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Hardik Pandya will not be part of India’s squad for the five-match T20I series against Australia which begins on November 23, four days after the ODI World Cup. ESPNcricinfo has learned that India’s squad for the T20I series is scheduled to be picked on November 15, the same day Rohit Sharma’s team faces New Zealand in the World Cup semi-finals in Mumbai.It is understood that Hardik, who tore a ligament in his left ankle in the World Cup league match against Bangladesh on October 19, was advised six to eight weeks of rest by the BCCI medical staff. The medical staff was initially optimistic about Hardik recovering in time to play in India’s last league match against Netherlands on November 12. However, the swelling failed to recede, causing pain during the fitness tests Hardik underwent before he was eventually ruled out of the tournament, with Prasidh Krishna named his replacement.Related

• Wade to captain Australia in T20I series against India

• Hardik Pandya out of World Cup with ankle injury

• Dravid after Hardik exit: 'Enough quality in our top seven to look after itself'

It is understood that the majority of the World Cup squad is likely to be rested, with the group selected for the Australia T20Is likely to feature most players who were part of the Asian Games in October. The Indian team, which had won the gold medal at the event in Hangzhou, was led by Ruturaj Gaikwad. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma featured in that squad.The selection panel, led by former India allrounder Ajit Agarkar, will be mindful of the senior Indian team’s workload in the past two months, a period in which they have played the Asia Cup and the World Cup.It is also understood that VVS Laxman is set to be the head coach for the T20I series against Australia. It could not be confirmed what the BCCI plans to do about Rahul Dravid whose two-year contract will end after the World Cup.

Big Picture: World Cup 2023 comes to Kolkata

The World Cup has arrived in Kolkata, where Bangladesh can expect a fair bit of support at Eden Gardens when they take on Netherlands. There are supposed to be at least 2000 fans on their way from Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh for this match, with the cultural connection with Kolkata and good travel options between the two making it a popular destination for Bangladeshis.Bangladesh come to Kolkata following a 149-run defeat against South Africa in Mumbai. Mahmudullah’s hundred apart, there wasn’t much to cheer about in that game. The bowling especially was all over the place during the final ten overs, when South Africa smashed 144 runs. And before Mahmudullah built partnerships with the tail, and attacked the loose deliveries, Bangladesh had slipped to 81 for 6. While Mahmudullah’s innings was encouraging, these were miniscule gains for a team that is currently placed eighth after five games but still harbours hopes of making it to the semi-final of the World Cup.Related

• Taskin says Shakib's mid-World Cup break not a bother for Bangladesh's morale

• Netherlands fail to walk the walk after talking a good game – Cook

• Shakib Al Hasan rejoins Bangladesh World Cup contingent in Kolkata

• Mahmudullah lets his bat do the talking after time on the sidelines

Moreover, Netherlands’ inspiring performances issue a warning. Although they might be smarting from their 309-run defeat against Australia, Netherlands are not roadkill. They have punched well above their weight in the tournament by stunning South Africa, and running Sri Lanka close.Scott Edwards, leading from the front in this World Cup, captains a side which also fought their way into this World Cup with a superb showing in the Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in June-July. They had shown then too that the Full-Member tag was no deterrent for them. Bangladesh, beware.

Form guide

Netherlands LLWLL
Bangladesh LLLLW

In the spotlight: Mahmudullah and Logan van Beek

Bangladesh’s selectors and team management seemed to have moved on from Mahmudullah this March. But he was brought back for the ODI series against New Zealand just before the World Cup. Since then, he averages 67 in five innings. However, three of those innings have come at No. 6 – and one each at Nos. 7 and 8 – something which the team might have to reconsider in light of Bangladesh’s under-performing middle order.Mahmudullah’s batting position could be reconsidered after his century•ICC via Getty Images

Although Logan van Beek was taken for 74 across his ten overs against Australia, he did pick up four wickets. His economy rate in this World Cup has been pretty high at 6.34, but van Beek has eight wickets at 27.62. Three of those wickets had come in Netherlands’ upset of South Africa. Van Beek also contributed 59 against Sri Lanka, adding 130 with Sybrand Engelbrecht after Netherlands were 91 for 6. If he can continue with that touch, Netherlands will be well served.

