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USACA president Dainty sues David Richardson, ICC for defamation

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Gladstone Dainty, president of the USA Cricket Association (USACA), and board member Dr Linden Dodson of New York have filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in the Eastern District of New York against the ICC and its chief executive David Richardson, seeking $2 million dollars in damages for defamation and “tortious interference with business relations between plaintiffs and the United States of America Cricket Association”.Previous legal actions brought by Dainty, as part of collective legal challenges and defences on behalf of the USACA board of directors, have been argued by the high-powered law firm of McGuireWoods LLC. According to USACA’s 2013 tax return filing, the governing body spent more than $360,000 in legal fees that year. However, the lawyer representing Dainty and Dodson in the April 30, 2018 filing against Richardson and the ICC is Gary Certain of Certain & Zillberg PLLC, whose website advertises their service as a no win, no fee representation.Even though the lawsuit is a personal filing by Dainty and Dodson, it argues mainly that the ICC has injured USACA. A central claim is that the ICC “proposed and demanded constitution and rule changes” that violated USACA’s autonomy and served not the board’s best interests “but rather the personal preferences of the officers and directors of the ICC”. Similarly, the suit claims that any changes forced by the ICC on USACA would violate its 501(c)(3) non-profit status.This would directly impact Dainty and Dodson, according to the lawsuit, because the changes the ICC attempted to mandate were “part of its malicious and thinly vailed [sic] campaign to oust the duly elected members of USACA’s board of directors”. As part of their business interference argument, the suit claims that USACA’s expulsion has “prevented the plaintiffs and other board members from meaningfully continuing in their capacities as sanctioned members of the international competitive cricket community”.One of the reasons USACA was initially suspended and eventually expelled by the ICC was its failure to ratify a new constitution that would have enacted sweeping reforms on the governance of the organization. However, Dodson subsequently has been a long-serving member of the ICC’s Sustainable Foundation advisory group, which designed the new constitution for USA Cricket, the new governing body in line to replace USACA as the ICC’s Associate member in America.The suit asks for injunctive relief “staying the expulsion of USACA as the United States of America associate member to the ICC”. They are also seeking injunctive relief “prohibiting the ICC from granting any class of ICC membership” to any other entity operating within the USA such as USA Cricket.However, the suit has not been made with USACA as a plaintiff. Previous statements made by Richardson hint at the reason USACA is not a co-plaintiff in this most recent filing. ICC members are bound to go through mediation in disputes regarding membership, something that occurred last year prior to USACA’s expulsion.”They’ve already taken the matter to the ICC Dispute Resolution Committee on an expedited basis, attempting to stop the board and full council from considering the expulsion of USACA at these meetings,” Richardson told reporters last June at the ICC annual conference after the decision to expel USACA, via a unanimous vote of the ICC membership, had been made public. “The arbitrator found in favor of the ICC and found the ICC had acted rationally and was quite entitled to take the decision to expel USACA.”As for the defamation claims, the suit argues that Richardson and the ICC made false statements against the members of the USACA board. Most of the statements were made by US cricket stakeholders, which included USACA members, as part of interviews collected and summarised in a confidential report seen by ESPNcricinfo, authored by Richardson and then head of global development Tim Anderson, which was presented to ICC members ahead of a vote for USACA’s suspension in 2015. It was the third time that USACA had been suspended in a decade, with previous suspensions occurring in 2005 and 2007 for governance problems.The suit claims that “in the context of social and professional communications the plaintiffs have been confronted with inquiries concerning the disparaging statements of the defendants”. Dodson works as a veterinarian in New York and Dainty is a certified public accountant (CPA), businesses “whose practices rely on their professional reputations for honesty, competency and integrity which are assailed by the disparaging statements,” according to the suit.ESPNcricinfo reached out to the ICC for a response to the suit filed in New York by Dainty and Dodson, but a spokesperson declined to comment.

