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Devdutt Padikkal put on a batting exhibition on an up-and-down surface at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara as he helped Karnataka to their fifth Vijay Hazare Trophy final. He continued his stellar run in the competition, hitting his seventh successive fifty-plus score in India’s premier 50-over domestic competition and in the process, knocked defending champions Haryana out.Padikkal made 86 off 113 balls – following his 102 off 99 against Baroda in the last outing, his first this season – and added 128 for the third wicket with Ravichandran Smaran as Karnataka chased down the 238-run target with relative ease. The win was set up by their bowlers led by left-arm quick Abhilash Shetty, who returned 4 for 34. His wickets included both Nishant Sindhu and Parth Vats, the two half-centurions from Haryana’s preliminary quarter-final win that knocked out Bengal.Legspinner Shreyas Gopal was instrumental in turning the tide Karnataka’s way with the ball when he broke a fluent second-wicket partnership worth 70 between Himanshu Rana and Ankit Kumar by trapping the latter lbw on 48. Thereon, Haryana lost 8 for 96 to collapse to 198 for 9. But a stroke-filled last-wicket stand between Anuj Thakral and Amit Rana, which included scoring 17 off the last over of the first innings, helped Haryana get to a total much more than Karnataka would have liked.Four-time champions Karnataka were jolted early in the chase when their top-scorer of the competition, the captain Mayank Agarawal, fell in the opening over. Anshul Kamboj got a fullish ball to jag in and hit Agarawal on the knee-roll, the Hawk-Eye showing it to clip the stumps. Padikkal, his opening partner since returning from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, managed to ride the uneven bounce and collect a few fours, even as KV Aneesh struggled at the other end. The No. 3 bat played 14 straight dots before heaving Sumit Kumar over deep midwicket for a meaty six to get going.Related

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If Padikkal brought Karnataka’s chase on track with his 62-run partnership with Aneesh, he dashed Haryana’s hopes with his alliance with Smaran. The pair took their time to settle, especially when Haryana pressed their spinners, Amit and Sindhu, into service. They were getting some balls to turn, some jumped from the rough but Padikkal broke the deadlock by stepping out to Sindhu and smoking him over long-on. He looked untroubled for most of his stay until he played a cross-batted heave, intending to finish the chase in a hurry, and top-edged Sindhu to mid-off with Karnataka 44 away.Smaran too scored a classy fifty, hitting three fours and three sixes and fell on 76 off 94 with Karnataka 13 away.Earlier in the day, Haryana were inserted and got a steady start through openers Arsh Ranga and Himanshu. Their partnership should have been nipped in the fifth over when Ranga edged Koushik behind, but Krishnan Shrijith failed to hang on. That did not cost Karnataka as Shetty struck with his second ball to have Ranga edge one to Padikkal at slip.That was Karnataka’s only success for some time as Himanshu and Amit scored fluently. They were helped by some wayward bowling, too, with Prasidh bowling a few wides down leg. Shrijith’s shoddy glovework also resulted in a few byes. The second-wicket pair for Haryana was doing well to set a base. Which is when Agarawal brought spin on to apply the brakes.Shreyas and left-arm spinner Hardik Raj tested both the edges of the batters, with the former using the googly to excellent effect. After he denied Haryana’s captain, Ankit, a fifty, Himanshu had an ill-timed dash down the surface against Raj and was stumped by Shrijith. Those twin wickets gave Karnataka enough of an opening. Dinesh Bana, Rahul Tewatia and Sumit Kumar all got starts but none lasted more than 36 balls.But that did not bother Karnataka, who made regular inroads to trigger a collapse. One that was enough to propel Karnataka to their first Vijay Hazare Trophy final since 2019-20 after three semi-finals and a quarter-final appearance in the last four editions. They will meet the winner of Vidarbha vs Maharashtra in Saturday’s final.

