"I Feel Robbed": Russell Drops F-Bomb In Fiery Rant On CPL Controversy

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russel took to social media to launch an explicit-filled rant following a controversy during the eliminator match of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024. Russell, who plays for Trinbago Knight Riders, wrote that he felt 'robbed' following his team's loss against Barbados Royals. The encounter was affected by floodlight failure and after a lengthy delay, Royals were given a new target using DLS rule which they achieved thanks to an explosive knock from David Miller.

During the match, three out of the six floodlights stopped working with five balls to go in the Trinbago Knight Riders innings. They were 168/3 after 19.1 overs when the match was stopped.

The power was restored with 10 minutes to go before the cut-off time for a 5-over match and Royals were given a target of 60. Miller ended up scoring a 17-ball fifty to guide his team to victory.

“Am not the person to come on the internet and voice my opinion but this year CPL I feel robbed,” he said. “This light situation was ****ry lights came on just before the cut off time is also ****ry and then 60 off 30 balls is also a bigger ****ry and yes Andre Russell said it right is right ****ry a ****ry but I guess it's just pure ****ry,” Russell said via an Instagram story.

Earlier, Andre Russell opined that most of the Caribbean players are "just not interested in playing Tests" and it is not related to money.

With the influx of T20 franchise cricket around the world, Russell feels that red-ball cricket has lost its charm to attract youngsters towards it. Last year, senior players including Jason Holder, Nicholas Pooran and Kyle Mayers turned down West Indies central contracts but made themselves available for T20Is. Although, Holder has played in Tests also.

Russell, who played just one Test in his career, revealed that money is not the concern for turning down the Test opportunity.

"I don't think it's the money, I don't think money is the issue," Press Association quoted Russell as saying. "Based on the amount of T20 and leagues around the world, I think a lot of players are just not interested in playing Tests."

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Pakistan Stage Fight Back To Defeat Sri Lanka At Women's T20 World Cup

Pakistan staged a determined fightback to beat Sri Lanka by 31 runs in their opening game of the Women's T20 World Cup campaign in Sharjah on Thursday. Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal claimed three wickets with Nashra Sandhu, Omaima Sohail and Fatima Sana all taking two each for Pakistan as Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka fell comfortably short of their target of 117. Pakistan needed a crucial lower-order knock from their captain Sana to post a competitive total, having slumped to 84-8 after choosing to bat. "We won the toss and we wanted a lot of runs but we didn't get. But we still achieved the target in the game," said Sana.

Sugandika Kumari had both Pakistan openers caught behind off her left-arm spin and the wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals.

Sohail made 18 and Nida Dar added 23 but Pakistan looked in danger of failing to reach 100 as Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu picked up three wickets with her off-spin.

Athapaththu finished with 3-18 and Kumari took 3-19 but Sana's 30 off 20 balls, featuring three fours and a six, frustrated Sri Lanka and proved a match-winning contribution. 

She was eventually dismissed by left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani, who ended with 3-20. 

Pakistan lost opening bowler Diana Baig to a calf strain after just one ball of the Sri Lanka innings, but her replacement Sana picked up the vital wicket of Athapaththu -- caught at extra cover for six.

"We all know Chamari is a good player, we needed that wicket to have a good start and we got it," said Sana.

Sohail bowled Harshitha Samarawickrama and Hasini Perera cheaply, but while Vishmi Gunaratne remained at the crease there was hope for Sri Lanka.

Kavisha Dilhari holed out to long-on off Sandhu while trying to increase the run rate to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 47-4 in the 11th over.

Nilakshika Silva earned a reprieve when she was trapped lbw from a delivery called a dead ball after Sandhu's towel fell out of her pocket.

But Gunaratne perished for 20 three balls later as she was caught just inside the boundary attempting to hit Sandhu straight down the ground.

Silva departed for 22 in the penultimate over after a top edge to short fine leg.  

"We struggled to chase. We have to adjust to conditions," said Athapaththu.

"I hope we can bounce back. We bowled well. We have to bat really good too. We can't say wicket is slow and outfield is like this. We have to play positive cricket."

Neither team has ever made it out of the group stage in eight previous attempts at the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan face arch-rivals India in their next game on Sunday, while Sri Lanka take on tournament favourites Australia who are bidding for a seventh title in nine editions. 

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Virat Joins Sachin In Elite List, Becomes Only Active Player In World To...

India's talismanic batter Virat Kohli registered another illustrious milestone to his name, as he breached the 1000 fours mark in Test cricket. Having already done so in one-day internationals, Kohli reached the 4-digit mark in the longest format too, as India defeated Bangladesh in the second Test at Kanpur. Virat, who has a total of 1302 fours to his name in ODI cricket, reached 1001 fours mark in Test cricket during his stay on the crease on Day 5 of the second Test against Bangladesh at the Green Park Stadium on Tuesday.

