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Arun Dhumal, the IPL chairman, expects Saudi Arabia to step up investment in its cricketing infrastructure but has insisted that the league has not received any concrete proposals about a ‘Grand Slam’ T20 circuit or direct investment into the IPL.The Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation (SACF) has gradually grown ties with the IPL over the past three years. State-backed Saudi ventures including Aramco, Visit Saudi and Neom have signed sponsorship deals with either the IPL itself or its franchises, and the BCCI chose to stage November’s mega-auction in Jeddah, the country’s second-largest city.The World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) are understood to be involved in talks regarding the creation of a global circuit of T20 tournaments, a concept which reportedly has backing from SURJ, the sports subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Other reports have previously linked PIF with a multi-billion-dollar direct investment into the IPL.Related

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Dhumal, also the ex-BCCI treasurer, told ESPNcricinfo that he is yet to receive any concrete information around any Saudi plans to disrupt world cricket. “It can’t be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because there is no proposal to be discussed; it is just media speculation,” Dhumal said. “There’s nothing that we can do about media speculating.”While the SACF plans to build an international-standard stadium in Jeddah, there is minimal cricketing infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Dhumal said that the idea behind staging the mega-auction there was to encourage the Saudi regime to invest in cricket, and claimed that it reflected the BCCI’s commitment to growing the sport worldwide.”Saudi Cricket as such is part of ICC,” Dhumal said. “They’re wanting to make some investments in cricket so that cricket becomes more relevant in that part of the world, given the diaspora from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh… There’s a lot of aspirations and demands from those guys that more cricketing activity should happen there.”There has been a lot of speculation as to any talk between IPL and BCCI and Saudi Cricket with regard to their interest in IPL. I would want to categorically deny any of that. The idea was to give them a flavour of what IPL is all about. When you see the kind of numbers that happened there with regard to this mega-auction, everybody was startled as to how big this game is.”So it’ll give the confidence for the government there to invest more in the cricket infrastructure so that the players out there get more opportunity. We’ve seen how cricket has grown in UAE over the last few years with the kind of infrastructure they have created. They have started their own league. [Saudi Arabia] will have to create some infrastructure.”Our duty as the BCCI is to go to all these different places and give them the flavour of the sport… Going forward, in case cricket has to grow through the length and breadth of the whole globe, it is paramount that we take it to different landscapes, different territories and showcase what this game is all about. That was the intent.”Dhumal suggested that he was open to the idea of the IPL staging some exhibition matches overseas, but that the idea has not been actively discussed. “If that makes sense, for the purpose of growing cricket and giving them the flavour of the IPL, it can be thought of,” he said. “But [there is] no discussion as of now.”He is also open-minded about the possible return of the Champions League T20, which has been defunct since 2014. “It was done before the opportune time for that kind of event,” Dhumal said. “I would not say no to anything but everything depends on whether we have an availability of time… If it creates value for cricket at a global stage, definitely we can look at that.”Eight of the ten IPL franchises have interests in overseas leagues, with four owners in the process of finalising their investment in teams in the Hundred in England and Wales. Dhumal said that the IPL’s leadership is supportive of its franchises’ growth, but does not expect it to prompt a change in the BCCI’s policy on Indian men’s players playing in overseas leagues.”We are very happy with the contributions that our franchises, enterprises and companies have done to grow this game across the globe,” he said. “India being in this leadership position and cricket being a religion for Indians, it is our paramount duty to make sure that India’s contribution in terms of growing the game across the globe remains. We are very happy with that.On the prospect of Indian players featuring in other short-form leagues, Dhumal said: “IPL being a premium tournament, that exclusivity would definitely be there… There is nothing that has been discussed so far. Going forward, in case there’s scope, then before we arrive at some decision we have to take all of these considerations and then take a call on this.”