Team news: Taskin fit for Bangladesh

Taskin Ahmed, who was sidelined by a shoulder niggle, bowled at full tilt two days before the match, so expect him to be back. Towhid Hridoy could also return to the side after Bangladesh’s experiment of playing six bowlers didn’t work out against South Africa.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Litton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Nasum Ahmed/Towhid Hridoy, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Mustafizur RahmanMax O’Dowd has a highest score of only 18 in five innings this World Cup•Associated Press

Netherlands need runs from opening batter Max O’Dowd – he has a highest score of only 18 in five innings this World Cup – but they are likely to continue to back him. Expect them to go in unchanged.Netherlands (probable): 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Colin Ackermann, 4 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 5 Bas de Leede, 6 Scott Edwards (capt & wk), 7 Teja Nidamanuru, 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Paul van Meekeren

Pitch and conditions: Probable run fest awaits

Eden Gardens has hosted just a single ODI in the last six years. And though the pitches there historically tend to be batting-friendly, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 215 by India in that ODI this January. However, there have been high totals there at the IPL.As for the weather in Kolkata, it is expected to be hot and humid, with winter setting in only towards the middle or end of November.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh and Netherlands have met in an ODI only twice so far. The last of those meetings had come during the 2011 World Cup. From that game, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Wesley Barresi are still part of the respective teams’ squads in 2023.
• All of Mahmudullah’s ODI centuries have come in ICC tournaments: three in the World Cup, and one in the Champions Trophy.
• Bas de Leede’s figures of 2 for 115 in ten overs against Australia is now the most expensive ten-over spell in ODIs, relieving Mick Lewis of this unwanted record after 17 years.

Quotes

“[Our World Cup] is not finished yet. [There are] still four more games to go. If we can win those, anything can happen because there are some [net] run rate issues… So if we can win four, there will be a different story, maybe. But at the moment we are planning to go match by match.”

Tamim Iqbal will ‘wait till January’ to make a decision about his future in international cricket.”After the World Cup, I felt that there should be a decision about my international future,” Tamim said during a press conference on Monday. “Throughout my career, I have always kept myself away from indecision. I have always been very open and clear about whatever decision I have taken in my life. I was not in the country for quite some time, so this meeting [with BCB president Nazmul Hassan] was due.”We held the meeting today because we had to postpone it yesterday too. Today is actually not a great day to do all this. The Test match [against New Zealand] starts tomorrow. Since we had to do the meeting today, a statement afterwards was always forthcoming, so I apologise that I am doing this the day before the game. It is important for me and the Bangladesh team that there’s no impact of this in the game.”Related

• Shanto wants Tamim 'available in all formats' for Bangladesh

• How Tamim Iqbal's un-retirement unfolded

• Tamim hits out at BCB; claims he would've been fit for World Cup

• Shakib: Tamim 'childish' and 'not a team man'

Tamim had retired from international cricket last July, only to reverse his decision after meeting Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina the following day. A month later, he also resigned from ODI captaincy. Tamim then played two out of three ODIs against New Zealand in September, even as his successor Shakib Al Hasan had later criticised him for leaving the captaincy at the time. Tamim is yet to respond to Shakib.Tamim said that he was holding back the announcement about his future at Nazmul’s request, adding that he will be returning to competitive cricket during next year’s Bangladesh Premier League in January.”I don’t want to keep things hanging for a few more months. I don’t want to stretch it unnecessarily,” he said. “After discussing a lot of things with the president and the board, I want to respect their decision and wait till January. I could have told you my plan today, but let me play in the BPL, and then we will have another discussion for sure.”Nazmul, meanwhile, said major discussions regarding the issue with Tamim will be done only after national elections – where Nazmul has got the ticket from his home district alongside Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza – in January.”There wasn’t enough time [to discuss matters with Tamim],” Nazmul said. “He said some stuff. But he came at a time when I didn’t have enough time for him. I have the elections in a month. I spend most of my time in my constituency. I told him I will listen and speak to a few more people after the elections. I want to know where the problem is. I want to go into its depth.”

