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Australia wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, who was picked by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 8.6 crore at the recent IPL mini-auction, has confirmed that he will not be fully available for the 2026 season. Inglis said he would be getting married in early April, with IPL 2026 set to run from March 26 to May 31.”Well, I sort of watched a lot of it [IPL auction] and I was pushed back in the pecking order,” Inglis told . “I don’t have full availability this year. I’m getting married in early April. So, I didn’t really expect to go, to be honest. So I sort of saw my name go by unsold… the first one I was like ‘alright stuff this, I’m going to bed’ and I need to switch on for tomorrow [Ashes] and then woke up to the news. I didn’t know until I’d seen a few messages this morning.”Though his former IPL coach at Punjab Kings, Ricky Ponting, had hinted at Inglis’ partial availability after the franchise had released him, Inglis triggered a bidding war at the auction after initially going unsold. LSG eventually outbid Sunrisers Hyderabad and reunited Inglis with coach Justin Langer – the pair has previously worked together at Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League (BBL).Related

• IPL 2026 to be held between March 26 and May 31

• IPL 2026: How the ten teams stack up after the auction

• IPL 2026 auction: Green and greenhorns strike gold

PBKS co-owner Ness Wadia suggested that Inglis was among the players the franchise had been looking to keep for IPL 2026 until the player communicated his lack of full availability “45 minutes before the deadline.””We didn’t really let go of Josh. I mean, Josh unfortunately, sadly, only told us at the last minute, which was not very fair given that he had been with us for a while,” Wadia told . “I think everyone knew when the retention was coming, and we were informed by him 45 minutes before the deadline that he was getting married and needed time to relax and recuperate. He said he was going to be available only for a couple of weeks [three games].”We told him he should have informed us earlier. I don’t think it was very professional of him. I don’t think it is very professional of anyone if they know there is a deadline. You can’t call someone 45 minutes before and say, ‘Hey, I’m not coming,’ especially when he knew that we were retaining him.”But I wish him all the best. He is a good player and I am sure he will do well for Australia. And let’s see whether he plays in the IPL or not. I wish him all the best because he is a fellow human being. But, the manner in which he behaved was not very professional.”In his first IPL season, Inglis slotted in a disruptor in PBKS’ line-up, scoring 278 runs in 11 innings at an average of 30.88 and strike rate of 162.57. The tally included a match-winning 73 off 42 balls from No.3 against a Jasprit-Bumrah-led Mumbai Indians attack in Jaipur. Overall, Inglis has scored 3853 runs in 152 T20 innings at an average of 29.86 and strike rate of just under 150.

Abhigyan Kundu, the wicketkeeper-batter, walked out at No. 5 in the 11th over, batted till the end of India’s innings against Malaysia in their Under-19 Asia Cup contest in Dubai, and finished with a 125-ball 209 not out against his name, taking India to a formidable 408 for 7 in the process. In return, Malaysia could only muster 93, with medium pacer Deepesh Devendran running through the line-up to finish with a five-for.The India vs Malaysia match, however, doesn’t have “official youth ODI” status, meaning South Africa’s Jorich Van Schalkwyk, who had scored 215 off 153 balls against Zimbabwe earlier this year in Harare, remains the only batter in that list. Bangladesh international Soumya Sarkar had also hit a double-century in a fixture against Qatar in 2012, hitting 209 in 135 balls, but that was also in a game without official youth ODI status.Kundu led India’s batting effort against Malaysia after Vaibhav Suryavanshi had done the initial scoring, with a 26-ball 50. Kundu put together a 209-run stand with Vedant Trivedi (90 in 106 balls) for the fourth wicket, a partnership that ran from the 11th over to the 41st.When Trivedi was dismissed, Kundu was on 128 in 92 balls. He sped up in the last ten overs, adding 81 runs in 33 balls, taking India past the 400-run mark. Kundu had earlier scored 32 not out in 17 balls against UAE and 22 in 32 balls against Pakistan.For Malaysia, Muhammad Akram was the standout performer, returning 5 for 89 from his ten overs, the left-arm medium pacer victims including Suryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra and Harvansh Pangalia.In the chase, Malaysia lost openers Azib Wajdi and Mohammad Hairil for ducks. Deepesh then took a wicket in each of his first five overs, leaving Malaysia tottering at 38 for 7. Hamza Panggi and Jaashwin Krishnamurthi resisted with a 36-run 10th-wicket stand, but it did not take too long for India to wrap things up.India are on top of the Group A table in the tournament, having earlier beaten UAE and Pakistan. Malaysia are bottom of the group, having lost to the same opponents earlier.

