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Cricket South Africa [CSA] will host a three-day diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) Indaba (conference) from Friday, with the main aim of identifying a roadmap to ensure a demographically-reflective national men’s team by the 2027 ODI World Cup at home.They will also address issues of representation in the game overall but have changed the labelling of the event from Transformation to DEI to reflect an agenda that addresses the cricketing infrastructure in totality and is not entirely focused on a particular race group.”It is not only about black players but about building a diverse structure,” Mudutambi Ravele, CSA board member and DEI Chairperson told ESPNcricinfo. “For example, we have looked at the data from the Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) province and seen that the number of players of Indian heritage has got less and less. We want to address that. We have looked at Limpopo and there are no white players. We can’t have that. We want to address the issues holistically.”The cases explained above are important when contextualised against the backdrop of South Africa’s history, demographics, and national representation in cricket. While 84.8% of the population is black African, before readmission in 1992, South Africa fielded all-white national sides. Since then, efforts have been made to reflect the country’s other, and most significantly, majority race group, but there was only one black African player in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad – an issue that raised concerns and makes the timing of this conference important.Related

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While CSA has expressed concerns with the lack of black African international players, they also hope to develop the game holistically, especially in places where they can identify gaps in the talent pool such as in Ravele’s examples. The KZN province is the area in the country with the largest percentage of people of Indian descent – 9.3% compared to 2.7% countrywide – while Limpopo, the northernmost province of the country, has a 97.3% black African population but still around 2% of white citizens. Both those race groups have historically high participation in cricket and CSA will seek to understand why those numbers have dipped.However, even their more wide-reaching approach does not take away from the key problem which is the lack of black African representation, that could set CSA back on the agreed annual targets with the country’s sports ministry. In 2016, failure to meet targets saw CSA, and three other sporting federations, banned from hosting major events and with 2027 in mind, CSA is keen to demonstrate a strong commitment to change.When asked why Kagiso Rabada was the only black African in the T20 World Cup squad, South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter pointed to the domestic system and asked it to “really up the ante”. Broadly, CSA agrees with him. At the time, they recognised that “various initiatives that have been pursued over the years have not yielded the desired results,” and now, Ravele said they continue to look at the domestic system to identify where it is lacking.”We want to look at the pool of players who are available and how we can support them to stay in the pool. There are a number of social issues that affect players from disadvantaged backgrounds.”CSA has also launched a specialised program for black African batters since this is an area of particular need.Walter will be present at the DEI , where he will be part of a panel of a discussion with black African batter Khaya Zondo, women’s international bowler Tumi Sekhukhune and former selector Patrick Moroney, who served on South Africa’s last panel under Victor Mpitsang.The selection committee was done away with when Walter and Test coach Shukri Conrad (who will not be in attendance as he readies the squad to leave for a two-match series in West Indies) were appointed last January. As head coaches, they were given sole decision-making powers over their squad selections. This is likely to change with some inside CSA pushing for the return of a panel, which Ravele supports. “A panel helps a lot because there are different views and people can think more broadly. There are more ideas,” she said.If the re-introduction of a selection panel emerges as one of the recommendations from the , it will still need to be ratified by CSA’s board but will ultimately take away Walter and Conrad’s independence.Kagiso Rabada was the only black African in South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad•ICC/Getty Images

The squad Walter picked for the T20 World Cup 2024 was South Africa’s most successful and reached the final for the first time, but Ravela would not be drawn into conflating their success with the issue of representation. “The squad did really well, but did they do well because they didn’t have black players? I think we should view their performance as a matter of progress, as they have been to the semi-finals several times before.”She stressed that CSA will not revert to stipulating a quota for XIs, as they have done in the past, but remain set on average goals. “For the national teams, we don’t put a number of players per event. We want to develop a plan for the year and ask what combinations of players can be used to make sure we are fielding diverse teams.”As things stand, South Africa’s national teams are required to field, on average over the course of a season, at least six players of colour of which two must be black African. At the provincial level, the same target is expected to be met but at least three of the six players of colour must be black African.The SA20, in which CSA owns the majority share although teams are privately owned, has no transformation target or even expectation imposed on it and will remain untouched. Ravele hoped that the franchise owners would keep South Africa’s segregated history and attempts at redress “in the back of their minds,” but so far, the competition is the least representative domestic event. In 2024, there were 13 black African players listed across the six squads, with one – the Pretoria Capitals – having none at all. Of those, only Rabada (MI Cape Town), Junior Dala, Tony de Zorzi (both Durban’s Super Giants), Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo (both Paarl Royals) and Sibonelo Makhanya (Joburg Super Kings) played more than one match for their team.

