IPL auction to be held on December 23 in Kochi

A BCCI official said on Wednesday that the players’ auction for next year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in Kochi on December 23.

The Turkish cities of Istanbul, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad were also in contention to host the auction, but the BCCI eventually chose the coastal Kerala city.

A BCCI official said, “Logically and looking at the dates, Kochi turned out to be the most suitable option.

Unlike the previous auctions, this year’s auction will be smaller. 10 IPL franchises have already been asked to submit the list of retained players by November 15.

Also, the salary cap for the 2023 season is likely to be increased from Rs 90 to Rs 95 crore.

Originally published at Pen 18

pant: Suspense remains if it will be Pant or Karthik for semifinal against England

Rishabh Pant finally got a game in the T20 World Cup when he played against Zimbabwe but the suspense remains whether he will keep the wicket against England in the semi-final or will Dinesh Karthik be back in the squad.

During the 2019 ODI World Cup, India did not have the number four batsman and in the ongoing T20 World Cup, the never-ending debate is about whether Pant should come ahead of Karthik in the playing XI.

While Karthik hasn’t fired in the role of a designated finisher, Pant has fallen short in whatever T20I chances he has got so far.

Rohit Sharma said playing Pant against Zimbabwe was a tactical move keeping the semi-finals in mind, but the captain asked who would keep the wickets on Thursday.

“Given that we didn’t know which team we would play in the semi-finals before the Zimbabwe game, we wanted to give a left-handed batsman a chance to take on some of the spinners bowling in the middle for New Zealand and England. It was,” said Rohit. Explained the reason behind the inclusion of Pant.

He added, “And we thought Rishabh was the guy to go for us and give him some time. But then, what’s going to happen tomorrow, I can’t tell you right now.”

Rohit defends Axar Patel

It has been a memorable World Cup for Axar Patel as he scored a lot of runs at an economy rate of around 10 per over, but the captain was firmly behind the left-arm spinner.

“To be honest, I’m not worried, because he (Akshar) has got to bowl hard in this tournament. Except in that game against Netherlands, he hasn’t bowled the full overs of his quota, only because of the conditions that require him to bowl. have to present.

“We have four fast bowlers in particular who have bowled all their quota, which means spinners won’t bowl their overs. If you look at the conditions, except in Sydney, the grounds we’ve played have a lot to offer. Fast bowler, which means we never got a chance to bowl to Axar in the powerplays, which is his specialty.”

Rohit also made it clear that he would not leave Akshar for a bad tournament.

“Guys can have a bad tournament. It doesn’t mean he is out of form or not bowling well or not being able to execute plans. I thought he was the kind of place for me.” important, and when I’ve talked to him, when I hear his thoughts, I love that he’s in a good place.

“And that’s exactly what we want when you’re gonna play a game like this.”

While he defended Axar, there were enough indications in Wednesday’s training session that Deepak Hooda cannot be ruled out completely considering that he is a far more skilled batsman who can bowl an odd over if required. .

Kohli injured during training

Virat Kohli suffered a nasty blow in the groin area during Wednesday’s net session when Harshal Patel bowled but the team heaved a sigh of relief as the master batsman was back in the nets within minutes.

Captain Rohit Sharma, who suffered a right hand injury on Tuesday, confirmed that he is fully fit.

Rohit said, “I was hit yesterday, but now it looks fine. There was a slight injury, but now it is fine.”

Originally published at Pen 18

Sri Lanka cricketer accused of choking woman during alleged assault

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Australia multiple times and strangling her so hard that she needed a brain scan to test for the injury, local media reported on Wednesday unsealed. cited court documents.

The 31-year-old, who was arrested on Sunday just hours after his country lost to England in the Twenty20 World Cup, was charged with four counts of sexual assault and denied bail.

Magistrate Robert Williams had agreed to suppress the details of the charges and other elements of the case, issuing a sweeping hiatus order.

But the suppression order was successfully challenged by Australian media, which have now reported graphic details of the alleged assault against the unnamed woman.

Court documents cited by public broadcaster ABC said the pair were engaged on a dating app before meeting on November 2 at a popular bar near Sydney’s Opera House.

They then went to the alleged victim’s house by boat and after drinking several times, Gunathilaka allegedly forced herself several times with her.

It is alleged that during one of the assaults the woman saw a condom on the floor despite Gunathilaka being asked to wear one.

Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended the batsman “from all forms of the game with immediate effect”.

Originally published at Pen 18

pakistan: New Zealand win toss, bat against Pakistan in T20 World Cup semi-final

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup being played in Sydney on Wednesday.

