Wimbledon might have done away with Manic Mondays, but it’s well and truly a Manic Monday here at Cricket.com as on the same day that India announced their Asia Cup squad, and on the same day that the captain and chief selector held a press conference in years, we’ve got the Newsletter coming right up.
There’s plenty to cover, so let’s dive right into it!
The week gone by — what’s been happening in world cricket?
INDIA’S ASIA CUP SQUAD IS OUT!
The wait is over; India’s squad for the forthcoming Asia Cup is out. There’s plenty of good news as KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna all are back. And as many of us anticipated, there’s a maiden call-up for uncapped Tilak Varma, who looked so, so ready for top-flight international cricket in his debut series against West Indies.
But if you’re a Sanju Samson fan, look away. He’s been overlooked (again) despite his ODI average of 55.71, with both Tilak and Suryakumar Yadav preferred ahead of him.
At least Sanju has been named in the reserves, spare a thought for his Rajasthan Royals teammate Yuzi Chahal, who, well, looks certain to miss yet another World Cup.
BOOM BOOM IS BACK!
Jasprit Bumrah is back, and he’s back like he never left!
Not too long ago, there were plenty of fears surrounding Bumrah, wondering if, post injury, he’d still be the same bowler he once was. Well, it took Bumrah all of TWO BALLS to quash all doubts as he cleaned up Balbirnie. He ended his comeback match with figures of 4-0-24-2, and followed it up with yet another stunning showing in game two, returning figures of 4-1-15-2.
He’s still the same bowler he was at the death too: across the first two T20Is he bowled 24 balls at the death and conceded just 18 runs, picking 2 wickets.
Here’s Shubh writing about the mastery of the genius that is Bumrah
Largely thanks to Bumrah’s efforts, India have managed to win the three-match series against Ireland, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead. Prasidh Krishna has impressed, as has Rinku Singh!
Akshay, in fact, delved deep into Rinku’s showing and labeled him ‘Finisher Extraordinaire’
BEN STOKES IS BACK — we’ll be seeing him at the World Cup!
The word ‘retirement’ is soon turning into a scam in international cricket as Ben Stokes has become the latest cricketer to rescind his retirement. Yep, he’s made England’s provisional squad and will indeed be featuring at the 50-over World Cup in October.
But Stokes’ return has come at the cost of Harry Brook, who’s been (rather shockingly) left out.
Jofra Archer, who is injured, has not made the cut either.
Wahab Riaz has announced his retirement from international cricket
We’ll have to wait and see if this will be reversed as well, but, for the time being, Wahab Riaz is a *retired* international cricketer. Riaz finishes with 237 international wickets and a Champions Trophy title.
Certainly, the streets will never, ever forget his spell to Shane Watson in the 2015 World Cup.
Wanindu Hasaranga has retired from Test cricket
From an obvious retirement to a shocking retirement (of sorts), Wanindu Hasaranga has called it a day from the longest format. The reason, it is believed, is to be ‘more available for franchise cricket tournaments.’
It’s a decision that makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that Hasaranga has just played 4 Tests — the last of those coming in 2020 — with his bowling average and bowling strike rate both in excess of 100.
In fact, we’d written about this very same thing two years ago
BCCI might just end up re-jigging the World Cup schedule, AGAIN!
Certainties in life: death, taxes and the 2023 World Cup schedule not getting finalized.
The BCCI might have to rejig the schedule AGAIN as the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) now reportedly has said that it might not be able to host back-to-back matches on October 9th and October 10th. Hyderabad is scheduled to host New Zealand vs Netherlands on 9th and then Pakistan vs Sri Lanka on 10th.
Change is the only constant, eh?
Prithvi Shaw’s purple patch has been cut short 🙁
Prithvi Shaw continues to have rotten luck as his county stint with Northants (and potentially his entire year) has been cut short due to a serious knee injury. It is believed that Shaw sustained the injury during the clash against Durham, in which he scored an unbeaten 125.
It’s truly a shame as there’s a realistic chance Shaw might play no cricket for the rest of the year. That will mean him missing both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Should it actually be an ACL tear (as many reports are suggesting), he could end up missing the first few months of 2024 too.
Nothing is confirmed as of now, so fingers crossed that Shaw makes a speedy recovery!
Steve Smith & Mitch Starc ruled out of South Africa tour
More injury news as both Steve Smith and Mitch Starc (like Pat Cummins) will take no part in Australia’s tour of South Africa. While Smith is believed to be carrying a left wrist injury, Starc is reportedly experiencing groin soreness.
Smith’s injury has re-opened the door for Marnus Labuschagne, who last week was left out of the World Cup probables. Spencer Johnson, meanwhile, could end up making his ODI debut thanks to Starc’s absence.
The good news for Australia is that all of Smith, Starc and Cummins are expected to recover in time for the India series, starting September 22.
Smashing the stumps in frustration? Harmanpreet has no regrets
Harmanpreet Kaur has doubled-down on her actions in Dhaka last month and has claimed that she has ‘no regrets’ over what she did. In the 3rd ODI against Bangladesh last month, Harmanpreet first smashed the stumps in frustration after being given out on-field, and then, later, allegedly asked the Bangladesh players to ‘bring the umpires’ to the post-series photo session.
