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IPL 2024 – Wanidu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa released, Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana retained by CSK
With the retention dealine for IPL 2024 ending today (26), it has been reported that , Wanidu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa have been released by Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings respectively while Chennai Super Kings have retained Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana.
The full list of retentions and releases follows,
Gujarat Titans: Hardik retained for now
In the lead-up to the player retention deadline, it was reported that Hardik Pandya would be leaving Gujarat Titans and returning to Mumbai Indians. But on the day of the deadline, Titans retained Hardik and listed him as their captain for now. Hardik could yet move back to Mumbai, with the trading window active until December 12, a week before the player auction on December 19.
Titans have retained the core of the squad that won them the IPL title in 2022 and took them to the finals in 2023.
Players released: Alzarri Joseph, Odean Smith, Dasun Shanaka, Yash Dayal, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Pradeep Sangwan
Players retained: David Miller, Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Manohar, B Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Josh Little, Mohit Sharma
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Hazlewood, Hasaranga, Harshal out
RCB are set to overhaul their bowling attack, having released Wanindu Hasaranga, recent ODI World-Cup winner Josh Hazlewood, David Willey and Wayne Parnell. They have retained England left-arm quick Reece Topley, but he is prone to injuries. Mohammed Siraj is the only certain starter among bowlers in their list of retained players.
Players released: Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, David Willey, Wayne Parnell, Sonu Yadav, Avinash Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Kedar Jadhav
Players traded out: Shahbaz Ahmed
Players traded in: Mayank Dagar
Players retained: Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Vyshak Vijaykumar
Purse for the auction: 40.75 CR
Mumbai Indians: Archer headlines 11 player exodus
Mumbai don’t have the services of their old boy Hardik just yet. They released as many as 11 players – including Jofra Archer, who was bought for INR 8 crore at the 2022 auction – to free up their purse in case the trade for Hardik goes ahead before the auction.
Players released: Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Tristan Stubbs, Duan Jansen, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Chris Jordan, Sandeep Warrier
Players traded in: Romario Shepherd
Players retained: Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Cameron Green, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorf
Chennai Super Kings: Stokes released
As expected CSK released Stokes, who had opted out of IPL 2024 to manage his workload. The departure of both Stokes (INR 16.25 crore) and Rayudu (INR 6.75 crore), who has retired from the IPL, will allow CSK to bid aggressively for overseas allrounders and quicks at the auction.
Players released: Ambati Rayudu, Ben Stokes, Dwaine Pretorious, Bhagath Varma, Subhranshu Senapati, Akash Singh, Kyle Jamieson, Sisanda Magala
Players retained: MS Dhoni, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Chowdhary, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw stays
Capitals have placed faith in Shaw once again despite his poor season in 2023, but they lack power in the middle order following the release of Rovman Powell. They will be on the lookout for a finisher and a fast bowler.
Players released: Rilee Rossouw, Chetan Sakariya, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Phil Salt, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ripal Patel, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan, Priyam Garg
Players retained: Rishabh Pant, David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Pravin Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar
Rajasthan Royals: Holder, Root released
Royals had hoped Jason Holder would lend balance and depth to their side last season, but they barely used him with the bat and failed to get the best out of him with the ball. A gun overseas allrounder will be top priority on their shopping list at the auction.
Players released: Joe Root, Abdul Basith, Jason Holder, Akash Vashisht, Kuldip Yadav, Obed McCoy, M Ashwin, KC Cariappa, KM Asif
Players traded out : Devdutt Padikkal
Players traded in : Avesh Khan
Players retained: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Prasidh Krishna\
Punjab Kings: Shahrukh, a surprise release
Releasing Shahrukh Khan (INR 9 crore) into the auction pool has allowed Kings to retain allrounder Sam Curran, who had become the most expensive player in the IPL (INR 18.5 crore) at the previous auction. If Kings can’t buy Shahrukh back at a lower price, they need a new domestic finisher.
Players released: Shahrukh Khan, Raj Bawa, Baltej Dhanda, Mohit Rathee, Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Players retained: Shikhar Dhawan, Jitesh Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Rishi Dhawan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Shivam Singh, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Vidwath Kaverappa, Harpreet Bhatia
Kolkata Knight Riders: Several quicks among 12 players let go
KKR, like RCB, have overhauled their pace department, letting Lockie Ferguson, Shardul Thakur and Tim Southee go among others. They also need a back-up wicketkeeper batter for Rahmanullah Gurbaz, having released both Litton Das and N Jagadeesan.
