Rohit, Bumrah rested for New Zealand Tests
India Men will be without Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Shami in the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand, starting 25 November in Kanpur. Virat Kohli will also not feature in the first Test match, but will return to lead India in the second.
In Kohli's absence, Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the first Test, with Cheteshwar Pujara as his deputy.
India squad for New Zealand Tests: Ajinkya Rahane (captain, first Test), Virat Kohli (rested for first Test, captain for second), Cheteshwar Pujara, K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), K.S. Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Erasmus, Kettleborough to be on-field umpires for T20 World Cup final
The ICC announced named Marais Erasmus and Richard Kettleborough as the on-field umpires for the 2021 Men's T20 World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand on 14 November, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Nitin Menon will be the TV Umpire and Kumar Dharmasena fourth Umpire.
Erasmus and Dharmasena were the on-field umpires during the first semi-final at Abu Dhabi, where New Zealand beat England by five wickets. Kettleborough had been the on-field umpire with Chris Gaffaney in the second semi-final at Dubai, where Australia stunned Pakistan by five wickets.
Essex chair resigns over historical allegation of racist language
Essex chair John has resigned following an allegation he used racist language in a board meeting, in 2017. Faragher stepped down from his post following a board meeting on 11 November.
Though Faragher strongly denies the allegation, Essex will still review why the matter was not investigated back then. ‘There is no place for discrimination of any kind at the club,’ Essex chief executive John Stephenson was quoted saying in a statement.
Faragher was appointed Essex chair in 2016. Under his tenure, Essex won two County Championship titles, in 2017 and 2019, and a T20 Blast title, in 2019. They also won the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020.
Australia vs India to begin Commonwealth Games Women's T20
Women's cricket will make its debut at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, starting 29 July. Australia will take on India in the first match. The nine-day tournament, featuring eight teams, will take place in Edgbaston. The gold and bronze medal matches are scheduled for 7 August.
Seven of the eight teams were confirmed in April, while the eighth will be decided through a qualifying tournament in January.
The teams have been split into two groups of four. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, to be held on 6 August.