Alex Carey took a world record-equalling eight catches in an innings for South Australia in their Marsh Cup win over Queensland.It was the 32-year-old Test wicketkeeper’s first 50-over game since being dropped from the Australian side at last year’s World Cup in India and he had a day to remember. Five of Carey’s catches were taken off the bowling of player of the match Jordan Buckingham, who finished with a career-best 6 for 41 in the Bulls’ total of 218 at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide on Wednesday.The Redbacks won by five wickets in the 45th over with Thomas Kelly blasting 81 off 66 deliveries and captain Nathan McSweeney making 52.Carey had earlier equalled the List A world record when he caught a skier to dismiss last man Matt Kuhnemann. Carey finished the innings equal with two previous world record holders who achieved the feat in English domestic cricket. The first to claim eight catches in an innings was Somerset wicketkeeper Derek Taylor in 1982. The feat was then achieved by Worcestershire gloveman James Pipe in 2001.Carey’s new mark is an Australian List A record on its own. Former Australia wicketkeeper Peter Nevill had eight dismissals in an innings for NSW against a Cricket Australia XI in 2017, but two of them were stumpings.Carey made the difficult look easy with his best catch a stunning diving effort down the leg side to dismiss Jack Wildermuth first ball off Buckingham.Wildermuth got a good piece of a glance that seemed certain to be going to the boundary. Carey dived full length and with his left arm on the ground somehow managed to glove the ball cleanly.He also took a well-judged running catch towards fine leg to get rid of Queensland stand-in skipper Marnus Labuschagne for 74 off 99 deliveries.Carey’s heroics came amidst an incredible spell of fast bowling by Henry Thornton. Thornton had 2 for 7 off his first six overs, beating Labuschagne at least six times with deliveries that cut both ways. Thornton dropped a tough caught and bowled chance off Labuschagne when he was yet to reach double figures.It took all of the Test No.3’s skill to negotiate a spell that Glenn McGrath in his pomp would have been proud of.The win was South Australia’s first in the competition this season, though they and the Bulls were already out of contention to play in the final.

Match details

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Mumbai Indians (MI)
Hyderabad, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big picture – Bumrah vs Klaasen

Over the last couple of years, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klaasen has developed into one of the most fearsome hitters in T20 cricket. He was their top-scorer in IPL 2023 – 448 at a strike rate of 177 – and has begun 2024 with a ferocious display at Eden Gardens, where his 63 off 29 balls nearly upstaged Andre Russell. While all of the other SRH batters got starts against Kolkata Knight Riders, Klaasen was the sole reason they stayed in the chase as long as they did.On Wednesday, against Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad, Klaasen could face a brand-new challenge. Well almost. His head-to-head battle with Jasprit Bumrah is only one-ball old, and he scored one run off it. In ODIs, he’s faced 20 deliveries from Bumrah and scored 18 runs for one dismissal. Amid the glut of international and franchise cricket, the prospect of a new match-up between two players on top of their game is a rarity.Given Klaasen’s importance to Sunrisers, Mumbai could well keep the majority of Bumrah’s overs for when he’s in the middle. They will certainly minimise bowling spin to Klaasen – since the start of 2023 he averages 148.5 and has a strike rate of 193 against spin in T20 cricket. But Klaasen’s no mug against pace either. He has a career strike rate of 148.45 against the quicks, and dispatched Mitchell Starc for three sixes in an over on Saturday.Bumrah, though, is usually in a league of his own. After missing IPL 2023 with a back injury, he made his comeback to the league with a spell of 3 for 14 in Mumbai’s season opener against Gujarat Titans despite two of his overs coming at the death. All of which sets up the prospect of a tantalising battle with Klaasen, as both Mumbai and Sunrisers gun for their first points of IPL 2024.The match is especially significant for the Sunrisers, who lost six out of seven home games last season, and would love a winning start in Hyderabad this year.

In the spotlight – Hardik Pandya and Aiden Markram

In his first match as Mumbai Indians captain, Hardik Pandya travelled to the home of the team he first led in the IPL, and found himself booed at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He was also the subject of much vitriol on social media, especially for asking Rohit Sharma to field on the boundary. Some of Hardik’s other captaincy decisions also came under scrutiny, like opening the bowling himself and bringing on Bumrah only in the fourth over of the Titans innings, and batting at No. 7 below Tim David. Will Hyderabad be kinder to Hardik Pandya?Aiden Markram led the Sunrisers franchise in the SA20 – Eastern Cape – to back to back titles but his stock has dropped in Hyderabad and he was replaced as captain by Pat Cummins ahead of this season. Markram was picked for SRH’s opening game in Kolkata and made 18 off 13 balls. After a poor IPL 2023 – 248 runs at a strike rate of 126 – he needs to find form quickly this year to stay ahead of Travis Head and Glenn Phillips in the overseas pecking order.Hardik Pandya had a tough start as Mumbai Indians captain in Ahmedabad•BCCI

