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Hello and welcome to the daily round-up of all the major stories happening in the cricketing world today.
First up is Pragyan Ojha announcing retirement from all forms of the game, followed by the Indian women winning a thriller against the Australian women to kickstart their 2020 T20 World Cup in style. Harsha Bhogle spoke openly over the controversial Wriddhiman Saha omission from the first Test while Mayank Agarwal praised Kyle Jamieson. And lastly, David Warner also hinted at T20I retirement.
Here is a look at those stories in detail.
#1 Pragyan Ojha retires from all forms of cricket
Former India player Pragyan Ojha announced his retirement from international cricket today. In a Twitter post, he thanked his family, fellow players and everyone who helped him through good times and bad times.
Reactions from all round the cricket community poured in to congratulate Ojha on his fitting career with the international as well club teams. He played 48 international games in total, taking 144 wickets combined.
"I am writing this letter to tender my formal retirement from international and first-class cricket with immediate effect.
“To be an Indian cricketer and represent the country at the highest level was always a dream I cherished as a youngster...I fall short of words to describe how fortunate I have been to have lived my dream and earned the love and respect of my fellow countrymen... It’s time I move on to the next phase of my life. The love and support of each and every individual will always remain with me and motivate me all the time."
Full article: Pragyan Ojha retires from all forms of cricket
#2 India Women win thriller against Australia Women
Poonam Yadav turned out to be the shining star the team desperately needed as the Indian women defeated the Australian women by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener in Sydney.
Batting first, India got off to a brilliant start as teenager Shafali Verma and her opening partner, Smriti Mandhana produced a quick start. However, regular wickets helped Australia restrict India for a paltry 132 runs in 20 overs.
In reply, the Australian batters couldn't get going as Poonam Yadav weaved a spinning web through her slow-in-the-air googlies to bamboozle the opposition batters, helping India win the match.
"My physio and my teammates supported me a lot during my injury phase. I bowled well against Australia here in the past so I wanted to continue that. This is the third time that I didn't get a hat-trick but I am thankful to my teammates as it is not easy to come back after an injury."
Full article: Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Poonam Yadav spins a web as India stun Australia in opener
#3 Harsha Bhogle tweets about Saha's exclusion
Harsha Bhogle took to Twitter to criticize the omission of Wriddhiman Saha from the team line-up for the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington. Saha, who was tipped to be a sure-starter in this match lost his place to Rishabh Pant as reactions started pouring in from all quarters.
Bhogle criticized the team management for choosing runs as a criterion for selection over the prowess behind the stumps. Notably, Saha has been stated to be the best keeper in the world by skipper Virat Kohli before.
“Just up and see Saha is left out. We have just told every young keeper in India not to bother becoming the best in the world behind the stumps and instead focus on getting a few more runs in front of them. Disappointed.”
"Don't get me wrong. This isn't about Pant. Just think in tests you pick your best five batsmen, best four bowlers, best keeper and think about a secondary skill for number six, if at all. I hope he does well because he is a gifted young player but feel for Saha."
#4 Mayank Agarwal heaps praise on Kyle Jamieson
Mayank Agarwal praised New Zealand rookie Kyle Jamieson for hitting a consistent line and length in the latter's debut match. Jamieson claimed the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Hanuma Vihari to send the middle order packing inside the first two sessions of the opening day of the Test match.
Agarwal talked about the extra bounce which Jamieson was able to extract in the first session which took all Indian batters by surprise. Combined with some lateral movement off the deck, Jamieson almost proved unplayable.
“I thought he bowled exceedingly well. He hit good areas and he got good bounce. The way he used the new ball was fantastic and he kept probing us. Since the wicket was soft, he was getting the extra kick as well.”
“It [how to make the best use of the wind while striking the ball] was something we discussed after I came back. You definitely want to be aware of the conditions while you are playing. I think it is quite tricky since the wind blows at more than a decent speed here. And you just have to make adjustments right there on the field.”
“It’s not easy, especially on the first day, on this track. I thought they bowled good areas and they kept testing us. They didn’t give us anything loose. As a batsman, you never felt that you were completely in because even after lunch, it was doing a little bit.”
Full article: New Zealand vs India 2020, 1st Test: Mayank Agarwal heaps praises on Kyle Jamieson after his impressive performance on debut
#5 David Warner hints at T20I retirement
Australia's prolific batsman, David Warner hinted at a possible retirement from T20Is after this year's T20 WC in Australia later this year. Warner wants to reduce the workload in order to extend his cricket career till 2023.
Warner stated that there isn't any bigger motivation than to represent the country in a World Cup. He stated that he was soon going to be on the other side of his 30s and wanted to plan out every series carefully to keep himself fit mentally and physically.
"I definitely would be motivated to go to the (2021) World Cup, it's a (short) turnaround. When you've got such a great group of guys together, and you're enjoying that journey, you don't really want to leave that. At the moment, we're in a great place as a team and I'm just really excited to be a part of it again."
"This year will be my sixth World Cup and I definitely feel like this team we've got has the best chance of winning, particularly at home. If you manage to win on home soil, you obviously want to try and go back-to-back. That'd be an awesome feeling."
"But I'm 34 this year so if I want to keep playing Test and one-day cricket and get to that next one-day World Cup, something's going to have to give," he concluded.
Full article: South Africa vs Australia 2020: David Warner hints at quitting T20I cricket to make it to the 2023 World Cup
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