Speaking to The Cricket Paper, Harman made it clear that she has no intentions of apologizing.
“I will not say that I regret anything because at the end of the day as a player you want to see that fair things are happening. As a player you always have the right to express yourself and what you’re feeling,” Harmanpreet said.
“I don’t think I said anything wrong to any player or any person. I just said what happened on the field. I don’t regret anything.”
The Indian skipper was slapped with a two-match ban for her actions.
Sune Luus is no longer South Africa’s ODI captain
Just months after leading South Africa to the final of the Women’s World Cup — after replacing Dane van Niekerk — Sune Luus has stepped down. Laura Wolvaardt is expected to be named skipper for the Pakistan tour, with Chloe Tyron set to serve as he understudy. So far, there has been no official word from Cricket South Africa (CSA) regarding the successor.
South Africa squad for Pakistan tour
Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Delmi Tucker, Laura Wolvaardt.
17-year-old Mahika Gaur receives maiden England call-up
Mahika Gaur, who back in 2019 made her international debut for UAE as a 12-year-old (!!!!), has received her maiden England call-up for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka later this month. A left-arm seamer who already at the age of 17 has made a name for bowling jaffas, Gaur is currently having a fantastic Hundred season for Manchester Originals, having taken 4 wickets at an E.R of 7.05.
Lasith Malinga has been reunited with Mumbai Indians; MSK is back too!
Friendship ended with Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians is Lasith Malinga’s new best friend (again).
According to a report from ESPN Cricinfo, the legendary speedster is all set to replace Shane Bond as the fast bowling coach of MI for IPL 2024.
Elsewhere, former India chief selector MSK Prasad is back in the limelight again as he’s been named LSG’s strategic consultant for the forthcoming IPL season.
UAE upset New Zealand but Kiwis manage to win the series
History was created on Saturday (August 19th) as for the first time in their history, New Zealand were toppled by an associate nation: the Kiwis were comprehensively thumped in the second T20I in Dubai by UAE, who chased down 143 inside 16 overs to square the three-match series.
But UAE’s joy did not last long as the Black Caps bounced back and registered a convincing victory in the decider to pocket the series.
More evidence that the gap between full members and associates is currently smaller than ever.
Jaydev Unadkat will play for Sussex
Che Pu will have his good mate for company for the rest of the county season as Jaydev Unadkat has been snapped up by Sussex for three county matches.
Unadkat has been in red-hot form with the ball in red-ball cricket since the start of 2020, having taken 101 wickets at a staggering average of 16.7. The speedster, interestingly, has played 2 first-class matches in England and has taken 16 wickets at an average of 12.7.
Warner, Shaheen, Rayudu among those to feature in forthcoming ILT20 edition
The ILT20 is getting bigger and better as the likes of David Warner, Ambati Rayudu, Mark Wood and Shaheen Afridi are all set to feature in the second season of the competition. On Monday (August 21), the competition officially announced its player list for the forthcoming season and while Warner will play for Dubai Capitals, Rayudu will be representing MI Emirates.
Women’s Hundred: Harmanpreet & Jemimah continue to struggle
Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur continue to struggle in the 2023 edition of The Hundred with the pair yet to post a single fifty-plus score between them in 12 innings (combined). While Rodrigues is averaging 16.14, Harmanpreet is averaging 15.75.
Richa Ghosh, too, is averaging 15.60, but she’s played an encouraging couple of knocks in her last two matches, following up a 21 (15) vs Superchargers with a 34 (26) vs Welsh Fire.
Smriti Mandhana has dropped down a bit compared to the first phase of the competition but she’s still the second-highest run-getter, having amassed 226 runs at an average of 37.66 and SR of 133.72.
CPL 2023: rain has wreaked havoc so far 
A week into CPL 2023, we’ve remarkably only had two completed matches so far. Each of the last four games have been washed out by rain, with not a single ball being bowled in the last two.
But we still somehow got an absolutely incredible moment in the completed clash between St.Lucia and Barbados, with Rahkeem Cornwall running himself out in the most comical fashion imaginable.
LPL 2023: B-Love Kandy are LPL 2023 champions! 
Wanindu Hasaranga did not feature in the final but that did not stop B-Love Kandy from winning LPL 2023.
Still, though Kandy won the competition, LPL 2023 was a tournament that completely belonged to Hasaranga: he scored more runs than anyone else (279 runs) while scoring quicker than anyone else (SR 189.79); he took five more wickets (19) than anyone else and did so while maintaining the best economy among all bowlers who bowled 20+ overs.
Surely the single-greatest showing of all time?
Hasaranga was, of course, rightly named Player of the Series.
Articles in focus
With sights set on Asian Games gold, Sai Kishore is ‘ready’ to step up – Aakash S
Curtis Campher continues to be Ireland’s crisis man – Pramod A
Sports in Indian cinema – Akshay K
Video in focus