Akshay Wadkar replaces Abhishek Gupta in Duleep Trophy squad

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In June, the BCCI imposed a retrospective doping ban on Punjab wicketkeeper-batsman Abhishek Gupta, having confirmed he had tested positive for a prohibited substance during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January. Gupta’s eight-month ban is set to expire on September 14.On Monday, Gupta was included in the India Red squad for the forthcoming Duleep Trophy, which is scheduled to be played between August 17 and September 8.Genuine oversight or plain ignorance? It could be either, but the selectors first named Gupta in the India A squad before another BCCI release arrived, close to seven hours later, confirming that they had replaced him with Vidarbha’s Akshay Wadkar.”It was brought to notice by the BCCI Anti-Doping team that Mr. Abhishek Gupta who was initially added in the India Red squad is serving an 8-month ban for a doping violation,” the release said. “His ban is set to end on the 14th of September, 2018. The Senior Selection Committee has reached a consensus that Mr. Akshay Wadkar will be included in the India Red team as Mr. Gupta’s replacement.”Wadkar, 24, has only played six first-class matches, all of them during Vidarbha’s run to the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy title. He has scored 395 runs at an average of 65.83, with three fifties and a hundred, which came in the final against Delhi.The three squads for Duleep Trophy were part of the various selections finalised by the selectors in Kolkata on Monday. Also picked was the India A squad for two four-day games against South Africa A, the India A and India B squads for a quadrangular series that will also involve South Africa A and Australia A, and three squads for the Duleep Trophy – India Blue, India Red and India Green.Gupta was handed a retrospective eight-month ban in June, after a urine sample he provided as part of the BCCI’s testing programme was found to contain terbutaline, which is among the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances. This test was conducted on January 15, during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.Gupta had admitted to taking the banned substance, saying he did so inadvertently, as part of medication he had been prescribed. The BCCI was satisfied with Gupta’s explanation and back-dated the start of his eight-month ban to January 15.Gupta, 27, made his senior debut for Punjab last October, and has since played six first-class, six List A and nine T20 games. He has scored 471 first-class runs at an average of 52.33, with two fifties and a double-hundred on debut against Himachal Pradesh.IST 1040 The story was updated after the selectors named Wadkar as Gupta’s replacement

Moores and Libby sweep Notts into top-four spot

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ScorecardA thrilling century stand between Tom Moores and Jake Libby returned Notts Outlaws to winning ways in their crucial Vitality Blast match against Yorkshire Vikings.Both youngsters registered their highest scores in the competition, as Notts posted 212 for 5 on their way to a victory by 63 runs. Moores scored an unbeaten 80, blasting six fours and three sixes, putting on 112 in only 10.5 overs with Libby, who made 58.The Vikings were always struggling to compete with a rapidly-increasing run-rate and could only make 149 for 7. Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scored with 72 in their chase but the Outlaws’ attack held firm, led by Harry Gurney’s 3 for 24.Yorkshire lacked skipper Steve Patterson and Tim Bresnan from the side beaten by Lancashire and their injury concerns are also piling up. Patterson, their seasoned seamer, whose unexpected rise to the captaincy late in his career has brought a semblance of stability, will miss the rest of the season with a broken finger; David Willey took over here.And a hand injury to Kane Williamson in this match – like Patterson the previous day, also while taking a catch – will mean an anxious wait while x-rays are assessed.Libby said: “They haven’t quite found the balance of the batting order right yet and they gave me the opportunity to bat at three tonight. I enjoyed it and tried to play strong shots. You get value for your shots here.”At the start of the evening Alex Hales, playing his 100th T20 game for his county, fell for 17 in only the third over of the match, cutting Jack Brooks to point, where Williamson took a low catch. The New Zealander immediately left the field and didn’t return for the remainder of the innings, requiring attention to a hand injury.Libby was the chief aggressor as the two youngsters began their stand. The Cornishman cleared the ropes for the first time with a mighty blow off Brooks and repeated the dose off Jordan Thompson to bring up the 50 stand.Both batsmen continued to pepper the Vikings attack in their personal duel to reach 50 and it was Libby who arrived at the landmark first, from only 25 balls. Moores followed, getting there from 35 deliveries.Thompson ended the stand by bowling Libby but the runs continued to flow as Dan Christian plundered 20 from only seven balls. Moores and Samit Patel took 14 from the final over to set the Vikings a challenging target.Adam Lyth, playing his 100th T20 match, made only 14 but it was the only success for Notts in the opening 12 overs as Kohler-Cadmore and Willey added 74 together; Riki Wessels’ fine boundary catch off Patel ending the partnership.Ish Soshi bagged the prize scalp of Kohler-Cadmore, with Steven Mullaney taking the catch and then Gurney claimed his three wickets to seal the win.Amongst his haul was the wicket of Williamson, who made his way to the crease at No. 5 but was clearly handicapped by his injury and could only make 11.Four wickets fell for only five runs in the closing stages, leaving 70 runs needed from the final over.The margin of victory, in front of a crowd of 12,277, leapfrogs Notts above Yorkshire and into four place in the North Group.