ScorecardAdam Voges enjoyed a productive home Test summer, including against New Zealand•AFP

Australia’s one-day team might have struggled in their first game in Auckland, but Test batsman Adam Voges has started his acclimatisation well, scoring an unbeaten half-century in the Sheffield Shield match in Lincoln, New Zealand. Voges finished the second day on 58 alongside David Moody, who was yet to score, as Western Australia reached 4 for 194 in reply to the New South Wales first innings of 402.Voges, Peter Nevill and Nathan Lyon are the three men playing in the Shield match in New Zealand who will also be part of the first Test in Wellington starting next Friday. Nevill occupied the crease for 77 deliveries in making 28 for New South Wales and later snared a catch off the bat of Ashton Turner to give Lyon his only wicket from 18 overs.The day started with the Blues on 6 for 293 and they added a further 109 for the loss of their last four wickets, Sean Abbott (49) and Gurinder Sandhu (35) scoring some useful late runs. Trent Copeland, playing first-class cricket for the first time in nearly two years, then removed both the Western Australia openers, although not before Cameron Bancroft had made 45 and Will Bosisto 11.Doug Bollinger had Michael Klinger caught for 37 and Turner fell to Lyon late in the day, but Voges was still there at the close of play and had the chance to warm-up for the first Test with a century. Voges had two innings of note during the summer’s home Test series against New Zealand, scoring an unbeaten 83 in the first innings of the series in Brisbane, and 119 in Perth.

West Indies spinner Sunil Narine has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after his action was found to be illegal.An independent assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree limit. Narine’s action was reported earlier this month during the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.In accordance with Article 6.1 of the regulations, “Narine’s international suspension will also be recognised and enforced by all National Cricket Federations within domestic cricket events played in their own jurisdiction, save that, with the consent of the West Indies Cricket Board, Narine may be able to play in domestic cricket events played under the auspices of the West Indies Cricket Board.”The test was done on November 17 at ICC’s testing centre in Loughborough University. Narine can apply for re-assessment after modifying his action in accordance with clause 2.4 of the Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions.Narine was playing against Sri Lanka after a gap of more than a year in international cricket, and finished with four wickets from three ODIs at an average of 18. He is currently the No. 1 ranked bowler in the ICC rankings for ODIs and T20Is.Narine is currently playing in the Bangladesh Premier League for Comilla Victorians, and this suspension means he won’t be allowed to bowl in the BPL too. He will fly out of Dhaka on Sunday night itself.”We were prepared for the announcement,” Comilla Victorians owner Nafeesa Kamal told ESPNcricinfo. “We were told that we can expect something on November 29 so we had planned accordingly. We will definitely miss him. He was an asset to the team. We are now looking for a player to replace him.”The West Indies Cricket Board said that Narine would receive its full support as he works on correcting his action. “We will be offering our support to Sunil as he does the remedial work on his bowling action. I know the time and effort he has put in to do this work previously and I am sure this will just deepen his resolve to come back a better bowler,” Richard Pybus, WICB’s director of cricket, said in a release.

