Shakib available for South Africa Tests
Shakib Al Hasan will be available for the upcoming Test series in South Africa, beginning from 31 March. Shakib had earlier indicated that he wanted to prioritise limited-overs cricket to manage his workload. Earlier this year, he missed the Test series in New Zealand.
'Shakib will be playing the Tests in South Africa. He had given us a letter that he wanted to skip Test cricket for six months due to the IPL, but we asked him to be available for the home series against Sri Lanka and he agreed,' said Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan to Cricbuzz.
Punjab appoint Agarwal as captain
Mayank Agarwal has been named as the captain of Punjab Kings for Indian Premier League 2022. Agarwal will succeed his Karnataka colleague K.L. Rahul, who joined Lucknow Super Giants this year. Mayank has played over 100 IPL matches and has been with Punjab Kings for over four years now.
'Mayank has been an integral part of the side since 2018 and of the leadership group for the last two years. The new squad we selected at the recently concluded auction has exciting young talent and outstanding experienced players,' Punjab Kings' head Punjab coach Anil Kumble.
South Africa six wickets away from win
South Africa need six wickets to win the Christchurch Test and level the series against New Zealand. They set a target of 426, thanks to an unbeaten century from Kyle Verreynne. Kagiso Rabada, too, chipped in with a 34-ball 47 before claiming two wickets in his first two overs. Keshav Maharaj then bowled Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell, who earlier struck consecutive sixes off the former. Devon Conway is unbeaten on 60.
Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by seven wickets
Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored an unbeaten 106 to drive Afghanistan to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the final ODI. Bangladesh, however, clinched the series by 2-1.
Other than Gurbaz, Rahmat Shah (47) and Riaz Hassan (35) chipped in with vital contributions. Earlier, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi shared five wickets to bowl out Bangladesh for 192. Liton Das top-scored with 86.