16 of the 30 Under-16 probables selected by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) were found to be overage in a bone test conducted by the BCCI. The MCA had announced the probables last week and they underwent tests a couple of days ago. The reports came in Thursday which has taken MCA officials aback.

"Henceforth it will be better if MCA conducts tests before the age group selection tournaments. All those selected had recently played in an under-16 selection tournament. It robs players who fit the age criteria of proving this worth,"

said an MCA official

Also Read: BCCI chief medical officer resignation puts a cloud over age-verification for Vijay Merchant Trophy

Apex Council Member Unmesh Khanvilkar has recommended that. "in future, it would be better if the MCA conducts these bone tests before selection of BCCI tournaments"

"My suggestion is that the Under-14 and Under-16 selection tournaments that we conduct at the MCA should be called the TW-2 and TW-3 tournaments. Whoever wishes to play in these tournaments will know that he has to go for a bone test before playing in these tournaments. This will ensure that we don't face this problem in the BCCI tournaments. I recommend this in the MCA's Apex Council meeting on December 28"

Unmesh Khanvilkar explained

"Two years back, I had suggested that the MCA should organize bone tests at its approved centers for the top eight teams in the Elite Division of the Giles and Harris Shield. If you do this for a boy Under-14 level also, you won't need to test again for the Under-16 level. Similarly, organize bone tests for an Under-16 selection trial tournaments like Payyade Trophy or the Kalpesh Koli Memorial," Khanvilkar added.

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Khanvilkar stressed that he doesn't want players to be found overage. He said that he is going to propose if a boy is found to be overage in Under-14 or 16. Khanvilkar said then he should be drafted into the Under-19 camp. Meanwhile, he explains that the 16 players who have been found to be overage, should get a chance to prove themselves for Under-19 selection.

Tilak Varma has etched himself in history to become the first Indian batter to hit 150 runs in T20 cricket. The 22-year-old youngster has smashed a staggering 151 off just 67 balls for his domestic side Hyderabad against Meghalaya on Saturday in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. 

The left-handed batter has surpassed Shreyas Iyer's record of scoring 147 which was by far the highest individual score by any Indian batsman in T20 cricket. Shreyas scored his 147 off just 55 balls for Mumbai against Sikkim in the same tournament in 2019. 

Tilak Varma has now clinched the top spot and also becomes only the 12th batter to record a 150+ score in T20s. 

The 22-year-old is the captain of his domestic side Hyderabad in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and he came out to bat in no. 3. Tilak's half-century came off 28 balls, and he went on to complete his ton off just 51 balls. Tilak built his scorching innings with 14 fours and 10 sixes and maintained a strike rate of 225.37. 

Another record 

However, Tilak Varma has made an international T20 record as well, as he becomes the first-ever batter in the world to score three consecutive tons. The left-handed youngster was named as the Player of The Series in India's recent T20 series victory against South Africa. Tilak scored back-to-back hundreds against South Africa and now in 10 days, he has scored three tons and stormed into the history books.

🚨 𝙈𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙩 🚨

Tilak Varma 🤝 Record-breaking Feat! 🔝 🙌

Congratulations! 👏 👏#TeamIndia | #SMAT pic.twitter.com/4BnLFZzRRf

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) November 23, 2024

Highest individual score by Indian batters in T20s

• Tilak Varma (Hyderabad) – 151 (67) vs Meghalaya, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024
• Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai) – 147 (55) vs Sikkim, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 
• Punit Bisht (Meghalaya) – 146* (51) vs Mizroam, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021
• Mohammed Azharuddeen (Kerala) – 137* (54) vs Mumbai, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 
• Prithvi Shaw (Mumbai) – 134 (61) vs Assam, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 

A stand at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata will soon be named after India's legendary fast bowler Jhulan Goswami. 

According to ICC, the Block B Gallery of Eden Gardens will be renamed in her honor. This stand will be inaugurated during the Indian women's team's first T20I match against England on January 22 next year.