There were geniuses at play in Bridgetown, wearing the India blue as they cruised to victory in their first Super Eight game against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup 2024. The pitch, once again, was tough to bat on: slow and offering purchase to everyone willing to roll their fingers across the ball. Suryakumar Yadav, though, found a way to prosper as he often does in T20 cricket, helping his team post an above-par total of 181 for 7. That brought Jasprit Bumrah into the fray and he immediately set about dismantling Afghanistan, his two early strikes leaving them indisposed for the rest of the chase.

The old guard

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma did not play a single T20I between the end of the previous World Cup in 2022 and January this year. But they’re here now because they want that medal around their neck. They want to be world champions. And to that end, they’ve been open to batting in a different way. Rohit made only 8 off 13 but he looked to hit a boundary off six of those balls. Kohli was going smoothly but he wasn’t willing to settle for that. He looked to hit Rashid Khan for six and got caught.After being burned in big matches for being too conservative, India have ditched the safety-first approach. And the reason for that played out in the middle overs of this game. When Kohli fell, ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster had their total tracking down by 18 runs to 171. In the space of a mere six balls, the other batters had it tracking back up by the same number of runs. India were set to reach 189 now. That’s how quickly a game can change in this format. That’s why it’s better to have tried and failed than not try and all.

Surya on song

It’s possible India knew this all along but were holding back because they weren’t comfortable with the options they had down the order. That’s changed now because their best T20 batter mans the No. 4 position.Suryakumar played some special shots – not in the way you usually associate with, where he finds a soft spot in the laws of physics and mercilessly pokes holes in them. But more in terms of just knowing his areas and trusting his skill. Even the one time when he made jaws drop to the floor – dragging Azmatullah Omarzai from somewhere off the wide line to the square-leg boundary – he was just trying to put away a full toss. The legside was the shorter boundary. It just made sense.Jasprit Bumrah struck off his second ball against Afghanistan and finished with 3 for 7•CREIMAS

Suryakumar focused on three things while he was out there. Sweep to mess with the wristspinners. He played four and each of them resulted in a boundary. Smash whenever the quicks went too full. He struck a six that sailed into the three Ws stand and held his pose. Worrell, Weeks and Walcott would’ve loved that. Finally swipe – after making sure to hold his shape – when they went slower ball. First time he tried it, he got beaten. Second time, he nearly hit the ball out of the ground. This was a classic case of an attacking batter paring down his options to just those he knew would succeed in the conditions.Suryakumar was box office, even without bat in hand. In between the innings, he admitted that he was nervous. “I began chewing my gum harder when Kohli got out.” But he knew he couldn’t let himself be bogged down. “It was important to keep the intent up.” India do not want to fall into the same traps as before. This World Cup, they’re going to bat like they have a full ten wickets to spare.

Bumrah on fire

He has twice as many wickets as he’s conceded boundaries (8 vs 4) in this T20 World Cup. Bumrah is undeniably India’s most important player. He came on to bowl after Rahmanullah Gurbaz had struck a lion’s share of the 13 runs in the first over of the chase. He had seen, in the first innings, that slower balls had been mighty effective (five wickets for 30 runs at an economy rate of 7.2). Immediately, he dialled one up and also shifted his line real wide to deny Gurbaz the straight hit that he likes so much. Assessing the conditions and the opposition to that degree that quickly is the reason why he is an all-format great. He gave away only seven runs, the second-fewest by an Indian bowling four overs in a T20I.There were further positives as well. Kuldeep Yadav, back in the XI to exploit favourable conditions, picked up 2 for 32. Axar Patel began with a wicket-maiden in the powerplay. Ravindra Jadeja had a good run out as well. And Arshdeep recovered from a two-over spell for 22 runs to almost pick up a hat-trick in the dying moments.

Pat Cummins claimed his second hat-trick in three days, as Australia faced Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight, to become the fifth bowler to have two in men’s T20Is – and he remembered he was on one this time.After claiming a hat-trick against Bangladesh in Antigua, he repeated the feat across his last two overs in St Vincent. With the last ball of the 18th over, he had Rashid Khan caught at long on, then with the first ball of the 20th removed Karim Janat the same way before Gulbadin Naib hoicked to deep midwicket amid Afghanistan’s last push for runs.”Yeah, remembered this one,” Cummins told the broadcaster between innings, in reference to him forgetting he was on a hat-trick against Bangladesh. “Crazy to get two in a row after playing 100 plus games for Australia.”He could have had four wickets in four balls – a feat achieved by Ireland’s Curtis Campher during the 2021 T20 World Cup – but David Warner missed a chance at deep square when Nangeyalia Kharote swung to the leg side.Cummins joined Lasith Malinga, Tim Southee, Serbia’s Mark Pavlovic, Malta’s Waseem Abbas as having two T20I hat-tricks. On the question of the short time between them, Pavlovic took his on consecutive days in 2023, although had played three matches in that time.Cummins became the second player to take a hat-trick in consecutive international matches after Wasim Akram who did it in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka in March 1999. Jimmy Matthews had hat-tricks in each innings of a Test match against South Africa in 1912 with both coming on the same day.