'Felt across the country' – Melbourne teenager dies after cricket training accident

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A 17-year-old club cricketer in Melbourne has died after being struck on the neck by a ball at training on Tuesday.Ben Austin was taken to hospital in critical condition after the incident at Ferntree Gully in Melbourne’s outer east where he had been facing balls in the nets, thrown by a sidearm, or ‘wanger’, ahead of a T20 match. He was wearing a helmet but it did not include a stem guard.He was placed on life support at Monash Children’s Hospital but died on Thursday morningIn a statement Jace Austin, Ben’s father, said: “We are utterly devastated by the passing of our beautiful Ben, who died earlier on Thursday morning.”For Tracey and I, Ben was an adored son, deeply loved brother to Cooper and Zach and a shining light in the lives of our family and friends.”This tragedy has taken Ben from us, but we find some comfort that he was doing something he did for so many summers – going down to the nets with mates to play cricket. He loved cricket and it was one of the joys of his life.”We would also like to support his team-mate who was bowling in the nets – this accident has impacted two young men and our thoughts are with he and his family as well.”Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria are providing assistance to the family and those impacted by the tragedy.”The tragic circumstances of Ben and Ferntree Gully are…going to be felt across the country,” CA chair Mike Baird told reporters in Melbourne. “Cricket is a sport that brings people together, communities together. It’s also one that feels very deeply an incident such as we’ve seen.”[It’s] hard to put words on it. What we want to say is that we are doing everything we can to support the family, the club, and all those impacted by this tragic news. Clearly, there are things that we have to learn from this, but right now, we are concerned about the family and trying to support them in every way.”Nick Cummins, the Cricket Victoria chief executive, said: “We’re absolutely devastated on behalf of the family, on behalf of the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, and more broadly, the Victorian cricket community.”We are doing everything we can to support not just the family of young Ben, but also those at the club, and Ben played for a number of clubs, to ensure that they have the counselling and the support, not just today, but well into the future, as this is something that will stay with our community for some time.”

Cummins, who compared the accident to the one involving Phil Hughes nearly 11 years ago, added that it was too early to discuss any changes to regulations or safety measures, such as making stem guards mandatory across all levels of the game.”I think the temptation in moments like this is to move to solution mode,” he said. “At the moment, our focus is around providing support and counselling for those people who experienced the trauma. There will be an appropriate time to review that and answer those questions.”Flowers, cards, lollies, a drink bottle and a cricket bat have been laid in tribute of the teenager at the club in the hours after his death. The bat was inscribed with several messages including “rest easy Benny” and “forever 14 not out”.In a statement, Ferntree Gully Cricket Club said: “We are absolutely devastated by the passing of Ben, and the impacts of his death will be felt by all in our cricket community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family – Jace, Tracey, Cooper and Zach, his extended family, his friends and to all of those who knew Ben and the joy that he brought.”Ben was remembered as a star cricketer, a strong leader and an outstanding young man. In March, he received an award recognising a player who demonstrates dedication and the right attitude to the game. He celebrated his birthday earlier in October.”I know how heavily this news will land across our community and we will provide any and all support we can to our clubs and cricket family,” Ferntree Gully and District Cricket Association president Arnie Walters said.The family thanked those who provided immediate first aid, the emergency services and the support over the last two days.”We would like to thank the cricket community including Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, Mulgrave Cricket Club and Eildon Park Cricket Club for their support since Tuesday evening and to the dozens of people who visited Ben in hospital,” Jace Austin said.”Finally, we would also like thank all the first responders at the scene and the staff at Monash Children’s Hospital who worked so hard to help Ben. We will cherish Ben forever.”We would ask that our family’s privacy is respected as we come to terms with our loss.”There are discussions taking place about a tribute to Ben when Australia face India at the MCG on Friday night.