Also Read: 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup stats: Most Wickets and Everything

Stands have also been built at Eden Gardens in the names of former Indian captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, former Indian cricketer Pankaj Roy, and former BCCI presidents Jagmohan Dalmiya and Biswanath Dutt.

Highest wicket-taker in women's ODI

Jhulan Goswami retired two years ago after an illustrious 20-year career with the Indian women's team. She was considered one of the best fast bowlers in women's cricket. Her career is still reflected in the impressive record that she maintains even after her retirement. Goswami holds the record for taking the highest number of wickets (255) in women's ODI.

Jhulan Goswami ended her career after appearing in 12 Tests, 204 ODIs and 68 T20Is and taking 355 wickets across all formats. In the women's Test format, Goswami has taken 44 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 17.36 and an economy of 2.02.

Goswami has 56 wickets to her name in the women's T20I format, with an average of 21.94 and an economy of 5.45. In the ODI format, she has taken 255 wickets in 204 matches at an average of 22.04.

Also Read: All the ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup winners

Working as bowling coach of MI

The 41-year-old Goswami is currently working as the bowling coach and mentor of the Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League (WPL), which won the inaugural season of the league. Earlier this year, Goswami was the team mentor at the Women's Caribbean Premier League franchise Trinbago Knight Riders. 

After retirement, Goswami has worked as a mentor for the senior Bengal women's team and has also been involved in the Women's Premier League.

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has been named in the Bengal squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. Shami, who played his first match in 360 days in the Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh, will boost Bengal's chances in the tournament.

Sudip Kumar Gharami, who was Bengal's captain in the white-ball format last season, has been named as the captain of the squad for this season as well. 

In the 20-men squad, Bengal has named three wicket-keepers for the tournament. Abishek Porel, who recently toured Australia for the India-A team, will continue as the main man behind the stumps. Meantime, Shakir Habib Gandhi and Agniv Pan will be the other keeper-batters of the team. Interestingly, all three wicket-keepers of the squad are left-handed batters, giving coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla a few options to play with in the batting order.

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Sudip Chatterjee, who came back from Tripura to rejoin his home state, will continue as one of the top-order batters for Bengal. The left-handed batter has done well in the Ranji Trophy this season and will be a key player for Bengal in the white-ball format as well. Ranjot Singh Khaira and Sudip Gharami will be the top-order batters for them this time.

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Ritwick Roy Chowdhury, one of the best white-ball finishers for Bengal, along with all-rounders Shahbaz Ahmed, Karan Lal, Writtick Chatterjee and Saksham Chaudhary will be key clog for Laxmi Ratan Shukla and team management. Ritwick and Shaksham will be the pace bowling all-rounders of the team, while Karan, Writtick and Shahbaz will be the spinner all-rounders.

In the absence of Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep, Ishan Porel, Mohammed Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh and Kanishk Seth will share the load of bowling those crucial overs along with new names like Soummyadip Mandal. The inclusion of U-23 captain Prayas Ray Barman means there will be enough variations while defending totals as well.

Bengal is placed in Group A alongside Punjab, Hyderabad, Mizoram, MP, Meghalaya, Bihar, and Rajasthan. 

Read Also |  IPL 2025 Auction: Full list of players and details

Bengal squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024

Sudip Kr Gharami (captain), Mohammad Shami, Abishek Porel (WK), Sudip Chatterjee, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karan Lal, Writtick Chatterjee, Ritwick Roy Chowdhury, Shakir Habib Gandhi (WK), Ranjot Singh Khaira, Prayas Ray Barman, Agniv Pan (WK), Pradipta Pramanik, Saksham Chaudhary, Ishan Porel, Md Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth, Soummyadip Mandal.

