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There was chaos after Shanaka was initially given out caught behind, then found short of his crease, but given not out for both

Shashank Kishore27-Sep-2025Why was Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka ruled not out even though he was run-out by Sanju Samson off the fourth ball of the Super Over against India in the Asia Cup game on Friday?For a while, confusion reigned when Shanaka ventured out of his crease after missing a yorker from Arshdeep Singh, who went up in an appeal for a caught behind, while Samson threw the ball at the stumps to find the batter short. But the umpire had given Shanaka out caught behind after a bit of contemplation, and Shanaka referred the decision upstairs to the third umpire Masudur Rahman. After replays confirmed there was no bat involved, Shanaka was ruled not out for the caught behind and for the run out too. It was the timing of the umpire signalling out initially for the caught behind – after Samson’s direct hit – that led to the confusion.MCC’s law states that “the ball will be deemed to be dead from the instant of the incident causing the dismissal”. In this case, that incident was the caught-behind appeal, which meant the ball had been dead when Samson tried to run Shanaka out. With replays proving Shanaka didn’t nick the ball, he was immediately deemed not out, even though India captain Suryakumar Yadav seemed to enquire with the umpires about the decision.Related

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“According to the rules, if you appeal for the catch, then Dasun could go up to the third umpire,” coach Sanath Jayasuriya said of what he made of the appeal. “It was the first decision that counts always, not the second. So he went for the referral, and it was not out. That’s what happened. But overall, I think there are a few grey areas [in terms of the rules at large] that they [officials] have to finetune a bit.”However, Shanaka was out next ball when he sliced one to deep third as Sri Lanka lost both their wickets five balls into the Super Over to set India just three runs to go into the final unbeaten. Suryakumar then thumped Wanindu Hasaranga first ball through the covers to seal India’s victory.

Head coach Simmons urges Bangladesh to “enjoy the moment” and play with “freedom”

Shashank Kishore23-Sep-20251:49

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Bangladesh were outmuscled in their last T20I series against India in October 2024, finding themselves chasing scores of 221 and 297 over the course of a 3-0 series defeat.A year on, they’ve picked up the pieces. Under a new coach in Phil Simmons, who took charge three days after that India tour, they’re trying to unlearn old habits, and build new ones.While there’s awareness that structural changes will take time, there’s also the matter of not losing sight of the present. On Wednesday, they’ll play India, the reigning T20 world champions once again, in a crucial Asia Cup fixture with the stakes a lot higher: the winner will take a giant step towards making Sunday’s final.Related

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“Every team has the ability to beat India,” Simmons said. “The game is played on the day, it’s what happens during that three-and-a-half hours. If we get the break in the game, then we have to hold on to it. We have an opportunity to win.”While the head-to-head reads 16-1 in India’s favour, the India-Bangladesh rivalry has transcended far beyond just the numbers. What began as a sibling rivalry in the early 2000s turned into something bigger, when Bangladesh upset India at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.It took until 2015, though, to take the world by storm, when the two sides met in a charged-up World Cup quarter-final in Melbourne. Since then, matches between the two sides have contained enough drama to satisfy any cricketing hype machine.The MS Dhoni and Mustafizur Rahman shoulder barge in 2015, the heart-stopping last-ball thriller at the 2016 T20 World Cup in Bengaluru, and perhaps the most memorable of them all, the Nidahas Trophy final in Colombo in 2018 have all lent some weight to this ‘rivalry’.

“Every game, especially games involving India, has a hype because they’re the number one T20 team in the world. There must be a hype. We’re just going to ride on the hype.”Phil Simmons, Bangladesh head coach

While things have simmered down since, at least on the field, there has been the odd bit of tension, like India deferring a routine bilateral tour, originally to take place in August this year to September next year. Simmons hasn’t paid much mind to that, or to suggestions that his team stands no chance against India on Wednesday.”Every game has a hype,” he said. “Every game, especially games involving India, has a hype because they’re the No. 1 T20 team in the world. There must be a hype. We’re just going to ride on the hype. We’re going to enjoy the moment and enjoy the game. That’s how we’re trying to go into the game, to enjoy the game and therefore give our best.”Asked if he had allowed himself a smile after beating Sri Lanka earlier in the Asia Cup, Simmons admitted he did, but quickly underlined the bigger picture. “We are not here to win a game against Sri Lanka. We are here to win the tournament. Until we get to the stage where we are out, I have to keep everybody grounded in the dressing room.”Simmons has been encouraged lately, even though Bangladesh have produced mixed results – which includes a T20I series loss to UAE. Yet, through it, there has seen a deviation from their safety-first approach of preserving wickets and setting a platform before trying to accelerate.Simmons: ‘We are here to win the tournament. Until we get to the stage where we are out, I’ve to keep everybody grounded in the dressing room’•ICC via Getty ImagesWhen Simmons took over, he wanted them to play differently. And the team has slowly bought into the philosophy, which mirrors the captain Litton Das outlook as well. “It’s been really good,” Simmons said, reflecting on his time in charge of the T20I side. “A big part of it must be the captain and how he has guided his guys and let them know how he wants them to play.”And also the coaches, because we’ve given them that freedom to express themselves when they go out there. I think that’s the biggest part in all formats of cricket, but mostly so in T20 cricket. The freedom to express and use their skills.”For his part, Simmons has given them the independence and liberty to discover their own methods, while also focusing on being flexible.Example: Two games into the Asia Cup, it seemed a given Parvez Hossain Emon and Tanzid Hasan would be locked-in as openers. Then Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka in the group stage and Simmons saw Saif Hassan batting superbly at training and decided to shake things up.In August, Saif made a comeback to the T20I squad after two years. On Saturday, he struck a 45-ball 61, only his second T20I fifty, as Bangladesh bouced back to beat Sri Lanka in their first Super Fours fixture.1:55

