Former Australia cricket team captain Tim Paine set to play first match since sexting scandal

Former Australia captain Tim Paine is set to play his first top-level game as a sexting scandal has ended his international career, in which the wicketkeeper was included in Tasmania’s squad for a Sheffield Shield tie on Tuesday.

Paine stepped down as Test captain last November on the eve of the Ashes campaign against England, when obscene messages sent to a female colleague were about to be made public in 2017.

A week after the bombings were announced, Paine had taken a break from all forms of cricket for “for the foreseeable future”, amid concerns about a player’s mental well-being previously cleared.

But he never retired and was named in Tasmania’s 13-man squad for their Shield match against Queensland in Brisbane starting Thursday.

Paine is set to take on the gloves with Matthew Wade in the Aussies ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup later this month, and will face a Queensland team boasting former Test colleagues Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne.

The 37-year-old is training with the Tasmanian state team as a contracted player, and returned to lower-level cricket with his club side last weekend.

Paine was appointed to repair Australia’s reputation after the 2018 “sandpaper-gate” ball-tampering scandal that rocked world cricket and cost Steve Smith the captaincy.

Originally published at Pen 18

djokovic: Novak Djokovic finds ‘extra motivation’ from post-Wimbledon absence

Novak Djokovic claimed his third title of 2022 and the 89th of his career with an impressive straight-sets win over Marin Cilic in the Tel Aviv final on Sunday, emphasizing his long absence since winning his seventh Wimbledon crown in July, Provided “additional inspiration”.

Djokovic, 35, won 6-3, 6-4 this season to link the Israeli hard court trophy to victories at Rome clay and Wimbledon grass.

It was his 19th win over Cilic in 21 meetings in a rivalry that lasted until 2008.

Djokovic is playing his first singles tournament since winning his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st Grand Slam title in July.

He was banned from the US Open and denied vaccinations by hard courts across North America, before returning to bid farewell to Roger Federer at the Laver Cup team event in London last month.

“I played some really good tennis. I haven’t missed a set all week,” said former world number one Djokovic.

“I hadn’t played a tournament in three months, so it was really extra motivation for me to keep doing really well, especially because the guys have been so friendly and so supportive of me all week. I’m going to take some big confidence in the next one.” I’ve been there for a week too.”

Djokovic’s victory on Sunday came in the 127th final of his career. This allowed him to become the first person to claim the title this year on three different surfaces of the game.

“Wherever I am, that’s my way of winning tournaments and I’m glad to have a team of people around me who make sure I’m in the best position to win the title,” Djokovic told atptour.com. ,

“So I came to Israel, to try to win the title. Playing here for the first time since a Davis Cup tie more than 15 years ago, so it was a really amazing experience.”

On Sunday, Djokovic broke 34-year-old Cilic in the second game of the final and won the first set with a fourth ace after 47 minutes on the court.

Cilic, a former US Open winner, was chasing his 21st career title, but before 2022, broke in the first game of the second set and never recovered.

The Serb suffered only one break point in the match which was achieved in 94 minutes.

“Everything we experienced this week was really positive,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic now heads the Astana ATP tournament where world number one and US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz takes the top seed.

Seventh-ranked Djokovic in the world – having won a Grand Slam title this season – needs to break into the top 20 to make it to the ATP finals.

This would give him the opportunity to end 2022, starting the year in exile from Australia because of his controversial vaccination stance.

Originally published at Pen 18

india: Meghana, Shafali help India beat Malaysia by 30 runs in rain-affected match

Sabbhineni Meghna’s maiden T20I half-centuries, Shafali Verma’s 46 and Richa Ghosh’s 33* cameos as India beat Malaysia by 30 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method in a rain-affected match in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Sylhet cricket. defeated. Stadium on Monday.

With their second consecutive win in the tournament, India are leading the points table with Pakistan, who have won as many matches as the Women in Blue in the event so far. Chasing 182 runs, Malaysia had a poor start and lost their opener Winifred Duraisingam in the very first over of the match. After Deepti Sharma’s dismissal, Duraisingam returned to the pavilion after scoring zero runs.

The Indian bowlers delivered an economical spell and prevented the Malaysian batsmen from scoring big runs. With Deepti Sharma and Gaekwad taking a wicket each when the match was canceled due to incessant rain, Malaysia scored 16 for 2.

India won the match by 30 runs using DLS method. Earlier, a blistering 33* from Richa Ghosh followed by sharp innings from Sabbhineni Meghna and Shafali Verma helped India chase down a challenging target of 181/4 against Malaysia. Meghna top-scored for India with 69 runs while Shafali Verma scored 46 and Richa Ghosh scored 33 not out.