Team news and impact player strategy

Sunrisers HyderabadLegspinner Wanindu Hasaranga is yet to join the Sunrisers squad and is expected to be unavailable for at least another week as he consults doctors overseas about chronic pain in his left heel. The question for Sunrisers is whether to persist with Marco Jansen, who was expensive against KKR, as their overseas bowling option for a while longer.In terms of Impact Player strategy, SRH swapped out fast bowler T Natarajan after bowling at Eden Gardens and brought in opener Abhishek Sharma for the chase.Probable XII: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 , 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Marco Jansen/Fazalhaq Farooqi, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Mayank Markande, 12 Mumbai IndiansSuryakumar Yadav continues to be unavailable for Mumbai Indians as he recovers from ankle surgery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. He is also unlikely to be fit for Mumbai’s first home game on April 1.Mumbai named only three overseas players in their XI when bowling first against Titans, swapping out fast bowler Luke Wood and bringing in middle-order batter Dewald Brevis for the chase.Probable XII: 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Naman Dhir, 4 , 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Tim David, 8. Shams Mulani, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12

Stats that matter

• Mumbai Indians have won four of their last five matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad
• Jasprit Bumrah has 16 wickets in 13 matches against Sunrisers
• Pat Cummins averages 40 with the bat against Mumbai Indians, striking at 181.81 against them

Quotes

“I feel the team is exactly the same. We still have goals and the team environment is really great. Rohit is still an amazing leader and I still learn from him every day, as well as Hardik. I learn from him. I feel the team environment is really in a good place and we are ready for whatever lies ahead for us as a team”

For the first time, a women’s franchise game will be running side by side with a men’s international, after Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced the fixtures of this year’s Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) to be held in August in Trinidad. Three WCPL matches will be a part of double-headers along with West Indies men’s T20Is against South Africa.Johnny Grave, CEO of Cricket West Indies, called it an “exciting new concept for WCPL 2024″ in the second edition of the competition which will be held from August 21 to 29.”Women’s cricket continues to be a strategic priority for Cricket West Indies, and this is another exciting new concept for WCPL 2024,” Grave said. “We are certain that there will be huge interest from people in Trinidad in these double headers, as fans will be able to watch world class international Men’s cricket, followed by the best female cricketers in the region competing alongside some of the best overseas players in the world.”All the WCPL games will take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, with the double-headers scheduled for August 23, 25 and 27.Pete Russell, CEO of the Caribbean Premier League, said: “We are very excited to be able to work with Cricket West Indies to have the WCPL take place at the same time as these Men’s T20 Internationals. It is another example of how the two organisations are working in harmony to provide the best outcome for fans, players and cricket in the region. We look forward to another successful WCPL as the tournament continues to grow year on year.”Hayley Matthews-led Barbados Royals clinched the previous edition of the WCPL, where a total of seven matches were held, including the final, among three teams.South Africa are scheduled to tour the Caribbean for two Tests in Trinidad and Guyana from August 7. This will be followed by the three-match T20I series at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad from August 23 ahead of the CPL. The two teams will also play a four-day warm-up game ahead of the Test series in Tarouba.

Bangladesh chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain is keeping the faith in the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup keeping in mind the ICC’s May 25 deadline to submit the final squads for the tournament. Bangladesh had the opportunity to make changes after they lost the first two T20Is – and hence the series – against USA in Texas with the same squad.”After speaking to the captain [Najmul Hossain Shanto] and coach [Chandika Hathurusinghe], we decided to keep this squad,” Ashraf said. “We are hoping they do well in the T20 World Cup. We are keeping faith in the existing squad. We never expected that the team will start the tour with a series loss [against USA]. But that’s the reality. We have another 12 days in hand. We have to get out of this disappointment. They know that if the team does well in the World Cup, this will be forgotten quickly.”Ashraf was speaking at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka where the BCB called up 21 players for the Bangladesh Tigers’ training camp from May 26. Ashraf said the camp includes six players designated as T20 World Cup reserves although Mohammad Saifuddin has opted out for the first two weeks due to a family emergency.Related

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• Injured Taskin Ahmed named in Bangladesh's T20 World Cup squad