New Zealand kept their ODI record against Pakistan spotless as they eased to a 43-run win to seal a 3-0 series sweep.After a nearly-two-hour delay to the start because of a wet outfield owing to overnight rain in Mount Maunganui, Michael Bracewell and Rhys Mariu’s half-centuries got New Zealand up to 264 in 42 overs. Pakistan made a slow start amid a freak injury to Imam-ul-Haq, and while there were contributions right down the order led by a Babar Azam half-century, New Zealand never let Pakistan get on top of the asking rate. Five more wickets for Ben Sears saw New Zealand regularly chip away as Pakistan folded for 221.For the third successive game, Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and decided to put New Zealand in. Naseem Shah came in for the concussed Haris Rauf and had an immediate impact, squaring Nick Kelly up to get an early wicket. But New Zealand consolidated with a 78-run stand between Mariu and Henry Nicholls, even if it wasn’t quite as explosive as New Zealand have been in the first powerplay this series.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sufiyan Muqeem was introduced somewhat late in the game, but struck almost immediately, getting a fluid Mariu out for a half-century as he tried to sweep. But New Zealand continued to work their way through the innings sedately, building one partnership after another; five of the top six scored between 26 and 59. Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell combined for another 61-run stand as they geared up to give the lower-middle order a platform for a big finish.It was captain Bracewell who made good on that platform in a blistering innings. He started slowly after coming in with just under 11 overs to go, but when he launched Mohammad Wasim over fine leg in the 34th over, it would be the first of a half-dozen sixes off his bat. Akif Javed bore the brunt of the punishment, plundered for 18 in the following over as Bracewell hared towards his half-century. It would come in the final over of the innings with a fifth six of the innings against Akif; he would smash one more before Akif finally got his man off the last ball of the innings. It was his fourth wicket, but having smashed 59 off 40, Bracewell had what he wanted from his knock.New Zealand’s quicks were tight up top once more and strangled Pakistan early, but the early stages of the game were defined by the injury to Imam. He nudged Will O’Rourke and set off for a single, but the throw at his end bounced up awkwardly and ended up lodging itself in the grill of Imam’s helmet. Imam went down immediately as the physio raced on. Extensive treatment followed as it became clear Imam would struggle to continue. He would be bandaged and wheeled off on a stretcher, with Usman Khan his concussion substitute.Imam-ul-Haq was forced to retire hurt after a blow on the jaw from the outfield•Getty Images

Abdullah Shafique and Babar were steady through the early stages of the chase, but never as brisk as was required of them. Shafique’s innings was typically punctuated by quality shot-making, a pick-up of O’Rourke towards midwicket perhaps the highlight, but 33 off 56 was a truer indicator of how few and far between such aggression was. He failed to get on top of a short ball from Sears to give Jacob Duffy a comfortable catch in the deep; by now, the asking rate was approaching eight.Usman’s innings ended with a moment of brilliance in the field from Bracewell – of the sort that has become their hallmark. Usman looked uncomfortable against the short ball as ever and skied one off Muhammad Abbas. Bracewell dashed in from midwicket, and it always looked like the ball would land just short, but a dive at full stretch saw him pluck the ball inches off the ground.In a dagger blow to Pakistan, Babar followed swifty after, clipping one to deep midwicket immediately after bringing up his half-century. It became something of a theme for the innings; each of the top seven reached double-figures without making a more meaningful contribution to the chase. The captain Rizwan was the most proactive, looking good through a breezy 32-ball 37, but with wickets falling at the other end, Pakistan needed a bit more meat on the bones of that innings. But Duffy cleverly changed his pace and drew a miscue from him, leaving Pakistan a further 96 to win in just 56 with the top half back in the hut.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the second game, the bottom half had bailed Pakistan out of an embarrassing defeat, primarily led by Faheem Ashraf. There would be no rescue act from the allrounder this time, Bracewell striking as he sliced to Seifert who took a sharp catch, and Naseem was only good for a brief cameo before the returning Sears put a stop to it.By now, Pakistan’s hopes of victory were realistically over, and Sears made hay, taking three off the last four wickets – including the final one – to help himself to a second consecutive five-wicket haul. There was brief drama at the end of a long day when the lights went out just as Duffy was about to deliver to Tayyab Tahir, fighting a lone if purposeless hand at the end of the innings. When the lights came back on, though, he was gone next ball, and it would be under bright lights that New Zealand sealed glory, plunging Pakistan into ever-deepening gloom as they ended a miserable tour on a feeble note.