Players released: Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Shardul Thakur, Mandeep Singh, Kulwant Khejroliya, N Jagadeesan, David Wiese, Aarya Desai, Litton Das, Johnson Charles, Shakib Al Hasan
Players retained: Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shreyas Iyer, , Jason Roy, Anukul Roy, Andre Russel, Venkatesh Iyer, Suyash Sharma, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Brook cut loose
Harry Brook headlines Sunrisers’ list of released players, but they already have a ready middle-order replacement for him in Glenn Phillips. Their spin attack, though, appears thin following the releases of Adil Rashid, Akeal Hosein and Mayank Dagar, who was traded for Shahbaz Ahmed.
Players released: Harry Brook, Adil Rashid, Akeal Hosein, Karthik Tyagi, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas
Players traded out: Mayank Dagar
Players traded in: Shahbaz Ahmed
Players retained: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Anmolpreet Singh, Upendra Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Sanvir Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Mayank Markande
Lucknow Super Giants: Unadkat, Sams let go
LSG released eight players – none of whom can lay claim to being first-XI players, though new coach Justin Langer said it was hard for the franchise to let Daniel Sams go. Having also traded Romario Shepherd to Mumbai, LSG will eye overseas allrounders at the auction.
Players released: Daniel Sams, Karun Nair, Jaydev Unadkat, Manan Vohra, Karan Sharma, Suryansh Shedge, Swapnil Singh, Arpit Guleria
Players traded out : Romario Shepherd, Avesh Khan
Players traded in : Devdutt Padikkal
Players retained: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Prerak Mankad, Yudhvir Singh, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Naveen-ul-Haq
(Cricinfo)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to further jail terms following a fraud case involving state gifts.
They were convicted of breaking Pakistan’s rules on gifts after Bibi was given a luxury jewellery set by Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman during a 2021 state visit.
The pair are already serving time in prison for earlier convictions, and the new sentences – 10 years for criminal breach of trust and seven years for criminal misconduct, and a fine – will reportedly run concurrently to their earlier terms.
Khan has described the charges as politically motivated and his lawyer told BBC News his team plan to challenge the verdict.
Speaking to the BBC after the hearing, the former prime minister’s lawyer, Salman Safdar, said Khan’s legal team had only been informed about the sentencing late on Friday night, after normal court hours.
They planned to mount a challenge to the verdict in the high court, Mr Safdar said.
This case is the latest in a series of charges laid against the cricket star-turned-politician, who has been detained since August 2023. In January he was sentenced to 14 years in prison over a separate corruption case. He has faced charges in more than 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts. The BBC has been unable to confirm the exact number brought against him.
The jewellery case, referred to as Toshakhana 2 in Pakistan, concerns a Bulgari jewellery set given to Bushra Bibi by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a state visit in 2021, according to court documents.
Under Pakistan’s rules on state gifts, these items go to Pakistan’s Toshakana department (state treasury), but politicians are able to purchase the items back.
Khan is alleged to have asked a private firm to undervalue the jewellery set, before purchasing it back at a significantly reduced price.
In addition to their jail terms, the pair were handed a fine of over 16 million Pakistani rupees (£42,600).
Khan was also convicted in an earlier, different Toshakhana case – but he challenged that conviction, meaning his sentence is suspended until the outcome of his appeal.
He also has other cases outstanding against him.
These include terrorism charges relating to violent protests that took place on 9 May 2023, when he was previously arrested.
Khan was Pakistan’s prime minister until April 2022 when he was ousted in a vote of no confidence.
Although he has not been seen in public, his social media accounts have continued to operate with messages attributed to him on X often appearing after jail visits.
These have been highly critical of Pakistan’s current government and its politically powerful army Chief Field Marshall Asim Munir, including posts calling him a tyrannical dictator.
In November, he was denied any visitors for nearly a month.
After campaigning by his family and party, his sister was allowed to visit in early December; a few hours after she saw him, his account posted a comment credited to Khan calling the Field Marshall Asim Munir a “mentally unstable person”.
Khan, 73, has not been allowed any family visits since.
