Sports Bulletin

Aamir Ali Janjua Dubai (UAE):-The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Ajaz Patel as the winner of the ICC Men’s Player of the Month Award for December 2021. New Zealand’s, Ajaz Patel made history in December, when he picked up 10 wickets in an innings against India at Wankhede, becoming only the third player in Tests to achieve that feat after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble. The left-arm spinner played just one Test in the month, where he picked up 14 wickets at an average of 16.07. Patel picked up all 10 wickets in the first innings against India and in the second innings, he picked up four wickets, including that of openers Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara. Patel finished with figures of 14/225, which are the best bowling figures in a Test match in 2021. Commenting on Patel’s performance, ICC Voting Academy member JP Duminy said: “What a historic achievement! Taking 10 wickets in an innings is a feat which needs to be celebrated. There’s no doubt that Ajaz's performance is a milestone that will be remembered for years to come.”

Islamabad (Sports Desk):-Ireland have been fined 40 per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against the West Indies in the first ODI in Kingston on Saturday. Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Andrew Balbirnie’s side was ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. In addition, as per Article 16.12.2 of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League Playing Conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short. Consequently, Ireland will lose two points from their points tally during the Super League. Balbirnie pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Joel Wilson and Nigel Duguid, third umpire Gregory Brathwaite and fourth umpire Leslie Reifer leveled the charge.  

Bipin Dani Sri Lankan all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva has pulled out from the squad for the upcoming series against Zimbabwe, it is learnt. According to the highly placed sources close to him, his wife has delivered a baby and the 30-year-old DDS has requested the board to excuse him to opt out of the tournament. "His request has been accepted and the replacement will be made", one of the sources confirmed. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), in consultation with the selectors have replaced four more players from the originally selected 18.  Avishka Fernando and Janith Liyanage have tested positive and two more players-Lahiru Kumara and Kalana Perera failed the fitness tests. The four, who were not in the original squad of 18, but added are : Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis and Nuwan Pradeep.   The squad :  Dasun Shanaka (likely captain), 2 Dinesh Chandimal, 3 Pathum Nissanka, 4 Minod Bhanuka, 5 Kusal Mendis, 6 Chamika Karunaratne, 7 Maheesh Theekshana, 8 Jeffery Vandersay, 9 Kamindu Mendis, 10 Nuwan Thushara, 11 Nuwan Pradeep, 12 Ramesh Mendis, 13 Praveen Jayawickrema, 14 Dushmantha Chameera, 15 Chamika Gunasekara, 16 Shiran Fernando,  17 Kamil Mishara and 18 Charith Asalanka. Dushmantha Chameera's selection is subject to his fitness clearance and another player may be chosen if he is not cleared by the doctors. The team will be managed by Chandima Maputana. 

Aamir Ali Janjua Dubai (UAE):-The nominees for ICC Player of the Month nominees for December 2021 have been announced, with three men distinguishing themselves with some brilliant performances in the month. There will be no award in the women’s category in December as there were no international women’s games scheduled last month. ICC Men’s Player of the Month for December: Mayank Agarwal (India) With regular openers Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul all missing games at some point last month, Mayank Agarwal has grabbed the opportunity with both hands in the series against New Zealand and South Africa. In the two matches, he scored 276 runs at an average of 69.00, which included two fifties and a century. With India having drawn the first Test against Kiwis in Kanpur, the hosts were looking to bounce back with a win. India routed New Zealand in Mumbai and Agarwal was the architect of the win a Player of the Match-winning performance of 150 and 62 in the two innings. Batting first in overcast conditions, KL Rahul and Agarwal set the platform with a brilliant opening partnership of 117 in Centurion. Ajaz Patel (New Zealand) Ajaz Patel inked history in December, when he picked up 10 wickets in an innings against India, becoming the third player in Tests to achieve the feat after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble. The left-arm spinner played just one Test in the month, where he picked up 14 wickets at an average of 16.07. He picked up all 10 wickets in the first innings but was disappointed by the Kiwi batters who were bundled out for 62. In the second innings, he picked up four wickets, including that of openers Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara. He finished with figures of 14/225, the best bowling figures in a Test match in 2021. Mitchell Starc (Australia) Mitchell Starc has played a vital role, both with the bat and ball in hand, in Australia retaining the Ashes with two games to spare. In the three games last month, he picked up 14 wickets at an average of 19.64 and was more than handy with the bat, scoring 117 runs in the three matches at an average of 58.50. He set the tone for the whole series by dismissing Rory Burns with the first ball of the first Test. While batting, he kept Travis Head company with an innings of 35 and added 85 crucial runs for the eighth wicket. Starc was magnificent with the bat and ball in the second Test, picking up six wickets and scoring 58 runs in Adelaide. This included a brilliant four-wicket haul in the first innings that helped reduce England to 236, giving Australia a massive lead of 237 runs. In the Boxing Day Test, Starc picked two crucial wickets in the first innings, including that of England's captain Joe Root. His innings of 24* helped Australia gain an 82-run lead, which proved to be enough as England were out for 68. He picked up three wickets in the second innings as Australia won by an innings to retain the prestigious Ashes urn.