There are few positives from what has been, even by England’s recent ODI standards, a disastrous Champions Trophy campaign. But according to Brendon McCullum, there were glimmers amidst the darkness.The one that shone brightest was the performance, as well as the fitness, of fast bowler Jofra Archer. He bowled his allotted quota in each of the first two games, as well as nine of the 29.1 England needed to send down in Karachi. He did so with decent pace, picking up wickets in each game, and was the pick of the English bowlers by a distance despite South Africa’s romp to victory.”He’s been out of competitive cricket for a couple of years,” McCullum said. “I think it’s taken just a little bit of time to get that rhythm of gameplay back but I think he’s been really good. He’s bowled high pace, he’s played a lot of cricket, he’s been able to get significant workload under his belt throughout this time and we’ve seen moments of how great Jofra is, even tonight, a couple of wickets he took the other night against Afghanistan, three with the new ball.”We know how great a player Jofra is at the very top of his game and to have him back and to have him fit and excited about playing is a real win for English cricket.”Related

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Archer’s use of the wicket as well as the new ball was perhaps what stood out. He prised out Travis Head early with a sharp catch off his own bowling, but with little swing on offer, didn’t go searching, keeping things tight in his first spell. Against Afghanistan, each of his first 12 deliveries were banged in short before he changed it up in his third over, taking two wickets in five balls. And with Mark Wood out injured in a game with nothing on it and an impossibly low total against a rampant South Africa to defend, Archer was the quickest bowler from either side, cleaning up openers Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs in his first spell.With one English eye perpetually on the Ashes, his ability to tolerate increased workloads is bound to raise hopes he can feature prominently in the five-match series at the end of this year. McCullum looked to balance hope with guarded optimism.”We’ve got to make sure that we’re always doing the right thing by Jof as well and understand the risks involved,” McCullum said. “But I’m pretty sure he’s pretty keen to play Test cricket and you look at someone like Jof – and if you can add him to the battery of fast bowlers you’re trying to build, that can only strengthen this squad. We’ll wait and see, but overall, I’m really pleased with where Jof’s at and it’s great to see him back playing and injury free at the moment.”Jofra Archer made a mess of Ryan Rickelton’s stumps•ICC/Getty Images

That, however, is where the positives end. It has been little short of a horror start to his all white-ball stint for McCullum, winning three and losing eleven games, including the last seven on the bounce: England’s longest such streak in ODI cricket since 2001. While McCullum said on Thursday England may quite plausibly have won each of their first two games, the crushing loss at South Africa’s hands has left little doubt about the true state of their current ODI side.”We weren’t good enough across, obviously very disappointed,” McCullum said. “We had high hopes of being able to finish the tournament with a bit of a bang, but we were very poor and we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ll put our thinking caps on over the next few weeks and start to try and navigate our way through what an improvement looks like across our white-ball cricket and make sure we try and be pretty thorough with that and work out a way that we can get ourselves back to where we should be.”While they do have just under three months until their next ODI, the scale of the rebuild has left McCullum with much to ponder. It begins with appointing a new captain after Jos Buttler quit on Thursday, citing the drop in results.His final innings as captain was a pale shadow of the player who will likely go down as the greatest white-ball batters in England’s history. It ended when he tentatively pushed a Lungi Ngidi delivery straight to mid-off; he had scored 21 in 43 deliveries without hitting a single boundary – his second-longest such innings without sending a ball to the fence.McCullum reiterated his plans to keep Buttler around England’s white-ball side. “We still see Jos as obviously a big player within that and he’s got a huge role to play. He cared so much about it and he admittedly said that he wasn’t able to get the best out of the guys at this stage. I thought it was a brave decision to make and it gives us now an opportunity to be able to start to plot and plan our way forward.”I’ll get home in the next couple of days and start having some conversations with Rob Key and the guys at the ECB about who the right person is for us to put in that position of white-ball captain. Then we assess how to learn some of the lessons that we’ve been dealt on this tour and in this tournament to ensure that we’re a lot more competitive than what we’ve been.”