Left-arm spinning allrounder Dunith Wellalage will lead Sri Lanka A in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Rising Stars T20 tournament, in Doha later this month.Also in the squad are legspinners Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Sahan Arachchige, allrounders Milan Rathnayake and Ramesh Mendis, and top-order batters Nuwanidu Fernando and Nishan Madushka, and seamer Pramod Madushan.Though none of the players in this squad have consistent places in the senior XI, Wellalage, Nuwanidu, and Madushka have all played white-ball cricket for Sri Lanka in the last few months. Rathnayake also played in Sri Lanka’s most recent Test series, against Bangladesh in June. Madushan has not played for Sri Lanka since 2024.Elsewhere in the squad is 20-year-old batting allrounder Vishen Halambage, who has been called up to the Sri Lanka senior squad, though has yet to play a match for the national team. Ramesh Mendis, meanwhile, last played for Sri Lanka in February this year, in a Test against Australia.

ACC Rising Stars tournament schedule

Nov 14 – Oman vs Pak; Ind vs UAE
Nov 15 – Ban vs HK; Afg vs SL
Nov 16 – Oman vs UAE; Ind vs Pak
Nov 17 – HK vs SL; Afg vs Ban
Nov 18 – Pak vs UAE; Ind vs Oman
Nov 19 – Afg vs HK; Ban vs SL
Nov 21 – Semi-finals: A1 vs B2; B1 vs A2
Nov 23 – Final

Viyaskanth, 23, has also been on the fringes of the national team for several years, though the presence of Wanindu Hasaranga, and more recently Jeffrey Vandersay, has kept him out. He has continued to do well domestically however, including in the recent SLC T20 competition – the top T20 domestic tournament this year, in the absence of the postponed Lanka Premier League.The Rising Stars tournament begins on November 14. Sri Lanka A play Afghanistan A, Hong Kong, and Bangladesh A in the group stage. Group B comprises India A, Oman, Pakistan A and UAE. Two teams from each group will then qualify for the semi finals.

Sri Lanka A squad for Rising Stars Asia Cup T20 tournament

Dunith Wellalage (capt.), Vishen Halambage, Nishan Madushka (wk), Nuwanidu Fernando, Lasith Croospulle, Ramesh Mendis, Kavindu de Livera, Sahan Arachchige, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Pramod Madushan, Garuka Sanketh, Isitha Wijesundara, Milan Rathnayake, V Viyaskanth, Traveen Mathew

The BCB has announced that it will form a committee to investigate allegations made by fast bowler Jahanara Alam, claiming that a former selector approached her inappropriately during the 2022 ODI World Cup. The board has instructed the committee to submit its findings and recommendations within 15 working days.In a statement released on Thursday, just before midnight, the BCB stated that it would take appropriate action based on the investigation’s findings.”The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has noted with concern the allegations reported in the media made by a former member of the Bangladesh national women’s cricket team regarding alleged misconduct by certain individuals associated with the team,” the statement read. “As the matter is of a sensitive nature, the BCB has decided to form a committee to investigate the allegations thoroughly. The committee will submit its findings and recommendations within 15 working days. The BCB is committed to ensuring a safe, respectful, and professional environment for all its players and personnel. The board takes such matters with utmost seriousness and will take appropriate action based on the findings of the investigation.”Related

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Jahanara, who now resides in Australia, stated in an interview with journalist Riasad Azim that a former selector behaved inappropriately toward her when he was the women’s team selector and manager. She claimed that he asked her lewd questions. Jahanara also alleged that a couple of BCB officials acted inappropriately with her. She said she reported the incident to former BCB director Shafiul Islam Nadel and the board’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury.These allegations come shortly after Jahanara made similar claims in another interview, in which she accused Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana of physically abusing her team-mates. However, the BCB called them “baseless”.Jahanara has taken 48 wickets in ODIs and 60 in T20Is across 135 white-ball matches for Bangladesh. She is also the only Bangladesh player to have competed in the Women’s T20 Challenge in India and the FairBreak Invitational T20.

