T20 Internationals

The ten-day tournament will begin on Friday, October 18, with a Group A clash between Bangladesh A and Hong Kong, and the final match on Sunday, October 27

Head and Marsh reign supreme in Edinburgh to hand Australia a record-breaking win over Scotland. Check Australia vs Scotland 1st T20 video highlights here

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has apologised to the cricket-loving fans of his nation for their shambolic performance in the T20 World Cup and blamed his batting unit for the disappointing run that ended with a defeat against a gritty Afghanistan here. After India beat Australia on Sunday, both Afghanistan and Bangladesh had realistic chance of making the semifinals but it was the Rashid Khan-led team that defended a below par 115 to make the last-four stage. Bangladesh needed to knock off the target in 12.1 overs but there were all out for 105 in rain-marred Super Eight contest. "First of all, I would like to say that as a team, we let down all the fans of Bangladesh who follow us and support us. So, I apologise on behalf of the team. As a batting group, we couldn't give the best to the people of the country," Shanto said at the post-match press conference. "We feel sorry for that. We will try to come out of this situation in the future." Crestfallen he may be, but Sh

A lot more spice has been added to the India-Australia contest here on Monday after the latter's loss to Afghanistan and the local curators feel playing three spinners would be a tad too much on what has proved to be the best batting strip in the T20 World Cup. India have been playing an extra spinner in Kuldeep Yadav since the start of the Super Eights and after picking five wickets from three games, Rohit Sharma is unlikely to bench him. The other spin options are all-rounders Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. A day before the game that can potentially knock Australia out of the tournament, members of the groundstaff wanted to see Mohammed Siraj back in the side to support Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh at the expense of a spinner. The main square has six black soil pitches and number three would be in use for the day game on Monday. "The pitch is nice and hard, should stay the same throughout in a day game. Whichever team bats should score 180 to 200. I prefer to bat and put r

Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott feels his team is a stronger unit in a day game and expects his sprightly bunch to optimise the conditions against a formidable India in their opening Super 8 fixture here on Thursday. Afghanistan come into the Super 8s, high on confidence, having won three of their four league games including one against New Zealand. Their sole loss came against West Indies earlier this week. Day games actually suit us better. So, quite excited to play India in a day game. Obviously, they are one of the favourites and obviously that has added pressure for India," former England Test batter said. He doesn't feel that Afghanistan can be dubbed as underdogs anymore. "........and hopefully, we can come in obviously perceived as underdogs but in my mind very much not underdogs and fully prepared and ready for the battle that confronts us tomorrow which I'm very excited about, Trott said on Wednesday. Afghanistan, who were close to a semi-final berth in the ODI Wor

The T20 World Cup will spread much-needed cricket awareness in the USA but eventually, it is the lure of competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics that will attract local Americans to the game that is mainly played by expats, feels USA Cricket chairman Venu Pisike. USA is co-hosting the event alongside West Indies and the US team will also be making its World Cup debut when it faces neighbours Canada in the tournament-opener on June 1. The team is mainly made up of semi-professional cricketers of South Asian heritage with former New Zealand star Corey Anderson also switching allegiance to his adopted homeland of USA. Former Indian first-class cricketer Milind Kumar and former India U-19 player Harmeet Singh are also part of the squad. Speaking to PTI, Pisike agreed it is a major challenge to take cricket to the masses in USA. "So far, cricket is predominantly an expats' game, but with the marketing and promotion activities during the World Cup, there is some momentum and the World

India head coach Rahul Dravid will need a specific plan to get the best out of superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup in the Americas next month, the great Brian Lara said on Tuesday. As many as eight players from the 2022 edition of the ICC event find a place in the squad with the team continuing to back the unmatched experience of Kohli and Rohit. "Sometimes when you have a team with a lot of superstars, you forget the plan and you believe that the superstars can do it. They just have to turn up. Sometimes you may feel, as a coach, intimidated, telling Sir Vivian Richards or Virat Kohli, you know exactly what you expect of them," Lara said in an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters which was facilitated by Star Sports. Asked about the composition of the India squad, Lara gave the example of the highly experienced West Indies squad for the ODI World Cup in 1987 when Sir Vivian Richards-led side could not reach the semifinals. "First of all, in ter