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Johannesburg (South Africa):-Hosts South Africa defeated India by 7 wickets to level the three-match series 1-1 at Wanderers Cricket Stadium, Johannesburg South Africa on Thursday. An unbeaten innings by Dean Elgar helped hosts to get the target of 240 runs on the last day of Test match. First Test was won by the India. It was first-ever defeat to India in Johannesburg. The victory also meant South Africa kept the three-match series alive, going into the final Test in Cape Town. South Africa 229 (Petersen 62, Bavuma 51, Thakur 7-61) and 243 for 3 (Elgar 96*, van der Dussen 40, Ashwin 1-26) beat India 202 (Rahul 50, Ashwin 46, Jansen 4-31, Rabada 3-64, Olivier 3-64) and 266 (Rahane 58, Ngidi 3-43, Jansen 3-67) by seven wickets  

Sports Bulletin Report LAHORE (January 6, 2022):-Mohammad Rizwan has won the PCB’s Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year award following a stellar 2021 in which he scored 455 Test, 134 ODI and 1,326 T20I runs, besides accounting for 56 batsmen behind the wickets across all formats. For the Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year award, Rizwan beat the challenge of Babar Azam, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who also had an impressive and outstanding year, which is reflected through Pakistan’s overall performance in 2021. Mohammad Rizwan: “I feel humbled and honoured to have been adjudged Pakistan’s Most Valuable Cricketer of 2021. This is the PCB’s most prestigious award and to be recognised for my contributions in the team’s superlative performances across all formats in 2021 in such a way gives me tremendous satisfaction and happiness. “I thought I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game when I was able to hit a century early in the year against South Africa and then carry that confidence and momentum for the rest of the year. I give a lot of credit to our bowlers who bowled their hearts out and didn’t let the pressure get onto the batters by maintaining sustained pressure on the opponents throughout the year.” Hasan Ali won the Test Cricketer of the Year for his 41 wickets in nine Tests, including a 10-for and five, five-fors as well as two player of the match and one player of the series awards. Pakistan all-format captain Babar Azam bagged the ODI Cricketer of the Year award for accumulating 405 runs in six ODIs with two centuries and a half-century. Hasan Ali: “Test cricket is the pinnacle format of the game and to be adjudged as the Test Cricketer of the Year is a proud moment for me. Last year was sort of a comeback year for me after I had missed international cricket in 2020 due to an injury. I was not only able to make a successful return to international cricket but also played my part in the team’s overall success in 2021. “Taking 10 wickets against South Africa in Rawalpindi in my second Test in nearly two years and helping Pakistan win the series 2-0 was one of my highlights of the year and a very happy moment that set the stage for the remaining part of the year.” Shaheen Shah Afridi’s three for 31 against India on 24 October in Dubai in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 won him the Impactful Performance of the Year award. This performance changed the outlook of the side as it not only defeated India by 10 wickets but remained unbeaten in the league matches until they lost a heart-breaking match to Australia in the semi-final. Subsequent to the T20 World Cup, Pakistan remained unbeaten in Bangladesh as well as in the home T20I series against the West Indies. Shaheen Shah Afridi: “I am extremely happy that my performance against our traditional rivals in a global event has been chosen as the Impactful Performance of the Year. For the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the team wanted an aggressive, fearless and convincing start to set the tone for the rest of the event and I am delighted that I was able to provide exactly that.” Mohammad Wasim Junior bagged the Emerging Cricketer of the Year for his 45 wickets in 2021, including 15 wickets in his first year of international cricket, while Nida Dar was named as the Women’s Cricketer of the Year after aggregating 604 runs and taking 25 wickets. Sahibzada Farhan won the Domestic Cricketer of the Year following his 487 runs in the Pakistan Cup, 447 runs in the National T20 and 935 runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. For the second successive year, PCB’s elite match officials voted Asif Yaqoob as the Umpire of the Year. Pakistan cricket team’s visit to the Namibia dressing room following their 45 runs victory to congratulate and appreciate them on their