Andre Russell's record-breaking match, Ganguly for BCCI President, and more - Cricket News Today, August 11, 2018

An Indian side, hopeful of a comeback, are facing a confident set of English players at the Lord's, in the second Specsavers' Test match. Latest reports put England at 155/5 on Day 3, replying to India's measly 107 in the first innings. The weather Gods have been kind on England so far on Day 3, with the ball not swinging as much as yesterday, helping them bat with relative ease compared to how the Indians fared yesterday.

Well, that is a sum-up of what's happening at London so far, and as the game progresses over there, here we bring you the top stories from elsewhere, in today's world of cricket.

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#5. Pak PM Imran Khan invites "former-colleague" Navjot Sidhu for his swearing-in

Former Pakistan all-rounder Imran Khan has been elected the new Prime Minister of Pakistan following the country's general elections on July 26. As preparations have begun for his swearing-in ceremony scheduled for August 18th, the erstwhile cricketer is busy calling up his old colleagues, inviting them to attend the event. And the latest to receive such a call is Navjot Singh Sidhu, former Indian cricketer and now a politician himself.

Sidhu has reportedly accepted the invitation and informed the Union Home Ministry and the office of the Punjab Chief Minister about his intention to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

The event will be conducted in the Pakistan capital city of Islamabad, and Sidhu will be going by virtue of the personal phone-call he received from Imran. Sidhu had earlier talked to the media about how he felt Ind-Pak relations will be on a mend once Imran comes into authority.

#4.

Injury makes Faf du Plessis unavailable for Zimbabwe series

Faf du Plessis attending a recent press-meet

Faf du Plessis is South Africa's cricket captain across all formats. However, he is likely to miss the team's upcoming limited overs' series against Zimbabwe, owing to injury woes.

The player suffered his second shoulder injury in the space of a year while featuring in the Sri Lankan tour. Du Plessis, who had to undergo surgery on his right shoulder in as recent as December 2017, tore his rotator-cuff set of tendons in the same shoulder while attempting a fielding effort against the Lankans.

He has evidently been rested, keeping in mind the impending busy summer, after which the team will also be a part of the ICC World Cup scheduled for May and June 2019. "It's important to get the shoulder as strong as possible," du Plessis said on his arrival back to Cape Town on Friday.

"Playing against Zimbabwe would be nice but an extra few weeks (of recovery) would be good. I was under pressure before the India series but I managed to get through it. No disrespect to Zimbabwe but there's a lot of cricket still to be played. The long-term goal is the most important thing," he added. He obviously meant the likes of the World Cup, and his career itself, which can't be put at stake by playing with an injury.

#3. Ashish Nehra speaks highly of Ishant Sharma leading the India bowling

Nehra with Ishant

Former Indian pacer and world-cup winner Ashish Nehra spoke about how he felt that the Indian pace-bowling unit as of the present stage, was potent enough. He also spoke highly of Ishant Sharma's seasoned display in the first Test of the England series. Even if the Indian lost, Sharma's performance with the ball stood out, as he bagged a fifer in the second innings.

"We picked up all 20 wickets in the game. Also, having somebody like Ishant Sharma - leading from the front after playing so many Test matches - that was good to see," he said.

He also analysed the entirety of India's pace-bowling options, explaining how Shami bowled his heart out in the first Test, despite the age and having struggled with recurring injuries. According to him, the likes of Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar are also supremely talented.

What amazed the speedster was the ability Ishant exhibited in leading the Indian pacers in the game, even with Bumrah and Bhuvi, arguably India's best quicks right now, being absent due to injuries. He hoped that the side can continue to develop in pace-bowling, keeping in mind the 2019 World Cup.

#2: Sourav Ganguly likely to become next BCCI President

Sourav Ganguly

Former BCCI head Anurag Thakur's plea for impeachment with the Honourable Supreme Court (SC) over the latter's previous decision to control the board's administration using a tight set of reins, the SC went on to add a "cooling-off" clause as amendment for current and past administrators of the Indian Cricket Board.

And that has inadvertently paved the way for a likely possibility of Sourav Ganguly becoming the next BCCI president.

The Supreme Court decided to set aside some of the recommendations of the panel led by retd. Justice R.M.Lodha, and also approved a new draft constitution that could force the BCCI to look at getting a former Indian cricketer at the helm of affairs.

Ganguly, who currently serves as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, would be eligible for the BCCI presidential role if he gave up on his current task at hand. And unlike previous times, he would not need a cool-off period before he can contest for the same.

The BCCI has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, such as corruption, improper administration, and so on. Ganguly's arrival at the top of the institution could effectively be of help for it to regain its goodwill among the cricketing fraternity.

#1. Andre Russell's amazing dual-feat in the Caribbean Premier League

Russel after his onslaught yesterday

Most players aspire to be of some help within their squad while featuring in a game. We admit that it feels pretty nice to have contributed to a team's win, no matter how small the contribution may have been.

On the other side of this, we have Andre Russell now who reached the apex of what anyone would have thought as doable in a T20 cricket match - and how! A 40-ball-ton, a last-over hat-trick, and a splendid catch. It is even safe to say that one may feel a tad bit sorry for the rest of the side out there - having not done as much as the man alone, even collectively.

The Trinbago Knight Riders looked strong, despite losing a dangerous Chris Lynn to a brilliant Russell catch. They went on to post 225/6 in 20 overs, which would have gone even higher, had Russell not produced a spectacular effort in the final over - dismissing Brendon McCullum, Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin in successive balls to finish the hat-trick.

All was not well, even then as Russell's Jamaica Tallawahs fell to 41/5 while chasing the huge score. That was when he came in to bat. Very soon, he blitzed his way through, completing a hundred in 40 balls and scoring 21 more in 9 more balls, as he successfully guided his side to an amazing win.

The mammoth knock featured 6 fours and 13 sixes, as he became the only second T20 player after Joe Denly to achieve the twin-feat of a hundred and a hat-trick in the same game. No prizes for guessing the man-of-the-match.