Suryakumar Yadav has to bat at number three, said the legendary Brian Lara as he rooted for an India-West Indies final at the T20 World Cup next month to fix the "wrong" of 2007 when India's early exit "killed us in the Caribbean". India have expectedly retained proven performers like skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the squad, while deciding to keep young talent like Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh among reserves. Suryakumar, though, is part of the main squad. "My one advice, and I don't know if you're going to like it or not, but Sky has to bat at three. He just has to bat at three. He is one of the greatest T20 players in the game. And you speak to players like Sir Viv, and he will tell you he used to want to get out there in the middle," Lara said in an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters which was facilitated by Star Sports. "And I feel that that's the same thing with SKY. So, get in on it as quickly as possible. He's not an opener, get him out there and if he

Australia coach Andrew McDonald on Tuesday said even though skipper Mitchell Marsh's progress is slower than expected, the all-rounder will be fit to bowl in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas. March, who played for Delhi Capitals, returned from the Indian Premier League in early April to recover from a right hamstring injury ahead of the shortest format's marque event. Besides Marsh, members of Australia's World Cup squad who are not part of IPL assembled here on Tuesday for a training camp before jetting off for the Caribbean on May 25. "He's (Marsh) progressing well. Probably a little slower than expected. But we've got plenty of time now that he has been ruled out the IPL. (Our) first game is just short of a month away now. So ample time for him to get ready," McDonald told reporters. "You probably won't see him bowl in the next couple of weeks here. It'll probably happen the week before we leave. And then he'll be able to ramp that up when we're over there. "We'll b

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Former Australia captain Michael Clarke does not read much into Rohit Sharma's string of poor scores, but suggests that the "fatigued" Indian skipper take a break to freshen up ahead of the T20I World Cup. Rohit, who will lead India in the next month's 20-team global showpiece, has four single-digit scores in his last five outings for his franchise Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL. The 37-year-old has had a busy season this year with an intense five-Test series preceding the IPL for Mumbai Indians, who are all but eliminated from the race to the playoffs this year. Rohit, being the wise judge of his own performances, will undoubtedly be disappointed, especially considering his strong start. In my view, he might be feeling a bit fatigued as well, Clarke told Star Sports. A break to freshen up could do wonders for him, but as the Indian captain and a key player for Mumbai Indians, you're not getting a break. He's going to have to find form, Clarke continued. Rohit played as an impa

Rohit Sharma is a sensible captain who takes good decisions under pressure and his presence will be crucial for India, feels former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh who wishes to see his "close friend" win the elusive T20 World Cup next month. Besides reaching the final of the 50-over World Cup and the WTC Final last year, India made the semifinals of the 2022 T20 World Cup under Rohit's captaincy. The opener is set to lead the 'Men in Blue' once again at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA, starting on June 2. "(Rohit's presence is going to be) very crucial. I think we need a really good captain, a sensible captain who takes decisions well under pressure. And he's the one to take them," Yuvraj, who is the T20 World Cup 2024 ambassador, told ICC. The World Cup 2023 final loss to Australia saw India's quest for an ICC title stretch to 10 years with their last victory dating back to the Champions Trophy in 2013 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Yuvraj feels India needs ..

The upcoming T20 World Cup-bound England players who are currently fulfilling their IPL commitments will "return in time" for a preceding four-match T20I series against Pakistan, the country's cricket board said on Tuesday. England on Tuesday named a 15-member squad for the T20 showpiece, which will be held across June in the USA and the West Indies, with Jofra Archer returning to international cricket after a hiatus of more than 14 months. The same squad has been selected for the T20I series against Pakistan, which will commences on May 22 in Headingley. "Selected players, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, will return in time for the series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Headingley on Wednesday 22 May 2024,' the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement after naming the T20 World Cup squad. Some of the prominent English players who would have to leave the IPL before the start of the Pakistan series are: Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals), Phil ...