qualification for their maiden ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and reaching the Super-12 stage won them the Spirit of Cricket award. PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja: “On behalf of the PCB, I want to congratulate each award winner. They deserve all the applause and accolades for their tremendous consistency across all formats in difficult times that inspired their sides to outstanding performances throughout 2021, which have been widely acknowledged by the Pakistan cricket fans.” PCB Awards 2021 winners: Impactful performance of the year - Shaheen Shah Afridi (3-31 v Ind, T20 World Cup) Emerging Cricketer of the Year  - Mohammad Wasim Jnr (15 international wickets, seven Pakistan Cup wickets, 12 HBL PSL 2021 wickets, five National T20 wickets and six Quaid-e-Azam Trophy wickets) ODI Cricketer of the Year - Babar Azam (6 ODIs, 405 runs) Women’s Cricketer of the Year - Nida Dar (10 ODIs, 363 runs and 6 wickets; 6 T20Is, 95 runs and 5   wickets; 146 runs and 14 wickets in Pakistan Women’s Cup) Test Cricketer of the Year - Hasan Ali (9 Tests, 41 wickets, 5 five-fors, 1 10-for, best match figures 10-114) T20I Cricketer of the Year - M Rizwan (29 T20Is, 1,326 runs) Spirit of Cricket – Pakistan cricket team’s visit to the Namibia cricket team’s dressing room following their 45 runs victory to congratulate the Namibia side for qualifying for their maiden ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 and then progressing to the Super-12 Stage Umpire of the Year – Asif Yaqoob (selected by the PCB’s elite match officials) Domestic Cricketer of the Year - Sahibzada Farhan (1,869 runs in Pakistan Cup, National T20 and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy) Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (9 Tests, 455 runs; 6 ODIs, 134 runs; 29 T20Is, 1,326 runs; total dismissal 56)

Bipin Dani Not only Sri Lanka's top order batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa has announced his retirement but all rounder Angelo Perera too has tendered his retirement letter to the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board.   Unlike in Rajapaksahe case, whose retirement is accepted by the SLC, the SLC is yet to release a statement on Perera's letter. "Yes, my son has submitted the letter on Tuesday and it is confirmed that he has decided to retire from international cricket", his father, Nalin Perera, speaking exclusively over telephone from Colombo, said on Wednesday afternoon. "We have absolutely no regrets. Zero regrets for the decision", the father added. Rajapaksa, in his letter of resignation has cited family obligations as the reason for his retirement. However, Angelo Perera is leaving Sri Lanka for different reasons. "The economy in this country is not so good and he will be leaving for some other country", one of the close sources explained. "His wife is also expecting the first child in the month of April and he wants to leave Sri Lanka before that", the source further added. "It is true. He is planning to settle overseas", the dad confirmed. "He may continue to play in the country he travels to. Yes, he is aware that he would require a cooling off period before being eligible to play for the national team in that country but will play local cricket till then".

Sports Bulletin Report Dubai (UEA):-Rahul, whose best in the format is eighth position that he attained in November 2017, struck 123 in the first innings and was associated in an important 117-run opening partnership with Mayank Agrawal (60) as India became the first Asian team to win a Test match at the venue while gaining important points in the WTC points table powered by MRF Tyres. Agarwal has gained one place for his contribution while Ajinkya Rahane is up two places to 25th in the latest update that is carried out on Wednesdays and includes all matches that are completed by Tuesday each week. Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami are other Indians to move up the rankings. Bumrah is up three spots to ninth after finishing with five wickets in the match while Shami’s eight wickets, including a five-for in the first innings, see him move up two places to 17th. For South Africa, captain and opener Dean Elgar has progressed two spots to 14th after a fighting 77 in the second innings while Temba Bavuma is up 16 places to 39th for his scores of 52 and 35 not out. Kagiso Rabada, who grabbed seven scalps, has advanced one place to sixth position while his fellow fast bowler Lungi Ngidi has gained 16 slots and is 30th on the list after finishing with eight wickets in the match. Debutant left-arm fast bowler Marco Jensen entered the rankings in 97th position.