The Bangladesh government has formed a fact-finding committee to look into the BPL’s non-payment of players during the 2024-25 season. The country’s sports ministry made the announcement on Thursday, amid the payment issue heating up.”The attention of the National Sports Council (NSC) has been drawn to various media reports about the players’ payment issue in the ongoing BPL,” the sports ministry said in a press release. “The country’s image, through the BCB and BPL, will be hurt if the payments are not made according to the contracts.”The three-member committee comprises the NSC director (sports) Humayun Kabir, assistant director (sports) Sajia Afrin and the NSC chairman’s private secretary Saiful Islam. The committee will have seven days to submit its report.The payment issue has become a major headache for the BCB, who reportedly didn’t take bank guarantees from all the BPL teams before the tournament. There are reports of more than one team not having paid their players. The Durbar Rajshahi players have led the protest so far. Their local players boycotted a practice session in Chattogram, and the overseas players boycotted the match against Rangpur Riders in Dhaka.The BCB has said it will take legal action against the Rajshahi franchise, while the World Cricketers Association’s chief executive Tom Moffat expressed his disappointment over the issue.

Nearly six years after he last played for India, fast bowler Siddarth Kaul has announced his retirement from Indian cricket. He is, however, still open to the possibility of playing overseas. The 34-year-old ends his international career with six caps, three apiece in T20Is and ODIs between June 2018 and February 2019.In the 2023-24 season, Kaul helped Punjab win their maiden T20 crown, finishing as their highest wicket-taker with 16 in 10 games as they lifted the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was also their highest wicket-taker (19 wickets in six games) in the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy.Related

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Kaul most-recently represented Punjab in the first half of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, where he went wicketless across two matches. He finishes with 297 first-class wickets in 88 matches, at an average of 26.77, over a career that spanned 17 years. He also picked up 199 List A wickets at 24.30 and 182 in T20s at 22.04, with an economy rate of 7.67.Kaul broke through for Punjab in first-class cricket as a 17-year-old, and first hit the headlines a year later when he was part of Virat Kohli’s victorious India side at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. However, multiple back injuries set him back for over five years.Between December 2007 and February 2012, Kaul played just six domestic matches across formats. When he returned, he was part of an emerging crop of fast bowlers in Punjab alongside Manpreet Gony, Sandeep Sharma and Barinder Sran.Kaul played three County Championship matches for Northamptonshire earlier this year•Getty Images

Over the years, Kaul’s wicket-taking ability and death-bowling skills made him a key member of Punjab’s white-ball setup. He finishes as the all-time highest wicket-taker (155 wickets) in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (120).The highest point of Kaul’s career came in 2018 when he earned a T20I cap on the tour of Ireland after being a consistent performer in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad for two seasons. In 2017, he picked up 16 wickets in 10 games, while in 2018 he was SRH’s joint-highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps in a season where they finished runners-up to Chennai Super Kings.Apart from Sunrisers, Kaul also represented Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL.Kaul is open to the idea of playing overseas, “wherever opportunities arise.””I feel I still have 3-4 years of cricket left in me, but I wanted to go out on a high, when I was at peak fitness and performing well rather than being asked to go due to fitness or non-performance at some other point,” he told ESPNcricinfo.”If you see my graph over the past 9-10 years, I’ve been performing really well across formats. So I felt this was a good time to go. Hopefully going forward, whatever opportunities arise, like in county cricket [he represented Northamptonshire in three Division 2 Championship games this summer, picking up 13 wickets at 29.84], or Legends League, MLC etc, I’d like to explore them if I get the chance.”

