Sachin Tendulkar was 13 when he ran onto Brabourne Stadium in a Pakistan shirt. The 1987 exhibition match had dragged on, and when Javed Miandad and Abdul Qadir left at lunch, Imran Khan asked the Cricket Club of India for local kids to fill the gaps.

Tendulkar sprinted out. Not long after, Kapil Dev struck a ball toward him in the outfield and the boy was suddenly fielding for the opposition.

He later wrote in Playing It My Way that he still has no idea whether Imran Khan remembers the moment at all.

Australia won't play a warm-up match before the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India early next year. Coach Andrew McDonald confirmed the team will instead hold an extended pre-series camp to acclimatise to Indian conditions.

The approach follows recent subcontinental tours. They trained in Dubai before the 2025 Sri Lanka series and held a camp in Alur ahead of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This time, the shorter gap between the New Zealand Tests and the India series has forced a different plan.

Players likely to feature in India but not against New Zealand could begin preparations earlier in Australia. McDonald said the focus will be on location and individual workload management rather than match practice.

New Delhi Tigers captain Himmat Singh accidentally kicked the ball onto the stumps after misfielding, forcing a Super Over in a Delhi Premier League match against Outer Delhi Warriors at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Outer Delhi needed one run from the final delivery when Pratham Saluja squeezed the ball towards mid-on and set off for the winning single.

Himmat moved forward to collect the ball but failed to gather it cleanly. In frustration, he kicked the ball away, and it travelled directly towards the wicket, striking the stumps with Saluja still short of his crease. The dismissal forced the match into a Super Over, which Outer Delhi won after posting 20 for one.

Himmat had earlier scored 61 from 25 balls with four fours and five sixes to help New Delhi Tigers reach 156 for five in the rain-shortened 15-over contest.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has cut Water and Power Development Authority and Sahir Associates from the 2026-27 domestic season. Both sides missed the new rules the board brought in during June, which require full-time coaching staff and minimum welfare standards. Neither submitted the paperwork on time.

WAPDA and Sahir Associates had played in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and other first-class events before this. The PCB hasn't said whether they can apply again. With them gone, the first-class competition drops to eight departmental teams, and the board will name replacements before September.

Ben Stokes pushed back on the idea that England cricket has a special drinking problem. Alcohol sits in the game at every level, he said on the For The Love of Cricket podcast, weeks after retiring from internationals. Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler joined him.

Stokes pointed to the split between cricket's push on nutrition and medical care and its unchanged habits around drink. The culture runs from club grounds to Test teams, and it hasn't moved with the rest of preparation. The comments came after he and Gus Atkinson were stood down for a Test over a curfew breach.

The ECB tightened its alcohol rules for England players after that. Stokes now plays only domestic and franchise cricket.

Mohammed Siraj was fined 25 percent of his match fee and handed one demerit point for a Level 1 breach during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The incident occurred after Siraj sledged Kamil Mishara before the umpire intervened.

Yashasvi Jaiswal received the same sanction after a separate confrontation with Asitha Fernando on day one. Both players accepted the sanctions without contest.

India reached 503 for nine declared on day two, with Dhruv Jurel scoring an unbeaten 115. Sri Lanka finished day three at 265 for eight.

Shashank Singh said he received no explanation from the Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh after being dropped from the Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League and the state probables camp following shoulder and finger injuries. He obtained an NOC and will represent Pondicherry from the 2026-27 domestic season.

The Punjab Kings all-rounder won the Lala Amarnath Award for best domestic white-ball all-rounder in 2023-24 after amassing 927 runs in List A cricket at an average of 40.30 across seven years with Chhattisgarh. He scored 653 runs in 42 T20 matches at a strike rate of 129.30 and took 18 wickets.

Shashank rejected claims that he prioritised the IPL over domestic cricket and said he was not seeking preferential treatment, only clarity on selection decisions after representing the state in 24 first-class and 31 List A matches.

Former England captain Ben Stokes is in talks with multiple Big Bash League franchises and could become the competition's highest-paid overseas player. Reports from Code Sports indicate the Sydney Sixers lead the bidding ahead of the 2026-27 season. The proposed deal is valued at approximately AUD 600,000.

Stokes retired from international cricket in June 2026 after England's series against New Zealand. He has since returned to Durham in county cricket and expressed interest in continuing across franchise competitions. The Sixers' pursuit is strengthened by the appointment of former England white-ball coach Matthew Mott, who worked with Stokes during the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Stokes previously played in the BBL for Melbourne Renegades in 2014-15. Scheduling remains a factor, with the SA20 beginning in January potentially clashing with a proposed Christmas break in England. An IPL return remains blocked until 2028 under current BCCI rules.

Manchester Super Giants defeated Sunrisers Leeds by 20 runs in the men's Hundred eliminator at The Kia Oval to reach the final. Paul Walter scored 80 off 46 balls, hitting eight sixes, as Super Giants posted 187. Sunrisers Leeds could not reach the target despite contributions from Harry Brook and Ryan Rickelton.

Super Giants will face Trent Rockets in the final. The result eliminates Sunrisers Leeds from the competition after they had posted 201 for four to beat Welsh Fire by 71 runs earlier in the week.

Mitch Marsh scored 50 off 34 balls in that match and added 89 for the first wicket with Rickelton before Brydon Carse took three for 24 to restrict Welsh Fire to 130 for six.

ICC chairman Jay Shah inaugurated the Tanzania Cricket Arena in Dodoma, the country's first ICC-approved cricket venue. The facility marks a milestone in cricket development across Tanzania and the broader African region. Shah congratulated Cricket Tanzania on establishing world-class infrastructure through collective efforts.

Shah described the venue as a landmark moment and noted it was an honour to officially open the facility. The arena represents sustained investment in growing the sport in a region where cricket infrastructure has historically been limited. Tanzania now joins other African nations with approved international-standard facilities.

The opening aligns with broader ICC initiatives to expand cricket's footprint beyond traditional markets and establish sustainable development pathways on the continent.

The inaugural European T20 Premier League will begin on August 26 with Rotterdam Dockers facing Amsterdam Flames. The six-team tournament will run for 26 days across Voorburg Cricket Club in the Netherlands and Malahide in Ireland.

Each team will play the others twice in a double round-robin format. The top side qualifies directly for the final while second and third meet in the qualifier. The first 15 league matches will be played at Voorburg before the tournament moves to Malahide.

Prominent international players including Steve Smith, Ravichandran Ashwin, Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Heinrich Klaasen, Mitchell Marsh, Lungi Ngidi and Trent Boult will feature. Co-owners Jonty Rhodes, Steve Waugh, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Hayden attended the launch.

Bodugum Akhilesh Reddy has been banned from all forms of cricket for eight years by an ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal. The tribunal found him guilty of match-fixing, soliciting fixes, and obstructing an investigation during the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament in 2025. The sanction was handed down on Sunday.

Reddy, a USA cricketer, faced charges related to his conduct in the T10 event. The violations included attempts to influence match outcomes and interference with the inquiry process. The eight-year ban is the full period requested by the anti-corruption unit.

The decision closes the case for the player. No appeal details were immediately available from the tribunal ruling. Reddy will remain ineligible until 2034.