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Ex-India skipper Md Azharuddin sacked as regional cricket body chief
Former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has been sacked as the head of a regional cricket board in the southern city of Hyderabad over alleged violation of rules.
In a show-cause notice, the apex council of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has informed 58-year-old Azharuddin about its decision to remove him as the president of the sports body till the completion of an internal probe against him.
Read Who can replace Shakib Al Hasan in Bangladesh Cricket Team?
The former cricketer has also been stripped of the primary membership of the Association, in the wake of complaints that he is a member of a Dubai-based private cricket club which takes part in a tournament not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
"The Apex Council is suspending you and your membership of HCA is being terminated until completion of the inquiry on these complaints (made by some members)," the show-cause notice states. Azharuddin has a week to respond to the notice.
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World renowned for his wristy strokes and considered one of India's most successful cricket captains, Azharuddin played 99 tests and 334 one day internationals for this country.
However, his international cricketing career came to an end when he was embroiled in a match-fixing scandal in 2000. Azharuddin was subsequently handed down a life ban by India's cricket control board, which was overturned by a higher court in Hyderabad in 2012.
In 2009, Azharuddin was elected as a parliamentarian on a Congress party ticket. In September 2019, he was elected as the President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.
Read The Best ODI Batsmen of the 21st Century
BAN vs AUS 2021: Australia Announce Squad For The Bangladesh T20 Series
The Australian T20 team will play a five-match series against the host Bangladesh starting in August 2021. This will be Australia's first away series in Bangladesh in four years. Australia last visited Bangladesh back in 2017 and drew a Test series 1-1. Cricket Australia has already announced an 18-man squad for the upcoming series against West Indies and Bangladesh. A few well-known Australian cricketers will be unavailable in the series. Regardless, the announced team is more than capable of putting Bangladeshi players to the test in T20 cricket. Let's take a look at Australia's squad for the Bangladesh T20 series.
Australia’s Squad for the Bangladesh T20 Series 2021
Cricket Australia named their limited-over squad for the series against the Windies and Bangladesh on Wednesday (June 16). Australia will play five T20 matches and three ODIs against host Windies in July. They will next go to Bangladesh for a five-match Twenty20 series against the team tigers.
The Australian selectors included a number of pacers and all-rounders in the white-ball team. Pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood have returned to the Australian limited-over squad for the next two series. They were both absent in the New Zealand series. 24-year-old young fast bowler Wes Agar has received his first international call-up and will most likely make his debut for the Baggy Green in the next series.
Read BAN vs. ZIM Series 2021: Key ODI Records Between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe
However, some big names of Australian cricket will not be seen during the West Indies and Bangladesh tours. Steven Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, and Glen Maxwell are among them.
Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, and Jhye Richardson are among the others who have withdrawn from the upcoming tours owing to personal reasons, while Steven Smith will be absent because of an elbow injury.
The Australia team will be captained by Aaron Finch. Josh Philippe, Matthew Wade, Moises Henriques, and Mitchell Marsh will have to carry most of the responsibility in batting. Australia have plenty of options in bowling, especially in the pace department. So, the national team's management will not have to worry about bowling.
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Meanwhile, the official schedule for the Bangladesh series has yet to be finalized. Australia have made certain requests on Bangladesh's bio-security arrangements because of Covid-19. BCB will formally announce the Australia series fixture if the two boards reach an agreement on these points.
Preliminary Squad:
Aaron Finch (C), Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Riley Meredith, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa, Ben McDermott, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Wes Agar.
The probable Australia XI for the first T20I:
Aaron Finch (C), Josh Philippe, Matthew Wade, Ben McDermott, Ashton Turner, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc
Read Who was The Best Captain of Bangladesh Cricket team?
Series fixture
Cricket Australia intends to play five T20 matches at the same venue due to the Coronavirus situation. Therefore, all of Bangladesh's matches against Australia in August are more likely to be staged at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.
Verdict
Bangladesh have never beaten Australia in a T20 match. The two victories of Bangladesh against Australia came in ODI and Test formats. Bangladesh's possibility of winning at least one T20 match is not certain as Australia are a very competitive side. But this will be a golden opportunity for the team tigers' to win a T20 match for the first time against mighty Australian side. In addition, the Bangladesh team can test their strength in the shorter version format through this series. On the other hand, Australia lost their last twenty20 series against New Zealand in March. That's why Australia will take the Windies and Bangladesh T20 series very seriously.