Darrell Hair’s reinstatement to Tests and ODIs is being viewed with understandable caution by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the PCB, said Pakistan had made its position on the matter clear at the ICC board meeting; he also indicated that Hair might not stand in Pakistan matches over the next year, until his contract with the ICC ends.”The PCB’s position, views and opinions were clearly reiterated at the meeting with regard to this issue,” Ashraf told Cricinfo.Ashraf’s countrymen were more forcible in their reactions. Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was banned for four matches for refusing to take his side back on to the field during the Oval Test in August 2006 after Hair accused them of ball-tampering, said he was “shocked and disgusted” by the news.”I would blame the Pakistan board for bowing down in Hair’s case and no player will now stand against injustices at the international level,” Inzamam said. “Hair was at fault but he is reinstated like a hero. The PCB needs to learn a lesson from the Indian board. See how they backed their players in Australia recently on contentious issues.”Pakistan did not return to the field after tea on day four at The Oval, in protest against Hair’s decision to dock them five penalty runs for ball-tampering. Hair subsequently declared the match forfeited by Pakistan, handing the win to England. It was the first time a Test had ever been forfeited.Shaharyar Khan, Ashraf’s predecessor and chairman during The Oval Test, shared Inzamam’s sentiments. “He [Hair] should never have been reinstated after committing so many gross irregularities during the [2006] Oval Test,” Shaharyar told Reuters.”The ICC board decided beyond doubt Hair’s conduct was not up to the mark. This man violated his responsibilities as a senior umpire. How the ICC can restore him is hard to comprehend.”Ramiz Raja, former captain and widely-respected commentator, said the decision highlighted Pakistan’s weak hand at international level. “The decision of Hair’s recall shows Pakistan’s lack of presence at international forums. It is surprising that Hair was reinstated without being tried and tested. It shows that the international community is ready to walk over Pakistan whenever they want.”

The second day of the Trinidad Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka turned tragic for the Hosam family as West Indian supporter Michael Hosam, 66, died after being taken ill while watching the game.Hosam was at the Queen’s Park Oval for the match when other fans noticed he looked unwell. He received medical attention at the ground and was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where family said he was pronounced dead.The West Indies board and the Trinidad and Tobago board offered their condolences to Hosam’s family and friends. “We in West Indies Cricket know we have people out there who are loyal and dedicated in their support and we wish his family all the best at this time,” Julian Hunte, the WICB president, said.Ikin Williams, Hosam’s bother-in-law, said he was a West Indies supporter for decades and always wore his maroon shirt when he came to watch matches at Queen’s Park Oval.”He was a true West Indies fan and he loved the team. He loved West Indies cricket.”

If Usman Khawaja has looked calm since returning to Australia’s Test team this summer, there is a reason for it. And not just because he keeps piling up centuries though, of course, that helps. After completing his 140 against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve, his fourth consecutive first-innings hundred in Tests, Khawaja said that a reassuring chat with coach Darren Lehmann at the start of the season contributed to his success.Khawaja’s recall came more than two years after he had last played Test cricket, on the 2013 Ashes tour when Lehmann had just been installed as the new coach. When he was cut following the Chester-le-Street Test it was the third time he had been axed from Australia’s Test team, on each occasion after a run of three Tests. It was not until the first Test at the Gabba this summer that a Test ton finally arrived.”It’s hard to put a finger on one thing – I’m not sure if there is one thing,” Khawaja said after play on the second day in Wellington. “But I always felt when I first played for Australia that I was sort of playing for my spot a little bit. I never really felt like I was in the team, felt like I was sort of looking over my shoulder.”This time it came around, I scored a hundred first game and that sort of relieved the pressure a little bit. But even before I played that first game, Boof [Darren Lehmann] sort of had a chat to me and just told me to relax. He said I’d get a fair crack at it. So that kind of helped too.”It’s just been a really relaxed atmosphere. It’s what you want when you’re playing at the highest level. Because there’s enough pressure and whatever stuff goes on around it, you just want to get into the best position and best head-space possible. It helps that we’ve played some pretty decent cricket since I’ve come back, we’ve won a lot of games which always helps.”During his first few goes at Test cricket Khawaja was sometimes viewed, perhaps unfairly, as too laid-back; there was a perception that he didn’t work hard enough. But underneath there was always a certain amount of tension that affected his game: too often he found himself bogged down at the crease.Not so in his latest incarnation as a Test batsman. Not only has Khawaja now made successive first-innings scores of 174, 121, 144 and 140, he has done his scoring at a much quicker tempo. The real Khawaja is finally shining through, and at the Basin Reserve his class was on display as he picked gaps seemingly at will, scoring all around the ground and striking 25 fours out of his 140 runs.Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this century, compared to those he scored in Australia this summer, was that this one came in challenging conditions against a ball that, at least initially, was moving around off the pitch. Rarely did Khawaja play and miss outside off stump, instead leaving the ball effectively, and waited for the scoring opportunities to come in his areas.”I wouldn’t say it swung massively yesterday but it did a bit off the deck which made it tough,” Khawaja said. “It probably swung more today with the new ball. I was only out there for four overs with the new ball but it felt like it was swinging more today than yesterday.”The wicket felt decent yesterday afternoon when I was there and it felt decent today. If you put it in the right spot enough times there’s still chances. And you saw chances throughout the whole day. Some of our players chanced their arm and got away with it and that happens. I still think there’s enough in this deck to create chances. You need a little bit of luck on your side today as well.”One major piece of good fortune for the Australians came late on the first afternoon, when Adam Voges was bowled off a wrongly called no-ball delivered by Doug Bracewell. Voges made the most of his chance and batted right through day two to finish on 176 not out, meaning he had still not been dismissed in Tests since Adelaide in November. His 168-run stand with Khawaja was key to Australia taking control of the Test.”Almost faultless, the way he went about it,” Khawaja said of Voges. “He batted very sensibly, patiently at the start, a lot of good shots straight to fielders, didn’t get frustrated with it, batted the whole day. The way he’s been batting lately it honestly feels like he’s not going to get out sometimes. He’s making hundreds and big hundreds, which is important for the team.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