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Similarly, one match after hitting an unbeaten, six-ball 12 against Afghanistan, Nurul Hasan was left out for Mahedi Hasan, whose offspin made him a necessity against a left-hander heavy Sri Lankan batting line-up. Similarly, legpinner Rishad Hossain made way for an extra seam-option in Shoriful Islam.These changes, Simmons explained, were largely tactical: “Everybody has their time. Maybe you play well in one game but lose the chance in the next because of the combination. It’s hard, but we’re trying to make sure the XI is always hard and difficult to get into. The balance of the team is most important.”If flexibility has been their batting mantra, their bowling has been shaped by pragmatism. Simmons has introduced structured workload management, first with Andre Adams and now with bowling consultant Shaun Tait.Fast bowlers like Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib have been carefully rotated and preserved. Hasan Mahmud is being groomed for Tests, while young quicks such as Nahid Rana have been given elaborate feedback that they hope he will incorporate before he returns.Simmons credits assistant Mohammad Salahuddin, a respected domestic coach, for helping build player confidence and connections, which has been an extension of his management style with Afghanistan and West Indies.In the previous regime, where a board chairman held strong influence over squad selections, at times even the playing XI, such calls may not have been so easy to take. Things are different now.”As long as I have a proper reason for my decisions – we all have different opinions, but as long as I’m confident, and my staff and the captain are confident in how we’re guiding the team, then criticism is like water off a dog’s back. It doesn’t bother me,” Simmons said.

Sarwar Imran in a stable condition at team hotel and hopeful of attending training on Wednesday

Mohammad Isam30-Sep-2025

Bangladesh women’s head coach Sarwar Imran suffered a minor stroke on Monday in Colombo, where the team is preparing for their World Cup opener against Pakistan.Team manager SM Golam Faiyaz confirmed the news to ESPNcricinfo, stating that Imran is now in a stable condition.”(Sarwar) Imran sir was feeling dizzy a couple of days ago, and it continued on Monday. We took him to the hospital where the doctors detected he had a minor brain stroke,” said Faiyaz.The manager said that Imran was released from the hospital on Tuesday. He is now recuperating in the team hotel, although he wanted to join Tuesday’s training session.”We asked sir to rest today,” Faiyaz said. “He is hopeful of going to the ground with us tomorrow (Wednesday).”Imran, aged 66, was appointed the women’s head coach in February this year, after Hashan Tillakaratne, the former Sri Lanka captain, left the role earlier in the year.Imran was also the men’s coach when the Bangladesh team played their inaugural Test in 2000.Bangladesh open their World Cup campaign against Pakistan in Colombo on Thursday. It will be their second appearance at the tournament, having made their debut in 2022 and scraped through qualifying for this year’s event.

Sciver-Brunt scored century in a game where India’s batting collapsed in the absence of senior players

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2025

Without Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Pratika Rawal, India’s batting order crumbled against England at Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence ground in a warm-up fixture ahead of the ODI World Cup. Chasing 341, India were all out for 187, with Arundhati Reddy not coming out to bat due to a leg injury she sustained while bowling.Wicketkeeper Uma Chetry, who was included in the squad in place of the injured Yastika Bhatia, made a promising 45, while captain Jemimah Rodrigues top-scored with 66 off 68 balls. Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, and Sneh Rana combined to make just 43 runs in the middle order.Related

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Sent in to bat, England, propelled by captain Nat Sciver-Brunt’s brisk 120 and Emma Lamb’s 84, piled up 340. India’s pace spearhead Renuka Singh struck in her first over to remove Tammy Beaumont, and the hosts had both Amy Jones and Heather Knight back before the halfway stage. However, Sciver-Brunt and Lamb’s 173-run stand put England in front, despite Kranti Goud’s three-wicket haul later in the innings.Shafali Verma notched up 70 off 49•Getty Images

Shafali Verma, left out of India’s World Cup squad, scored a blistering 49-ball 70 in India A’s four-wicket win over New Zealand in a rain-affected fixture.After New Zealand posted 273 for 9 on the back of Izzy Gaze’s unbeaten 101 at No. 7, multiple rain interruptions left India chasing a revised target of 225 in 40 overs. Shafali’s brisk knock – which included 11 fours and a six – gave the innings early momentum. Captain Minnu Mani remained unbeaten on 39, while wicketkeeper Madiwala Mamatha contributed a crucial 56 not out off 60 balls at No. 8.Earlier, Sayali Satghare, the reserve seamer for India at the World Cup, picked up three wickets. India A had New Zealand reeling at 146 for 7, but Gaze’s counterattacking century helped the Sophie-Devine-led side post a competitive total.In Colombo, both the Pakistan-Sri Lanka game and South Africa’s match against Bangladesh were washed out. Sri Lanka were 33 for 1 in 7.3 overs when play came to an end, while in the other contest, South Africa had reached 45 for 3 in nine overs before rain intervened. Bangladesh’s young pacer Marufa Akter dismissed both Laura Wolvaardt and Annerie Dercksen, while Nahida Akter bowled Marizanne Kapp – a dream start for Bangladesh.

