Shahid Afridi inspires Melbourne Renegades to their first victory of Big Bash Twenty20

Melbourne Renegades, the Australian Domestic team, registered their first win of the Big Bash Twenty20 League courtesy some splendid bowling from leg-spinner, Shahid Afridi. The match that was played at Stadium Australia, Sydney saw the visiting team post a decent total of 140 runs for the loss of eight wickets. In reply, the hosts could only muster 134 runs. The leg-spinner from Pakistan, who went wicket less in the previous two games, ended this drought as he notched three wickets while conceding 21 runs. Afridi was also pretty handy with the bat, as he made 16 runs. The all-rounder won the Man of the Match award for his excellent all-round performance.

Andrew McDonald, Melbourne's skipper, won the toss and decided to bat first. Melbourne Vanguards, Aaron Finch and Brad Hodge, provided a blistering start for the tourists. The two were fearless in their approach and played lofted shots over the 30-yard circle. Finch and Hodge’s on-field romance came to an end in the 11th over when the 20-year-old spinner Luke Doran showed the door to both batters. Renegades were left high and dry after losing both their openers. Afridi, along with Glenn Maxwell, tried his best to rebuild the innings; however, Thunders maintained pressure as Renegades lost the plot and fell like a house of cards. Luckily for them, some mighty blows from Abdul Razzaq in the death overs propelled the side to 140. Sydney Thunders, who were invincible until the six run defeat against Renegades, had a reasonable start to their innings with openers Chris Gayle and Tim Cruickshank scoring 59 runs for the first wicket. Cruickshank was the first man to be dismissed; “BOOM BOOM” Afridi celebrated in his typical fashion with hands held high towards the heavens. Usman Khawaja gave good support to Gayle, who was determined to finish the match early. It seemed easy sailing for the Thunders while the duo batted. However, after the demise of Khawaja, courtesy of Afridi, none of the batsmen showed any resistance to the opposition bowlers and Sydney Thunders fell six runs short of the total. Renegades will be hoping to build on this win when they go up against Sydney Sixers on January 2, 2012.

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BCCI refuses to allow Indians to play in the Australian Big Bash

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has disappointed Cricket Australia (CA), by not allowing their players to participate in the Big Bash.
Now, Australian cricket will have to rely on the services of the West Indian cricketers for the T20 based tournament.
CA did not ask for the Indian World Cup winning players but they were willing to hire some limited-over specialists for the Big Bash, scheduled to be played from mid December to the end of January.
The chief administrating officer of the Indian Board, Ratnakar Shetty said that the board will continue with its policy of not allowing domestic players to go since the Indian season will be played between October and March.

"In fact last year some teams wanted Indian players and they were not available because of [the] domestic tournament," said Shetty.
The chief also added that the new Indian coach has nothing to do with the policy decision of the board because players can’t be allowed to play overseas when the domestic tournament is on.
Shetty said that Sri Lanka will have their league matches in July, which does not clash with their domestic tournament so the players willing to play can participate with prior permission.
Overall schedule of the teams revealed that England players can participate in the first half of the Big Bash; while Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan would enter the tournament in second half.
At the moment 35 Australian players, including the legendry Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist, are playing in the Indian Premier League’s fourth edition.
Warne is playing a dual role for the Rajasthan Royals, serving them as captain and coach. He has been successful in both the roles to a considerable extent as his team is currently third on the table.
Gilchrist on the other hand, is leading the Kings XI Punjab, who are languishing at the 7^th place.
IPL has been gaining popularity globally and it’s fourth edition is currently going on.

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