“I have no regrets,” he affirmed. “You’re saying this (acknowledging my game sense and performance) after I’ve played well; no one said that before,” he quipped.

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“I have one question to pose: Did I retire from T20Is of my own volition? Just reflect on the month prior to my T20 retirement, and I have nothing more to say,” he continued. Mushfiqur had indeed retired from T20Is on September 4, 2022, following the Asia Cup in the UAE, just ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia. He faced significant criticism for his lack of form back then, and many questioned his inclusion for the Asia Cup.

Mushfiqur’s unbeaten 47 off 38 balls proved instrumental in Fortune Barisal securing their spot in the BPL final. Currently, he ranks as the fifth-highest run-getter in the BPL, accumulating 367 runs at a strike-rate of 123.56. Throughout the group phase, he delivered crucial innings, including a blistering 39-ball 68 against the Khulna Tigers and a composed 44-ball 63 against the Comilla Victorians. Responding to critics who doubted Fortune Barisal’s recruitment strategy, which included seasoned campaigners like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, and himself, Mushfiqur didn’t hold back.

“At the onset of the tournament, everyone claimed that Barisal comprised an aging squad incapable of excelling in T20 cricket. Yet here we are. This concept is fundamentally flawed; experience holds value in every format,” Mushfiqur emphasized.

“The criticism doesn’t motivate me (regarding my age); it disappoints me. Even today, if you compare me with many young players, I am confident they wouldn’t match my fitness level,” he asserted.

“How do you define fitness criteria, whether based on age or performance? I believe it should be determined by fitness and performance, as age is merely a number; otherwise, players like Jimmy Anderson would be anomalies.

“I don’t play to prove anything to anyone. I’m grateful to those who have selected me, such as Tamim and the owner of Barisal. I aim to repay their faith through my performances,” he concluded.

The post Exclusive: Mushfiqur Rahim reflecting on hasty T20 retirement; ‘no regrets’ appeared first on Cricket Country.

Maxwell smashed eight sixes against a full-strength West Indies in ideal batting conditions, and his unbeaten 120 runs off 55 balls was the second greatest T20I score for a player at No.4 or below.

Australia’s 241 for 4 was their biggest score on home soil and proved much too much for the West Indies, despite skipper Rovman Powell’s impressive 63 off 36 balls.

Marcus Stoinis picked up three wickets, while left-arm fast Spencer Johnson, in his first home international, grabbed 2 for 39 as Australia claimed the series with an 11-run game one victory at Bellerive Oval.

There was some late dispute when Alzarri Joseph fell short of his ground while trying a tight single, but he stayed at the crease as umpire Gerard Abood ruled there was no appeal. Tim David maintained he had appealed as Australia argued in heated circumstances, but the incident had no effect on the outcome of the match.

The series has essentially started both sides’ T20 World Cup preparations, with the third and final game scheduled on Tuesday in Perth.

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Marsh dominates the powerplay before Maxi Magic

Josh Inglis started brilliantly in Hobart, kicking off the competition to join opener David Warner in the T20 World Cup. He smashed 39 off 25 balls in the series opener but couldn’t recover, falling for 4 in the second over.

The ejection sent captain Mitchell Marsh to the crease, who did not bat on the powerplay in game one and played despite testing positive for Covid-19. He was feeling better and enjoyed batting in the powerplay, scoring 29 off 12 balls.

He blasted the opening ball boundary before unleashing his power with a six over backward point and another over the legside boundary. Marsh, attempting to exploit the powerplay, holed out in the sixth over, and Australia was quickly reduced to 64 for 3 when Warner was bowled in the following over.

Maxwell got off to a poor start and should have been run out on 10 when wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran missed a short ball at the stumps. He took advantage of the following ball from Romario Shepherd, hitting an amazing sliced six over cover point to start his innings.

Joseph bowls quickly, but West Indies fall behind

Despite his attack surrendering 213 for 7 at Bellerive Oval, Powell elected to bowl again, but he bizarrely went first with Hosein, who was hammered for six on the second delivery by a reverse swat from Warner.