Wharton century drives Yorkshire past Kent and into home semi-final

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Yorkshire 301 for 9 (Wharton 118, Imam-ul-Haq 70, Ekansh 3-42) beat Kent 225 (Jaydn Denly 77, Ekansh 71, Bess 4-43) by 76 runsYorkshire secured a home semi-final in the Metro Bank Cup after coasting to a 76-run victory over the Kent Spitfires at Canterbury.James Wharton hit a century as Yorkshire posted 301 for 9 and Dom Bess then took four for 43 as the Spitfires were dismissed for 225.Wharton hit 118 from 106 balls, while Imam-ul-Haq was the next highest scorer with 70, while Ekansh Singh took three for 42 before making 71 during the Kent reply.Jaydn Denly was the hosts’ top-scorer with 77 but they lost wickets too frequently to sustain a chase and were all out with 5.4 overs remaining.Yorkshire chose to bat and put on 71 for the opening wicket before Corey Flintoff sent Adam Lyth’s off stump flying, bowling him for 28.Mo Rizvi then bowled debutant Will Bennison for a fifth ball duck, but Wharton and Imam-ul-Haq put on 59 for the next wicket, Ekansh breaking the partnership when he had the latter lbw.Finlay Bean made a useful 39 before he was run out by Ollie Curtiss and George Hill made just seven when Klaassen had him caught by Jaydn Denly.Harry Duke hit Ekansh almost vertically and was caught by wicket-keeper Harry Finch for 3 and Ekansh struck again two overs later when he caught and bowled Bess for four.Dan Moriarty went in similar fashion to Klaassen and Wharton finally fell in the final over when Fred Klaassen had him caught behind, leaving Cliff to take the visitors past 300.The chase got off to a rough start when Ben Dawkins went for 1, chipping Ben Cliff to Lyth but Kent responded with a 97-run stand that only ended when Bess had Denly caught by Imam-ul-Haq.Chris Benjamin was then the victim of a brilliant rope-juggle catch by the sub fielder Noah Kelly, after he drove Bess and Joe Denly went for just two, miscuing Dan Moriarty straight to Fin Bean at long off. Curtiss went next ball, lbw for a golden duck on only his second appearance for the Spitfires.Ekansh also fell to Kelly when he skied Hill and Lyth got revenge on Flintoff when he bowled him for 13.Bess came back and bowled Finch for a run-a-ball for 32, then got Klaassen two balls later playing on, leaving Mattie Firbank to seal win when Rizvi pulled him to Lyth, his team mates mobbing him in celebration.

MI Cape Town sign Rashid Khan, Livingstone, Sam Curran, Rabada, Brevis

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MI Cape Town – Mumbai Indians’ franchise in the upcoming CSA T20 league – have announced Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada and Dewald Brevis as their five signings ahead of the player auction.As per the league’s rules, each of the six franchises will get to pre-sign five players – three overseas, one South Africa international player and one uncapped South African player – prior to the auction, and MI Cape Town are the first team to announce their list of players.”I’m excited as we begin our journey in building MI Cape Town,” Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio, the owners of MI Cape Town, said. “With our direct player signings, we have taken the first step towards building the MI philosophy – having a strong core around which the team will be planned. I am glad to welcome Rashid, Kagiso, Liam, Sam, to the #OneFamily and happy to have Dewald continue with us on this new journey.”On Wednesday, the CSA league had announced that it had signed over 30 marquee players and that each squad could have 17 players on their roster.While no other team has announced signings yet, it has been confirmed that Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Eoin Morgan, Jason Holder, Jason Roy and many others will participate in the league. While Livingstone and Buttler will earn $US500,000 each, Moeen will take home $400,000, du Plessis 350,000 and the likes of Rabada, de Kock, Miller, Morgan and Curran will get $300,000 each.So far 11 England names have signed up for the league – the largest overseas representation – followed by 10 from Sri Lanka. As expected, there are no Pakistani names in the list.The CSA release on Wednesday also said the auction would take place “in the next few weeks” before the league begins in January 2023. All six franchises of the league have been bought by groups that own teams in the IPL and the league is likely to allow four overseas players in the playing XI with no requirements for transformation as of now.