They may have been scraping the bottom of the points table, but the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers dished out one of the best games of the IPL. In a relatively low-scoring match in which the bowlers from both teams had plenty of say, Bangalore squeezed out a dramatic three-run win – their second of the tournament and the first at home – to move to sixth in the points table.The match ebbed and flowed throughout, both teams had opportunities to take control, and both frittered it away. Deccan, requiring 157 for victory, had the run-chase well in control when the classy Rohit Sharma and VVS Laxman were involved in a 96-run stand. With 20 deliveries to go, Deccan needed 30 to win with two well-set batsmen at the crease, and seven others to follow. From there, it all went pear-shaped for them.Rohit had played another sublime innings, showcasing his outstanding talent in bringing up his third half-century of the IPL, but when Jacques Kallis pitched one up, Rohit – who had carved a four and a six earlier in the over – could only loft it to long-on. Shahid Afridi’s entry should have been good news for Deccan; instead, he made just 1 before Dale Seyn pulled off a superb diving catch at long-on.Then came two lbw decisions which further queered the pitch: Laxman, who had motored to a 44-ball 52, was given out to a Praveen Kumar delivery which pitched outside leg, and when Scott Styris was given out in similar fashion to Zaheer Khan in the next over, it seemed Bangalore had sealed the win.Going into the final over, Deccan needed 20 with Anil Kumble to bowl – it seemed a lost cause, till Sanjay Bangar struck two magnificent sixes off the third and fourth deliveries, reducing the equation to a nail-biting six off two. Kumble, though, held firm, conceding two singles off the last two balls, and a tense Dravid finally allowed his emotions to show through, high-fiving his team-mates. As he said later: “We got out of jail today.”When Rohit and Laxman were at the crease, though, it seemed Bangalore were doomed to another home defeat. After being pegged back by superb opening spells from Steyn, Zaheer and Praveen, during the course of which Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs – their two biggest batting stars – succumbed, Rohit and Laxman got the run-chase back on track. Rohit’s innings was another masterclass, as he showed the composure and shot-selection of a veteran. He started off with a glorious six over wide long-on off Kumble, and then exhibited power and touch in equal measure, bludgeoning straight hits and also moving away and caressing Kallis just wide off the wicketkeeper.Laxman showed just how much he has developed as a Twenty20 batsman, adding the leg-side hoick to more conventional strokes. The 12th over saw Laxman at his sublime best, as he drove Kumble past extra-cover, used his feet and lofted on the off side, and flicked past midwicket for three fours.