However, their seamers fared considerably better against Warner, who had hammered 70 off 36 balls in Hobart, as they bowled a straighter line, with Joseph creating swing and reaching speeds approaching 150 km/h. A disgruntled Warner grumbled loudly as he dropped to a slower Shepherd delivery, but the West Indies were subsequently destroyed by Maxwell.

With Maxwell in his temper, the West Indies were made to appear helpless, and there was probably nothing they could do. However, several of their tactics were perplexing, such as frequently bowling wide yorkers without a third man.

The post AUS vs WI 2nd T20: Glen Maxwell 6th century takes Australia to series win appeared first on Cricket Country.

His most notable performance was in the third Twenty20 International match in Bengaluru against Afghanistan, when he hit an undefeated 69 off only 39 balls to save India from a dire 22 for 4. Alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, the Uttar Pradesh batsman cemented his influence on the international scene by helping to an undefeated 190-run stand for the fifth wicket.

“He is somebody I’d call a left-handed Dhoni. I can’t compare him to Dhoni just yet because Dhoni is too big. But, I am talking about the composure that he brings. He has been consistently scoring buckets of runs for UP and broke his way into the Indian team. He was on the KKR bench for many years. People used to tell me that, when he was at KKR, even though he couldn’t get the chance to bat at practice, he collected all the balls that batters hit in throwdowns and gave them back to the bowler,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“Since then, he has been with the franchise for so long, put in the hard work for UP and showed that he’s always available to get to the Indian team out of a tricky situation or finish an innings. The composure doesn’t change whether the team is batting first or chasing. His composure towards the back end of the innings is a bonus,” he added.

Rinku Singh is emerging as the new T20 star

The 26-year-old made his T20I debut in August 2023 against Ireland in Dublin, and he has since established himself. The left-hander has been in excellent form, amassing 356 runs at an astounding average of 89 and a stunning strike rate of 176.23 in 11 innings. Two half-centuries, including a recent undefeated 69 against Afghanistan and a noteworthy 68 not out off 39 balls against South Africa in Gqeberha in December, go along with his impressive achievements.

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In a discussion with the Times of India, Yuvraj was eager to stress out how outstanding Ashwin is as a red-ball cricketer, but the same can’t be stated because of what the limited-overs formats need from a player. Ashwin is a fantastic bowler, but in white-ball forms, he doesn’t offer much in the field or with the bat, according to Yuvi.

“Ashwin is a great bowler but I don’t think he deserves a place in ODIs and T20s. He is very good with the ball, but what does he bring with the bat? Or as a fielder? In the Test team, yes, he should be there. But in white-ball cricket, I don’t think he deserves a place,” Yuvraj said.

The Indian side that won the 2011 ODI World Cup included Ashwin and Yuvraj. Ashwin has frequently praised Yuvraj for his services to Indian cricket, particularly in light of his health issues.

Ashwin had expressed in a video on his YouTube channel how surprised he was to learn he had cancer.

“Yuvi used to cough, and he used to cough vehemently. I used to think that it is the pressure of the game and he is coughing it off and he used to cough in the middle. Literally, nobody had any idea, at least from the junior segment of the team that he was suffering from a serious illness,” Ashwin had said.

“When it broke out (the news of Yuvraj having cancer), I was shocked because I did not expect somebody who had just become Player of the series, in fact like I would say, ‘Bharat ka Icon’. That literally was it. I think Sachin Tendulkar played an unbelievably big role in that Yuvraj Singh’s World Cup. I call it the Yuvraj Singh’s World Cup because you name it, he was there in that situation in the centre,” Ashwin added.

The post ‘Ashwin is a great bowler but I don’t think he deserves a place in….’: Ex-Cricketer’s fierce remark appeared first on Cricket Country.

Pandya had been one of the main architects in India’s thrilling four-wicket victory over Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opening match at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground, picking 3/30 in four overs of pace and making 40 off 37 balls while sharing a match-winning stand of 113 off 77 deliveries with Virat Kohli (82 not out off 53 balls) for the fifth wicket in a chase of 160.