Read West Indies Suffer Innings Defeat; New Zealand Win Series Against England
Mizanur becomes first centurion of Dhaka League T20
Mizanur Rahman of Brothers Union hit 65-ball 100 on Thursday against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and became the first batsman to score a century in the ongoing Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League at BKSP.
Sheikh Jamal won the toss and sent the Brothers bat first, who riding on Mizanur’s bat, scored 133 for two in 17 overs before the rain came and interrupted the game.
Read:Sabbir denies allegation of racism against him by Elias
Along the way of hitting the first ton of the season, Mizanur hit 13 fours and three sixes.
The match never got a resumption due to rain and ended up with no result.
It was the 11th and last game of both teams in the initial round of the Dhaka League T20.
Read:Kamrul takes four wickets as Doleshwar beat Abahani
After all these rounds of games, Sheikh Jamal won six games and ensured a place in the Super League, the next phase of the league, which will be played between six teams.
Brothers, on the other hand, have won only four games and failed to secure a place in the Super League.
The match between Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club and OLD DOHS Sports Club also ended up with no result on Thursday morning, while the other match between Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity and Prime Bank Cricket Club was won by Prime Bank by five wickets under the DL Method.
Read:BAN vs. ZIM Series 2021: Key ODI Records Between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe
All these teams— Prime Doleshwar, DOHS, Khelaghar and Prime Bank— have also completed all 11 rounds of games. Of them, Prime Bank and Prime Doleshwar have booked a place each in the Super League which will begin on Saturday.
Bale sets up both goals, Wales beats Turkey 2-0 at Euro 2020
Gareth Bale made sure his missed penalty didn’t matter by setting up two goals.
The Wales captain created chance after chance in his team’s 2-0 victory over Turkey on Wednesday at the European Championship.
Bale lofted a pass over the defense that Aaron Ramsey chested down before knocking it past onrushing Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Çakir in the 42nd minute. Connor Roberts scored the second in the final seconds of injury time after Bale dribbled along the touchline from a short corner.
The win moved the Euro 2016 semifinalists closer to a place in the last 16 with four points in Group A. Turkey has zero points after losing both of its matches.
Also read: Russia beats Finland 1-0 for 1st points at Euro 2020
“We all turned up, we all put in a great performance and I felt we deserved the victory,” Bale said. “If you’d offered us four points (from two games) at the start of the campaign we’d have bitten your hand off.”
Bale had a chance to score one himself in the 61st minute but he sent his penalty kick over the bar after being tripped by Zeki Çelik on the edge of the area.
“I felt I played well all evening. The penalty miss is my fault, of course I take responsibility, but I think it shows the character,” Bale said. “I kept going, I kept fighting away and I got the second assist to kill off the game.”
Also read: Ronaldo scores 2, Portugal beats Hungary 3-0 at Euro 2020
The Wales captain hasn’t scored for his country in 13 games. His last goal came against Croatia in Euro 2020 qualifying in October 2019.
After the match, the team gathered around their captain for a rousing, emphatic victory speech.
Ramsey had two earlier chances to score off passes from Bale before finally giving his team the lead. He had one shot saved by the goalkeeper early and then scooped the ball over the bar in the 24th when one-on-one with Çakir.
“Third time lucky. I had a couple of opportunities, but there’s nothing I could do about them,” Ramsey said. “Now we can go to Italy (for the third game Sunday) full of confidence and who knows what can happen there.”
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Turkey captain Burak Yilmaz had five shots but couldn’t convert any of them, most notably when he missed an excellent chance early in the second half. He volleyed over the bar from close range when a corner was headed on to him.
Turkey had strong support from traveling fans and many locals in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000 in close ally Azerbaijan. The presidents of both Turkey and Azerbaijan were in attendance.
Turkey coach Şenol Güneş was sharply critical of his team on Roberts’ late goal, blaming “a lack of attention” after Bale had tried a similar dribble from another corner moments before.
“We are all sorry for this result,” Güneş said through an interpreter. “We couldn’t get any points from these two games so we are sorry. This team could have played much better than this.”
Russia beats Finland 1-0 for 1st points at Euro 2020
With a slick one-two and a beautiful curling shot, Aleksei Miranchuk finally gave Russia something to smile about at the European Championship.