A major row has broken out in English cricket, with T20 freelancers claiming they have been blindsided by a new ECB policy on No-Objection Certificates (NOCs). Players have requested an emergency meeting next week as they work out the implications of changes that ECB chief executive Richard Gould says are designed to “protect the integrity of our sport”.A group of England’s leading T20 freelancers – players without national contracts who are on white-ball-only deals with their counties – feel the move is designed to restrict their opportunities, with a handful of them said to have reacted furiously to the new policy. They are discussing their options both with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), and among themselves in a WhatsApp group chat.These could include a legal challenge, citing restraints of trade. “The PCA’s legal team is currently completing a thorough check of the implementation of the policy,” Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’ s interim chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “The PCA is continuing to source considered opinions and potential consequences of this policy from players and player representatives.”The PCA was aware of potential changes in how counties and the ECB would approach the granting of NOCs, but Mitchell said there was “clear frustration at the lack of time given for consultation, discussion and debate” before the ECB published the policy on Thursday. He added that players had “strongly expressed their concerns” over elements of the new NOCs policy, including “the inconsistencies [at the way] in which players are likely to be treated.”The ECB’s new policy, which was granted board approval on Wednesday, comes in response to the proliferation of new franchise leagues during the English season. The most significant among these is Major League Cricket (MLC), but English players have also featured in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), T10 competitions in Zimbabwe and the Cayman Islands, and the long-established Caribbean Premier League (CPL).Next year, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has shifted its usual dates and will be held in April-May, clashing with the early months of the County Championship season. The ECB’s move is designed to avoid a significant talent drain away from English domestic competitions, and players with standard all-format county contracts will not be granted NOCs to play in the PSL.Most significantly, the ECB’s new approach will be to deny NOCs for any league that overlaps with the T20 Blast or the Hundred on the basis that granting them could “compromise the predictability, stability and consistency of the ECB competitions.”The move would affect players such as Jason Roy and Alex Hales, who skipped parts of the Blast in 2024 to instead feature in MLC and the LPL respectively. One UK-based player agent told ESPNcricinfo: “The problem is that everything clashes with the Blast, because it’s so bloody long.”Some players feel as though the changes are designed primarily to protect the Hundred during the ongoing sales process, with the tournament’s salaries seen as uncompetitive. The ECB is planning significant wage hikes in the 2026 season once deals to sell stakes in the eight teams to private investors are fully signed off, with smaller increases expected ahead of the 2025 edition.The IPL will retain its outlier status, with the ECB continuing to issue NOCs for English players unless they are centrally contracted and having their workloads managed. Twelve England players were signed in last weekend’s mega-auction, including two — Moeen Ali and Jamie Overton — without any form of ECB contract, while others could yet sign replacement deals.Several players who either went unsold in the auction, such as Adil Rashid and Tymal Mills, or did not register for it, like David Willey and Dawid Malan, could instead play in the PSL, though players are awaiting details over the recruitment process for the 2025 season. These could be determined at an upcoming meeting in early December.The ECB also intends to avoid granting NOCs in situations which it feels could compromise the integrity of overseas leagues, under their new policy. ESPNcricinfo revealed earlier this year widespread concerns around the scenarios emerging during the packed franchise calendar in February, which saw some players standing to earn more money if their teams were eliminated early than if they reached the knockout stages.Players without England contracts must have NOCs signed off by both their primary domestic teams and the ECB. Under the new policy, the ECB will not grant an NOC if it has “any concerns that the [relevant] overseas tournament poses or may pose a risk from a corruption perspective, or may put… the integrity of the game at risk.”Gould said: “There’s never been a better time to be a cricket player, with more opportunities than ever for players to compete in competitions around the globe and be well paid for it. But we need to protect the integrity of our sport and the strength of our competitions in England and Wales as well.”This policy gives clarity to players and professional counties around our approach to issuing No-Objection Certificates. It will enable us to strike the right balance between supporting players who want to take up opportunities to earn and gain experience, while also protecting the integrity of cricket globally, ensuring we don’t undermine our own ECB competitions, and managing the welfare of centrally contracted England players.”There are also concerns that several players will seek to renegotiate their county contracts as an unintended consequence of the new policy. Some players may consider moving from all-format deals to white-ball deals which contain a ‘pay-as-you-play’ red-ball element to them – similar to those signed by Luke Wood and Saqib Mahmood at Lancashire.

