India go 2-1 up with a thrilling victory over England
The Indian bowlers put on a scintillating display on Day 5 at The Oval to skittle England out for just 210 and win by 157 runs. India now lead the series 2-1 with one Test match to go, at Old Trafford.
Umesh Yadav matched his first innings tally of three wickets to finish the game with six wickets in all. Ravindra Jadeja had looked ineffective on Day 4, but was probing when it mattered, using rough patches to his advantage, and picking crucial wickets of Haseeb Hameed and Moeen Ali.
Jasprit Bumrah bowled 22 overs and conceded just 27 from it, taking two wickets with two incredible balls. And Shardul Thakur provided India with the first breakthrough as well as dismissed Joe Root. Rohit Sharma was adjudged as Player of the Match for his hundred.
Misbah, Younis resign
Pakistan Men’s head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis both resigned on Monday. Their resignation came at an inconvenient time, with just over a month to go before the ICC T20 World Cup.
Pakistan are also scheduled to host New Zealand and England before that. Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq will join the coaching setup for the forthcoming months.
Pakistan announce T20 World Cup squad
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman. Notable omissions include Fakhar Zaman and Sarfaraz Ahmed, though Zaman is in the reserves with Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir.
Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah have also made the cut. Asif is currently engaged in CPL 2021. Azam Khan has also been rewarded for his consistency and hitting prowess. Azam’s strike rate in T20I cricket is just a shade under 150.
T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Asif Ali, Azam Khan, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood.
Shastri’s RT-PCR test comes positive
As per a report in Cricbuzz, Ravi Shastri’s RT-PCR test has come positive. Shastri will have to stay at his present hotel, in London, and will be unavailable for last Test match, in Manchester. Shastri had returned positive for Covid-19 in a lateral flow test, conducted after Day 3 of the third Test.
Nitin Patel, Bharat Arun and R. Sridhar will also have to undergo mandatory isolation of ten days. Yogesh Parmar is currently the main physiotherapist of the team.
Watkins passes away at 98
Former South Africa cricketer John Watkins, aged 98, loses his battle to COVID-19 on Monday. Watkins played 15 Tests for South Africa between 1949 and 1956. He scored above 600 runs and picked 15 wickets for the Proteas.
‘On behalf of the CSA family I extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues,’ stated CSA Chief Executive.