Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) side Brisbane Heat has signed Indian all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, the club announced on Thursday. Vastrakar will become the third Indian woman to play for the Heat, following on from Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.
"We're very pleased to welcome her to the WBBL and are excited about the experience we can offer her. She's certainly a player of the future for India and one that we expect can make a difference for the Heat this summer."
said Heat coach Ashley Noffke
"Pooja is an outstanding athlete. Bowls with sharp pace, can find the boundary with the bat down the order and is an absolute jet in the field." he added.
Pooja Vastrakar has played 23 ODI games and 27 T20 Internationals, as well as two Tests. Vastrakar joins New Zealand's Amelia Kerr as Heat's second overseas player for the coming season.
Senior Women's T20 Trophy 2024: Bengal beat Himachal by 21 runs to set a final against Mumbai
Bengal defeated Himachal Pradesh by 21 runs in the second semi-finals of the Senior Women's T20 Trophy 2024 to set a final date with Mumbai, who defeated Uttarakhand in the first semi-final.
Bengal defeated Himachal Pradesh by 21 runs in the second semi-finals of the Senior Women's T20 Trophy 2024 on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Bengal all-rounder Mita Paul was adjudged player of the match for her 1 wicket and 29 runs with the bat.
Batting first, Bengal struggled early, losing Dhara Gujjar on duck in the first over. But, Richa Ghosh, the Indian wicket-keeper batter promoted as the opener, made sure she built a partnership with vice-captain Tanushree Sarkar for the second wicket.
Richa departed after adding 31 from 28 balls but Tanushree battled in the middle to build another partnership for Bengal, this time with Mita Paul. Tanushree, who made her return to the Bengal team after representing Railways last few years, perished after scoring a run-a-ball 36.
Mita Paul tried to take the inning deep but lost her wicket after scoring 30-ball 29. But, it was youngster Sasthi Mondal, whose 11 from 5 balls gave Bengal the finish they were looking for. Bengal finished their first inning on 134/6, giving Himachal a tough task to chase down the total under the lights at Wankhede.
With a batting lineup consisting of international players like captain Sushma Verma and Harleen Deol, Himachal looked like the team which can chase down Bengal's total. However, Titas Sadhu struck early for Bengal as she removed Sushma Verma in the fourth over. Off-spinner Sushmita Ganguly then clean bowled Nikita Chauhan, to hand Bengal the momentum.
Though Himachal were trying to build a partnership and take the game deep, Bengal captain Saika Ishaque dismissed Sonal Thakur and Monika Devi in the same over to give Bengal the advantage. Despite a valiant effort from S M Singh (32 from 22 balls), Himachal fell short of the total by 21 runs. Saika Ishaque and Titas Sadhu took two wickets each for Bengal.
In the other semi-final, Mumbai defeated Uttarakhand by 31 runs to enter the final. Bengal and Mumbai will face each other in the final on 12th November at Wankhede Stadium from 4.30 pm IST.
Matthew Wade retires, joined Australian coaching team
On Tuesday, Matthew Wade, the Australian wicketkeeper batter, announced his retirement from international cricket. However, he will join the men's team's coaching unit in the upcoming T20 series against Pakistan.
MatthewWade, the Australian wicketkeeper batter, has announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday. However, he will join the men's team's coaching unit from the upcoming T20 series against Pakistan.
The 36-year-old Matthew Wade ended his 13-year long playing career.
"I'm officially retiring," Wade, who retired from first-class cricket last summer, was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. "It's been an ongoing discussion for pretty much every tour or every World Cup that I've been on in the last three or four years.
"It's been a really fluent conversation that I've had with George (Bailey, chief selector) and Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) over the last six months or since the last World Cup finished. Even leading into the last World Cup, we've been really open and had really great communication around where I'm at with my career.
"If we went into the last World Cup and I managed to get some runs and we won that, then things would look maybe a little different and maybe I'd keep going... it was just kind of an understanding from all of us," Wade added.
36 Test matches. 97 ODIs. 92 T20 Internationals.
Congratulations to Matthew Wade on an outstanding international cricket career! pic.twitter.com/SDWl1OhqZC
Matthew Wade will kick off his coaching career with the national team from its upcoming outing in the T20 Series against Pakistan. He will travel under the leadership of Andre Borovec.
Later, the team will regroup for the ODI Series, which starts in Melbourne next week.
Wade, however, is not new to coaching. He has been in this role during the winter while coaching the Tasmanian youth and second XI.
Well, Wade will continue playing for his Big Bash League side, the HobartHurricanes, for at least the next two summers.
Also, he will continue playing for his domestic team, Tasmania.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy: This player once lost 17kg to play cricket, is now set for India Test debut vs Australia
Harshit Rana, after battling multiple injuries and shedding 17 kg, earns his maiden Test call-up for India’s series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Earlier he toured with the senior team in the T20I series against Zimbabwe. He was a part of the team in the home series against Bangladesh. Not only that, he was on the reserved bench in the test series against New Zealand.