Northamptonshire have appointed former Australia coach Darren Lehmann to take charge at Wantage Road on a two-year contract.Lehmann, 54, succeeds John Sadler, who left his position as head coach in September after Northants were beaten in their Vitality Blast quarter-final. Northants were winless in the County Championship at the time, although rallied to finish fourth in Division Two.Lehmann, who had previously stepped back from some of his coaching work after suffering a heart attack in 2020, will join the club in February after working in a commentary role for ABC during the Australian summer.”Northamptonshire has a great history in our game and I am looking forward to meeting the players and learning about the club and its past and create our own history over the coming months and years,” Lehmann said.”The selling point for me is a group that wants to get better and follow their and the club’s dreams, create memories and play at the highest level possible. I will encourage this on and off the field, as well as open door policy. I’m sure we will have success and fun along the way.”Pre-season will search for the high skill levels that the group possess, and the assistant coaches will drive this until I can get there after our summer. We have excellent coaches who want nothing more than for the players to succeed on and off the field.”Lehmann played more than 100 times for Australia, later coaching them to success in the 2013-14 Ashes. He won the Big Bash League with Brisbane Heat in 2012-13, before returning to the team after his time with Australia, fulfilling the role as assistant coach for their 2023-24 title.He has a wealth of experience in England, having had a long and successful playing career with Yorkshire, later coaching the Headingley-based Northern Superchargers in the first season of the Hundred.Northamptonshire’s CEO, Ray Payne, said: “I am delighted we have been able to secure a new head coach with the history, reputation, skills and knowledge that Darren possesses. It is a real marker in the ground and demonstrates once again, the clubs desire to achieve to its highest level on the field.”From our first conversation with Darren it was clear to see his passion and excitement for the opportunity and his coaching philosophy is something that aligns well with the goals of the club.”With this appointment and David Ripley as head coach of Steelbacks Women, we believe we have strong leadership for both the men’s and women’s Northamptonshire teams and that will be the envy of others and well set for success.”I wish Darren all the best in the role and know he will have the support of the whole club and all of the supporters as we strive for promotion back to Division One of the County Championship and success in both white-ball competitions.”

India have named three uncapped players – opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, fast bowler Harshit Rana and allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy – in their squad of 18 for the five-Test tour of Australia starting on November 22.Fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who hasn’t regained full fitness since his ankle surgery earlier this year, was not included while wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav was also not available for selection because of a “chronic left groin issue” according to a BCCI release. Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed are part of the travelling reserves.Rohit Sharma leads the squad with Jasprit Bumrah as his vice-captain. But with Rohit set to miss one of the first two Tests for personal reasons, it’s likely that Abhimanyu, 29, will make his Test debut on the tour. He has been part of India’s Test squad previously – in Bangladesh in 2022 – and has been in superb form this domestic season, scoring two hundreds in the Duleep Trophy, another century in the Irani Trophy, and beginning the Ranji Trophy season with a ton for Bengal.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

India have picked three spin allrounders R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who marked his return to the Test team after more than three years with a ten-wicket haul against New Zealand in Pune. Reddy, 21, is the only seam-bowling allrounder in the squad for Australia. He will have extra time to acclimatise considering he is part of the India A team that will be playing two four-day games in Mackay and Melbourne. Reddy made his T20I debut against Bangladesh earlier this month and was a reserve player in the Test squad for the home series against New Zealand; he is already in Australia. He is seen by India’s selectors as a promising allrounder who could improve with more experience and exposure.Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Rana are the other fast bowlers in the squad apart from Bumrah. Prasidh, who has played two Tests previously, has just started playing again after recovering from a serious back injury, while 22-year-old Rana has played only nine first-class matches. Rana, who represents Delhi, took two four-wicket hauls for India D in the Duleep Trophy in September and has 36 wickets at an average of 24.75 in first-class cricket. With Khaleel in the reserves and no Yash Dayal, India don’t have a left-arm quick in the main squad.India begin their tour with a warm-up match against India A in Perth from November 15 to 17, after which they play the first Test against Australia at he Perth Stadium from November 22 to 26. They then travel to Canberra for a tour match against the Prime Minister’s XI on November 30 and December 1, before heading to Adelaide for the second Test, a day-night fixture from December 6 to 10. The third Test in Brisbane is from December 14 to 18, followed by the traditional Boxing Day Test in Melbourne starting December 26 and the New Year’s Test in Sydney from January 3.India are the holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and have won their two previous tours of Australia by a 2-1 margin, in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