Kane Richardson, Tom Helm douse Fire's chase as Phoenix rise from the flames

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Brilliant bowling at the death by Kane Richardson and Tom Helm with Welsh Fire needing 13 to win off 10 balls allowed Birmingham Phoenix to snatch a four-run victory from the jaws of defeat at Sophia Gardens.Having only reached 130 in their 100 balls it seemed set up for Fire to notch their first win of the summer in front of a 10,901 crowd. David Miller, with 35 off 30, almost got the Welsh team over the line, but the final push wasn’t good enough.Phoenix now have two wins from three games and look set to challenge to go one better than last year. Aussie quick Richardson was named as the Hero of the Match as he took 2 for 15 in his 20 balls, including 11 dot balls.Fire skipper Josh Cobb was delighted to have won the toss and put the Phoenix into bat. Three days earlier, last season’s runners-up had notched 176 in a revenge win over the reigning champions Southern Brave, with 20-year-old opener Will Smeed hitting the Hundred’s first century.Thoughts of a repeat may have been on his mind, but David Payne had other ideas and sent him back after a mere four balls without scoring. The home pace attack kept a tight rein on the Phoenix batters and they limped to 50 off 50 balls, having lost four wickets.Moeen Ali and Chirs Benjamin steadied the ship with a stand of 22 for the second wicket before two wickets fell in a superb set of five from George Scrimshaw. Moeen was caught behind after striking a boundary and three balls later Liam Livingstone gave his much-prized wicket away trying to ramp the home paceman. That made it 27 for 3 at the end of the powerplay, Phoenix’s lowest in the format.Cobb then threw himself into the attack and managed to tighten the noose. Chris Benjamin was caught on the boundary by Dwaine Pretorius, although claimed the maximum as the South African fell over the boundary, but Cobb bowled him next ball.Phoenix were 37 for 4 after 40 and in need of a partnership. It came from Aussie star Matthew Wade and Miles Hammond, who put on 52 for the fifth wicket. Wade hit Scrimshaw, Pretorius and Adam Zampa for sixes, but then fell to Zampa as he went for a repeat. He scored 38 as the Phoenix slumped to 94 for 6 with 22 balls to go.They reached 130 for 7 in the end, Helm pulling the last ball for what was to prove an invaluable six.Fire, having lost their opening two games, desperately needed to hold their nerve in a moderate run chase. Their two totals this season in those defeats were only 119 and 107.Phoenix didn’t concede a run in the first set of five balls from Richardson and he also removed Joe Clarke. Sam Hain wasn’t going to hang around, ramping a six to get off the mark. He eventually chopped on to a slower ball from Helm having scored 23 off 15 balls to leave Fire 28 for 2.Tom Banton finished off the powerplay with a four and a six to take the home side to 34, but when Ben Duckett was bowled by Ben Howell, Fire were 53 for 3. They reached the 50-ball mark with 59, nine runs ahead of the Phoenix total, and it was anyone’s game.Banton and Miller put on 32 for the fourth wicket, including 11 runs from Imran Tahir’s only set of five. Successive sixes – 90 and then 96 metres – from Miller off Livingstone put Fire back in the driving seat, but Richardson conceded just two from the penultimate set and Helm defended 11 from the last to leave home supporters crestfallen.