Originally published at Pen 18

atp rankings: Men’s tennis: Spain reigns as Rafael Nadal second behind Carlos Alcaraz in ATP rankings

Spain took the men’s tennis summit clash with Carlos Alcaraz as world number one in the ATP rankings released on Monday, with compatriot Rafael Nadal moving up to second.

Nadal, 36, benefited from Casper Rood’s quarter-final exit in Seoul, where he was the top seed, to advance ahead of Norway.

Novak Djokovic, winner of his third tournament this season in Tel Aviv, is seventh, but has 250 precious points in the run for the ATP Finals in Turin, his season-ending target.

The Serb was competing in his first singles tournament in Israel since claiming a seventh Wimbledon crown in July, and could still score points at the Astana ATP tournament this week.

Reaching the final in Tel Aviv, Croat Marin Cilic moved up two places from 16th to 14th.

Ranking:

1. Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 6740 points

2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 5810 (+1)

3. Casper Rudd (NOR) 5645 (-1)

4. Daniil Medvedev 5065

5. Alexander Zverev (GER) 5040

6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4810

7. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3820

8. Cameron Nori (GBR) 3445

9. Andrey Rublev 3345

10. Hubert Herkaz (POL) 3175 (+1)

11. Taylor Fritz (USA) 3055 (+1)

12. Generative Sinner (ITA) 3040 (-2)

13. Felix Auger-Aliassim (CAN) 2950

14. Marin Cilic (CrO) 2495 (+2)

15. Pablo Carreo (ESP) 2360 (-1)

16. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2360 (-1)

17. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2110

18. Karen Khachanov 1990

19. Francis Tiafoe (USA) 1940

20. Nick Kyrgios (Australia) 1780

Originally published at Pen 18

jasprit bumrah: Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a back injury – The Economic Times Video

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the ICC T20 World Cup due to a back injury, the BCCI announced on Monday. PTI on September 29 was the first to report that Bumrah was ruled out of the major tournament due to a stress fracture. Bumrah’s absence will certainly affect India’s chances in the marquee event in Australia as death bowling is still a gray area.

Originally published at Pen 18

bcci: Bumrah out of T20 World Cup with back injury: BCCI secretary Jay Shah

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the ICC T20 World Cup due to a back injury, the BCCI announced on Monday.

Bumrah has been ruled out of the big-ticket tournament due to a stress fracture, it was first reported by PTI on September 29.

Bumrah’s absence will certainly affect India’s chances in the marquee event in Australia as death bowling is still a gray area.

The BCCI was awaiting the medical report while the pacer did his rehab at the National Cricket Academy, but it was already decided that he would be out for months.

“The BCCI medical team has dropped Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad. The decision was taken after a detailed assessment and consultation with experts,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.

Bumrah was initially ruled out of the ongoing three-match T20I series against South Africa due to a back injury.

While BCCI will soon replace Bumrah in the squad for the marquee tournament, Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar will find a place in the main squad. Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Umran Malik’s name is expected to appear in the stand-by list.

Bumrah has a history of back problems due to his unconventional front-on action, which puts a lot of weight on his back.

In 2019 too he was ruled out for three months with a minor stress fracture, but this time, it could be a case of no show for at least four to six months.

This year, Bumrah has played only 5 games in each of the three formats apart from 14 matches for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

Originally published at Pen 18

india: India to open campaign against Pakistan in 2023 women’s T20 World Cup

India will begin their campaign in the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan in Cape Town on February 12, according to the fixture announced by the ICC on Monday. India have been placed in Group 2 along with England, West Indies, Pakistan and qualifier Ireland for the February 10-26 tournament to be held in South Africa.

India’s second match will also be played against West Indies in Cape Town on February 15, before taking on England and Ireland on February 18 and 20 at Gakbarah.

Hosts South Africa will take on Sri Lanka in the first match in Cape Town. The final will also be held in Cape Town on 26 February, with a reserve day available on the following day in case of a major interruption of play on the scheduled date.

Cape Town, Paarl and Gakbarah will host the matches of the tournament, with the knockout matches being played in Cape Town. Twenty-three matches will be played in a 10-team tournament.

Bangladesh and Ireland complete the list of participating teams in the eighth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup along with Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Five-time title winners and defending champions Australia are placed in Group 1 along with their trans-Tasmanian rivals New Zealand, hosts South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh recently won the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier by defeating Ireland, the second qualifying team to be placed in Group 2.

In the group stage, which runs until 21 February, each team will play the other four teams in their group once. The top two teams in each group play the semi-finals at the end of the group stage.

Originally published at Pen 18