Cricket news round-up – October 17: Players for The Hundred draft revealed, three UAE players suspended

The full list of players for The Hundred draft has been revealed; Yashasvi Jaiswal became the youngest male player to hit a double hundred in List A cricket; and three UAE cricketers have been suspended for corruption.

List of players for The Hundred draft revealed

The full list of players to participate in the inaugural draft of The Hundred has been revealed. The entire list includes 570 players, out of which 331 are domestic and 239 are the overseas stars. However, most of the domestic players have joined the draft without any base price. Only 19 domestic players have gone for a base price with £60,000 as the highest base price, opted by Joe Denly, Liam Livingstone, Samit Patel, and Mark Wood.

On the other hand, quite a few overseas players like Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, Steve Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Mitchell Starc, and David Warner opted for the £125,000 base price. The overseas player list also includes global T20 stars including Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Glenn Maxwell

Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh, the only Indian to have initially entered the draft, changed his mind as the BCCI did not give permission to play overseas T20 leagues. As Harbhajan has not retired yet he has to abide by the board.

Jaiswal becomes the youngest man to hit List-A double hundred

The Mumbai teenager Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his great form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy and achieved something which never happened in men’s cricket. The young Jaiswal scored three hundred in this tournament with the latest being a 154-ball 203 against Jharkhand. The innings included 17 fours and 12 sixes and he dominated all the opposition bowlers. His innings helped Mumbai to post 358 runs in their 50 overs and they won the match by 39 runs.

Out of the nine double hundred in List A cricket by Indian batsmen, five have been hit in ODIs; three by Rohit Sharma, and one each by Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. The rest of the four scored by Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Karn Kaushal.

Three UAE players suspended for corruption

The host nation for the world T20 qualifier, UAE have faced a huge blow just before the tournament as their captain and two senior players have been charged for corruption. The captain Mohammad Naveed, all-rounder Shaiman Anwar, and right-arm pacer Qadeer Ahmed have been provisionally suspended with immediate effect for breaching ICC anti-corruption rules. Another player, Mehardeep Chhayakar, a famous name in domestic cricket, has been also charged. Most of the charges are related to potential fixing in the upcoming matches.

It is a big blow for UAE with the tournament scheduled to start on Friday 18^th October. They have announced Ahmed Raza, the 31-year old left-arm spinner as the captain of the squad.

Ganguly on India-Pakistan cricket resumption

Sourav Ganguly, the new BCCI president elect mentioned that bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan will depend on permission from the Indian government. He said that the decision could be taken by the prime ministers from both the nations, Narendra Modi and Imran Khan.

In a press meet at Kolkata, Ganguly clarified that the board would need to seek permission from Government like any other foreign tour for the national cricket team. “Of course we have (to take permission), because international exposure (tours) is all through governments. So we don’t have an answer to that question.”

Ganguly led the Indian team in 2004 during their first tour of Pakistan in 15 years. The two teams played their last bilateral series in 2012.

Bopara leaves Essex

Ravi Bopara leaves Essex after playing for close to 18 years to move to Sussex. He took to his Twitter account to announce the news. He further told Sussex website, “It is a great chance to play under a respected and acknowledged coach like Jason Gillespie and with a very strong and talented team of players, many of whom will no doubt go on to receive international honours.”

Bopara who is eager to concentrate on T20 cricket breaks association with Essex just after their brilliant outcome in the T20 Blast and County Championship.  Bopara made 499 appearances for the club across all formats and played for 18 seasons scoring 11,148 first-class runs at an average of 42.06 with101 half-centuries and 37 hundred.