Fit-again pacer Jofra Archer expectedly returned after a one-year injury-forced hiatus, while rookie all-rounder Tom Hartley also made the cut in the 15-member preliminary T20 World Cup squad announced by defending champions England here on Tuesday. Archer last played for England in a T20 International series against Bangladesh in March last year. The 29-year-old was England's leading wicket-taker in that series with four scalps from three matches at an economy of 6.63. But since then, Archer has been forced to sit on the sidelines because of the recurrence of a stress fracture in his right elbow. "Jofra Archer has recovered from his right elbow injury and is named in the squad," said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in its media release. England will be led by Jos Buttler, who had guided them to the title in Australia in 2022. From January this year, Archer has been working intensely on his return including Sussex's pre-season camps in Abu Dhabi and Bengaluru, besides ..

The 'Impact Player' rule, which has made IPL contests quite literally a "12-a-side affair", has dealt a raw deal to power-hitter Rinku Singh who couldn't make the Indian main squad for T20 World Cup as he simply did not have enough game time to his credit. The 26-year-old Aligarh left-hander, who captured the cricketing world's imagination with five sixes in an over during the previous IPL, made way for Shivam Dube in the main national squad while his name ended up being among the reserves. Dube got in thanks to more game time for Chennai Super Kings during the first 10 games of the league. Those who were privy to the selection meeting held in Ahmedabad on Tuesday unanimously agreed that Rinku became an easy omission for the panel because he couldn't be fitted alongside Hardik Pandya and Dube in the same 15. "No doubt, Rinku paid the price for the Impact Player Rule. He is plain and simple unlucky. Hardik might be in poor form but he is still India's best seam bowling all-rounder a

Sanju Samson and his legion of faithful fans might have heaved a massive sigh of relief when he was named in India's 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in USA and Caribbean. His moment came after delicate knocks on the door in the past became a loud thud during this IPL where Samson has so far scored 385 runs from nine matches at a strike-rate of 161.08. In comparison, KL Rahul, his closest rival for the second wicketkeeper-batter's slot behind Rishabh Pant, has made 378 runs from nine matches at 144.27. On the periphery, there is nothing much to distinguish between them apart from the strike-rate, which at times can paint a rather false picture. But in Samson's case those numbers are prima-facie evidence of his impact in the Rajasthan Royals' pink jersey. The loudest argument against Samson in the past was his tendency to produce plateauing outings as a tournament progress. The IPL 2023 was an example of that as after a couple of blazing fifties in the beginning, the 29-year-

Shivam Dube's enhanced game understanding and completeness have impressed Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming who is confident in the lefthanded allrounder's ability to make an "impact" in the upcoming World Cup. The 30-year-old, who is the second leading run-scorer for the defending champions in the ongoing IPL, made the cut to the 15-member Indian squad for the T20 global showpiece in the USA and West Indies beginning on June 1. "He is a lot more complete in terms of what he is trying to do, understanding his game, and that comes from experience," Fleming said ahead of their match against Punjab Kings. "We have worked hard on areas he wasn't so strong, but also continuing to develop his strength. So, if that form continues, he is going to be an impactful player for India (at the World Cup)." Dube has 350 runs in nine outings at a strike rate of 172.41, including three half-centuries. "He has been fantastic. He has proven this year that there is a lot more to him than

The 24-year-old Airee remained unbeaten on a 21-ball 64 that included three fours and seven sixes at a monstrous strike rate of 304.76

Pakistan won the 3rd T20I by 66 runs to prevent Afghanistan from a clean sweep, but Afghanistan won the series for the first time against Pakistan

Afghanistan defeated Pakistan in a Twenty20 for the first time on Friday after the latter was restricted to 92-9. Pakistan, without five rested frontline players including captain Babar Azam, struggled on a slow and low pitch at Sharjah Cricket Stadium against the Afghans, whose six bowlers shared all nine wickets. Afghanistan overcame falling to 45-4 in the 10th over to cruise home at 98-4 and win by six wickets with more than two overs to spare. Mohammad Nabi raised Afghanistan's first victory over Pakistan in five attempts over the past decade with a straight six over long off. Pleasure to win, as we've always lost against them by small margins, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan said. Wearing Afghanistan colors and leading the team in a win is a proud achievement. We never know the wicket . . . (but the) mindset was . . . to adjust accordingly. Afghanistan has a chance at a first series win in the remaining two T20s on Sunday and Monday. None of the Pakistan batters could accele