August 2024 - News Digest

August 31

Dwayne Bravo to retire from CPL after 2024 edition

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo has announced that this year's season of the Caribbean Premier League will be his last. The legendary West Indian took to social media to share the news: "It's been a great journey and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people. TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team," Bravo wrote on his official instagram page.

Bravo walks off with five CPL title wins, including three as captain. He is also the leading wicket-taker in the history of the competition with 128 wickets. Bravo started his CPL career at Trinbago Knight Riders in 2013 and represented them until the 2020 season. During this tenure, he became the first bowler to get to 100 CPL wickets. In the next two seasons, in 2021 and 2022, he played for St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots before returning home to the Knight Riders in 2023.

Samit Dravid included in India U19 squad

Former India head coach and Indian batting stalwart, Rahul Dravid's son Samit Dravid has been included in the India U19 squad, for the series against Australia U19, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Saturday (August 31).

India U19 shall face Australia U19 in three ODIs followed by two four-day matches, from September 21 to October 10. The ODIs will be played in Puducherry while the four-day games shall be played in Chennai.

India U19 ODI squad: Mohd Amaan (C), Rudra Patel (VC), Sahil Parakh , Kartikeya KP, Kiran Chormale, Abhigyan Kundu (WK), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (WK), Samit Dravid, Yudhajit Guha, Samarth N, Nikhil Kumar, Chetan Sharma, Hardik Raj , Rohit Rajawat, Mohd Enaan

India U19 four-day series squad: Soham Patwardhan (C), Vihan Malhotra (VC), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Nitya Pandya, Kartikeya K P, Samit Dravid, Abhigyan Kundu (WK), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (WK), Chetan Sharma, Samarth N, Aditya Rawat, Nikhil Kumar, Anmoljeet Singh, Aditya Singh, Mohd Enaan

August 28

Pakistan recall Abrar, Ghulam for second Test

Abrar Ahmed and Kamran Ghulam have been recalled to the Pakistan Test squad for the second Test against Bangladesh, set to be played in Rawalpindi from August 30. Both players were released from the squad ahead of the first Test match to play for Pakistan Shaheens in a four-day game against Bangladesh 'A'.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was released from the squad at the conclusion of the first Test, has also rejoined the squad on Tuesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced. Meanwhile, Aamir Jamal, who was released from the squad to work on his fitness at the NCA, has also been recalled. However, his participation in the second Test will remain subject to fitness clearance.

Squad for second Test: Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abrar Ahmed, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper) and Shaheen Shah Afridi

Injured Laura Delany to miss England series

Ireland will be continue to be led by Gaby Lewis in the upcoming ODI and T20I series against England in the absence of regular skipper Laura Delany, who is still injured. Most of the squad is similar to the one that played Sri Lanka recently. Alice Tector was handed her first call-up to the T20I squad while Una Raymond-Hoey returns to both squads after sustaining an injury in the first T20I against Sri Lanka.

The series will begin with three ODIs, part of the ICC Women's Championship. Ireland, who recently completed a historic 2-1 ODI series win over Sri Lanka, will then travel to Dublin for two T20Is.

ODI Squad: Gaby Lewis (c), Alana Dalzell, Sarah Forbes, Amy Hunter, Arlene Kelly, Joanna Loughran, Aimee Maguire, Jane Maguire, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Una Raymond-Hoey, Freya Sargent, Rebecca Stokell, Alice Tector.

T20I Squad:Gaby Lewis (c), Ava Canning, Christina Coulter Reilly, Sarah Forbes, Amy Hunter, Arlene Kelly, Aimee Maguire, Jane Maguire, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Una Raymond-Hoey, Freya Sargent, Rebecca Stokell, Alice Tector.

August 27

Harmanpreet Kaur hopes to add to India's World Cup glory

India women's team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is eager to give fans in the country another moment to rejoice World Cup glory as she and her team gear up for the Women's T20 World Cup in UAE October. Harmanpreet said that the Indian men's team's achievement this year - winning the T20 World Cup - has been an inspiration.

"We have been really inspired by the men's team, the way they won the T20 World Cup this year. They worked really hard for this trophy and won some tough matches," Harmanpreet said. "We need to learn how they maintained their body language for such matches and how they approached such games. We're on the same road now and getting ready for our World Cup campaign. The team is working really hard and our attempt will be to give our country and fans another opportunity to celebrate this year."

The Indian women's team reached the final of the women's T20 World Cup in 2020, where they lost to Australia in the summit clash at MCG. Last year in South Africa, India fell to Australia again, in the semifinal.

"The World Cup is a kind of tournament for which all teams prepare differently. So no team can be taken lightly and similarly no team should be overestimated either," Harmanpreet said. "Bilateral series have a different kind of pressure and for World Cups there is pressure as well as expectations and hopes of fans. We are working extremely hard to live up to those expectations, we have been holding camps where all players are working hard. We have also worked on the mistakes we made the last time. Now we're ready with a positive mindset."

For the upcoming event, India are in the same group as Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India will kick-off their campaign against New Zealand on October 4 in Dubai and face Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the same venue on October 6 and 9 respectively, before heading to Sharjah for the Australia clash on October 13. On Tuesday (August 27), India announced their squad.

BCB report should be made public: Akram Khan

Akram Khan, Bangladesh Cricket Board's director, said on Tuesday that it would be better if the report submitted by the assessment committee on the failure of the 2023 ICC World Cup is made public. The BCB on November 29 last year formed