India squad for tour of Australia

Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington SundarReserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed

Ashleigh Gardner made a successful return from a concussion scare to claim three wickets and help Australia claim an untidy and unconvincing series win over New Zealand after a stunning collapse with the bat in the second T20I in Mackay.Australia lost 7 for 28 to be bowled out for 142 having won the toss and elected to bat. New Zealand legspinner Amelia Kerr put the world champions in a spin, claiming a career-best 4 for 20 as the home side relinquished a commanding position that had been set up by captain Alyssa Healy to be bowled out for just the second time in their last 55 T20Is.Healy made 38 off 25, which was the standout innings of the match on a surface that batters found difficult despite it looking like it would offer plenty of runs. Ellyse Perry compiled a scratchy 34 from 33 that would prove important but her dismissal to a bizarre run-out started Australia’s slide.New Zealand’s chase began cautiously and they paid the price as Australia’s bowlers squeezed. Suzie Bates made another start, scoring a run-a-ball 34, but could not kick on after guiding her side to 34 without loss in the powerplay. Gardner and Annabel Sutherland went to work taking 4 for 34 between them off eight overs in the middle and death phases to close out the game despite some shoddy fielding from Australia.Amelia Kerr returned her T20I best figures of 4 for 20•Getty Images

Healy’s hot start

On a surface where only five batters managed to strike at a rate of above 120, Healy stood head and shoulders above the pack. Molly Penfold had been the biggest threat in the first T20I and Healy took her out of the game in the first over. She thumped her down the ground on the up and then unfurled a stunning front-foot pull shot over midwicket off the next ball as Australia took 12 from the first over. She then carved Lea Tahuhu over point before lap-sweeping Eden Carson fine.She saved her best for Kerr, reverse-sweeping her from middle stump through cover point as Australia reached 48 for 1 in the powerplay. But while Healy was running hot, Perry was ice-cold. After the early loss off Beth Mooney – playing her 100th T20I – bowled by Fran Jonas trying to pull, Perry struggled for timing. She faced eight dot balls in her first 16 and was 13 off 18 at one point. She struggled to even feed Healy the strike. Healy fell trying to keep the foot down against Carson, holing out for 38 from 25. But it would prove an invaluable contribution.

Kerr puts Australia in a spin cycle

Just as Perry started to find some rhythm, her dismissal started Australia’s downfall and was emblematic of what was to follow. She tried to sweep Kerr and was hit on the pad. The ball bounced off her pad high above her head. Perry was confused as to where it had gone and oddly took off for a run. By the time she realised it had landed behind her, wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze had whipped off the bails to run her out for 34 off 33. Shortly after, Australia suffered a cataclysmic collapse, the likes of which has never happened to this all-conquering team.They were bowled out inside 20 overs for just the second time since the T20 World Cup 2020. It started with Phoebe Litchfield charging at Brooke Halliday’s wrong-footed medium pacers and losing her leg stump. Then Kerr whirled her way through the order. Two superb wrong’uns undid Gardner and Tahlia McGrath through the gate. Sophie Molineux was beaten in flight and stumped by a mile before Megan Schutt was done all ends up by a quicker delivery. Kerr finished with 4 for 20 from four overs. Australia looked vulnerable defending just 143.Darcie Brown and Phoebe Litchfield combined to dismiss Suzie Bates•Getty Images

