The Cricket.com Weekly - November 27

Another week has whizzed, and we’ve had another happening week in the cricket world. Sometimes, I think having at least one quiet week would be great, but the play never finishes just at the end of the day in Cricket. 

But worry not, because this week, from IPL retentions to another new controversy from Pakistan, we have covered it all in this zesty newsletter for you all! So you know the routine, right? Close all your tabs, shut down the reels, and give a few minutes to catch up with everything important in cricket from the last week. 

IPL Retentions and Trades

One massive trade got everyone on the edge of their seat because it had more twists and turns than an Abbas Mastaan movie. Hardik Pandya, the IPL-winning captain of Gujarat Titans, has been traded to his previous franchise, Mumbai Indians, in an all-cash deal worth INR 15 crores (and more)! The deal would also involve an undisclosed transfer amount, 50% of which would belong to the player. The Titans also announced Shubman Gill as their captain. 

Apart from Hardik Pandya, the biggest news from the retention and release cycle before the Auction on December 19 has been the release of Ben Stokes from Chennai Super Kings. The allrounder informed that he won’t be part of the 2024 season, which led to the dissociation. CSK had bought him for a whopping 16.25 crores last year, and he was being touted as a potential leader of CSK after MS Dhoni. 

Apart from all the releases and retentions, which CDC has covered for you in quite some detail, notable players who were traded include Devdutt Padikkal (moved from Rajasthan Royals to Lucknow Super Giants), Shahbaz Ahmed (from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Avesh Khan (from LSG to RR). 

Also read - The bewildering case of Hardik Pandya’s trade

Australia tour of India

You can guess the state of cricket from the fact that just three days after both India and Australia met each other for the World Cup final in Ahmedabad, they were facing each other again in the opening game of a five-match T20I series in Visakhapatnam on the eastern coast of India. 

India was playing with mostly fresh players (only Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Prasidh Krishna are incumbents from the World Cup squad), and Australia basically fielded all players who were sober after the celebrations. 

Also read - Yashasvi Jaiswal is the T20I opener India desperately need

Despite the serious hangover (of cricket and other spirits), the first T20I turned into a thrilling encounter by the end, and India managed to coast through with a two-wicket victory against the Matthew Wade-led side, courtesy 80 from Suryakumar, 58 from Kishan and a 22* from the emerging finisher Rinku Singh. 

The second T20I saw India pulverise Australia by 44 runs after scoring 235/4 in the first innings. Yashasvi, Gaikwad and Kishan scored fifties, and Ravi Bishnoi picked up a three-wicket haul. 

What else is happening in the cricket world> The ICC had its board meeting on Tuesday last week and introduced two new changes in cricket. 

The International Cricket Council will now use a stop clock between overs to regulate the pace of play. A penalty of five runs will also be imposed on the bowling side if they fail thrice during an innings to begin the new over within one minute of the completion of an over. 

The Chief executive committee approved the move, and will be tested in men’s ODIs and T20Is on a trial basis for six months between December this year and April of 2024. 

The ICC also approved the new rule, which bans any player who transitioned from a male into a female after having gone through any form of male puberty to play women’s international cricket, irrespective of any surgical or gender reassignment treatment they might have undergone. 

This ruling essentially bans transgender players from Women’s cricket. Danielle Mcgahey, the first transgender woman to play international cricket, informed that her international career for Canada is over after this ban. She played six T20s for Canada. 

> The trailblazing Indian batter and the current skipper of the Women In Blue, Harmanpreet Kaur, has attained yet another record to her name by featuring in the list of 100 Prestigious Women for 2023 announced by the BBC. 

Kaur is one of the three Indian women to feature in this list. Bollywood actor Dia Mirza and independent photographer Arati Kumar-Rao are other two. 

> Gautam Gambhir left LSG and returned to Kolkata Knight Riders as their Mentor, as announced by the KKR franchise on November 22. He would work together with coach Chandrakant Pandit. 

> It seems like Steven Smith is certain about making a proper dash to be included in Australia’s T20I scheme of things. After playing for his Big Bash League (BBL) franchise in the last edition, the ace Australian batter will also feature for the Sydney Sixers in the opening match of this edition’s BBL on December 8 and is also certain to face Melbourne Renegades before the Pakistan Test Series. The first Test begins in Perth on December 14. 