England women step into Ashes limelight with double-header summer

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England Women will play a five-day Test match against Australia as part of an Ashes campaign in 2023 in which they will return to the country’s major venues. It will be only the second scheduled women’s Test of that length, after Australia hosted England at North Sydney Oval in 1992.The Test will take place at Trent Bridge, beginning June 22, and will be the first match of a multi-format points-based series set out across a number of major venues. Three T20Is at Edgbaston, the Kia Oval and Lord’s follow, before three ODIs in Bristol, the Ageas Bowl and Taunton. As has been the case for several campaigns now, the white-ball matches will be worth two points each, with four on offer for the winners of the Test.It is a seminal moment in English women’s cricket, stepping up off the back of the success of the women’s Hundred and the Commonwealth Games this summer, both of which have shown that the audience and appetite for the game in this country is only going one way.Later this week, England play their first bilateral ODI at Lord’s since 2014, against India on Saturday, and that theme will continue in 2023 with Trent Bridge hosting their first international women’s match since 2000.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Meanwhile Edgbaston, Lord’s and the Kia Oval will all be hosting their first Women’s Ashes T20Is. The England and Wales Cricket Board have taken a page out of the Hundred’s book by allowing both men’s and women’s Ashes to run concurrently next summer.Heather Knight, England’s captain who scored a century in the drawn Ashes Test at Canberra in January, and whose team ran out of time to force victory over South Africa in a rain-affected four-day match this summer, told the PA news agency that this moment had been a long time coming.”I’m so happy,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been banging the drum for five days for a long time, so it’s a special moment. It feels like the right time, for five days, for bigger grounds, and it feels like it’s been a long time coming. Last year’s South Africa Test was set up nicely but withered out because of rain and it wasn’t given the chance to finish, so this is a really good step by the boards.”The women’s series will begin a week after the men face Australia for the first of five matches at Edgbaston, beginning on June 16, before fixtures at Lord’s, Headingley, Emirates Old Trafford and the Kia Oval.Ben Stokes’ side will begin their red-ball summer against Ireland at Lord’s in a four-day match starting on June 16. The World Test Championship final is scheduled between those matches, and will be hosted at the Kia Oval in June. It was also confirmed that Lord’s, who had originally been expecting to host the showpiece event, will get to do so in 2025.As expected, the month of August has largely been saved for the Hundred, with the only international match coming on August 30 when England’s men begin a exclusively white-ball diet of four T20is and four ODIs against New Zealand. Ireland then return for three one-dayers in September as Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott look to fine-tune their plans ahead of the 50-over World Cup in India in the winter of 2023. Meanwhile Heather Knight’s team will play three T20is and three ODIs against Sri Lanka.Clare Connor, the ECB’s interim CEO, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be hosting two Ashes series in 2023, as well as hosting Ireland Men, New Zealand Men and Sri Lanka Women.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Next summer will be huge for England Women and England Men. There are few events more special in English sport than a home Ashes series and I know that Heather, Ben, and their teams, will be excited and driven by the challenge of regaining the Ashes.”I am particularly delighted that we have announced our England Men and England Women’s fixtures side by side for the first time, meaning that supporters can enter the ballot or register interest for any fixture on the same day. June and July will be very special months for cricket in this country with the buzz of two Ashes series taking place simultaneously.”The women’s game continues to grow and we have clearly entered another phase in terms of the demand for elite women’s sport. We’ve seen record numbers flock to stadia for the second season of the Hundred. Now we want to give more fans the chance to watch England Women in person next summer as they compete for the Ashes on home soil.”

Daren Sammy returns to Peshawar Zalmi as head coach

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Daren Sammy has been reappointed Peshawar Zalmi’s head coach, taking over from James Foster who was in charge of the side during PSL 2022.Sammy has been a mainstay for the franchise since PSL’s inception in 2016, and has been one of the more recognisable overseas faces for the league. He started as vice-captain and took over the leadership following Shahid Afridi’s resignation in 2017.He was an integral part of the team as a player until 2020 when the franchise made a mid-season shuffle by replacing him with Wahab Riaz as full-time captain. Sammy then had a two-year stint as head coach of the team in 2020 and 2021.

Sammy also brings with him the experience of having coached St Lucia Kings in the CPL. In the most recent CPL, Sammy guided Kings to the playoffs, where they lost to eventual champions Jamaica Tallawahs in the Eliminator.Zalmi had won the title in 2017 and finished runners-up in 2018, 2019 and 2021. In 2022, they lost to Islamabad United in the Eliminator.After a PSL governing council meeting in September, the PCB announced that the 2023 season of the PSL will start on February 9, and the final will take place on March 19.

