Let us take a look at important developments from the world of cricket that took place on 17 June.
India slump to 187/5 after record opening stand
A flurry of wickets towards the end of Day 2 derailed India Women after Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma added 167 runs for the first wicket. Verma was unlucky to miss out on a century by four runs on her debut, while Mandhana made 78.
Mandhana’s dismissal triggered a dramatic collapse, as India lost the next three wickets for just four runs. Shikha Pandey backed back without scoring, while Punam Raut and Mithali Raj made 2 each.
Earlier in the day, Sophia Dunkley’s unbeaten 74, along with a quickfire 47 from Anya Shrubsole, propelled England to 396/9 before they decided to declare. Sneh Rana picked up four wickets, while Deepti Sharma had three to her name.
Ashwin, Jadeja make the cut in WTC playing XI
The incessant speculations about India’s potential XI for the World Test Championship final finally came to an end after it was announced a day before, On June 17. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will both be playing the match.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma also got the nod, while Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav failed to make a cut.
India playing XI vs New Zealand: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
HCA sacks Azhar as president
The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has sacked incumbent president Mohammad Azharuddin and issued him a show-cause notice. Azhar had stepped into the presidential role in September 2019.
The notice said that Azhar had hidden his association with a private cricket club in Dubai, unrecognized by the BCCI. He has been given an ultimatum of 15 days to respond to the notice, failing to which will result in further actions against him.
Azhar, however, rebutted that he is mentoring a club that comes under the purview of the ICC. He said: ‘It’s an ICC-approved tournament and BCCI comes under ICC. These people can say whatever they like.’
New Zealand have edge over India, feels Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar thinks New Zealand are in a much better position for the WTC final, as they will be heading to this contest off a two-match series against England. India, meanwhile, has only played intra-squad match.
New Zealand will be high on confidence after beating England 1-0 in the Test series. They have earlier romped over India a year ago, but the conditions here are different.
‘It is all about being match fit, if you are match fit then it is of great help,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.