Indian U-23 goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh expressed his happiness on being in the U23 camp in Dubai for the forthcoming qualifiers for the AFC U23 Asian Cup.

The U23 camp in Dubai for the forthcoming qualifiers for the AFC U23 Asian Cup comprises 20 players who have been part of Indian Arrows, and a total of 18 players who have been part of the AIFF Academy set-up some time or the other. “Everyone waits to meet their childhood friends once again – don’t they? We have all been friends or brothers for a long. Life is always good when you are surrounded by friends. The exceptional part among us is that there is no rivalry ever between any of us. The new boys have also experienced it,” said Dheeraj.

“Everyone is excited and looking forward to use this opportunity to perform well in the qualifiers. We are having a great environment inside the team. And we have got good new players adding up quality to the team,” he added.

Indian midfielder Princeton Rebello, who wasn’t a part of the U-17 World Cup squad but was part of the Academy system for the U19 National Team, and also the Indian Arrows, stated that he is ‘honoured’ to wear the National colours.

“It feels great to be back with the squad. It’s an honour for me to wear the national colours again. I will give my everything, and everyone is motivated to do well,” said Rebello.

India will play Oman in their first match of the Qualifiers of the AFC U23 Asian Cup on October 24 which will be followed by matches against UAE and Kyrgyz Republic respectively.

The U23 camp in Dubai for the forthcoming qualifiers for the AFC U23 Asian Cup comprises 20 players who have been part of Indian Arrows.

The fifth match of the Test Series between India and England’s men’s teams has been rescheduled and will now take place in July 2022.

The match, which was supposed to take place last month at Emirates Old Trafford, was called off when India were unable to field a team due to fears of a further increase in the number of COVID-19 cases inside the camp.

With India leading the series 2-1, the concluding fifth match will now take place from July 1, 2022, at Edgbaston, following an agreement between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)Last month, Indian physio Yogesh Parmar had contracted COVID-19 ahead of the fifth Test against England.

In the T20 World Cup opening match of the second group between India and Pakistan, a big responsibility will be on the top order of both the teams, whose top order went is a 75 percent guarantee to win the match.

India’s top order will be headed by Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Surya Kumar Yadav while Pakistan’s top order will be led by Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhr Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez.

If we look at the performance of the last ten matches, Pakistan’s top order has scored a lot of runs, while the Indian top order has improved their strike rate tremendously in this format. Looking at the performance of the last ten matches, Rohit Sharma`s SR is around 150 and Virat Kohli`s 145 while Surya Kumar Yadav’s SR has reached around 170. Although there is also a truth that Surya has played only four matches against England and Sri Lanka, in which he did not get a chance to bat on one occasion.

Rohit also played two 60 plus innings against NZ, while England and Australia batsmen have not been able to get out Virat Kohli in three out of four innings. KL Rahul is the only player in the top order who has the lowest average and strike rate in these ten matches. The big reason for this is his miserably failure against England.

On the other hand, Mohammad Rizwan has been the highest run-scorer in both the teams while Babar Azam has been second in this order but both of them have a much lower strike rate than Virat and Rohit. This should not at all mean that these players do not have the ability to improve the strike rate. Who can forget Babar Azam’s innings against South Africa in Centurion when Babar scored a century with a strike rate of over 200.

Similarly, his innings in Nottingham was an example of a good strike rate. Similarly, Rizwan was also successful in bringing his strike rate around 155 in both these innings. If not, many runs have been scored with the bat of Fakhr Zaman, then he has left all the players of his team behind in these ten matches in terms of strike rate. Be it his 8-ball 26 in Nottingham or his 34-ball 60 in Centurion. He has really done his team balle-balle.

Talking about Mohammad Hafeez, he has disappointed in these ten matches. In batting average as well as in strike rate. Fortunately, he has proved to be a very economical bowler in the bowling.

Obviously, looking at the T20 format, Team India’s top order is more effective due to their better strike rate.

The much-awaited high-octane clash between India and Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup will take place on October 24 (Sunday) in Dubai. Pakistan has not defeated India in a World Cup match across both ODIs and T20Is.

In Group 2, India will then face New Zealand and Afghanistan, the emerging force in T20 cricket, plus the winners of Group B and runners-up from Group A.

The ICC men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE and Oman got underway on Sunday and the final will be played in Dubai on November 14.

Pakistan’s top order has scored a lot of runs, while the Indian top order has improved their strike rate tremendously in this format. Looking at the performance of the last ten matches.

Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus played a crucial knock of 53 runs as his side defeats Ireland by eight wickets in Group A of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah on Friday.

With this win, Namibia has progressed from Group A to the Super 12 stages. As a result of finishing at the top of Group A, Scotland will join India’s group featuring Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan. Chasing 126, Namibia got off to a steady start as opener Craig Williams was set back for 15 runs by Curtis Campher, leaving their total as 25/1 after 5.1 overs.

Erasmus then joined the wicket-keeper Zane Green, who played a knock-off 24 runs of 32 balls. Ireland got their second breakthrough after 13.2 overs, as Campher once again took a wicket and sent Green back to the dug-out.

Following Green’s dismissal, David Weise and Erasmus played anchor innings of 28 and 53 runs, respectively, and took Namibia home by eight wickets.

Earlier in the match, Ireland started off well, as their first shock came after 62 runs in 7.2 overs. Namibia’s Jan Frylinck scalped three wickets and restricted Ireland at 125/8.

Ireland’s batter Stirling played a knock of 38 runs of 24 balls and brought his team to a decent total.

Brief scores: Ireland 125/8 (Stirling 38, Kevin O’Brien 25; Curtis Campher 2-14); Namibia 126/2 (Gerhard Erasmus 53, David Weise 28; Jan Frylinck 3-21).

Lahiru Kumara and Wanindu Hasaranga picked three wickets each as Sri Lanka thrashed Netherlands by eight wickets in the final Round 1 match of the ICC men’s T20 World Cup on Friday.

Sri Lanka bowled the Netherlands out for just 44 in 10 overs and then chased down the target in 7.1 overs to finish the qualifying stage of the showpiece event with three wins from three games. Chasing 45 runs, Sri Lanka didn’t get off to a good start as the side lost opener Pathum Nissanka in the second over. Kusal Perera then took Sri Lanka over the line in the eighth over.

Sri Lanka did lose Charith Asalanka’s wicket in the sixth over but the side got home comfortably in the end.

Earlier put into bat first, Netherlands got off to a bad start that only worsened in the subsequent overs. After losing Max ODowd in the first over, the Netherlands have lost three wickets in three overs in Group A.

Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Netherlands were soon found reeling at 37/6 at the end of six overs. The Pieter Seelaar-led side was eventually folded for 44/10 in 10 overs.

Earlier in the day, Namibia made history by qualifying for the T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12 stage in their very first appearance at the tournament after beating Ireland.

Namibia timed their chase of Ireland’s 125 for eight to perfection as a half-century from skipper Gerhard Erasmus and pyrotechnics from David Wiese led Namibia, to a phenomenal eight-wicket victory.

Meanwhile, Netherlands all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate announced on Friday that he has played his final international cricket match.

Ten Doeschate played his last match when the Netherlands locked horns with Namibia on Wednesday in the T20 World Cup. Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the legendary Dutch international played his first international match in 2006.

“It’s been a tough tour to finish on but it’s been a pleasure to be a part of the efforts again. It has always been a privilege to represent The Netherlands,” Doeschate said in a statement as per Cricket Netherlands (KNCB)

“I’m grateful to the players, coaches and everyone involved with the KNCB for allowing me to have enjoyed some of the spectacular highs of international cricket,” he added.

Brief Scores: Netherlands 44/10 (Colin Ackermann 11; Lahiru Kumara 3-7, Hasaranga 3-9) vs Sri Lanka 45/2 (Kusal Perera 33*; Brandon Glover 1-12)

The Sports Authority of India has announced the appointment of the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), Commodore PK Garg, at the Mission Olympic Cell meeting held on Thursday.

Commodore Garg was the High-Performance Director with Sports Authority of India till June 2021 and is an Arjuna Awardee recipient (1990) in Sailing and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Awardee in 1993-94. He joined Indian Navy in 1984 and handled various important and prestigious assignments over 34 years of service.

As an ex-athlete, he represented India in five Asian Games from 1986 to 2002 in the Enterprise-Class Sailing Event and was a National Champion five times.

“He also won the Gold and Silver at the Enterprise Class Sailing World Championships in 1993 in Zimbabwe and 1997 in Goa. He also won a couple of Bronze medals at the 1990 and 1994 Asian Games,” read an official SAI statement.

He served as Secretary of Services Sports Control Board (Indian Armed Forces) from 2014-17 and has also served as the Joint Secretary of the Yachting Association of India for four years.

He will be assuming the charge of CEO TOPS on Monday, October 25, 2021.