Pakistan will field an unchanged starting eleven from the one that beat England by 152 runs in the second Test for the final game in Rawalpindi. The PCB announced the side one day after England confirmed a change in their bowling combination to match the triple-spin attack that proved successful for Pakistan in Multan.It is the first time in Shan Masood’s stint as captain that Pakistan have named an unchanged eleven. The decision is not a surprise, though there was a chance Pakistan may switch up their combination to replace Zahid Mahmood, who bowled just six ineffective overs in Multan, with a seamer. But an injury to Mir Hamza, their preferred choice, scuppered any chance of that happening.The decision is a leap of faith in the curators’ attempts to force the Rawalpindi surface to behave more like the one for the second Test in Multan. Historically, Pindi has never taken much spin, even late into Test matches; just two Tests ago on this surface, Pakistan went in with an all-pace attack against Bangladesh in August.Related

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Since the gamble in Multan paid off last week, though, preparations for a repeat have gone into overdrive. The curators were in Pindi before the second Test ended, with Aleem Dar and Aqib Javed, part of the selection committee, making the trip on the day the game ended.Over the weekend, industrial sized fans and wedding-style heaters were brought in, with windbreakers surrounding the surface. The heaters were gone by Monday, though the giant fans were working. Some footmarks are visible on the strip, notably outside the left-hander’s off-stump at the media end. Each side have a left-arm spinner, a finger spinner and a legspinner in their bowling ranks.”It’s an interesting pitch,” Jason Gillespie, Pakistan’s head coach, said. “Since I’ve been here, there’ve been fans on which we’ve all seen. So obviously it’s very dry and not a lot of grass on it. We probably expect it to favour the slower balls here.”The series is level at 1-1. Pakistan are looking for their first series win since a 2-0 victory in Sri Lanka in July, and a first at home since they beat South Africa in February 2021 by a similar scoreline.Pakistan: 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Kamran Ghulam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Agha, 8 Aamer Jamal, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Noman Ali, 11 Zahid Mahmood

Ajaz Patel has 70 Test wickets at 28.50, but he has only featured in 17 of the 45 Tests New Zealand have played since his debut. This is down to New Zealand’s seam-focused strategy at home. If they need a spinner at all on pitches that tend to start out with plenty of grass on the surface, plus bounce and carry that often lasts through the course of the Test, they tend to prefer spinners who can offer more with the bat – Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, and the like.Patel, therefore, has become something of an Asia specialist, playing more than 70% of his Tests on the continent. He has thrived in Sri Lanka in particular, and on Sunday he wrapped up a second five-wicket haul in the country to finish with 6 for 90 in the second innings in Galle. Only Richard Hadlee has previously taken more than one five-wicket haul on the island for New Zealand.Related

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Patel conceded that there was “an element of frustration” at having played so few Tests despite his record. But “the hunger grows more every time you don’t get an opportunity that you want”, he said. “Every time you do get an opportunity you’re pretty hungry.”That hunger has allowed him to make the best of being in a unique subset of cricketers – an Asia specialist from New Zealand.”As a spinner you have the luxury of the ball doing a little more in these conditions,” he said. “It can be challenging as well, because when you come to these conditions you’re up against good players of spin as well. It’s a double-edged sword.”It’s about presenting the ball in good areas for long periods and using what is available to us on the day – sometimes it may be the breeze, it may be the surface, it may be the pace of the wicket.”It is responsibility I thrive on, and something I really enjoy.”Control was of course a key component of Patel’s success, but at a venue such as Galle, which presents unique conditions, so was working with his environment. There is almost always a breeze across the venue as it is bordered on two sides by the ocean. Patel needed to know how to use it.Patel has played only 17 of New Zealand’s 45 Tests since his debut•Associated Press