With the call against Australia, it's high time to count days for his debut in the whites anytime soon.
Harshit Rana faced injury before he was 20
Harshit Rana is on the cusp of a promising career as he gears up for India’s five-match Test tour of Australia. Despite a meteoric rise, Rana has faced considerable setbacks due to injuries. By the age of 20, he had already endured multiple stress fractures, sidelining him from the sport for extended periods.
Initially, it was his back, then it was his groin, then his calf and a niggle in the shoulder. His father Pradeep Rana informed that he took Harshit to many hospitals and even to an Ayurveda facility in Najafgarh.
When playing cricket looked impossible, it was the inspiration Harshit drew from Navdeep Saini who bowled with his injured groin. Moreover, the 2020-21 Australia tour played a huge role in fuelling Harshit Rana's courage.
A bruised team battled to the winning position in the 2020-21 Australia tour. The injured duo Vihari and Ashwin who batted throughout ensuring a draw at Sydney, and Cheteswar Pujara who took 11 blows on his body at Gabba inspired him more than anyone can imagine.
Harshit Rana dedicates his maiden test call to his Father
Harshit Rana's Pradeep Rana, who once represented CRPF in hammer throw has never left his side. The senior Rana would pull him out of sleep at 4 am, to make him watch India playing in Australia on television.
His father made it a morning routine in winter, in Delhi for a six-year-old Harshit Rana. He even threw tantrums because he wanted to continue sleeping.
It was Pradeep Rana who knocked on all possible doors to keep his son fit for the game. He not only visited doctors but read articles, watched videos and tried applying everything to help his son play on the big stage.
In an interview with the Indian Express, Harshit said, "he told me that it was okay even if I don’t become a professional cricketer. Whatever I am today, it is because of my father.”
The Journey of Shedding 17 Kilograms
During the 2023-24 period, he suffered from a hamstring injury. As a result, he missed that entire session of the Ranji Trophy.
From November 2023 to the pre-IPL period, he worked hard on his fitness shedding 17 kilograms. This significant weight loss not only improved his performance but also helped him remain injury-free for the next seven months, a crucial period leading to his maiden Test call-up.
Harshit credits the Indian team management for monitoring his workload as he focuses on playing across all formats—Tests, ODIs, and T20s.
Most consecutive test series win at home: India at top
Indian men's cricket team have the record for most consecutive test series wins at home. Since 2013, till now they have won 18 consecutive series in India.
The Indian Men's Cricket Team have already lost their series to New Zealand after losing the first two tests. With that, India's home test series wins ended. However, India still tops the list with 18 home series wins.
The 18th win came against Bangladesh after a 2-0 whitewash against them.
Here's the list of the top five teams with the most consecutive Test series wins at home
India leads the chart with 18 series wins, followed by Australia twice in the list, having 10 wins each time.
Rank
Team
Consecutive Series Wins
From
To
1
India
18
February 2013
October 2024
2
Australia
10
November 1994
November 2000
2
Australia
10
July 2004
November 2008
4
West Indies
8
March 1976
February 1986
5
New Zealand
8
December 2017
January 2021
New Zealand | 8
New Zealand, standing 5th in the table, has 8 home series wins to their name. Starting from December 2017 to January 2021. The team led by Kane Williamson had a perfect combination with the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Ross Taylor, perfectly complementing the spin-friendly pitches, allowing the team to capitalize on the home advantage.
West Indies | 8
Once a terror in World Cricket, the time span of West Indian dominance in test cricket clearly defines the legacy of the team.
The Clive Lloyd-led team, having shoulders of greats like Viv Richards and bowling legend Malcolm Marshall, had its winning streak of 8 series at home from March 1976 to February 1986.
Australia | 10 each
Another ruling team in World Cricket that successfully carried forward their once-created legacy is Australia. Australia is in the chart twice, having 10 consecutive home series wins.
The first phase started from October 1994 to November 2000. A little gap in between, and then the winning streak continued from July 2004 to November 2008.
India | 18
After the Kanpur test win against Bangladesh, for the first time after 92 years of Test cricket history, India had more test wins than losses.
Not only that, India's series winning streak at home increased to 18, making it an undisputed contender amongst the world giants.
The Craziest Collapse in Cricket History: Western Australia vs. Tasmania
The One Day Cup in Australia has experienced one of the craziest collapses in the Western Australia vs. Tasmania match at Perth, with the former shattering within 54 runs,
The One Day Cup in Australia has experienced one of the craziest collapses in the WesternAustraliavs. Tasmania match at Perth. The star-studded squad of Western Australia crumbled down to just 53 runs, that too losing 8 wickets in the last 1 run.
Western Australia vs Tasmania match registers a Record-Breaking Downfall
Western Australia was going through a disaster management period while having a stable score of 52-2 unless the real disaster hit them. Within just 20.1 overs, the team's entire batting lineup shattered, with the score reaching 53.