Top Stories: Things that made news in the cricket world today

Brad Hogg rates IPL and PSL on a scale of 1 to 10

• The Pakistan Super League (PSL) was founded in 2016 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with five teams.
• The initial few seasons of the T20 league was played in the UAE due to security concerns in the country. Slowly but surely, the PCB decided to bring some matches back into the country which started with the knockout games and the final and then holding a part of the tournament in Pakistan as well.
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Families of our cricketers are not willing to send their sons to Pakistan amid Coronavirus threat: BCB Chief

• The confusion over whether Bangladesh will travel to Pakistan for the third leg of their tour has become more evident thanks to the Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nazmul Hassan’s latest statement on social media.
• Bangladesh is expected to play one ODI and one Test in this leg, after previously playing 3 T20Is and one Test a couple of months ago.
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‘I just sort of had very, very mild cold symptoms’ – Lockie Ferguson opens up on being isolated before testing negative for Coronavirus

• Amidst the fears of Coronavirus, boards, management, and teams have taken effective measures to ensure the players’ safety.
• Not only cricket, other sports all over the world have taken effective measures too and most of the sports are now postponed due to the rapid growth of Coronavirus.
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Cricket West Indies postpones its domestic tournaments due to coronavirus threat

• In the wake of the rising Coronavirus threat, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has decided to suspend all the domestic tournaments and face-to-face group meetings for a minimum of 30 days, starting March 16.
• Cricket West Indies acted on the advice of its Medical Advisory Committee (MCA) to suspend the final two rounds of the Women’s CMI Super 50 Cup in Guyana, Regional Under-15s Boys Championship in Antigua and the regional Under-19s Girls Championship in Trinidad.
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Would love to sledge Steve Smith: Ishant Sharma

• Ishant Sharma, the veteran Indian fast bowler, said that he would love to sledge Steve Smith, the current ICC’s number.1 ranked Test batsman.
• The speedster picked Smith over former Australian captain Ricky Ponting when asked to make a choice between the two. Ishant’s rivalry with Ponting dates back to 2007 when the pacer got rid of the legend twice in the Perth Test.
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Mitchell McClenaghan set to leave PSL midway in the wake of COVID-19

• The world of sports continues to grapple with the rising threat of the pandemic that is the novel Coronavirus- COVID-19. With the situation escalating at an alarming rate, most of the sporting events including the Premier League, La Liga, NBA, have been postponed.
• On the cricketing front, almost every tournament barring the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been called-off till the unforeseeable future.
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It was love at first sight for me, I wanted to marry Pratima since Day One: Ishant Sharma

• Unlike Virat Kohli-Anushka Sharma, Hardik Pandya-Natasa Stankovic, the Ishant Sharma- Pratima Singh love story is not known to many and the reasons are obvious.
• While the fans do know about Pratima’s basketball background, it would not be at all wrong to say that most of them have very little idea about how it all started between Ishant and Pratima.
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List of cricket series cancelled/postponed due to coronavirus

• The coronavirus pandemic has spewed venom even on sporting events across the globe.
• Even as public gatherings are being put to hold, some games are being played behind closed doors. A number of cricket series have either been postponed or cancelled.
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‘It was the first time I had shed tears in the dressing room ever’- Usman Khawaja recalls the heartbreaking World Cup semi-final exit

• Australia is one of the best teams in ODI formats and were the main contenders to win the 2019 World Cup.
• But to their despair, they lost the semi-final to England by eight wickets.
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Ishant Sharma reveals the best spell of his Test sojourn

• Ishant Sharma, the tall and lanky Indian fast bowler, has revealed the spell he bowled in the 2014 Lord’s Test as his most favourite in the longest format.
• The 31-year-old returned wicketless in the first innings, but churned out seven wickets for 74 runs in the second to guide India to a 95-run victory.
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‘He needs to lose his belly fat’ – Shoaib Akhtar and Ramiz Raja urge Sharjeel Khan to work on his fitness

• The 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League saw tainted swashbuckling opener Sharjeel Khan make a comeback to competitive cricket after serving his time away from the game due to his involvement in the PSL spot-fixing scandal.
• The southpaw is opening with Babar Azam for the Karachi Kings.
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Sourav Ganguly refuses to comment on Sanjay Manjrekar’s removal from BCCI’s commentary panel

• Coronavirus has hogged the spotlight due to its adverse effects across the globe. It is one of the most debatable topics at the moment.
• But one news that surfaced on Friday attracted everyone was the removal of Sanjay Manjrekar, the former Indian cricketer, from the commentary panel of BCCI.
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Shoaib Akhtar names the Pakistani batsman who can be better than Babar Azam

• Babar Azam is one of the best batsmen in the world right now.
• While he arrived at the scene as a white-specialist, he is now also considered among the best Test batsmen in the world. At a time when Pakistan cricket is struggling to produce world-class batsmen, Babar has turned out to be an exception.
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‘I am really comfortable’ – Ben Dunk to take part in remainder of PSL 2020

• The widely spreading, deadly Conoravirus has bought the whole world to a halt.
• The high concerns over the same have led to all sporting events to be either rescheduled or to be called-off. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also seen the need to take quick action for the ongoing PSL.
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