England to tour Pakistan after 16 years
England Men will travel to Pakistan for a two-match T20I series before departing to the UAE for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. This will be England’s first tour to Pakistan since 2005/06. Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi will host the matches, on 13 and 14 October.
England Women will also arrive for a multi-format tour. They will play two T20Is, on the same days as the Men’s team, before a three-match ODI series from 15 October.
‘We are delighted to welcome both the England Men’s team and the England Women’s team, who will be touring Pakistan for the first time,’ stated PCB chief executive Wasim Khan.
15 players, 8 officials per team allowed in T20I World Cup
As many as 15 players and eight support staff members are allowed per nation in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Oman and the UAE. The teams need to forward the names of their contingent at most by 10 September.
New Zealand have already announced their squad for the tournament, but the participants can make changes until five days before the self-isolation period officially starts for players and officials.
The qualifying round of the tournament commences from 17 October in Oman. Two teams from each group will then qualify for the Super 12s, which starts in the UAE on 24 October.
Unmukt Chand retires from international cricket
Unmukt Chand has announced his retirement from international cricket, but will be open to play in overseas T20 leagues. Chand led the India Under-19s side that won the World Cup triumph in 2012. He scored a century in the final against Australia.
Chand has signed a contract with Silicon Valley Strikers in a local T20 league of the USA. He is likely to make his debut this Saturday, against Social Lashings.
Sadly, Chand’s international career never took off. He even lost his place in the Delhi state team and shifted base to Uttarakhand. Chand amassed 3,379 runs at an average of 31.57 from 67 First-class games.
Siraj strikes before Burns, Root steady England on Day 2
An 85-run partnership between Joe Root and Rory Burns steadied England after they lost two early wickets in the third session. Burns was unlucky to miss out on a fifty by a run after weathering early storms. Joe Root is unbeaten on 48 as England finished the day on 119/3.
Siraj struck on successive deliveries to left England reeling at 23/2. Dom Sibley holed out to K.L. Rahul. Haseeb Hameed then missed an innocuous delivery to see his stumps uprooted off the next ball.
Earlier, the hosts have had a perfect start to the day, getting rid of Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane within the first two overs of the day. Ravindra Jadeja (40) and Rishabh Pant (37) chipped in with valuable contributions to drag India's total to 364. James Anderson took his 31st five-wicket haul.