It was pitches in 2015-16, it was the tosses in 2019-20, but India took the pitch and the toss out of the equation in dismissing South Africa for 159 on the first day of the 2025-26 series. The visitors won the toss on a decent batting surface at Eden Gardens, raced away to 57 for 0 in 10 overs, but then became victims of Jasprit Bumrah’s 16th five-wicket haul and excellent support work from Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. India, with a new No. 3 in Washington Sundar, were 37 for 1 in 20 overs possible before stumps.Guilty of playing too little bowling in the past, India went in with six of them as Washington moved to No. 3, making room for Axar Patel in the XI. For a while, as Siraj struggled for rhythm and Axar was taken down, it seemed India would need all the bowling they could muster.However, Bumrah had been excellent at the other end. Out of those 57, he had conceded only nine runs in five overs. He pushed himself for two more overs in that first spell, and produced two near unplayable deliveries. He went round the wicket to swing one in to Ryan Rickelton and then nip it away a touch to take the off stump. In his next over, he got Aiden Markram with one that kicked off a length. Bumrah ended his spell with figures of 7-4-9-2 out of a score of 62 for 2.Related

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It might not have been an unplayable pitch, but it had enough to keep bowlers interested. Kuldeep found that with some quick turn in his first spell. Accordingly, he and Shubman Gill went for a backward short leg as opposed to one in front of square. In no time he had Temba Bavuma edging one there for a sharp catch for Dhruv Jurel, who handed over the big gloves to the returning Rishabh Pant but retained his spot in the XI on the back of a century against West Indies and two against South Africa A.Tony de Zorzi and Wiaan Mulder somehow saw South Africa through to lunch, but immediately after they had to face the double trouble of Bumrah and Kuldeep. In just six overs, both had been sent back for an addition of just 15. Mulder, who got off the mark with a reverse-sweep off Kuldeep, fell lbw on the same shot for 24. De Zorzi got a similar delivery to the one that Rickelton did, but this one nipped in and beat him on the inside edge.The ball had just started to reverse for Bumrah, and Siraj took over to continue the nightmare for South Africa. Kyle Verrreynne’s big back lift was always an invitation for Siraj, who eventually hit him pad first right in front. In the same over, he hit the top of off of Marco Jansen.Axar Patel, 3-0-20-0 in his first spell, now returned to find some turn. With his long arms and low release creating an extreme angle, Axar becomes dangerous once he gets one to turn. He now had Corbin Bosch playing for the non-existent turn and had him lbw with what proved to be the last ball before tea.Jasprit Bumrah is congratulated by his team-mates after completing his five-for•Getty Images

Tristan Stubbs, the specialist batter, didn’t farm strike and left the two spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj at the mercy of Bumrah, who had them both in one over to go level with BS Chandrasekhar on five-fors and into India’s top five. It consigned South Africa to their second-lowest score against India in the first innings of a match.Batting wasn’t quite straightforward for India either, which is where South Africa dearly missed Kagiso Rabada, who was out with a rib injury. In fading east Indian light, Jansen was on the money but couldn’t quite find the length with which he could threaten the stumps. He still got the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal on the cut.KL Rahul and Washington had to be watchful with little to gain really. In the brief period of spin possible, Maharaj came close to bowling Rahul, and Harmer showed he was a much-improved bowler from the one that toured India in 2015-16. That Bumrah five-for began to look even more important with a few puffs of dust towards the end of the day.

Bangladesh blazed a hole through West Indies in a 179-run win in the third ODI, achieving their first series victory since March last year. Saif Hassan and Soumya Sarkar put together a scintillating 176-run opening stand which provided the backbone for Bangladesh’s 296 for 8. The visitors lasted 30.1 overs, getting bowled out for 117 in reply.Rishad Hossain claimed three wickets to take his series haul to 12, becoming the first Bangladesh bowler since 2015 to take more than ten wickets in a bilateral ODI series. Nasum Ahmed also picked up three wickets while Tanvir Islam finished with 8-0-16-2.Bangladesh got off to a fast start, unusual for this series as it was played on mostly dark, cracked, spin-dominated pitches. Sarkar (91 off 86) and Saif (80 off 72) went on a boundary spree that lasted 25 overs. The two stylish batters matched each other stroke for stroke as they raised Bangladesh’s second-highest opening partnership in ODIs and the first century opening stand at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in ten years..Saif struck Akeal Hosein for two fours in the first over, followed by his first six in the left-arm spinner’s next over. That inside-out strike over the covers set off the big-hitting spree. Sarkar struck Roston Chase for two sixes, both reverse-hits early in the innings. Saif focused on hitting straight, blazing Chase for his second six before he overturned an on-field lbw decision when he was on 28 and extended his innings.Alick Athanaze pulled off a stunning catch off his own bowling•AFP/Getty Images