Though by the end of the innings Pandya had some cramps, there were speculations that he could be rested from India’s second Group 2 match against the Netherlands. But Mhambrey brushed all of those talks aside.

“The strategy is that Hardik wants to play all matches, which is an important thing. We are not looking at resting anybody and that sort of thinking is not there for any player. Hardik is a very important player for us. He adds to the balance, bowls and bats as well. Other than that, the attitude which he has on the ground is of note, just like he played a crucial innings in the last match,” he said in the pre-match press conference.

With India in deep trouble at 31/4 in chasing 160 against Pakistan, Kohli and Pandya took their time before unleashing a stunning fightback to get victory on the last ball of the chase. Mhambrey went on to explain about the importance of Pandya’s role in propelling Kohli to spearhead the successful chase under immense pressure.

“Yes, Virat had finished the game for us. But there’s a stage, where you need an experienced player, who can recognise a moment like if we take this game till the end, pressure will obviously shift on them. To acknowledge that, we do need the experience. So, in the performance of Virat, you can give lots of credit to Hardik because when he went inside, the conditions were difficult and were 31 for the loss of four wickets, which was not an easy phase.

“But the discussion which an experienced player brings and the discussions which happen, due to that, Virat got a lot of help. Hardik adds that balance to the team; he has the game, but other than that, he has played a lot of cricket and the experience he adds is irreplaceable. We aren’t even talking about the decisions to rest anyone, because we see that every match is important till the finals.”

Quizzed on whether Pandya bowling his four full overs will direct India to get an extra batter in the playing eleven, Mhambrey felt the move is completely dependent upon the conditions on offer for any particular match in the tournament.

“It’s good that Hardik gives you four overs options and that’s what we wanted. He brings a lot of balance to the team. He’s been very effective for us; he’s picked wickets for us and that’s important. Getting a batter in or the different combinations will purely depend on the team we are playing and also the conditions.”

Mhambrey signed off by reiterating that the Indian team management isn’t looking to rest anyone from certain matches in future. “When you have the momentum going in a tournament, you need individuals to be in form as well. For someone who haven’t got the opportunity to bat, so every game becomes important and aren’t looking at resting anybody.”

The post ‘Hardik Pandya Wants To Play All Matches; Not looking At Resting Anyone’- Confirms Bowling Coach Paras Mhambrey appeared first on Cricket Country.

Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up a knee injury during the Asia Cup 2022 and is still recovering from the surgery, misses out and Axar Patel takes his place as a like-for-like replacement. The selectors also opted for experience in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin, in absence of Jadeja.

The top-order picks itself with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav assured of a spot in the team, let alone the squad while Deepak Hooda has also been included. The selectors had a tricky selection in terms of who will keep wickets for India. Rishabh Pant’s form in the T20Is has not been great off late and leaving Dinesh Karthik out would always have been a tough call to make but the selectors have gone in with both the players for the World Cup.

Avesh Khan misses out and Mohammed Shami, who was also one of the contenders to make it to the team with the World Cup being held in Australia has been kept as stand by. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, and Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh make up the pace composition of the side with Hardik Pandya playing as an pace-bowling all-rounder.

T20 World Cup 2022 Squad, India: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Y Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, B Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh

Standby players – Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar

The post T20 World Cup 2022, Team India Squad Selection Highlights: Bumrah, Harshal Back As Shami Misses Out; Pant, Karthik Included appeared first on Cricket Country.

The Swing Queen 👑

Watch the highlights as Renuka Thakur produces a fiery spell against Barbados in a crucial match in #CWG2022 🔥#BirminghamMeinJitegaHindustanHamara 🫶#B2022 #SirfSonyPeDikhega #SonySportsNetwork pic.twitter.com/YXiWymR1y9

— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) August 3, 2022

In the bowling department, India was dependent on Renuka Singh Pandey and Sneh Rana. On the other hand, captain Hayley Matthews was hoping for a comeback in the tournament after losing the last match. Both the teams had won one game each and needed to win this game to book a berth in the semi-final.