Bipin Dani Things seem to have turned around for Virat Kohli very fast. As if off-the-field issues with the BCCI weren’t enough, he now has to deal with an upper back spasm too. The back problem not only ruled him out of the second Test against South Africa but also will have him waiting for a few more weeks to play his 100th Test. This is not the first time Kohli is having a back problem. “I’ve had disc issues since 2011,” he’d once said. In fact, Kohli’s back pain has troubled him more in the last three years, due to which he’s even had to miss a few matches. Ramji Srinivasan, a trainer who’s worked with the Indian team for several years, thinks Kohli needs to train smart rather than train hard. He then elaborates on what he calls ‘smart training’. “Smart training is basically an understanding of the mind and body, and to sync your workout with your biorhythm and work on how you feel on a particular day. It depends on the physical and mental sync on a particular session and how you manipulate the program according to the need of the day,” states Ramji. “So, rather than doing the same routine repeatedly, which is hard training, you focus on how you train, what you train on, why you train, when you train, etc.” The long and short of back pains The short-term solution for lower back pain in sportspersons is rest. However, according to leading strength and conditioning specialist Deckline Leitão, strengthening and observation/management of overall cricket and fitness load is the long-term solution. Deckline has worked with several Olympic athletes including Badminton World Championship bronze-medallist Lakshya Sen, who also used to suffer from lower back pain. “As cricketers and sportspersons grow older, they have to focus on being physically sound by focusing on recovery, avoiding overtraining and fancy fitness exercises, and knowing that peaking at the right time for competition is the key,” says Deckline. In fact, lower back pain is one of the prime reasons for players’ reduced performance and them missing matches. “Appropriate diagnosis by a good orthopaedic spine surgeon, basic initial rehabilitation with a physiotherapist, long-term balanced strengthening with specialists and managing overall cricket practice/competition load is the way forward,” adds Deckline. “Erratic and unplanned training for older athletes and players can stifle their playing as they don’t recover as quickly. Older players must remember that their bodies have already undergone great wear and tear over the years.” Clearly, exercise can make or break your body. Balance is the key.

Sports Bulletin Report Mount Maunganui, New Zealand (January 5, 2022):-Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by 8 wickets in the first Test at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand on Wednesday, as they got their target of 40 runs after losing their two batters. New Zealand could score only 169 runs in their second innings. Lanky fast bowler Ebadot Hussain snared six Kiwis after conceding 46 runs. Hosts restart their innings today morning, as they were 147 for five at the close of day-4. Yesterday, Will Young and Taylor had added 73 runs for the third wicket as New Zealand had got down to the business of wiping out the 130-run deficit. But shortly after Young reached his second fifty in the game, he fell to Ebadot's good-length delivery, which opened up one end for Bangladesh. Ebadot struck again a ball later when he clean bowled Henry Nicholls, and in the next over, had Tom Blundell out lbw. New Zealand lost three wickets for no runs, in the space of seven Ebadot deliveries, and that was where the match was decided for Bangladesh. Bangladesh took their time reaching the 40-run target, in 16.5 overs, during an extended first session. Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto were dismissed caught behind, with Ross Taylor taking a superb catch off Shanto's outside edge. Fittingly, Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh's highest run-getter in Tests and their most experienced cricketer scored the winning runs, with captain Mominul Haque at the other end. Bangladesh 458 (Mominul 88, Litton 86, Boult 4-85) and 42 for 2 (Shanto 17, Mominul 13*, Mushfiqur 5*) beat New Zealand 328 (Conway 122, Nicholls 75, Shoriful 3-69, Mehidy 3-86) and 169 (Young 69, Taylor 40, Ebadot 6-46, Taskin 3-36) by eight wickets