The left-footed playmaker produced the one moment of class in a chaotic game Wednesday to give Russia a 1-0 win over Finland and its first points at Euro 2020.
“I have to give credit, it was beautiful finishing.” Finland coach Markku Kanerva said.
The pessimism that followed the Russians’ 3-0 loss to Belgium in their opening Group B game was replaced by loud cheers and jubilant chants of “ROSS-I-YA” at the final whistle at Saint Petersburg Stadium.
A loss would have left Russia with an extremely difficult task to qualify for the knockout stage, given its last match is a trip to Denmark on Monday.
Now Russia is tied on points with the Finns, who missed a chance to reach the last 16 with a game to spare with a second straight victory in their first major tournament. Their first victory was 1-0 over Denmark in a match marked by Christian Eriksen’s collapse.
It came as no surprise that Artem Dzyuba was involved in Miranchuk’s superbly taken goal, which wasn’t in keeping with the overall standard of an often scrappy game.
The big center forward was the focal point of all Russia’s attacks, though this one involved him using good footwork instead of his renowned aerial prowess.
Miranchuk collected the ball on the edge of the area and slipped a short ball forward to Dzyuba, who laid it off deftly back to the playmaker. Miranchuk took one touch to cut inside Finland defender Daniel O’Shaughnessy and, with barely any back-lift, floated his shot beyond goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and into the top corner in the second minute of stoppage time.
While Russia relied on Dzyuba and Aleksandr Golovin for goals at the World Cup on home soil in 2018, when the team defied expectations to reach the quarterfinals, Miranchuk could have a bigger say at Euro 2020.
He is coming off a solid first season at Italian team Atalanta, in which he scored in his first appearance in the Champions League and also in his first appearance in Serie A against eventual champion Inter Milan.
Along with Golovin, Miranchuk was the standout player against Finland and appears to have cemented his starting place, having previously been used mostly as a substitute by Russia coach Stanislas Cherchesov.
“I welcomed his move to Italy,” Cherchesov said. “He has always been a good footballer, but he needed to develop more as a person and get out of his comfort zone.
“At Atalanta, he has had to prove himself in one of the best leagues in the world.”
Kanerva had expressed his concern ahead of the game that his players might still be traumatized by the incident involving Eriksen on Saturday. They wore T-shirts during the warmup with words “Get well Christian!” on the front, an idea devised by captain Tim Sparv.
“My sense was that the players were OK,” said Kanerva, a former primary school teacher. “In my mind, that tells a story about the nature of the team. The players gave everything, but on the other hand some things are bigger than football.”
Indeed, Finland — cheered on by about 4,000 fans who made the 200-kilometer (125-mile) journey from the Finnish border to St. Petersburg — was the better team in the early stages and had a headed goal by Joel Pohjanpalo ruled out by video review in the third minute.
Pohjanpalo, Finland’s scorer against Denmark, was also played through on goal later in the first half but had two shots blocked by last-ditch challenges.
“How the game went, I think we deserved a point,” Kanerva said.
Russia was humiliated at times by Belgium in its opening group game but found Finland’s midfield — missing Sparv while he recovers from a knee injury — much easier to cut through, especially when Miranchuk dropped deep to link up play.
The negative for Russia was the sight of defender Mario Fernandes getting carried off on a stretcher in the 26th minute after landing on his back in a fall.
The Brazilian-born right back was taken to the hospital with a suspected spinal problem but no damage to his vertebrae was found. He will travel with the team to Moscow ahead of the Denmark game and be observed by medical staff.
Bangladesh to play directly in Asian Cup Qualifiers
Bangladesh will play in the Asian Cup Qualifiers directly despite losing to Oman 3-0 in their last Group E Joint Qualification match of the FIFA World Cup' 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Doha on Tuesday.
M Al Ghafri put Oman ahead in the 22nd minute while K Al-Hajri netted two more goals for the gulf nation in the 61st and 81st minutes respectively.
After Tuesday's frustrating match, Bangladesh finished 5th and last in the five-team Group E , but reached the AFC Asian Cup 2023 final qualifiers (avoiding play-off stage) as one of three best three 5th teams of the Asian groups.
On completion of the group matches, Bangladesh finished overall 35th in Asia to play directly in the qualifying round.
Top 13 teams of Asia (Ranked 1-13) will play in the FIFA World Cup' 2022 Qualifiers and in the final round of the AFC Asian Cup' 2023.
