India, Australia placed in Group A for Women's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh

India, Australia placed in Group A for Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh

India were on May 5 placed in Group A alongside defending champions Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan in the Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in Bangladesh from October 3-20 this year. With all their group matches scheduled to be played at Sylhet, India will open their campaign against New Zealand on October 4 and face off against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 6 as the ICC announced the schedule for the ninth edition of the Women’s T20 WC. India’s next assignment will be against yet-to-be-identified Qualifier 1 team on October 9 while their clash against six-time world champions Australia will be on October 13. “Each side will play four group matches at the tournament, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the cut-throat semi-finals on 17 and 18 October ahead of the Final in Dhaka on 20 October,” the ICC posted on its website. “In total, there will be 23 matches played across 19 days in Dhaka and Sylhet, with reserve days in place for both semi-finals and the final should they be required,” the ICC added. Hosts Bangladesh are placed in Group B along with South Africa, England, West Indies and Qualifier 2. The two teams will enter the main tournament after the Qualifying event identifies the two finalists later today. Ireland, UAE, Sri Lanka and Scotland are in the fray. Ireland will take on Scotland in the first semifinal while UAE will face Sri Lanka in the second. Both the games will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today.

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Australia announce T20 World Cup squad: Mitch Marsh to lead the team, Steve Smith misses selection

Australia announce T20 World Cup squad: Mitch Marsh to lead the team, Steve Smith misses selection

Australia’s Mitch Marsh. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA Mitch Marsh will captain Australia at the Twenty20 World Cup next month, leading a national cricket squad that is missing ex-skipper Steve Smith and up-and-coming batter Jake Fraser-McGurk. Marsh, who is recovering from an injured hamstring, was confirmed as T20 captain on Wednesday after sharing the duties on an interim basis since the retirement last year of Aaron Finch. Smith’s omission for the tournament starting June 1 in the United States and Caribbean means it’ll be the first time since 2012 he’s missed a World Cup in the limited-overs formats. The 34-year-old Smith has signed for the Washington Freedom for the second season of Major League Cricket in the United States which starts July 4, four days after the T20 World Cup concludes. Fraser-McGurk surged into selection calculations on the back of his 233.33 strike rate in the Indian Premier League, but it wasn’t enough to replace Travis Head or the veteran David Warner at the global tournament. Allrounder Marsh will likely bat at No. 3 and Glenn Maxwell at No. 4 in the lineup, with Tim David likely to fill the finisher role further down the order. “The batting options available allow a tailored approach to each venue and opponent,” Australia’s chief selector George Bailey said. “Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.” Bailey said Fraser-McGurk’s form had been “great of late.” “But the way we’re functioning at the top of the order with the three guys we’ve had there has been really strong as well,” he said. “Ultimately, in that squad of 15, we’re looking to get that balance we want in for each game with different opponents, different venues and different surfaces.” Matt Wade and Josh Inglis were picked as wicketkeepers and Ashton Agar returns to the squad as a second spinning option to Adam Zampa. The regular pace bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will have support from Nathan Ellis as well as allrounders Cameron Green, Marsh and Marcus Stoinis. Australia, the 2021 T20 World Cup champions, will open against Oman at Barbados on June 5. The Australians are the defending champions in the ICC’s World Test Championship and in the 50-over World Cup. Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matt Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

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Eight IPL players named in Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad

Eight IPL players named in Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad

Gujarat Titans Rashid Khan trying to catch a ball during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty-20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR Eight players featuring in the ongoing Indian Premier League have been named in the 15-member Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad to be led by star all-rounder Rashid Khan. Hashmatullah Shahidi, who captained Afghanistan at the 2023 ODI World Cup, has been left out of the squad named by the Afghanistan Cricket Board. Left-handed opener Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal and Mohammad Saleem Safi have been named as travelling reserves for the marquee event to be played in the USA and the Caribbean from June 2. Rashid, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen Ul Haq, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Gulbadin Naib are the Afghan players currently playing in the IPL. The squad has only four batters in wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran and back-up keeper Mohammad Ishaq. But, six all-rounders have been named to make up for the lesser number of specialist batters. Apart from Rashid, the other all-rounders are Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat and Nangeyalia Kharote. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Noor are the other spinners along with Rashid, Nabi, Kharote. Right-arm fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, left-armers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad will man the pace department, along with the all-rounders. Janat, Ishaq and Noor have been after missing the 2022 T20 World Cup. Afghanistan are in Group C in the 20-team tournament, along with New Zealand, co-hosts West Indies, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. They play their first match against Uganda on June 3 at Providence. The squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik. Reserves: Sediqullah Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Saleem Safi.

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