Australia’s bowlers squeeze

Early wickets are always the desired way to put pressure on when defending a small total. The next best thing is to apply run-rate pressure. And that’s exactly what Australia did in the powerplay. They did not concede a boundary in the first four overs with Bates and Georgia Plimmer struggling for rhythm. Bates finally broke free against Schutt and Darcie Brown, finding the rope three times. But New Zealand only managed to score 34 runs in the powerplay despite not losing a wicket. When Plimmer dragged an attempted sweep onto her stumps off Georgia Wareham, the required rate had climbed above eight per over. It soon went over nine when Gardner got her revenge on Kerr, pinning her lbw with a subtle change of pace when she tried to sweep. Litchfield then clung onto an athletic catch at cover to remove the well-set Bates for a run-a-ball 34.Sophie Devine fell two overs later for a tortured 4 off 10 balls, which included being dropped by Brown at short third. Australia were able to close the game out from there despite more untidy fielding. New Zealand’s equation reached 54 off 18 before Maddy Green and Gaze briefly threatened to pull off a miracle. But that was only possible because of some sloppy fielding. Schutt dropped a sitter off Green at cover-point and then watched three of the next five balls reach the rope. Green then should have been run-out by Gardner attempting to steal a second but Healy fumbled the throw, which was a little wider than it could have been. But Sutherland held her nerve in the deep at long-on off Gardner to finally end Green’s rearguard.

Until last week, Navdeep Saini hadn’t touched a red ball for over seven months. He was hoping to ease himself into the season with a steady diet of white-ball cricket courtesy of the Delhi Premier League (DPL). But when the Duleep Trophy call-up came, as a late replacement for Mohammed Siraj, he had to hit the ground running.Two days in, Saini has already had a bigger influence on the game than he may have imagined. A mix of stoic defence and the occasional free swing brought him an excellent half-century, his second in first-class cricket. He occupied the crease for 349 minutes, his longest vigil, during the course of a magnificent 205-run stand for the eighth wicket with Musheer Khan as India B recovered from 94 for 7 to post 321.Saini’s contribution was massive in helping Musheer build from an overnight 105 to a majestic 181. But that was one-half of his efforts on the second day’s play in Bengaluru. He later delivered a telling early spell with the new ball to send Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal back. India A then recovered to finish on 125 for 2 still trailing India B by 187 runs.KL Rahul and Riyan Parag added an unbroken 68-run stand for the third wicket for India A•PTI

Gill was out shouldering arms to an in-ducker that flattened his off stump for 25, reminiscent of his dismissal to Australia’s Scott Boland in last year’s World Test Championship final. Agarwal’s wicket for 36 was slightly lucky; made possible thanks to Rishabh Pant’s agility as he threw himself to his left to take a catch down the leg side to dismiss the opener who had tantalised the audience with a series of superb cover drives. Riyan Parag and KL Rahul, playing his first red-ball game since the Hyderabad Test against England in January 2024, then put together an unbroken 68-run partnership, allaying the early jitters.Related

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Rahul’s was largely an exercise in denial after being lucky twice. Still on zero, he could have been Saini’s third wicket when he nearly dragged a ball back on to the stumps while attempting a loose drive. Then, on 3, he was reprieved by Nitish Kumar Reddy at third slip after poking at an away-going delivery from Mukesh Kumar. Rahul scored his first runs off his 14th delivery and it wasn’t until the fag end of the day, when he unfurled a superb cut behind point off Reddy, that he finally seemed in his element.Rahul’s methods also had something to do with the appreciable movement Saini and left-arm seamer Yash Dayal were able to get. Either way, having been on the field for a better part of the game already, there couldn’t have been a bigger endorsement of the middle-order batter’s match fitness as he eyes a return to the Indian Test squad.Parag was a little more sprightly, even though he was occasionally troubled by the late movement on offer. He survived a close lbw shout early off Reddy when the ball curved away to hit him high on the back leg. Like Rahul, Parag is a stroke-maker but his willingness to show fight and deviate from his natural game was an encouraging sign.Musheer Khan finished with 181 for India B•PTI

