Asia Cup 2021 edition further postponed to 2023

Saeed Ajmal feels Mohammad Amir should stick to his retirement decision rather than making demands

Former Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has come out hard at his ex-teammate Mohammad Amir and questions his demands of removal of head coach Misbah ul Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis. The left-arm pacer who was touted as the next big think of Pakistan cricket when he burst onto the scene in 2009 announced an untimely retirement in December 2020 citing problems with the coaching duo. He has promised to never return for national duties till Misbah and Waqar is still at the helm. “From what he is saying, it looks like he was dealt unfairly. But I don’t know what happened between him and team management behind the scenes. He is saying that he will only play for Pakistan after Misbah and Waqar leave their post as head coach and bowling coach,” said Ajmal. “It is not right for a player to ask for the removal of a coach. Amir should focus on his performance and cement his place before making such demands,” the off-spinner added. Amir has been publicly questioning Misbah ul Haq and Waqar Younis for their ill-treatment meted out at the players. Amir had earlier said that he would reconsider coming out of retirement only if the coaching duo is removed from their post. However, Saeed Ajmal who was an integral part of the Pakistan unit feels that it is never right for any player to demand the ouster of coaching personnel. During an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Ajmal stated that Amir should be focussing more on his game rather than making unrealistic demands. The office felt that Amir’s retirement came more out of compulsion and desperation and he must stick to his decision rather than criticising the coaching group. “Amir had given his retirement out of desperation but now he is thinking of coming back. If he has made his decision to retire, then he should stick to it,” Ajmal said. Making his international debut way back in 2009, Mohammed Amir donned the Pakistan whites in 36 Tests besides playing 61 ODIs. He has a total of 259 wickets to his name in the international circuit.

Runners-up in the 2020 World T20, Indian women cricketers still await prize money from BCCI

The Indian women’s cricketers haven’t received the prize money for the World T20 where they ended as the runners-up in the 2020 edition. The Indian team should have collectively received $500,000 (£350,000). Tom Moffat, the CEO of Fica, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, told Telegraph Sport that the late non-payment of money owing to players is unacceptable for the on-field performance in pinnacle events. "Prize money is payable to players for their on-field performance in pinnacle events and the late non-payment of money owing to players is unacceptable," Mr Moffat said. "We encourage players in India to consider getting organised as part of a players’ association so they, and the game in India, can benefit from collective player representation in the same way that their fellow professionals around the world do,” he added. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had increased the women’s prize pot by 320% in comparison to 2018. The ICC is responsible for paying out the prize money within a week to the respective governing bodies of the team unless the board asks ICC to make the payments directly to the players. The prize money that comes from the ICC should be allocated to the players within a couple of weeks. It is up to the board to decide whether the payment would be made equally among all the players or grade-wise. If the amount that the Indian team had to receive is split between each player, the prize money that all the players would have got would have been around $33,000 each. The Indian women’s team didn’t feature in a single international feature since the World T20 final due to the Covid-19 outburst. The BCCI though had organised the IPL in 2020 and had a four-match tournament for the women players. The BCCI has been facing the heat for not handling the women’s cricket properly and this is another instance of it especially after the governing body generated a revenue of almost $550 million as they held the IPL 2020 in the UAE during the pandemic.

Team India might need to undergo just three days of hard quarantine for UK tour

Team India might be allowed to start practice sessions in UK after undergoing only three days of hard quarantine for their three month long tour of England. Just like the Kiwis who are already in England preparing for the two match Test series against the hosts and the final of the ICC World Test Championship, India might follow the similar roadmap and undergo just three days of isolation before beginning practice in a bio-secure environment. The Indian contingent is slated to leave for UK on 2nd June and is expected to be under isolation period for 10 days. However they might start practice after only three days of hard quarantine. The details are not yet disclosed as there has been no clear confirmation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Reports have emerged that there has been discussions between the BCCI and the England and the Wales Cricket Board (ECB) regarding the relaxation of the quarantine rules. Since most of the Indian players are already in quarantine in Mumbai with the rest slated to join latest by 24th May, the quarantine process might be a bit relaxed and shouldn’t be a hard one for all ten days. It must be noted that India is among the red list of the UK government due to a huge rise of COVID-19 cases across the country. Meanwhile the New Zealand players were asked to undergo a three day hard quarantine and were then allowed to practice in groups of six. The whole squad had arrived in England on Monday and Tuesday in different batches. “The first three days will be spent in hotel room isolation, before mini-training groups of six can be established from days 4-6, pending negative covid results,” New Zealand Cricket stated on their arrival.

Rashid Khan back with the Lahore Qalandars for remainder of PSL

Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan is set to be back with the Lahore Qalandars for the remainder of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) slated to be held in UAE next month. Rashid plied his trade for the Qalandars in two games before leaving for national duty. The 6th edition of the PSL was suspended in March after there was a possible breach in the bio-bubble which resulted in several cases being reported among players and officials. After Rashid left for national duties, Shakib Al Hasan was brought in as his replacement. However, Rashid is back in the scheme of things after the Bangladesh all-rounder decided to pull out of the remainder of the season. "I am excited to be back with PSL and Lahore Qalandars," Rashid said. "I had a couple of good games with them earlier and the team went off to a good start, I am hopeful to help them continue with the momentum,” he further added. The 6th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) originally started n 20th February. All the matches were held in Karachi where the teams were placed in a specially set-up bio-bubble. However the tournament had to be suspended indefinitely after just 14 games owing to a bio-bubble breach. As per the new schedule the tournament will restart on 1st June with the final slated to be played on 20th June. As per reports it is learnt that the leggie will fly off to UK right after the conclusion of the PSL in order to be part of the Sussex squad for the Vitality T20 Blast. "I am really looking forward to joining up with my teammates at Sussex upon completion of the PSL," he said. "Whilst the travel restrictions in place have been a big factor in delaying my arrival, it is fortunate I am still able to play some high-level cricket before heading to Hove later in June,” Rashid further added.