“Bowling into a strong breeze as a spinner is sometimes quite nice because you know you can hang the ball up there and the wind will do some work to bring it down. It’s just about using the subtle changes of pace, and using that to your advantage.”The Galle surface is also one of those on which spinners find more purchase when the seam is harder. In the second innings, Patel got to use both the new and old ball, opening the bowling alongside Will O’ Rourke before coming back when the seam was softer.Four of his wickets came with the second new ball.”There two separate phases – one with the old ball, and one with the new ball. With the old ball it was really about trying to get as much overspin as I could and trying to get something out of that surface. As the ball gets older and softer it doesn’t react off the surface as much.”Patel and the other New Zealand spinners have been working with Rangana Herath through this tour, with the Sri Lanka great having taken up the role of spin consultant. Herath, having taken 102 Test wickets at this venue, has had plenty to add, Patel said.At the end of day three, Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne said he suspected Herath to be directly responsible for his own downfall in the second innings, with Patel taking that wicket.”It’s awesome having Rangana in our side,” Patel said. “He’s someone I grew up watching bowl. In terms of stature and build we’re very similar, and he was world class. So [it has been great] having him in our corner and being able to talk me through the conditions and what’s given me success in Galle previously, and what conditions to expect.”He’s also helped me tackle different angles, different fields, and different mindsets. It’s been a privilege and we’re very fortunate to be able to tap into that knowledge. He’s been very successful at this ground.”

Essex 404 for 8 (Cox 141, Elgar 136, Westley 64) vs HampshireJordan Cox reminded Brendon McCullum and the England set-up of his dizzying batting skills with his fourth Vitality County Championship century of the season.Cox was released by England to play for Essex against Hampshire in the Vitality County Championship clash after not selecting him for the First Rothesay Test against Sri Lanka this week.He responded with a scintillating 124-ball 141 to double down Essex’s advantage – having been stuck in – after Dean Elgar’s masterful 51st first class century. Both batters now have over 900 Championship runs this season.After a washed-out day one and more rain on Saturday, this is likely to be a draw – but Essex collected three bonus points to reach the close on 404 for eight .For everyone present at Utilita Bowl at 10:30 BST, bowling first wasn’t just a choice but the only option.The pitch was a green colour which suggested that the ball would seam around, and had been under cover for over 24 hours after a washed out day one.Hampshire captain James Vince could barely conceal his glee when his Essex counterpart Tom Westley picked the wrong side of the coin and he stuck the visitors in.He gave a shocked look when Westley then told stadium announcer Robbie James he would have chosen to bat first.It turned out it would have been the correct choice with blue skies above and a pitch which hadn’t sweated up under the covers due to strong winds.When Kyle Abbott and Mo Abbas were jagging the new ball around, Vince would have felt vindicated, especially when Abbas nicked a ball back into Robin Das’ pads.Das, opening for the first time in the County Championship having earned his position over Nick Browne and Feroze Khushi following a strong Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign, could hardly have done anything else.Elgar and Westley simply occupied the crease for the rest of the morning session as the new ball pressure subsided.Westley, who had soaked up 18 balls before scoring, was dropped at second slip on 27 but otherwise, the captain and opener looked unbreakable.Elgar said after reaching his 50th red-ball ton, against Durham in June, that all centuries “mean the world” to him. This showed little of that wonder, but did demonstrate a workmanlike efficiency; ticking off runs as if they were on a spreadsheet.His fifty came in 122 balls, his century came in 170 as he began to open up for his third Championship century since replacing Alastair Cook as Essex opener.Westley, having put on 144 with Elgar, fell for 64 when he leathered a caught and bowled back at Liam Dawson.Cox was effervescent from almost the moment he arrived at the crease against an ageing ball. His sixes off James Fuller and Nick Gubbins were the headlines of his aggressive streak and suggested he was making up for lost time following his Appendix operation during the last round of matches.Having been dropped on 92, he reached three figures in 92 balls, with a straight drive that summed up his endeavoursBut at the other end, Hampshire’s grind was rewarded.Abbott found former international team-mate Elgar chipping to mid off – which ended a 154 alliance with Cox – and removed Matt Critchley’s off stump bail.Abbas picked up Paul Walter, loose to midwicket, and Michael Pepper, caught at first slip first ball. Simon Harmer was leg before to Dawson as the shadows grew longer.