With the milestone, Kohli joined the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting, etc. in the list of batters with more than 1000 fours each in ODIs and Tests. However, Virat is the only active batter to do so. All the other batters on the list have already retired from the game.

Player | Boundaries in Tests | Boundaries in ODIs

Sachin Tendulkar | 2058 | 2016
Kumar Sangakkara | 1491 | 1385
Ricky Ponting | 1509 | 1231
Virat Kohli | 1001 | 1302
Mahela Jayawardene | 1387 | 1119
Chris Gayle | 1046 | 1128
Virender Sehwag | 1233 | 1132
Brian Lara | 1559 | 1042

After the conclusion of the Kanpur Test, Kohli gifted one of his signed bats to the soon-to-be retired Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan after the home side completed a 2-0 Test series sweep over the visitors.

Shakib, who played his last overseas Test here, has already made it clear that he wouldn't play the home series against South Africa unless the current caretaker government in Bangladesh can assure his smooth passage out of the country.

After the second Test ended here with India winning by seven wickets, Kohli was seen walking towards the Bangladesh team and handing over his bat to Bangladesh's greatest ever cricketer.

The duo was seen exchanging pleasantries and sharing a laugh as Shakib did a bit of shadow driving with the willow.

With PTI Inputs

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ICC Bans Sri Lanka Star Praveen Jayawickrama For A Year. This Is The Reason

Sri Lanka's left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama has been banned from all forms of cricket for a year, of which "six months will be suspended," as per the ICC. The ban was imposed on Jayawickrama after he admitted breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. Jayawickrama admitted to being in breach of Article 2.4.7 of the Code, which deals with: "Obstructing or delaying any investigation that may be carried out by the ACU, including concealing, tampering with, or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to that investigation and/or that may be evidence or may lead to the discovery of evidence of corrupt conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code."

Jayawickrama last represented Sri Lanka in 2022. He has featured for the Island nation in five Tests, five ODIs, and five T20Is, with a total of 32 international wickets to his name across those 15 matches, the ICC said.

The charges relate to international cricket and the Lanka Premier League. The ICC, in agreement with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), acted in accordance with Articles 1.7.4.1 and 1.8.1 of the Anti-Corruption Code.

The ICC Anti-Corruption Code and the complete decision (which has been redacted to protect the identities of the ICC's witnesses and other third parties) can be found on the official ICC website.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Shami Breaks Silence On Reports Claiming Pacer Is Out Of India-Aus Series

Mohammed Shami in a post on X on Wednesday refuted reports claiming he is doubtful for Indian cricket team's Tour of Australia. Shami has been out of action due to an ankle injury. After giving a memorable performance in the ODI World Cup 2023, Shami underwent a surgery for his injury and has been recovering from it since then. It was expected that the star pacer will returning to the national duty for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in November this year. 

A report in Times of India quoted a BCCI source as saying: "Shami had resumed bowling, and he was looking on track to make a comeback to competitive cricket soon. But this knee injury has flared up recently. BCCI's medical team is assessing the injury, but it may require quite a bit of time.

"It's a jolt for the NCA medical team. They have been working on him for over a year. They have one of the best workload management systems in place. The medical team is trying its best to put him back in the park soon."

However, Shami has refuted reports claiming that he is out of the Border-Gavaskar Series (name of Australia vs India bilateral series)

"Why these type of baseless rumors? I'm working hard and trying my level best to recover.  Neither the BCCI nor me have mentioned that I am out of the Border Gavaskar series. I request the public to stop paying attention to such news from unofficial sources. Please stop and don't spread such fake fake fake & fake news, especially without my statement. #fakenews#stoprumors#rehab," Mohammed Shami wrote on X. 

Earlier in September, Shami had revealed that he is putting his best efforts to return to the field for Team India at the earliest.

"Koshish jaldi hi kar raha hoon kyun ke main janta hoon kaafi time ho gaya hai team se bahar rehte hue (I am working hard to make a comeback soon because I know I have been out of action for quite some time). However, I want to ensure there is no discomfort when I return. I've to work on my fitness, so that there is no discomfort," Shami had said.

"The stronger I return, the better it is for me. I don't want to rush and risk getting injured again, be it against Bangladesh, New Zealand or the Australia series. I've already started bowling, but I won't take any chances until I am 100% fit," he added.