Justin Greaves broke a sequence of 59 consecutive overs of spin from West Indies, across two matches, and Sarkar welcomed him two fours through fine leg. Saif, then, played the shot of the innings. He charged Greaves who tried to cramp him, but the batter backed himself and the result was a lovely high-elbow loft that went for a big six down the ground.Saif struck two boundaries in the 16th over, one bringing up Bangladesh’s 100-run opening stand, and the next one taking him to his maiden fifty. Sarkar wasn’t done at the other end. He slammed Khary Pierre for a straight six before he went after Motie with a six and four in the 25th over. Just like that he was into the nineties.Chase ended the opening stand in the 26th over when he had Saif caught at long-on. Sarkar was left distraught when he also holed out in the deep, at midwicket, nine short of his fourth ODI ton.The rest of the Bangladesh batters couldn’t quite do justice to the Saif-Sarkar double act. Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy added 50 runs for the third wicket. Alick Athanaze took a tremendous catch to remove Shanto, running back from his bowling mark before diving full length.West Indies had a bit of respite when Hosein removed Mahidul Islam, Rishad and Nasum, all in the 46th over. Still, Bangladesh’s 296 – which included a record-equalling 14 sixes – looked like a formidable total on the Dhaka surface.West Indies never got their chase going, as they ran into Nasum who took their first three wickets. Athanaze fell lbw trying to paddle Nasum in the fifth over, before Ackeem Auguste, playing a similar shot, also fell lbw for a duck.Brandon King, who struck a six and two fours, was Nasum’s third wicket, bowled for 18. Shai Hope fell for just 4, mishitting Tanvir Islam in the 14th over. Sherfane Rutherford became Rishad’s first wicket, when he inside-edged one to Mehidy Hasan Miraz at midwicket, having made 12. He had a particularly poor ODI series.West Indies’ lower half caved in steadily. Rishad bowled a full toss and had Chase out for a duck, before trapping Gudakesh Motie for his third. After winning the first ODI and losing the second in a Super Over, the emphatic victory in the third match sealed the series 2-1 for Bangladesh.

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara will return to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a lead role to helm the coaching staff after the exit of Rahul Dravid as head coach recently. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Sangakkara, who has been RR’s Director of Cricket since 2021, is firming up the position with the franchise, even as he has already informally started planning for the 2026 season.Since he joined RR in 2021, Sangakkara doubled up as the head coach, and, under his watch, the Sanju Samson-led franchise made the playoffs twice in four seasons. In 2022, RR reached the final for the first time since they won the IPL in the inaugural season in 2008, but lost to Gujarat Titans. After finishing fifth in 2023, RR reached the playoffs the following season, when they lost in Qualifier 2. Dravid, who was RR’s captain in 2012 and 2013, and then mentor in 2014 and 2015, was hired as head coach by the franchise immediately after he won the 2024 T20 World Cup as India’s head coach.Although Dravid had signed a multi-year contract, his stint was short-lived, as he parted ways with RR recently. In a media statement issued in August, RR said that based on a structural review of the franchise post the 2025 season, where they secured just four wins in 14 matches, Dravid was “offered a broader position” but he had “chosen not to take”.Related

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The biggest priority for Sangakkara will be sorting RR’s captaincy after Samson asked the franchise to release him after the 2025 season. It is understood Samson, 30, told the franchise that he wanted a change and hence be released. Suffering a side strain early during the 2025 season, Samson played only nine matches, and had to endure the disappointment of watching RR end ninth on the points table despite being in the winning position several times.Samson, who is the most experienced player in RR’s ranks, was among the six players retained ahead of the 2025 mega auction at a price tag of INR 18 crore (USD 2.14 million approx.).While RR did cast the net with several franchises offering Samson as a trade in player swap, they have not been successful. Officially, RR have not made any comment on releasing Samson. The IPL retention deadline normally is end of November, but franchises are still waiting for a firm date.It is also learned RR will retain former India batter Vikram Rathour as the assistant coach, and that former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond is likely to continue as the bowling coach. While Bond moved to RR from Mumbai Indians in 2024, Rathour, who had been assistant coach with India under Ravi Shastri and Dravid, joined ahead of 2025. It is understood that the pair of Trevor Penney and Siddhartha Lahiri, who were part of Sangakkara’s support staff at RR previously, is also set to return.