There were less encouraging signs as well from India A, like the tactics employed by their captain. Having taken the new ball at the first available opportunity at the start of the 81st over, Gill spread his field out to both Musheer and the No. 9 batter Saini. This not only limited the bowlers’ ability to exert pressure, but it also helped India B push their total ever higher.After Musheer initially denied himself run-scoring opportunities in trying to farm the strike, he was encouraged by Saini’s ability to hold his own. The pair, however, got lucky when they were involved in a comical mix-up didn’t somehow result in a wicket. Both batters were stranded mid-pitch looking at each other in the fourth over of the day, the 83rd of the innings, after Musheer had pushed the ball to point. Khaleel Ahmed, who could’ve thrown at either end, eventually went for the striker’s and missed with Saini having long given up.As Musheer opened himself out to take all the available runs, Gill tried to unsettle him by placing a leg slip. Musheer responded by hooking Avesh Khan for six, and then followed it up with a superb pull in front of square for a boundary in the same over. Along the way, Musheer also made judicious use of DRS to overturn two decisions – one lbw and one caught behind.Musheer brought up his 150 off 326 balls when an overthrow allowed a second run with no one backing up. It summed up the state of play at the time, with India A running short of ideas. Soon after the landmark, Musheer launched Parag for a massive six over deep midwicket to signal a change in intentions.But a double-ton wasn’t to be as he fell in the second over after lunch, a ball after he had slog-swept Kuldeep Yadav onto the roof at deep midwicket. Two of Musheer’s three first-class hundreds are now 150-plus scores. This one, like the others, served to reiterate his maturity and hunger at 19.

Whether to retain or discontinue the Impact Player rule, as well as possibly increasing the number of uncapped players on each IPL team’s retention list feature on the agenda of a meeting between the IPL and the ten franchises, to take place on Wednesday. The closed-door meeting will take place at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai with the franchises represented by members of their ownership teams.Other significant points up for discussion are: have the mega auction every five years instead of the existing three; reinstating the right-to-match (RTM) card option at auctions; the availability (or lack thereof) of overseas players; and a fix on the total number of retentions.All these points have been framed by the IPL after its chief operating officer, Hemang Amin, met various franchises over the past few months seeking feedback ahead of finalising next year’s mega auction.

Impact Player – abolish or retain?

There were eight 250-plus totals in IPL 2024 including the highest in the tournament’s history – 287, which Sunrisers Hyderabad plundered against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Pundits and team officials agreed the six-hitting spree, especially in the powerplay segment, was a consequence of the Impact Player rule, introduced in IPL 2023, which allowed teams to pick an extra specialist batter or bowler based on the game situation. Nine of the ten highest totals in IPL history have been recorded since the Impact Player rule was introduced.The original motive of this rule was to allow more Indian players, especially the uncapped ones, to get exposure. However, Rohit Sharma, India’s Test and ODI captain, said he was not a big fan of the rule because it would hold back the “development” of allrounders, a skillset that is not easily available in Indian T20 cricket. This view is also shared by a few franchises and one of them told ESPNcricinfo that it had informed the IPL it would be in favour of scrapping the rule.The question for the IPL, though, is whether the bigger totals are contributing to the overall enhancement of their product and whether the fans like it. Or not.13:31

Runorder: Is the mega auction good for the IPL?

Increase uncapped retentions

Ahead of the 2022 mega auction, the IPL allowed the eight original franchises to retain a maximum of two uncapped Indian players and the two new teams – Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants – could have one each. However, with these players putting in consistent performances, and with the franchises devoting a lot of resources to scout them and develop their game, a change may be coming.It is learned that the franchises have put forward some suggestions to Amin, one of which is to either create a special allowance within the main retention pool for uncapped talent or increase the number of RTM cards, with which a team can match the winning bid at the auction for a player they had on their rolls till the previous season and bring him back in.