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Asked To Give Bangladesh An Advice, Gavaskar's Blunt 'As An Indian' Reply

The Indian cricket team showed ultimate domination in the second India vs Bangladesh Test to romp to a seven-wicket win. Despite rain washing out over days' play, India defeated Bangladesh with a session left in the second Test on Friday. With the victory, India clean sweeped the Test series 2-0. At the start of Day 5, Bangladesh were 26/2. But they collapsed spectacularly, losing four wickets for just three runs at one point of time. They took a slender 94-run lead but India chased down the target with ease. 

During the fifth day, former Indian cricket team captain Sunil Gavaskar was asked by former Bangladesh player Athar Ali whether he had any advice for the Bangladesh batters. Sunil Gavaskar was cheeky in his reply, saying: "As an Indian, I'll say get out quickly.”

India's 2-0 series victory over Bangladesh at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur further solidified their position at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings.

With the seven-wicket win, India improved their point percentage to an impressive 74.24 while Bangladesh's defeat dropped them to seventh position with 34.38 per cent, placing them behind South Africa and New Zealand, placed fifth and sixth respectively.

Australia with a point percentage of 62.50 sit in second place after eight wins in 12 games, followed by Sri Lanka (third), England (fourth) with 55.56 and 42.19 point percentage, respectively.

Despite rain severely affecting the game on Day 2 and 3, India's intent to win never wavered. Bangladesh, after a start-and-stop first innings posted a total of 233 thanks to a century from Mominul Haque (107 not out).

With little time left to force a result, India adopted an exceptionally aggressive approach, treating the Test like a T20 match. The fourth day witnessed a historic onslaught from India's batters, who dismantled Bangladesh's bowling attack in a flurry of boundaries and milestones.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (72 from 51 balls) and KL Rahul (68 from 43 balls) led the charge, as India racked up the fastest team scores in Test cricket history. In a matter of 34.4 overs, India registered the quickest 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 in Test history, declaring at 285/9 and establishing a first-innings lead of 52.

Bangladesh in their second innings late on Day 4 found themselves in early trouble. Ravichandran Ashwin struck twice in the closing overs to peg back Bangladesh, who ended the day at 36/2. The final day was set up for an exciting finish, with India's bowlers eager to capitalise on the momentum.

However, Ravindra Jadeja, introduced into the attack, quickly dismantled any chance of Bangladesh building momentum. In a brilliant spell, Jadeja took three wickets in as many overs. Jasprit Bumrah, India's strike pacer, then took over with the new ball, ripping through the lower order with a deadly display of fast bowling, ending Bangladesh's innings at 146 and leaving India with a target of just 95 to chase for the win.

Despite the low target, India remained assertive in their final innings, making quick work of the chase. Jaiswal smashed a half-century off just 43 balls. After his dismissal for 51, it was Virat Kohli who took charge, finishing the game alongside Rishabh Pant, who scored the winning runs for India with a fine boundary.

With ANI inputs 

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Babar Steps Down From Pakistan White-Ball Captaincy - Full Statement Here

Babar Azam, in a late night post on Tuesday, announced that he is stepping down from his role as the white-ball captain of the Pakistan cricket team. Babar Azam was earlier the all-format skipper of Pakistan. He stepped down previously as captain after Pakistan's poor show at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi succeeded him as the T20I captain but was soon replaced by Babar, who was reappointed as the skipper in March 2024.

However, his second tenure as the Pakistan captain was not successful at all as the side was knocked out of the groups stage at the 2024 T20 World Cup. That campaign saw Pakistan losing to USA, a much lower-ranked team. Pakistan even lost to India, despite being in a comfortable position in the match.

The pressure has been mounting on Pakistan cricket in recent months, especially after their loss to Bangladesh in a Test series at home.

Here's the full text of Babar Azam's retirement post on X:

"Dear Fans,

"I'm sharing some news with you today. I have decided to resign as captain of the Pakistan men's cricket team, effective as of my notification to the PCB and Team Management last month.

"It's been an honour to lead this team, but it's time for me to step down and focus on my playing role. 

"Captaincy has been a rewarding experience, but it's added a significant workload. I want to prioritize my performance, enjoy my batting, and spend quality time with my family, which brings me joy.

Dear Fans,

I'm sharing some news with you today. I have decided to resign as captain of the Pakistan men's cricket team, effective as of my notification to the PCB and Team Management last month.

It's been an honour to lead this team, but it's time for me to step down and focus…

— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) October 1, 2024

"By stepping down, I will gain clarity moving forward and focus more energy on my game and personal growth.  I'm grateful for your unwavering support and belief in me. Your enthusiasm has meant the world to me.

"I'm proud of what we've achieved together and excited to continue contributing to the team as a player. 

Thank you for your love and support."

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