Cricket News Today: Chris Woakes pulls out of IPL, Rahul Dravid held responsible for Ishant Sharma's injury and more

Hello and welcome to the daily roundup of all the major happenings from the world of cricket on the 7th of March 2020.

Numerous interesting narratives came to the fore on Saturday with them ranging from a BCCI official holding Rahul Dravid responsible for the recurrence of Ishant Sharma’s injury to Ravindra Jadeja being denied permission to represent Saurashtra in the upcoming Ranji Trophy final.

Elsewhere, Indian domestic cricket stalwart, Wasim Jaffer announced his retirement from all forms of cricket while Chris Woakes also reportedly pulled out of the IPL.

Here is a look at those in further detail.

#1 Chris Woakes pulls out of the IPL

In the IPL Auction a few months ago, Delhi Capitals splashed the cash to bring English all-rounder, Chris Woakes on board. Subsequently, many opined that they had done so to accord them the opportunity of playing a star-studded Indian batting line-up.

However, in a rather interesting turn of events, there have been murmurs that the fast-bowler has made himself unavailable for the cash-rich event, in order to preserve himself for a hectic international summer.

Also see – IPL 2020 schedule

If the reports were to be true, it would act as a severe impediment to the Capitals’ plans, considering the injury problems currently plaguing Ishant Sharma and Kagiso Rabada.

However, so far, there hasn’t been any concrete news on the same, meaning that the franchise has not officially started hunting for a replacement capable of bowling his full quota of overs and contributing with the bat lower down the order.

The Delhi Capitals begin their 2020 campaign on the 30th of March against the Kings XI Punjab at the Arun Jaitley Stadium as they hope to end their IPL hoodoo and build upon their play-off appearance from the previous edition.

Read the full article here: IPL 2020: Delhi Capitals all-rounder Chris Woakes pulls out

#2 BCCI official blames Rahul Dravid for recurrence of Ishant Sharma’s injury

In January, Ishant Sharma injured his ankle while representing Delhi in a Ranji Trophy fixture against Vidarbha. Subsequently, several expected the fast-bowler to be sidelined for India’s tour to New Zealand. However, contrary to those notions, the pacer recovered swiftly and participated in the 1st Test against the Black Caps.

Post that though, Ishant experienced pain in his ankle, meaning that he missed the subsequent game at the Hagley Oval. In the process, countless questions were raised of the NCA, who had initially cleared the fast-bowler for competitive action.

And, on Friday, a BCCI official came out and stated that Rahul Dravid, courtesy his role as the head of the academy, needed to shoulder responsibility for the gaffe.

It would be interesting to see what are the changes in the scan reports when he was declared fit and the ones taken now. Look, Dravid is one of the most respected players we have but administration is objective and ruthless.

He further elaborated,

Since Rahul is apparently the primary decision maker at the NCA, it would therefore only be natural that he should take responsibility for the processes and decisions.

Read the full article here: BCCI official says Rahul Dravid should take responsibility for NCA blunders after Ishant Sharma injury

#3 Ravindra Jadeja denied permission to play Ranji Trophy Final

A week ago, Ravindra Jadeja was part of the Indian side that featured against the Kiwis at Christchurch. A few days later, his state team, Saurashtra got the better of Gujarat to book their place in the Ranji Trophy final.

Thus, the all-rounder was confronted with the perennial ‘state versus country’ dilemma, especially considering he was also named in the Men In Blue’s squad to face South Africa in a three-match ODI series slated to commence on the 12th of March.

Unfortunately for Saurashtra though, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly denied their request, thereby maintaining that ‘country always comes first’. On the decision, Jaydev Shah, the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association quipped,

I spoke to him [Ganguly] and was told that the board can’t allow Jadeja to play Ranji as country comes first.

Additionally, Jaydev opened up on how the disallowance might prove counterproductive in the BCCI’s efforts to popularize the highest tier of domestic competition in India.

Ranji Trophy can only be popularised if star players play at least in the finals. Don’t keep any international cricket during finals, have a proper window. I would have loved to see him (Jadeja) play the Ranji Trophy final for us, why only Jadeja, I would have loved to see Mohammed Shami (for Bengal) also.

Read the full article here: Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Ravindra Jadeja denied permission to take part in the final

#4 Wasim Jaffer retires from all forms of competitive cricket

Over the course of the past couple of decades, there have hardly been any batsmen who have rivalled Wasim Jaffer’s remarkable statistics in the domestic circuit. And, after amassing 19,410 runs in 260 First-Class games, the right-handed batsman finally called time on his illustrious career.

Jaffer represented Mumbai for the better part of his cricketing journey, although he moved to Vidarbha before the commencement of the 2015-16 season. At the Nagpur-based team, the veteran formed a vital cog of their machinery as they won an unprecedented Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup double in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

On the occasion of his retirement, he said,

First of all, I would like to thank The Almighty Allah, who gave me the talent to play this beautiful game. I'd like to also thank my family - my parents and brothers for encouraging me to pursue the sport as a profession and my wife, who left a cosy life of England to create a lovely home for our children and me.

In addition, he thanked the BCCI, the Mumbai Cricket Association and the Vidarbha Cricket Association for giving him the opportunity to represent them.