The Black Caps, who top Group 1, are aiming for a place in the final for the second time in a row as they aim for a T20 title first.

Like New Zealand, Group 2 runners-up Pakistan are in the semi-finals for the second year in a row as they look to add to their 2009 World Cup victory.

The winner will face either England or India – who meet in Adelaide on Thursday – in Sunday’s final.

Both teams named unchanged sides.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Richard Illingworth (Eng)

TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (England)

Match referee: Chris Broad (England)

Originally published at Pen 18

england: England bowlers look to stifle India firepower in T20 semi-final

England bowlers have helped their batting team-mates cover for the Twenty20 World Cup and will now face their biggest test against India’s firepower in Thursday’s semi-final.

The challenge could be even bigger for Jos Buttler’s side, with express pacer Mark Wood joining the struggle at the Adelaide Oval as number three batsman David Malan fears an injury.

Barring a convincing win over fellow semi-finalists New Zealand, England’s journey into the last four has been a rocky one, with a shock defeat for Ireland, a washout against Australia and ineffective victories over Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Only opener Alex Hales has been ranked in the top 10 of the runs list among players competing exclusively in the Super 12.

However, the bowling of Sam Curran and Wood, backed by Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, has propelled England forward.

He might have a hand against India’s heavy hitters, however, with a rejuvenated Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav in unlucky form.

With England’s bowlers and India’s batsmen performing exceptionally well in the final overs, the first meeting of the teams in the knockout rounds of the tournament is likely to be a crucial, if not decisive, fight to the death.

It will be England’s first match of the tournament at the Adelaide Oval but India have already played on the field, running for victory over Bangladesh.

Kohli will be jumping out of his skin to take the strike in Adelaide, where he has scored five centuries and three fifties in 14 innings across all formats.

England have bitter memories of their last World Cup match on the field, where Bangladesh dropped them from the 50-over tournament in 2015.

This proved to be a turning point, after which England reached the semi-finals or better at every World Cup.

“Some moments or memories are not always good, unfortunately,” Butler, who played in the 2015 loss with several current teammates, said on Wednesday.

“Right now going into the semi-finals and going into tournaments where we should do well is a great place as a team.”

While England sweat the fitness of key players, India’s only selection dilemma is whether to bring back Dinesh Karthik as wicketkeeper or Rishabh Pant as a left-arm batting option to counter England’s spinners. To be kept

India failed to reach the knockout rounds at last year’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, but made it to the last four Down Under with only one blip against South Africa.

Captain Rohit Sharma said, ‘We can be proud of ourselves from where we have come.

“A bad game can’t really define who you are.”

Originally published at Pen 18

women world boxing championship: India to host women’s World Boxing Championship next year: BFI

India will host the women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi in 2023, two years after the country was stripped of its rights to host the men’s event for not paying the required fee to the global governing body.

India has never hosted a men’s world championship, but this will be the third time the country’s elite women’s competition will be held in New Delhi in 2006 and 2018.

Boxing Federation of India (BFI) general secretary Hemant Kalita told PTI, “We have got the rights to host the Women’s World Championship and we want to host the event in the end of March and the first week of April.”

International Boxing Association (IBA) President Omar Kremlev is on his first visit to the country and the dates for the marquee event will be finalized during the visit.

“The dates of the event have not been finalized yet. We will sit with the IBA president and reach an agreement during his visit,” Kalita said.

The tournament is likely to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The hosting rights for the event for India comes as a significant development as the BFI lost the hosting rights for the 2021 event to Serbia after it failed to pay the host fee, leading to the International Boxing Association, then (AIBA). known as, was driven to end. compromise.

In the previous edition of the women’s event in Turkey, India came back with three medals, including Nikhat Zareen’s gold in the flyweight category.

The Kremlev recently announced that the prize money at the men’s world championships to be held in Tashkent in May next year will double from the previous edition.

It remains to be seen whether the world body makes the same announcement for the women’s event.

Originally published at Pen 18

rohit: T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma back in nets following forearm injury during practice session, good news for Indian fans! – The Economic Times Video

In a much-needed respite for Indian cricket fans, skipper Rohit Sharma is back in the practice session ahead of the crucial semi-final clash against England in the T20 World Cup. The ace batsman suffered a right hand injury during the practice session. Lastly, Rohit was seen sweating profusely during a practice session in Adelaide. The Men in Blue will take on the mighty England on November 10. (ANI)

Originally published at Pen 18