Star-studded India must be cautious against Bangladesh in their favourite format

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Big picture

Cricket-mad Bangladesh is currently football-mad. The ongoing World Cup is not just watched in this country, but also celebrated in every corner, dominating most conversations. The visiting Indian players were welcomed by flags of Brazil and Argentina in the buildings overlooking their training ground in Dhaka. There’s little cricket paraphernalia for what is the BCB’s first marquee home series this season. International cricket, even if it is India’s first ODI in Bangladesh in seven years, will have to jostle for space.Bangladesh have qualified for the ODI World Cup next year, but they will not want to take the foot off the gas. India, with their first-choice players back in the squad, would want to start well, and lead into their home World Cup in October next year strongly. This series, remember, is not part of the World Cup Super League, but that shouldn’t reduce the intensity.Related

  • Rohit on the ODI World Cup: We can't think so far ahead

  • Litton to lead Bangladesh in ODI series against India

  • Many contenders but little opportunity as India ring in changes

  • Injured Shami ruled out of ODIs against Bangladesh

  • 'It's not the ultimate goal' – Tamim on World Cup qualification

Rohit Sharma is back as India’s ODI captain, with KL Rahul his deputy. Virat Kohli has also returned to the side. The star players’ comeback in this format indicates India are starting their preparation for the next year, after sending a second-string side to the recent tour of New Zealand.However, this also means the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rajat Patidar and Rahul Tripathi might not get as many opportunities, as the top and middle orders are loaded with big names. With Mohammed Shami ruled out of the ODIs, and several allrounders like Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar in the mix, it will also be interesting to see how India balance their side with the match being played on the slow Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch.Bangladesh will be missing the services of two star players: Tamim Iqbal, the regular ODI captain, who had earlier pulled out of the series because of a groin injury, and Taskin Ahmed, who was ruled out of the series because of a back injury.Both players have been in good form in ODIs. Tamim has led the side to direct qualification for the World Cup while scoring important runs, and Taskin is seen as the lynchpin of the pace attack these days. Litton Das, who will lead the hosts, has a major role to play with the bat, too, opening against a solid Indian bowling attack.Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli are back in the ODI side•AFP/Getty Images

Litton will have seniors in Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah to bank on, while the likes of Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali and Anamul Haque will be expected to step up in their respective roles.Mustafizur Rahman, who broke through in India’s last ODI series in Bangladesh in 2015, has to lead the attack now, sharing the duties with Hasan Mahmud and Ebadot Hossain. Mehidy Hasan Miraz has risen to the challenge this year, often proving handy when the chips are down .India would not want to take Bangladesh lightly this time, particularly at home where the hosts have not lost a bilateral ODI series since the defeat to England in October 2016. Meanwhile, Bangladesh will rely on their experienced players to get them through.

Form guide

Bangladesh: WLLWW
India: LWWLW

In the spotlight

Virat Kohli is 30 runs short of becoming the second overseas batter to get 1000 runs in ODIs in Bangladesh, where he averages 80.83. In good form in T20Is of late, there couldn’t be a better place for Kohli to get back into rhythm in ODIs after averaging 21.87 in eight games in the format this year.Litton Das has been in excellent form this year•Getty Images

Litton Das has scored 500 runs in ODIs this year while averaging 62.50. But there is an added responsibility this time, leading the side in Tamim’s absence. How he responds to the new test will be interesting to see. The Bangladesh captaincy has, of late, been quite a story.

Team news

Shakib batting at No. 3 should mitigate Tamim’s absence. It would also allow Bangladesh to play an extra batter, which will likely be Yasir Ali. Taskin is also missing, which means Ebadot could get the nod for his pace.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Litton Das (capt), 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Yasir Ali, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Hasan Mahmud, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Ebadot HossainWith Shami ruled out of the series, young quick Umran Malik has been called up. Unless India decide to give Kuldeep Sen a debut, it is likely that both Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar will play.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Pitch and conditions

It is going to be a typical Mirpur pitch but not the raging turner we see often in Test cricket. The Shere Bangla Stadium last hosted an ODI in May 2021, and the pitch has mostly produced scores on the higher side for the teams batting first. Dhaka is cool this time of the year, with no rain forecast.

Stats and trivia

  • Litton now has the most runs (1703) in a calendar year in all formats for Bangladesh, and is the second highest in 2022 behind Babar Azam.
  • Bangladesh have won only five ODIs against India since 1988. They beat India the last time when the two teams met in 2015.

Quotes

“This format is such that we play well each time at home. We’ll miss two of our main players, but we still believe that who we have with us are very capable”

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