Incremental performance pay

During discussions, the IPL is understood to have told the franchises about the need to incentivise players financially considering the teams were getting bigger money than before. One of the reasons behind the IPL’s proposal could be that it wants to better the salary of a player who was bought at his base price at the auction and was then retained at the same price even though his stature has grown since.The IPL is believed to have recommended paying players a match fee, but an immediate counter came from several franchises: what about the players who sit on the bench? Currently, as part of their contract, a player gets a discretionary fee from the franchise’s overall auction purse based on where the team finished the previous season. This number is set by the IPL. One of the suggestions given to the IPL is that instead of a match fee it would be better to finalise the amount to be put in the incentive pot, which the franchise could use at its discretion to reward their performers.Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc both went for over INR 20 crore at the last mini auction•KKR Knight Club

Overseas players

There are various proposals franchises have put forth concerning the overseas players. At least one franchise has told the IPL that there should be no restriction on the number of overseas players it can retain so long as it is within the retention cap. So, if the IPL allows five overall retentions, then the franchise said it should be able to fill all the slots with overseas players if they want.Franchises have also told the IPL that they believe overseas players have been exploiting mini auctions to get record sums of money. Some of these players, the franchises believe, have avoided mega auctions where the purse is evenly spread with various teams looking to build from the ground up and therefore be more mindful about how much money they spend on a single player. At mini auctions, since teams usually have a core already in place, they are able to go all guns blazing for that one player who will complete the make-up of the side. One suggestion on the table is whether the IPL should make it mandatory for overseas players to register for mega auctions.According to a franchise head, the IPL is also looking to impose a bidding cap at mini auctions. This will be based on the amount that a franchise will set aside for its No. 1 retention pick ahead of the mega auctions. Bidding at mini auctions cannot go past that number.For example, if INR 20 crore is what the IPL decides a franchise must pay its highest retained player before a mega auction, then at the mini auction the highest bid cannot exceed that. If there are teams still willing to bid more for that player, then, the franchises have suggested, the option of a silent tie-breaker should come into play.The silent tie-breaker was a method utilised in earlier IPL auctions. Devised in 2010, the tie-breaker was designed to be used in smaller auctions, where there is a smaller purse, to break a deadlock. In the IPL’s history, three players have been bought via the tie-breaker rule: Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) and Shane Bond (Kolkata Knight Riders) in 2010, and Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) in 2012.Those privy to Wednesday’s meeting point out that while all the recommendations and proposals are likely to be put forth at the meeting, there is no confirmation on whether IPL will announce its final decision on these matters right away.

The BCB has requested its Afghanistan counterpart to postpone next month’s white-ball series in Greater Noida, and asked for the games to be played as soon as “the two boards find a window”, ESPNcricinfo has learnt.The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had proposed three ODIs and three T20Is in late July, sending the BCB match dates – between July 25 and August 6 – too. It was a revised schedule after the tour initially also included two Tests.The BCB felt that the weather in that part of India at that time wouldn’t be ideal for an international series. June to September is usually considered off-season in the subcontinent because of the monsoons. The BCB had earlier postponed the series keeping in mind the workload management of its players.Bangladesh’s next assignment is a two-Test series in Pakistan from mid-August, the schedule for which hasn’t been announced yet. Many of the Test players will get busy playing red-ball matches ahead of this series as part of the preparations. They will play three internal matches in Chattogram and Sylhet, followed by four four-day matches against Pakistan Shaheens in Darwin and later in Pakistan.Later, Bangladesh will also go to India to play two Tests and three T20Is from September 19 to October 12. It will be followed by two Tests at home against South Africa, followed by a full tour of the West Indies that includes two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is in November and December.That workload is the reason why the BCB was always reluctant for the two Tests against Afghanistan. They had also postponed one Test against Zimbabwe earlier this year, turning that tour into five T20Is in May. Bangladesh will complete their World Test Championship cycle by December 2024.