The 14th to 35th ranked teams including South Asian nations-- India, Maldives , Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh-- will play on home and away basis six- match AFC Asian Cup final qualifiers from February to September next year.
The remaining and bottom four teams of Asia---Indonesia, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei and Guam-- will compete in the play-off stage for the remaining two slots of the 24-team Asian Cup final qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh football team is scheduled to return home in the early hours of Thursday.
Sabbir denies allegation of racism against him by Elias
Bangladeshi cricketer Sabbir Rahman has been accused of racism by another cricketer Elias Sunny, an allegation he has denied.
Both Sabbir and Elias had previously played for Bangladesh.
Elias is playing for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the ongoing Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier League, while Sabbir is representing Legends of Rupganj in the competition.
Also read: Sabbir urges fans to stay home
Elias alleged that Sabbir sledged him with “inappropriate” words during a match between these two teams last Sunday.
“He sledged me using some inappropriate words. I asked him if he knows the meaning of those words. Sabbir sledged me again, and we have some heated exchanges then. But it was done, and I have no problem with that,” Elias told the media after his club submitted an official complaint against Sabbir to the BCB.
“The problem is Sabbir misbehaved with me again today (Wednesday) during our game against Old DOHS. Sabbir came to the field this afternoon as his team was scheduled to play another game at the venue beside ours. While passing by our venue, he called me using the word *** (a racist word). So I reported it to the umpires and my club,” Elias added.
Also read: Bangabandhu T20 Cup: Sabbir eyes return to national team reckoning
The secretary of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, Fayezur Rahman, submitted an official complaint to the BCB against Sabbir. BCB is yet to respond to the letter.
While asked, Sabbir denied the allegation, but at the same time, he said Elias also misbehaved with him, and he will also inform his club now.
Kamrul takes four wickets as Doleshwar beat Abahani
Right-arm pacer Kamrul Islam Rabbi took four wickets for 11 runs Wednesday as Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club beat Abahani by 28 runs in the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
It was Abahani's third defeat in 10 rounds of the ongoing league while Doleshwar won their seventh game in as many rounds.
Batting first after winning the toss, Doleshwar posted 132 runs for nine wickets in 20 overs; Saif Hassan hit the highest run of 58, and Imran Uzzaman and Marshal Ayub scored 23 and 20.
For Abahani, Mehedi Hasan Rana took three wickets conceding 28 runs in four overs while Tanzim Hasan Sakib took two wickets.
Chasing 133, Abahani were bundled out for 104 runs in 19.5 overs. Afif Hossain, Mohammad Naim and Mosaddek Hossain were the only batsmen to reach the double-digit. They scored 26, 22 and 14.
Kamrul bagged four wickets in 2.5 overs, Sharifullah took two wickets conceding 12 runs in four overs for Doleshwar.
In the other match of the day, Legends of Rupganj beat Partex Sporting Club by 21 runs. Rupganj batted first and scored 131 runs for six in 20 overs; Sunzamul Islam and Naeem Islam scored 30 and 29.
In reply, Partex managed to score 110 for eight in 20 overs. Mohammad Shahid taking two wickets for Rupganj.
BAN vs. ZIM Series 2021: Key ODI Records Between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe have recently been in poor form in the international circuit. They've lost ten of their last eleven One-day Internationals. Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan in their most recent ODI encounter in a super-over contest. On the other hand, Bangladesh have won two of their previous three ODI series. Bangladesh were unable to put up a strong resistance against Zimbabwe at the beginning of the 21st century. But now, Zimbabwe are failing to win against Bangladesh. Each of the past 16 One-Day Internationals between the two sides has been won by Bangladesh. Let’s take a look at the key ODI records between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
Head to head Bilateral ODI series record
Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will play a three-match One-Day International series starting on July 16. Both teams will be looking for a series victory. The following is the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe head-to-head bilateral ODI series record.
Read Racism in Cricket: Five Racist Incidents in the Gentleman’s Game
Eighteenth bilateral ODI series:
Both teams had played seventeen bilateral ODI series before the upcoming series. Bangladesh have won eleven bilateral series, while Zimbabwe have won six. Fifth bilateral ODI series in Zimbabwe: This will be the eighth bilateral ODI series in Zimbabwe. Bangladesh have won two series in Zimbabwe, while the hosts have won the remaining series.