India lost their opening game against Australia but then bounced well to beat arch-rivals Pakistan. They are currently placed second on the points table in group A with two points and a net run-rate of +1.165. “It feels good to win, 1st wins are important. There were a lot of positives today & we would try to continue this ahead. It’s important to perform as a unit, we had a good start today & won quickly,” Harmanpreet Kaur had said after beating Pakistan.

India Women vs Barbados Women T20 Squads, CWG 2022:

Barbados Women: Hayley Matthews (c), Deandra Dottin, Kycia Knight (wk), Kyshona Knight, Aaliyah Alleyne, Trishan Holder, Alisa Scantlebury, Shanika Bruce, Shakera Selman, Kelia Elliot, Shamilia Connell.

India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh.

The post Highlights India Women vs Barbados Women T20, CWG 2022: India Qualify For Semi-finals After Beating Barbados By 100 Runs appeared first on Cricket Country.

But in the last few years, T10, The Hundred and Sixty have come into play, luring a large number of players to play in even shorter formats of the game. Moreover, with South Africa pulling out of ODIs against Australia for their new T20 league and all-rounder Ben Stokes retiring from the 50-over game, cricket’s future has come under clouds of doubt.

“A reluctant Stokes said it was not possible for him to compete in all three formats, and while his retirement was not unexpected, it is nevertheless a concern. Played well, the 50-over game makes for a good cricket match that is rewarding in its entertainment value. Those are generally the sentiments of older players, who knew only two formats.

“Current players often place the IPL, in particular, and T20 in general, at the top of the list when it comes to satisfaction. This is why the future of the game needs thoughtful consideration. A firm decision is needed on how many playing formats are best for cricket. Once that is decided, it then needs to be confirmed how the formats should move ahead to ensure the game evolves,” wrote Chappell in his column for ESPNCricinfo.

Chappell further urged the administrators in power and authority of international cricket to take history into consideration before taking decisions about the future of cricket. “Cricket’s history needs to be carefully considered before a firm decision is made on the future pathway. The limited-overs game evolved because of a perceived boredom with Test cricket.”

“Then T20 grew rapidly on the back of supposed stagnation in 50-overs cricket. This raises the question of what happens if fans become bored with the 20-over game. Cricket is already dabbling with T10 leagues and it’s not hard to imagine the game embracing more of that format. T10 should be regarded as overdoing the entertainment quotient and not a format the professional players should embrace.”

Chappell signed off by elaborating on why he understands the temptation of players signing up to pay in various shorter formats of the game. “Even T20, with its tendency towards a power game, and lasting only 40 overs at best, can often be unfulfilling for a player. Fielding is an enjoyable part of cricket but it’s not the same for batters if they are facing very few deliveries.

“However, it is understandable that a current player, needing to provide for his family, is comfortable earning a good living from the shorter game. T20 suits many young cricketers as the skills needed for it can be developed more quickly than those required for the lengthy formats.

“The future of the game is in the hands of younger players, but they need to balance future decisions with an eye on the past. The balance is a delicate one but the game needs to hear informed opinions before making a decision on where cricket is heading. That is why the administrators should have organised an all-encompassing debate long ago.”

The post Ian Chappell Serves Warning To Cricket Administrators On Future Of Cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

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Martin Guptill has overtaken Virat Kohli’s record of 3227 runs to become the leading run-scorer in T20 International matches. Rohit Sharma, who is third on the list after Guptill and Kohli, is 142 runs behind Kohli. Guptill started his innings with a bang by playing shots all around the ground but shortly got out in the fifth over of the match.

However, his innings of 31 runs in 15 balls ensured that he will achieve the feat in the second T20 itself. Guptill has a reputation of striking the balls from the first ball and that is how his innings started. Guptill got a life early in the match as KL Rahul dropped a tough chance running from mid-off.

The post India Vs New Zealand: Martin Guptill Overtakes Virat Kohli To Become The Leading Run Getter In T20 Internationals appeared first on Cricket Country.