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“Since nobody was in training, we started the Bangladesh Tigers’ camp. We are keeping some players ready for white-ball cricket so that when facing a crisis, we can send replacements,” he said. “They are all World Cup standbys. (Anamul Haque) Bijoy is there if there’s a crisis around Litton (Das). (Nurul Hasan) Sohan is there for Jaker Ali. Khaled, (Parvez Hossain) Emon, Nasum (Ahmed) and (Mehidy Hasan) Miraz are also in the camp. Nasum was suffering from jaundice, so he might join the players in the Sylhet phase next month.”Saifuddin has been given a leave till June 10. He is attending to a family situation. He was one of the six players asked to join the Bangladesh Tigers’ training camp. We will now prepare Khaled with the others.”Bangladesh’s opening batting combination has been under scrutiny this year, particularly with Litton Das and Soumya Sarkar looking out of form. Tanzid Hasan has been the only opener to have scored a little consistently although he has played only six T20Is since his T20I debut against Zimbabwe earlier this month.Ashraf said they are not looking for a makeshift opening option just yet because he feels it is a specialist’s job. He said they should be able to pick openers from those who did well in the BPL this year.”Facing the new ball is a challenge everywhere, so you won’t see many teams nowadays sending makeshift openers,” he said. “Unless they really have to. Cricket has moved on from using pinch hitters.”We are supposed to have 24 openers playing in the BPL, if you consider each team having a reserve opener apart from the regular pair. I don’t think it is a good practice if we have to think about a makeshift.”Ashraf also informed that Taskin Ahmed, who suffered a side strain earlier this month, could be training properly from June 5. “Taskin could start light training from June 1. He is recovering quicker than expected. He could be bowling with a full run-up from June 5,” he said.Bangladesh, in Group D, open their T20 World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on June 7 in Dallas before heading to New York to play South Africa (June 10), and then to St Vincent to take on Netherlands (June 13) and Nepal (June 16). They will also play two warm- up games, against USA on May 28, and opposite India on June 1 before the main tournament.

Bangladesh squad for T20 World Cup

:Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Taskin Ahmed (vice-capt), Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Tanvir Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan
Traveling reserves: Hasan Mahmud, Afif Hossain

Governor-General XI 235 (Burns 74, Knott 66, Dar 4-46, Sana 3-27) beat Pakistan 182 (Maroof 74, Wellington 4-33)Legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington reminded Australian selectors of her talents with a match-winning display with the ball in the Governor General’s XI’s 53-run victory over Pakistan in the 50-over clash in Brisbane.Wellington was dropped from the T20 squad for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, losing her place to fellow leggie Georgia Wareham who has returned from a long injury layoff to reclaim her place.Wellington overcame that disappointment to take 4 for 33 against Pakistan at Allan Border Field in a classy spell.The Governor General’s XI were dismissed for 235 in the 50th over and bundled Pakistan out for 182 in the 45th.Governor General’s XI captain Ash Gardner said Wellington was one of the best spinners in the game and would fight her way back into the Australian team.”It has been quite tough for her. Over the last couple of years she has bowled really well in all competitions and I do feel for her,” Gardner told AAP. “It is a tough decision to make. You look at the likes of who is in our squad at the moment and it is so hard for people to find their way in.Bismah Mahroof made 74 against Governor-General’s XI•Getty Images

“I know Wello’ will keep striving. I know she is playing in New Zealand as well as the WNCL so she is playing in as many competitions as she can to get better. She is a class bowler and I am sure we will see her around for many more years to come.”Wellington said she had spoken to chief selector Shawn Flegler during the match to say she understood the decision.”Coming into this game I thought it was a good opportunity for me to put my case forward for other series or other events,” she said. “I know selection is hard…it’s disappointing but I know those tough calls have to be made. It’s hard to get there, but it’s even harder to keep your spot. You have people fighting you for your spot.”Veteran Erin Burns and rising star Charli Knott earlier came together with the Governor General’s XI in dire trouble at 8 for 3 but combined for a 129-run fourth-wicket stand.Pakistan skipper Bismah Maroof outlined her immense talents with the bat ahead of the visitors’ upcoming ODI and T20 internationals against Australia.The Australians won’t have it all their own way in a six-game series which begins with a one-dayer at the same venue on Monday.Pakistan opening bowlers Diana Baig and Fatima Sana were accurate and picked up wickets to showcase the threat they will pose.