Let us look at some of the most-discussed cricket stories on the news on 21 August.
RR sign Phillips as Buttler’s replacement
Rajasthan Royals have roped in Glenn Phillips as a replacement for Jos Buttler for the UAE leg of the IPL. Buttler opted out of the remainder of the season because he and his wife are expecting their second child.
Rajasthan confirmed the development on Twitter: ‘Here we go confirmed! See you soon in Pink, Glenn. #HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | #IPL2021’.
Phillips has not played in the IPL before. He is currently with the Barbados Royals in the CPL, which will start next week. He will join the Rajasthan squad in the UAE on 19 September.
RCB rope in Hasaranga, Chameera and David as replacements
Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera and Tim David have joined Royal Challengers Bangalore for the second leg of IPL. RCB signed them up after five of their overseas players – Finn Allen, Scott Kuggeleijn, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams and Adam Zampa – opted out of the UAE leg of the season.
Additionally, Simon Katich steps down from Bangalore’s head coach position. Mike Hesson, the franchise’s director of cricket operations, will assume Katich’s responsibilities.
The Bangalore squad will fly to Dubai for the remainder of the season on 29 August.
Afghanistan likely to travel Sri Lanka via Pakistan and Dubai
Afghanistan Men’s squad may take a roundabout route to reach Sri Lanka for the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, starting 3 September in Hambantota.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board are planning to get Pakistan visas for all the contingent members. They will then get them to fly to Pakistan, then to Dubai, before landing in Colombo. They will have to spend three days in quarantine before start practising for the series.
No commercial flight has been taking off from Kabul since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Rameez Raja in contention to become PCB chairman
As per PTI, Rameez Raja may replace Ehsan Mani as chairman of the PCB. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is also the PCB’s patron-in-chief, has reportedly decided against giving Mani the extension after his term ends this August.
A source in the PCB explained the development: ‘In the next few days, the PM will send two names to the PCB’s governing board for the chairman's election and the members will elect one of them as the chairman.
‘Rameez appears to be the ideal candidate as he is well educated, well-versed, and has international contacts due to his long years as a commentator. He has also remained CEO of the board in the past and only left due to his time pressing commitments.’
Rameez has not responded to calls and messages since the news broke out across Pakistani media.