Thousands thronged Mumbai’s Marine Drive, and the Wankhede Stadium was at full capacity on Thursday evening, in anticipation of the Indian team’s open-top bus parade and felicitation for winning the T20 World Cup. The team’s arrival in Mumbai from Delhi was delayed, though, and their bus parade in South Mumbai was further delayed by the massive crowds, which caused logistical challenges. Eventually the parade got underway two hours behind schedule, but neither the chaos of the jam-packed roads nor the rain proved to be deterrents to the fans.”The open-bus parade, which was delayed by two hours, started from the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Nariman Point at 7.30pm and went till the Wankhede Stadium,” PTI reported. “The distance is covered usually in five minutes but it took more than an hour as the players savoured the evening.Indian fans congregated at Marine Drive hours ahead of the team’s open-top bus parade•AFP/Getty Images

“The squad landed in the city a little after 5pm local time. As per the itinerary shared by officials, a two-hour open-bus parade [was scheduled] from 5pm to 7pm. However, it was learnt that the team could only leave New Delhi by 3.42pm.” Delhi to Mumbai is usually a 2-hour, 10-minute flight.The team had arrived in Delhi from Bridgetown, Barbados, at 6am, having flown in on a charter flight. They had had to stay put in the West Indies for longer than expected because of Hurricane Beryl, which had forced airports closed. After arriving in Delhi, the team was transferred to a hotel and later in the morning met India Prime Minister Narendra Modi for breakfast. The evening was reserved to meet and celebrate with fans, but with the thousands packing the route to the stadium, and evening showers in Mumbai adding to the logistical complications, there was a long delay before any celebrations could kick off. Eventually, the gates were closed at the Wankhede, with the stadium at capacity, and intermittent but heavy showers followed.PTI reported: “As the gates closed amid intermittent rain, extreme humidity and chaos of several thousand people arriving in the vicinity, those [who found] places inside Wankhede remained fixed to their seats even if there was scarcity of food and water.”As the fans ran in all directions … in the stands amid a heavy burst of rain, several pairs of footwear got left behind in the rush.”While the wait [went on], rain kept pelting down with breaks but it could not force the fans off their seats in the stadium.”The rain comes down on fans waiting to felicitate the Indian team at the Wankhede•AFP/Getty Images

Eventually the team arrived at the stadium around 9pm, and speeches from captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and coach Rahul Dravid followed. There was also a lap of honour.India had won their first World Cup – ODI or T20 – in 13 years when they snatched a thriller against South Africa by seven runs in Bridgetown on Saturday. Since then, Rohit, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have announced they will not play another T20I, while this World Cup was also Dravid’s last assignment with the team.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has lined up seven red-ball games for Bangladesh as the focus shifts from T20Is to the World Test Championship for the rest of the year. Bangladesh have Test series against Pakistan, India, South Africa and West Indies left in their 2023-25 WTC cycle.The Test cricketers will play three four-day matches in Chattogram next month. The home matches will be followed by two four-day matches against Pakistan A in Darwin from July 19 to 29. The Bangladesh A team will then travel to Pakistan in August to play two four-day matches against the same opponents. Additionally, New Zealand A are also scheduled to tour Bangladesh in August or September.Bangladesh players have also been involved in training camps since May in Chattogram and Sylhet. BCB’s cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said that the Test players are “progressing well” in the camps, adding that the four-day games against strong opponents will help them in the WTC matches.”We can give them the best preparation ahead of the grueling Test schedule in the coming months,” Yunus said. “The rest is up to the players. I have been following the Bangladesh Tigers camp, which is going well.”The Bangladesh’s senior men’s team is likely to travel to Pakistan on August 17 for two Tests, venues and dates for which are yet to be announced. After Pakistan, they will play two Tests against India in Chennai and Kanpur, followed by three T20Is.Bangladesh could tour India twice in three months if the BCB agree with the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s revised schedule for two white-ball series in late July. The ACB have proposed to play three ODIs and three T20Is in Greater Noida in their new itenerary. The tour was initially postponed in March keeping in mind Bangladesh’s workload in 2024, but now with the Champions Trophy also in their agenda, the BCB is considering this tour since they only have three ODIs scheduled between now and next February.ESPNcricinfo understands that the series is still in the “discussion” phase as the BCB is not too keen on playing in Noida during July due to the weather conditions.After the bilateral series in India in September, Bangladesh will host South Africa for two home Tests in October, and then tour West Indies for a full series in November and December.