lead the Proteas after being rested for an ODI series away against Namibia starting on Wednesday. South Africa plays Australia in 50-over games on Sept. 24, 27 and 30, before a three-test series between them next month. Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee was also recalled after last playing an ODI at the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India. Batsmen Quinton de Kock and David Miller were included in the 16-man squad, while Aiden Markram will be available for the second and third ODIs, Cricket South Africa said in a statement. Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was out of the series with injury. ___ South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Rya

Women's Asia Cup 2026 semis: Teams qualified, schedule, live streaming

India and Sri Lanka will be the only two undefeated teams heading into the semifinal stage of the Women's Asia Cup 2026

Kevin Pietersen appointed specialist mentor of England white-ball teams

Former captain Kevin Pietersen was on Monday appointed as a specialist mentor of England's white-ball teams in the build-up to next year's ICC Cricket World Cup in Africa. Pietersen will join head coach Brendon McCullum's white-ball set up for the T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka later this month, joining a coaching team which will also include Marcus Trescothick, Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel and Sarah Taylor. He will also be involved in this winter's white-ball tours of Australia and South Africa, before joining up again for the home series against Pakistan and New Zealand next summer, as well as the World Cup. "I am immensely proud to have been asked to help this team on their journey to win a World Cup in South Africa. Putting on the England uniform again for the first time since 2014 is a profound honour and a deeply special moment," Pietersen said in a England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement. "We have an incredibly talented white-ball squad, and I am excited to get

India vs Japan match key step in cricket's global push: BCCI's Saikia

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia on Monday said the historic one-off T20 International between India and Japan this month will be a significant moment in cricket's journey to become a global sport by connecting to a new audience. India and Japan are set to lock horns for the first time in a historic T20I in Japan on September 22, ahead of the men's cricket competition at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. The Games will start on September 19. The match will be played at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture. Played under the banner of the Suzuki Cup, it will commemorate the 75th anniversary of IndiaJapan diplomatic relations. Saikia said the match is an effort of ICC chairman Jay Shah to take cricket to newer territories. "Cricket's global journey is being shaped by moments that take the game beyond its traditional boundaries. The IndiaJapan T20I match on 22nd September,'26 is one such moment taking international cricket to Japan, connecting with a new audience and

PSL may move to January 2027 as organisers seek to avoid IPL clash

Next year's Pakistan Super League could be held in January after the media rights holders of the T20 event complained about limited advertising revenues during the April-May window when IPL is held in India. This year the PSL again clashed with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the suggestion to hold the event early next year came at a meeting of the PSL Governing Council in London on September 1. According to a reliable source, media rights holder Walee Technologies who also own a franchise in the eight-team PSL tabled the proposal to have the PSL in January-February. The PSL since its inception in 2016 has been held in the February-March window but because of ICC events in this window in 2025 and this year, the PCB was forced to reschedule the league to April-May where it clashed with the IPL. Franchise owners have also expressed concerns over declining interest in the PSL amid Pakistan's poor performances across formats. The source aware of developments said that the media ri

Misbah flags differential treatment of coaches in Pakistan cricket setup

Former Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who recently stepped down as national selector, has complained about differential treatment meted out to foreign and local coaches in Pakistan cricket. Misbah, who offered to resign as national selector after the Pakistan Cricket Board issued a notice to the selectors after the national team shake-up in England, said foreign coaches enjoyed more authority and power. "It is a fact that local and foreign coaches are treated differently in Pakistan cricket. Local coaches have to face more scrutiny and criticism when compared to foreign coaches," Misbah said on a television show. "I don't think there is anything wrong in having foreign coaches but what bothers me is we (fans, critics, media, PCB) tend to have a soft corner for foreign coaches," he added. He said more authority was given to foreign coaches. "We tend to give foreign coaches more authority and power and he is held less responsible if the team performs poorly. In contrast, local coaches

No region-based discrimination in national team selection, says Dhawan

Former Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan on Sunday said that there was no discrimination of players based on region in the national team selection, but admitted that luck could play a part in the process. "No, there is certainly no discrimination," Dhawan told reporters at a press conference here when asked whether there was discrimination of players from Jammu and Kashmir as they do not get many opportunities. "If you perform, no one on earth can keep you out; your performance must do the talking. Sometimes, luck also plays its part. That isn't exclusive to J&K. Whether it's a boy from Delhi or Mumbai, you will find plenty of instances where a player deserved an opportunity, but didn't get it, and someone else was picked instead. That is simply part and parcel of this game," he said. The press conference was called to announce the launch of Pro Star Cricket League (PSCL) Season 2. The tournament, dedicated to identifying and nurturing emerging cricket talent across the country, is .

IND vs PAK live streaming: Where to watch today's Women's Asia Cup match?

The live streaming of India vs Pakistan Women's Asia Cup T20 match will be available on the SonyLIV app and website for Indian fans

India vs Pakistan HIGHLIGHTS Women's Asia Cup 2026: Spinners shine as IND beat PAK to stay unbeaten

India, with the win, will finish as Group A winners and will play thier semifinal match on Thursday at the same venue