Meanwhile, the superstar Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan won’t be featured in this BBL for his side, Adelaide Strikers, because of a back injury that needed surgery. 

> In the ongoing Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), the top four teams have been decided with the league stages finished. Adelaide Strikers dominated with as many as 11 wins in 14 games and will deservingly play the finals on December 2 at home (another benefit of finishing table toppers). The other three teams are Perth Scorchers, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder.  

> Following our report in the last newsletter, Shakib Al Hasan is now officially contesting the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh from his home constituency, Magura-1, on the ticket of the ruling Awami League political party. 

It is notable that Shakib has had close relations with the current Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, and has been photographed along with her on many occasions in the past. 

Shakib is not participating in the Test series against New Zealand as he is recovering from a finger injury. 

> Uganda Men’s team defeated Zimbabwe in the ongoing Africa Region Qualifier by five wickets to register their first victory over a full-member side. Meanwhile, this was the second defeat on the trot for Sikandar Raza’s men, who lost their first game against Namibia and are now on the brink of missing the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Namibia and Kenya are the top two teams with three wins out of three in the competition so far, which is featuring seven African teams. The top two will make it to the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. 

> Pakistani spin bowling allrounder Imad Wasim announced his retirement from international cricket on November 24 with a post on social media. Wasim, a left-arm spinner, last played a T20I in April and, overall, has represented Pakistan in 55 ODIs and 66 T20Is. 

> The ICC World Cup 2023 broke all viewership records, whether in-stadia or TV. With a total of 1,250,307 spectators attending the games in person and 518 million viewers turning their TVs to watch the World Cup, all previous viewership records have been shattered. 

The final alone had 300 million TV viewers, which is the highest for any cricket match on TV, according to Disney Star, the official broadcaster of the World Cup. The final also had a concurrent viewership of 59 million on streaming, which is also the highest ever in streaming history. 

> The Pakistan tour of the Netherlands, scheduled for May 2024 and included three T20Is, has been indefinitely postponed following requests from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). 

The Netherlands were scheduled to get three T20s against a full member side (Pakistan), but now their future looks bleak as they prepare for the T20 World Cup next year. 

> The PCB has appointed Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal as the bowling coaches of the Pakistan senior Men’s team. Gul will be the fast bowling coach, while Ajmal will be the spin bowling coach. Both have had prior coaching experiences in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) before this. 

Meanwhile, PCB also announced the men’s squad for the Australia tour. 

> As a direct consequence of the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) by the ICC, the Under 19 Men’s World Cup, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka from January 13 to February 4, will now be held in South Africa. 

South Africa hosted the first-ever U-19 World Cup for Women earlier this year. 

Controversy of the Week

Pakistan Cricket has much more drama than Ekta Kapoor’s daily soaps. 

It had already been a few days since Wahab Riaz became the Chief Selector of Pakistan, and he made a controversial statement that garnered strong reactions on social media. 

Riaz lambasted pacer Haris Rauf, claiming that he backed out of Pakistan’s Test tour to Australia and that his steps would “hurt Pakistan cricket”. In what was his first press conference, Riaz announced the team and, as soon as he was done doing that, heavily criticised Rauf. 

He said, “When we spoke to him two days ago, he consented to play Test cricket for Pakistan. But he changed his mind last night, and now he doesn't want to be part of this Test series. I'm revealing this because we should be honest with officials, teammates, and the public. We spoke to Haris, and he was worried about his body, fitness, and workload. Mohammad Hafeez and I sat with him and tried to facilitate him in every way. We told him we would accept it even if he didn't perform well there.”

Pakistan’s Chief Selector added, “Our physio spoke to him and said he wouldn't expect any issue or injury. Of course, there's fatigue, but we were sure we could have managed that well. But he pulled out at the last moment, and he made himself unavailable. I think this will hurt Pakistan cricket.”

According to reports published based on reactions from people close to Rauf, the pace bowler had never committed to playing the Test series in Australia and rather just wanted to focus on his fitness and white-ball cricket. 

Picture of the Week

When mere mortals could relate hard 'in spirit' with the Player of the Match of the World Cup final😜👀😂

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IPL 2024 Retentions: Have RCB shot themselves in the foot?

Josh Inglis proves that he’s no longer just an ‘understudy’

Seven spots up for grabs in India's ideal XI for T20 World Cup 2024

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