Asif, Delany voted PotM for October
Asif Ali and Laura Delany were voted ICC Players of the month for October. Asif pipped Shakib Al Hasan and David Wiese among men, while Delany beat Gaby Lewis and Mary-Anne Musonda among women.
Asif aggregated 52 runs across three matches in October at the ongoing Men's T20 World Cup for Pakistan without losing his wicket, at a strike rate of 273.68. He made headlines after smashing Karim Janat four sixes in the 19th over, against Afghanistan, and has hit seven sixes off the 23 balls he has faced in the tournament.
Delany, on the other hand, starred in Ireland’s 3-1 ODI series win against Zimbabwe. She aggregated 189 runs and took four wickets.
Rohit to lead India against New Zealand in T20Is
Rohit Sharma will captain the 16-member India squad in the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting 17 November at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. K.L. Rahul has been named vice-captain, while Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja have been given a rest.
Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, and Avesh Khan have also made the cut.
India's T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj.
RCB appoints Sanjay Bangar as head coach
Royal Challengers Bangalore announced the appointment of Sanjay Bangar as their new head coach for the upcoming IPL season. Bangar will take over the reins from Mike Hesson, who will stay on as Director of Cricket Operations.
Hesson had taken an additional role of the head coach for the second leg of the IPL 2021, in the UAE.
Bangar had previously worked with RCB, as a batting consultant. He also coached Punjab Kings and India Men.
England to play seven T20Is against Pakistan next year
England Men will play seven T20Is on their tour of Pakistan next September-October. The series was initially planned with five T20Is, but the ECB Chief Executive Tom Harrison decided to play two additional games in compensation for the late cancellation of their last month's planned visit.
The development came after Harrison, with his deputy Martin Darlow, held talks with the PCB chair Rameez Raja this week. The schedule, however, is yet to be announced.