Ten bilateral ODI series in Bangladesh:
Bangladesh have hosted ten bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe. In which, Bangladesh have won nine of them while Zimbabwe have won one in the 2001/2002 season.
Read Who was The Best Captain of Bangladesh Cricket team?
Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe: Key ODI Records ahead of the series
Bangladesh have won the most One-Day Internationals against Zimbabwe. The following are some of the most noteworthy ODI records between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe …
Bangladesh
Zimbabwe
Matches Played (75)
47
28
Most Runs
Tamim Iqbal (1684 runs in 41 innings)
Brendon Taylor (1410 runs in 52 innings)
Highest Score
Liton Das (176)
CK Coventry (194*)
Most Hundreds
ShahriarNafees, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan (3)
Brendon Taylor (2)
Most Wickets
Shakib Al Hasan (74)
Raymond Price (35)
Best Bowling Figures
AbdurRazzak (5/29)
Bryan Strang (6/20)
Most Matches
Mushfiqur Rahim (48)
Elton Chigumbura (55)
Highest Partnership
Tamim Iqbal&Liton Das (292)
Grant Flower & Andy Flower (161)
Most Catches
MahmudullahRiyad (18)
Hamilton Masakadza (25)
Most Dismissals
Mushfiqur Rahim (63)
Brendon Taylor (43)
Source: Espncricinfo
Read Has Shakib learned from his mistakes?
Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe series: Venue stats
ODI Record at the Harare Sports Club, Harare (All ODIs will be played at this venue)
Matches Played: 152 | Bat-first (won): 73 | Bat-Second (won): 76 | Highest Innings: 178* (Hamilton Masakadza) |Best Bowling: 6/22 (Fidel Edwards) | Highest Team innings: 350/6 | Lowest Team Innings: 35
Bangladesh’s record at the Harare Sports Club: Win: 6 | Lost: 11
Zimbabwe’s record at the Harare Sports Club: Win: 43 | Lost: 89
Source:Espncricnfo
Read How New Zealand can become world's No.1 Test team ahead of WTC final against India
Players to watch out in Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe Series 2021
Bangladesh
Three Key Batsmen: Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, MahmudullahRiyad
Three Key Bowlers: Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, MehidyMiraz
Predicted Playing XI
Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, MahmudullahRiyad, Mosaddek Hossain, MehidyMiraz, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain
Zimbabwe
Three Key Batsmen: Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams
Three Key Bowlers: Donald Tiripano, Blessing Muzarabani, TendaiChisoro
Predicted Playing XI
Brian Chari, Justice Chibhabha (Captain), Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor (WK), Sean Williams, Wesley Madhevere, SikandarRaza, Donald Tiripano, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, TendaiChisoro
Read International Fixtures Which Could Help Bangladesh's T20 World Cup Preparation
Bottom Line
Bangladesh are now far ahead of Zimbabwe according to the key ODI records between the two sides. We can expect a close contest between these two sides because this series is part of the ICC ODI World Cup Super League. But Bangladesh will begin the series as the favourite.
Mohammedan beat Khelaghar in DPL's first Super Over
In the first Super Over of the ongoing Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League Wednesday, Mohammedan Sporting Club beat Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity at BKSP.
Due to rain, the match was reduced to a 10-overs-a-side. Mohammedan won the toss and batted first. They posted 88 runs for nine wickets in 10 overs; Abdul Mazid hit 57 off 30 balls with five fours and four sixes.
However, three Mohammedan batsmen failed to score any runs while four others scored 7, 5, 8 and 2.
For Khelaghar, Ifran Hossain bagged four wickets conceding nine runs in two overs.
In reply, Khelaghar posted 88 for five wickets in 10 overs and took the match to Super Over with the scores tied. Masum Khan and Jahurul Islam posted 33 and 28.
Taskin Ahmed bagged two wickets conceding 22 runs in two overs while Asif Hasan, Shuvagata Hom and Abu Jayed took one wicket each for Mohammedan.
In the Super Over, Khelaghar posted 13 off Abu Jayed; Masum Khan hit two fours. In reply, Mohammedan's Irfan Sukkur hit a six off the first ball bowled by Khaled Ahmed, and Abdul Mazid hit a four to ensure a thrilling win for the side.
In the other matches on the day, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club beat Old DOHS Sports Club by 16 runs in the rain-hit game at BKSP which was reduced to 13-overs-a-side, while Prime Bank Cricket Club beat Brothers Union by six wickets through DL Method.