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has demanded the “immediate removal” of Andy Pycroft, the match referee for the India vs Pakistan game on Sunday evening in Dubai, from the remainder of the Asia Cup.The demand from Naqvi, who is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), came a day after the PCB had alleged that Pycroft had “requested the captains not to shake hands at the toss” as is customary.On Monday, the PCB sought to escalate the matter. “The PCB has lodged a complaint with the ICC regarding violations by the Match Referee of the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC Laws pertaining to the Spirit of Cricket,” Naqvi said in a tweet (reproduced below). “The PCB has demanded an immediate removal of the Match Referee from the Asia Cup.”ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB has conveyed this demand via a letter addressed to ICC general manager Wasim Khan. The letter says that Pycroft, at the time of the toss, took Pakistan captain Salman Agha aside and told him there would be no handshakes at the toss. It goes on to say that Pycroft then spoke separately to India captain Suryakumar Yadav.Pakistan team manager Naveed Akram Cheema subsequently spoke to tournament director Andrew Russell asking for an explanation, and was told, the PCB says, that it was down to the line the BCCI had taken on the matter following discussions with the Indian government. When contacted by ESPNcricinfo, Russell offered no comment on the subject.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The PCB says that Pycroft’s action had violated the MCC Laws and was against the spirit of cricket, and accused the match referee of violating the ICC’s code of conduct. While there is speculation that Pakistan have threatened to withdraw from the tournament if Pycroft was not removed, ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB has not yet adopted that position.ESPNcricinfo has sent a query to the ICC, which is the ultimate authority, to check whether Pycroft did indeed instruct the captains not to greet each other at the toss.At the conclusion of the game, which India won by seven wickets, the Indian players and support staff chose not to meet the Pakistan side, an unwritten custom after a contest, with Suryakumar Yadav, the India captain, saying afterwards that the Indian “government and the BCCI were aligned” on the matter.Pakistan captain Salman Agha subsequently skipped the post-match presentation, and coach Mike Hesson called India’s decision “disappointing” when he spoke at a press interaction.Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav went straight back to the Indian dressing room after completing the win•Associated Press

While this is an ACC tournament where the ICC has no organisational role, the match officials are allocated by the ICC. Withdrawing a match referee and appointing a replacement would require the ICC to get involved. The BCCI, meanwhile, are the official hosts of this Asia Cup, and might be required to play a part in the matter too.This is the second statement Naqvi has issued since tensions between India and Pakistan spilled over following the game. Shortly after the defeat, he accused India of “dragging politics into the game” and lacking “sportsmanship”. Suryakumar, meanwhile, said at the press conference that a “few things in life were ahead of sportsman’s spirit”.Pycroft is one of two match referees at the Asia Cup, Richie Richardson being the other, and has two more games to officiate in during the group stage of the tournament: Hong Kong vs Sri Lanka in Dubai on Monday and Pakistan vs UAE, also in Dubai, on Wednesday.This was the first meeting between the two teams since India and Pakistan exchanged cross-border hostilities in May, and uncertainty had surrounded the match in the intervening months, with several calls for India to boycott it. Clarity only emerged when the Indian government made public its official policy for sporting engagements with Pakistan, greenlighting meetings in multilateral events while refusing to engage in bilateral contests.As such, this might only have been the first part of an issue that could well come up again next Sunday: Pakistan need to beat the UAE to secure progression to the Super Four, where they will face India in Dubai again on September 21.

A look at their scoring rates begins to point to the reasons for this long-standing problem

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Sep-2025For longer than ten years, a little over half of international T20 cricket’s lifespan so far, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have nursed woeful run rates. The stats are pretty clear. Of the ten top-ranked men’s T20I teams, they have the two worst run rates since 2015.A ten-plus year span is clearly many ages in T20 cricket, the fastest moving and now most-played of cricket’s formats. And yet Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’s loyalty to the bottom of this table has seen extraordinary consistency. Between 2015 and the end of 2019 they were eighth (Bangladesh) and tenth (Sri Lanka) on the table, and since 2020 they are eighth (Sri Lanka) and tenth (Bangladesh). If you’re looking for more recent history – since the start of 2024 – they are eighth (Sri Lanka) and ninth (Bangladesh), just ahead of Afghanistan. But unlike Afghanistan, neither Sri Lanka or Bangladesh qualified for the semi-final of the last World Cup.We’re mostly interested in only the run rate for this section, but just to illustrate how abysmal these teams’ batting has been, we’ve also incorporated batting average into this graph.