The Cricket Bulletin: Major Talking Points

Rayudu joins HCA, calls it an “opportunity to clean up”

Ambati Rayudu, the former Hyderabad captain and India player, has been appointed head of cricket operations at the HCA. His three-year term at the Hyderabad Cricket Association starts immediately. In 2019, Rayudu alleged “rampant corruption” at the HCA and finished his domestic career with Andhra and Baroda after leaving Hyderabad.

After the appointment, Rayudu took to social media and wrote, “It is a great opportunity to clean up a few things. but I am more excited to see the immense cricketing talent in Hyderabad and Telangana flourish and produce more players to represent the country.”

Ashiqur Rahman becomes new interim fielding coach of Bangladesh

Ashiqur Rahman has been appointed as the interim fielding coach of Bangladesh for the upcoming Pakistan series. On Tuesday, a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said that the decision was taken as regular fielding coach James Pamment was ruled out of the series due to back pain.

“We have appointed Ashiqur as fielding coach for Pakistan series as Pamment has some back issues,” BCB cricket operations in-charge Shahriar Nafees confirmed to Cricbuzz on Tuesday. “Our medical team suggested that Pamment should be doing a rehab to recover from the back issues. It also provides us an opportunity to see one of our local coaches at international atmosphere,” he added.

The BCCI controls the ICC: South African off-spinner

South African off-spinner Simon Harmer spoke about India’s growing influence in world cricket and the imbalance it creates. According to Harmer, “Because of their commercial power, they have all of the power. The BCCI controls the ICC. But what can we do? As a player, you just control the controllables. The only thing that changes the narrative is winning trophies.”

While speaking to the Guardian, Harmer also spoke about South Africa’s historic 2-0 Test series win in India last year, its first in 25 years. While he played a key role in it, Harmer spoke about the contribution of Shukri Conrad, the SA coach. “That team is more than the sum of its parts, with only a couple of superstars.” He added, “If he thinks you’re not good enough, he’ll tell you straight. I rate that. I’ve not always had that.”