Cricket News Today:  Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav set to be part of Asia XI, Ashton Agar heaps praise on 'rockstar' Ravindra Jadeja and more - 22nd February 2020

Hello and welcome to the daily round-up of all the major stories happening in the cricketing world today.

First up is Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav set to be part of Asia XI, followed by Ashton Agar praising 'rockstar' Ravindra Jadeja. Jaipur will be hosting the Women’s T20 Challenge matches again this season while Mithali Raj heaped praise on Poonam Yadav's display against Australia. And lastly, Mark Boucher blames Proteas' poor bowling display for the loss in the first T20I.

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Here is a look at those stories in detail.

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#1 Kohli, Dhawan, Shami, and Yadav set to be part of Asia XI

Virat Kohli

The Board of Control for Cricket in India have named Indian captain Virat Kohli, left-hand opener Shikhar Dhawan, pacer Mohammad Shami, and spinner Kuldeep Yadav as India's entries into the Asia XI squad to take on World XI in two T20Is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The match is scheduled for the 18th and 21st of March and will see top-flight cricketers take part in the much-anticipated series.

Also see – IPL schedule

The Pakistan cricketers won't be taking part due to the ongoing PSL but PCB cleared the confusion surrounding their participation in the two T20Is.

"Ganguly sent in the names to the BCB after we checked on the availability of the players. Kohli, Shami, Dhawan and Kuldeep will represent us in the Asia XI team. It has been a while since we sent the names because the Bangladesh board needed the list from BCCI to be able to prepare the Asian squad."

"What we are aware of is that there will be no Pakistan players in the Asia XI. That is what the message is, so, there is no question of both countries coming together or picking one over the other."

"The T20Is between World XI and Asia XI were scheduled from March 16-20, while the PSL 2020 is likely to end on March 22. Since dates of both the series couldn't be changed, we offered our regrets to the BCB, both verbally and in writing, which they understood and accepted."

"It is unfortunate that the facts were twisted to mislead Pakistan cricket fans and followers."

Watch video: Kohli, Dhawan, Kuldeep & Shami's names sent to Asia XI T20I

#2 Ashton Agar praises 'rockstar' Ravindra Jadeja

Agar's fifer helped Australia crush South Africa in the first T20I yesterday

Australian Ashton Agar dedicated his recent success in the first T20I against South Africa to Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, tagging him as a 'rockstar'. Agar took a five-wicket haul, which included a hattrick and almost another one, and stated that an inspiring chat with India's Jadeja helped him overcome the nerves to perform at the highest level.

Agar, whose physique, action and even batting style resembles that of Jadeja's, revealed that the series loss to India in India recently was a necessary failure which he took into his stride and learned from it.

"I had a wonderful chat with Ravindra Jadeja after the India series. He's my favourite player in the world - I want to play cricket like he does."

"He's an absolute rockstar: smacks them, gun fielder, and spins the ball. But it's just his presence when he's out there, watching his confidence… just talking to him about spin bowling, keep trying to spin the ball. When he's batting he has a really positive attitude, and he takes that attitude into the field as well."

"So I was pretty inspired by talking to him. And I've got good people around me: I've got a wonderful fiancée - she's very supportive, so I'm really lucky - and a great family. They're able to keep me really level."

Full article: Ashton Agar heaps praise on 'rockstar' Ravindra Jadeja; wants to emulate him on the pitch

#3 Jaipur to host Women’s T20 Challenge matches again

Women's T20 Challenge 2019 (Image courtesy: IPLT20/BCCI)

Jaipur will again play host to Women's IPL in the form of Women's T20 Challenge. According to reports, the third edition of this Women's league will feature four teams instead of three with seven matches to be played in total.

Smriti Mandhana (Supernovas), Harmanpreet Kaur (Trailblazers) and Mithali Raj (Velocity) captained their respective teams with Kaur-led team emerging as champions.

The source also clarified that the IPL All-star had been postponed till the end of IPL, however, the venue hadn't been finalized yet.

“There would be seven matches between four teams in the women’s IPL and Jaipur is likely to host them.”

“The venue for the match is yet to be finalised. We will have to see the performances of the players (and then select) them.”

Full article: IPL 2020: Jaipur to host Women’s T20 Challenge matches again this season; All-Star match venue yet to be finalized

#4 Mithali Raj heaps praise on Poonam Yadav's display against Australia

Yadav's inspired spell propelled India to a superb victory against Australia

Former Indian captain Mithali Raj praised Indian spinner, Poonam Yadav, for turning the game on its head through her magical bowling in the inaugural match of the Women's T20 World Cup against Australia.

India won the match by 17 runs thanks to a four-for by Yadav as she put the brakes on the scoring rate as well as picked important wickets to halt Australia's charge. Raj termed Yadav's speel as the turning point of match which helped India start their WC campaign on a high.

"That opening match definitely lived up to the hype of the tournament, which has been building so much over the past few weeks," International Cricket Council quoted Raj as saying.

Poonam Yadav's spell was the turning point. She's been one of the main spinners for India for quite some time now. Although we recovered our innings through Deepti Sharma and her partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues, it was Poonam's flurry of wickets against Australia's megastars, which completely changed the game."

Full article: ICC Women's T20I World Cup: Mithali Raj heaps praise on Poonam Yadav's display against Australia; calls her spell 'turning point' of the game

#5 Boucher blames SA's poor bowling display for the loss in first T20I

Boucher was extremely critical of the South African pacers and blamed them for the crushing defeat

New South Africa head coach Mark Boucher blamed Proteas's poor bowling performance as the main reason for their defeat to Australia in the first T20I. South Africa were bundled out for a paltry 89 runs while chasing 197 runs to win.

Boucher cited that Proteas were chasing the game ever since their bowlers conceded 70 runs in the first six overs. Lack of variations, yorkers, and change in pace cost South Africa the match, according to Boucher as the Protea conceded boundaries one too many in the initial phase of the game to lose by 107 runs eventually.

“They scored 70 runs in the first six overs and put us on the back foot straight away and that was from some really poor bowling. I can understand if you bowl one or two cut balls and the wicket is sitting up a bit, but I think we went for 10 boundaries off cut balls, which got the momentum going their way."

“It’s not something we can change overnight. We tried to work on things like yorkers but came up short. Our lines and lengths were really bad. Ten cut balls in the first six overs is basically gifting batters 40 runs without them making a play. It’s not like they were running down the wicket-taking us on, we were giving them boundary options."

“It was the bowling as a whole. We bowled one yorker, in the first six overs. Our options just weren’t there tonight.”

Full article: South Africa vs Australia 2020: Mark Boucher blames Proteas' poor bowling display for shambolic loss in first T20I