SPORTS

Umran Malik and Kuldeep Sen, who caught the eye with their express speed during the Indian Premier League, will not go to Australia, despite the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) naming the duo among the net bowlers chosen to assist the team in the lead-up to the ICC T20 World Cup.

Malik, from Jammu and Kashmir, and Madhya Pradesh's Sen, along with Chetan Sakariya and Mukesh Chaudhary, were the four pacers chosen to accompany the 15-member official squad which travelled from India to Perth to take part in warm-up games. Sakariya and Chaudhary already had their Australia visas as they were part of an exchange programme, and BCCI had applied for visas for the other two pacers later.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly is about to become a former BCCI president and unlikely to be the cricket board's choice for the post of ICC chairman, either -- even as secretary Jay Shah is expected to continue with his “team” set to be take charge of key positions, The Indian Express has learnt.

Roger Binny, a member of 1983 World Cup-winning team and Karnataka Cricket Association president, is set to become the new BCCI chief “unopposed”.

In fact, the BCCI election next Tuesday is expected to be a formality since none of the office-bearers' posts had more than one nomination on the first day of filing the papers. With Wednesday being the last day for filing nominations, those in the know say the new BCCI power panel has already been decided and a consensus reached after several rounds of talks over the past month.

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer hopes that boundaries are not too short during the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The former batter pointed out that the ropes were brought in significantly during the first T20I between Australia and England and added that big grounds, long boundaries make cricket in Australia unique. "I see the boundary rope brought in significantly in the Aus v Eng T20I. I hope that's not the case during the WC. Big grounds, long boundaries is what makes cricket in Australia unique. #AUSvENG #T20WorldCup," tweeted Jaffer.

Coming to the match, England has taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Top knocks from Alex Hales (84) and skipper Jos Buttler (68) and a fiery spell from pacer Mark Wood (3/34) powered England to an eight-run win over Australia in the first T20I on Sunday. Half-centuries from Hales and Buttler powered England to 208/6 in their 20 overs. Hales and Buttler added 132 runs for the first wicket. But it was pacers Nathan Ellis (3/20), Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Marcus Stoinis (one wicket each) that put brakes on England's run flow and they could not score much in the second half of the innings.

A late blitz from Richa Ghosh revived India’s hope in what turned out to be a thrilling finish in Sylhet but her dismissal on 26 ended those with Pakistan winning by 13 runs on Friday. Chasing 138, India were bowled out for 124 in 19.4 Overs as their unbeaten run in the tournament came to an end. Earlier, Nida Dar struck an unbeaten half-century to guide Pakistan to a decent 137/6 against India. India started well with Deepti Sharma striking twice to leave Pakistan wobbling at 33/3 in 6 Overs. A solid recovery followed with Nida and captain Bismah Maroof (32) adding 76 runs for the fourth wicket. Nida remained unbeaten on 56.

Virat Kohli’s century at the 2022 Asia Cupput huge smiles on the face of every Indian fan. One could understand why Team India supporters celebrated the way they did.

Before the tournament began, his poor form was a huge cause of concern. Some experts had even questioned his spot within India’s playing XI in the shortest format of the game.

However, Kohli answered all his critics in styleby becoming India’s most prolific run-scorer at the continental showpiece in the United Arab Emirates.