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The BCCI on Thursday said it has called up Vidarbha wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma after Sanju Samson was ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against Sri Lanka on the advice of the board's medical team. Samson hurt his left knee while attempting to field a ball near the boundary ropes during the first T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. "He was taken for scans and a specialist opinion this afternoon in Mumbai by the BCCI medical team and has been advised rest and rehabilitation," the apex cricket body said in a statement. "The all-India senior selection committee has named Jitesh Sharma as replacement for Sanju Samson." Sharma was picked on the basis of his impressive performances for Punjab Kings in the IPL. India play the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Pune on Thursday. The hosts lead the three-match series 1-0 following their narrow two-run win in the opener. India's updated squad for Sri Lanka T20Is: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), R
Pakistan could have seen a different result if pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi had not got injured during the T20 World Cup final, skipper Babar Azam said on Sunday after his team lost the title clash to England. Afridi had injured his knee while catching Harry Brooks. He was brought into the attack in the 16th over but he could bowl only one ball and Iftikhar Ahmed had to complete that over. It badly affected the bowling balance. Ahmed's friendly off-breaks were belted for 13 runs by England batters by Ben Stokes, who hit him for a six and a four, as pressure created by Pakistan eased after that. "May be if Shaheen could have bowled that over, things would have been different. And since there were two left-handers (Stokes and Moeen Ali) and I thought of bowling an off-spinner," Babar reasoned. "Since we did not build a partnership, we went on the backfoot. England bowlers were brilliant but that's not an excuse. We played according to the situation but pressure was on us till 20th over.
England's golden generation of white ball cricketers overcame a spirited Pakistan to lift the T20 World Cup trophy with a comfortable five-wicket victory here on Sunday. The Pakistani fans were longing for an encore of 1992 when Imran Khan's team created history at this very venue but batting let Babar Azam side's down as 137 for 8 was never going to be good enough. The seasoned Ben Stokes (52 not out off 49 balls) just like the 2019 ODI World Cup, anchored the chase despite occasional scratchiness and had a calm Moeen Ali (19) as an ideal foil. They chased down the target in 19 overs to regain the title they had won in 2010 in the West Indies. Experienced Haris Rauf and young Nasim Shah bowled their hearts out to prevent it from becoming a one-sided game but Stokes soaked the pressure along with Ali as the duo put on a 48-run stand for the fifth wicket to nail the win that avenged England's loss to the same rivals in the '92 World Cup final. Shaheen Shah Afridi also could not bo
Following are some England-Pakistan head-to-head stats in white-ball cricket ahead of their T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. * England and Pakistan will meet in a World Cup final again after 30 years. * At the same venue of MCG, Pakistan had won their only ODI World Cup, defeating England by 22 runs in 1992. * There are more striking similarities with the 1992 World Cup. Thirty years ago too, Pakistan had beaten New Zealand en route to the final. * In the T20 World Cup, England and Pakistan have met twice so far with the former winning on both occasions, by six wickets in 2010 and by 48 runs in 2009. * In the ODI World Cup, Pakistan have a better head-to-head record of 5-4 from 10 matches. One match was a no result. * Both Pakistan and England suffered setbacks in the Super 12 stage. Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe, England to Ireland. * On head-to-head, England lead 18-9 versus Pakistan, while one match ended in no result. * In the two T20 World Cup meetings, Eng