Bengal's schedule in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024

• 23 November' 24 - Bengal vs Punjab - Rajkot - 4.30 pm
• 25 November 2024 - Bengal vs Hyderabad - Rajkot - 4.30 pm
• 27 November 2024 - Bengal vs Mizoram - Saurashtra - 9 am  
• 29 November 2024 - Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh - Saurashtra - 1.30 pm
• 1 December 2024 - Bengal vs Meghalaya - Rajkot - 11 am
• 3 December 2024 - Bengal vs Bihar - Saurashtra - 9 am 
• 5 December 2024 - Bengal vs Rajasthan - Rajkot - 11 am

A mega auction is to be held before the IPL 2025 season. This auction may take place in late November or early December this year.  But before that, all the 10 franchises will have to prepare and submit the list of their retained and released players. Its last date is tomorrow (31st October). 

Also Read: Delhi Capitals announce new Coaching Staff ahead of IPL 2025

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has recently issued new rules regarding retention. According to this, a franchise can retain maximum of 6 players. If a team retains less than 6 players, then in that case the franchise will get a chance to use the Right to Match card during the auction. 

Speculations have started even before the official list of retained players is revealed. If reports are to be believed, Gujarat Titans (GT) may release Mohammed Shami and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul can join the IPL 2025 auction pool.  

Let's take a look at which players all 10 franchises can retain.

Also Read: IPL 2025 auction: IPL 2025-27 player retention policy explained

IPL 2025 probable retention list

Gujarat Titans

• Shubman Gill
• Rashid Khan
• Sai Sudarshan
• Shahrukh Khan
• Rahul Tewatia (RTM)

Lucknow Super Giants

• Nicholas Pooran
• Mayank Yadav
• Ayush Badoni
• Ravi Bishnoi (RTM)

KL Rahul is expected to be included in the auction pool.

Mumbai Indians

• Rohit Sharma
• Hardik Pandya
• Jasprit Bumrah
• Suryakumar Yadav
• Tilak Varma

Chennai Super Kings

• MS Dhoni (Uncapped) 
• Ruturaj Gaikwad
• Ravindra Jadeja
• Rachin Ravindra (possibly)
• Matheesha Pathirana

Sunrisers Hyderabad

• Pat Cummins
• Heinrich Klaasen
• Abhishek Sharma
• Travis Head
• Abdul Samad

Royal Challengers Bangalore

• Virat Kohli
• Mohammed Siraj
• Yash Dayal (conditional)

Delhi Capitals

• Kuldeep Yadav
• Axar Patel
• Rishabh Pant (DC wants to retain him, but there is a lot of talk about his inclusion in the auction pool) 

Kolkata Knight Riders

• Sunil Narine
• Rahmanullah Gurbaz
• Rinku Singh
• Harshit Rana

There is a big question mark on Shreyas Iyer as many players are ahead of him in KKR's priority list, but talks have taken place between Iyer and the KKR management.

Punjab Kings

• Arshdeep Singh 

Instead of retaining all the players, the Right to Match (RTM) can also be used.

Rajasthan Royals

• Sanju Samson
• Yashasvi Jaiswal
• Riyan Parag

 There is a big question mark over Jos Buttar due to injuries, so it will be interesting to see what RR does. 

BCCI men's selection committee announced the squads for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and India's tour to South Africa. Abhimanyu Easwaran, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy were among the few new names announced in the squads.

India will play a four-match T20 I series against South Africa starting on 8th November till 15th November 2024. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team while Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson will be the senior players in the squad. Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal, and Ramandeep Singh received their maiden T20I call-up.

Mayank Yadav and Shivam Dube were unavailable for the selection due to injuries. Meantime, Riyan Parag was sent to the BCCI Centre of Excellence to treat his his chronic right shoulder injury.

Indian squad for South Africa tour

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.

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For the high-profile Border-Gavaskar trophy, India named an 18-men squad with a few new names getting their maiden test call-up. Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran was rewarded for his excellent first-class form while Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy were called up as the pace bowling all-rounders. Kuldeep Yadav missed the selection due to his chronic left groin issue.

India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed

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