Santner out for “at least a month” following shoulder injury
Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand white-ball captain, is set to be out of action for “at least a month” following his shoulder injury. A media release after scans revealed a “grade three ACL [acromioclavicular ligament] shoulder injury”. “The diagnosis means Santner is unavailable for the one-off Test against Ireland [in late May] and the first Test against England [at Lord’s in early June], with his availability for the second and third Tests to be evaluated at a later date,” NZC said.
Santner injured his left shoulder while fielding for Mumbai Indians in their match against Chennai Super Kings on April 23. He bowled his full quota of overs but did not come to bat. If Santner misses the four Test matches in May-June against Ireland and England, he should be back to the side leading New Zealand in the ODI and T20I series in the West Indies in July.
T20 Mumbai League participation mandatory for SMAT consideration: MCA
Mumbai Cricket Association has made participation in the T20 Mumbai League mandatory for its players. “Every international, if not on national duty or undergoing rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence, will be required to participate in the league to be considered for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) tournament,” MCA president Ajinkya Naik said.
The auction for the T20 Mumbai League held yesterday with a total 363 women players went under the hammer for the inaugural women’s edition. On the other hand, there was intense bidding wars in the auction for fourth edition of men’s league. While stating that participation in the T20 league is mandatory to be considered for SMAT, Naik further added, “So it’s a common practice in Mumbai to play for clubs. And now they have been playing for the last three years for their respective franchises. I don’t think there is any problem in not representing the franchises.”
The team that we have finalised today has the calibre… : Harmanpreet Kaur
After the announcement of the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup on Saturday, Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian captain said, “The team that we have finalised today has the calibre to again become champions. No pressure or extra burden or over-confidence”. She added, “Obviously. I’ll definitely rate this team [as favourites].”
Despite the team’s decent 1-4 series loss against South Africa, the chief selector, Amita Sharma sounded confident and said that the selection was made keeping the shortcomings in mind. “We lacked a bit in the bowling department,” Amita said. “We were not able to take wickets and, as you might have seen in the matches, one of their main batters scored the most runs. So, we have tried to strengthen the bowling department. We have added two bowlers to take early wickets. That was a bit of an issue for us [in South Africa].”