The judgement states the judge was lenient in sentencing because of Khan’s “old age”.
[BBC]
The US has seized an oil tanker that had recently departed from Venezuela, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.
It is the second time this month that an oil-carrying ship has been seized off the country’s coast.
The move comes after President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he was ordering a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
Venezuela has described the latest US move as “theft and kidnapping”. It has previously accused the Trump administration of trying to steal its resources.
“These acts will not go unpunished,” a statement from the Venezuelan government said, adding that it intended to file a complaint with the UN Security Council and “other multilateral agencies and the governments of the world”.
The operation was led by the US Coast Guard, similar to the operation earlier this month. The ship was boarded by a specialised tactical team, and was in international waters when it was taken.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees the Coast Guard, shared a seven-minute video of the operation on X.
It shows US helicopters landing on the deck of a ship with the name Centuries written on the side.
It is a Panamanian-flagged ship, but in the past five years it has also sailed under the flags of Greece and Liberia, according to records seen by BBC Verify.
It is not on the US Treasury’s list of sanctioned vessels, but in the hours after the announcement, the White House clarified that its cargo was sanctioned.
“The tanker contained sanctioned PDVSA oil,” said a post from Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary, referring to Venezuela’s state-run oil company .
The post said the tanker was “operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil and fund the narcoterrorist Maduro regime.”
In recent weeks, the US has been building up its military presence in the Caribbean Sea and has carried out deadly strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats, killing around 100 people.
It has provided no public evidence that these vessels were carrying drugs, and the military has come under increasing scrutiny from Congress over the strikes.
The Trump administration has accused Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro of leading a designated-terrorist organisation called Cartel de los Soles, which he denies.
Trump has accused Maduro’s government of using “stolen” oil to “finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping”.
Following the seizure of the second ship, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the US would continue to “unflinchingly conduct maritime interdiction operations… to dismantle illicit criminal networks.”
“Violence, drugs, and chaos will not control the Western Hemisphere.”
Venezuela – which is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves – is highly dependent on revenues from its oil exports to finance its government spending.
Trump’s announcement of a blockade came less than a week after the US seized an oil tanker believed to be part of the “ghost fleet” off the coast of Venezuela, which allegedly used various strategies to conceal its work.
Venezuela’s government decried the move, with Maduro saying the US ” kidnapped crew” and “stole” the ship.
[BBC]
There was a little bit of rustiness as India returned to action 50 days after becoming ODI world champions, but not so much to prevent them from registering a dominant win in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam.
Despite dew being a constant presence on a cool evening, India’s spinners rallied to keep Sri Lanka’s top order in check – even if they did not pick up wickets in a heap – thus restricting them to 121 for 6. It was a below-par total given that the dew was only going to increase as the temperatures reduced – something Harmanpreet Kaur had alluded to while choosing to chase at the toss. India made easy work of it to get home with eight wickets and 32 balls to spare, starting their road to the T20 World Cup 2026 in June on the right note.
Jemimah Rodrigues, batting for the 100th time in T20Is, struck a 14th half-century in the format to help the hosts canter. There was a mild intrigue around India’s No. 3, with Harleen Deol batting at that spot for two games in England, and Harmanpreet signaling her intent to be India’s one drop at the last T20 World Cup. But Rodrigues’ 69 not out from 44 balls should dispel any doubts India would have had.
This was India’s sixth win in ten games since being knocked out in the league stage of the 2024 iteration.
Brief scores:
India Women 122 for 2 in 14.4 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 69*, Smriti Mandhana 25, Harmanpreet Kaur 15*; Kawya Kavindi 1-20, Inoka Ranaweera 1-17) beat Sri Lanka Women 121 for 6 in 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 39, Chamari Athapaththu 15, Hasini Perera 20, Harshita Samarawickrama 21; Deepti Sharma 1-20, Kranti Gaud 1-23, Shree Charani 1-30) by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
Financial contributions received for ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund
UNICEF representatives and PM discuss rebuilding schools affected by the Disaster
A few showers may occur in the Uva province and in Ampara, Batticaloa, Matale, Nuwara-Eliya, and Hambantota districts
NMRA laboratory lacks SLAB accreditation
Air quality deteriorating in Sri Lanka
Cardinal urges govt. not to weaken key socio-cultural institutions
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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