Bangalore’s total ultimately turned out to be just enough, but at the halfway stage it seemed they had frittered away another game, as their attempt to solve the riddle of Twenty20 batting came unstuck again. They seemed on course for much more after ten over, when they were cruising at 80 for 1, but then fell away quite predictably in the second half as the Deccan bowlers struck back with regular wickets, in the process exposing – yet again – Bangalore’s lack of firepower.Till the halfway stage, the picture was an encouraging one as Jaffer and Kohli laid a perfect platform. As usual they lost their first wicket early, as Bharat Chipli inside-edged onto his stumps to ensure that six opening stands have fetched them a grand total of 74 runs. But then came the best passage of batting for Bangalore, as Kohli, promoted to No. 3, justified that move, adding 72 for the second wicket with Jaffer in nine overs.On an abrasive pitch where the ball tended to stop, neither batsman completely dominated the bowling, but yet they got their runs at a fair clip. In between a few mistimed shots, Jaffer executed some crisp drives, and was prepared to innovate as well, moving across his stumps to Sanjay Bangar and Afridi to clip them to the fine-leg boundary. Kohli was more forceful in his shot-making, getting two sixes, carving Bangar over midwicket and then striking Ojha cleanly over his head. Those moments had the crowd on their feet, but in between the Deccan bowlers – especially the slower ones – bowled enough dots to ensure that Bangalore never ran away with the momentum.The launching pad was ready, but the take-off went completely awry. After racing to 44, Jaffer top-edged a slog-sweep off the impressive Pragyan Ojha, who foxed Kallis in his next over. Kohli perished soon after, and when Misbah was at the receiving end of a poor lbw decision – the ball from Afridi was drifting down leg – Bangalore had lost three for nine and had wasted all the good work done earlier. Dravid’s two sixes in the last over from the No. 6 position helped lift the total beyond 150, and in the end, those hits proved decisive.

New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills and allrounder Jacob Oram have been declared fit and will be available to participate in the Indian Premier League, which begins on April 18.Mills and Oram had missed the third Test of the home series against England because of a knee and hip injury respectively but both players passed fitness tests in Christchurch on Tuesday.”We both passed with flying colours so we’re getting packed and getting ready to go to India,” Mills told Radio Sport. “I have the feeling it’s [IPL] going to be a really intense competition. It’s all the best players in world cricket coming together. They’re not going to slacken off. We get the feeling it’s going to be around a long time and that it is going to expand.”Mills will fly to India on Friday to join the Mohali team while Oram will head to Chennai where he will play alongside his former captain Stephen Fleming. The other New Zealand players involved in the IPL are Daniel Vettori (Delhi), Scott Styris (Hyderabad), Ross Taylor (Bangalore) and Brendon McCullum (Kolkata).Vettori, Oram, McCullum, Mills and Taylor will play four Twenty20 games for their franchises before joining the New Zealand squad on their tour of England on May 1.

It has been some time since you last saw MS Dhoni with jet-black hair. While the greying of hairs around the temples can be masked by cosmetic methods, the more striking sighting is a visibly trimmer, fresher Dhoni. It was the Dhoni you saw during the seven matches he turned out for Jharkhand in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy.Dhoni has relished the mini-breaks he has earned in the past, often speaking of how they have helped heal niggles which would have otherwise developed into more serious injuries. But 2015 was the only year in recent memory where he had a substantial break without any cricket in between. Dhoni played 22 limited-overs games last year – he played 28 international matches, including nine Tests, in 2014 – but the real difference was the three-odd months of downtime after June.”Ideally I should lie so much that I should just talk about how much hard work I have been putting in to look a bit slimmer,” Dhoni began with a Dhoni-esque wisecrack before letting on what he had been up to. “Now with no more Test cricket, it gives me that extra time because what happens is when you are continuously playing cricket what you do is mostly top up your fitness and keep working, but now you can actually look to extend your fitness level.”By “top up”, Dhoni refers to the pastiche of quick fixes and not a comprehensive overhaul, which is what the chunky break afforded him. “You get that break, you know five, 10 or 15 days you can take completely off and slowly you can get into a mould, a routine. I feel that the break has helped me.”Dhoni, by his own admission in the past, has never been big on gym work. That side of him, he said, had changed over time, and that was part of a concerted fitness plan. “You have to do a few changes as you spend more and more time in international cricket,” he said.”I have been doing a bit of planning when it comes to my body and my fitness, but I look slimmer I am not lightweight. I have been 86, 87, 88 [kilograms] for the last 15 years. I have not lost weight. It’s just that I have tried to tone down myself, and I have enjoyed doing it.”He later told ESPNcricinfo that he had spent a lot of time playing “alternate sports”, including badminton, a sport he has always fancied playing.Dhoni said the break had helped him mentally as well when it came to detaching himself from the grind and revisiting his plans. “I feel switching on and switching off is very important in cricket and this break actually gives me ample time to do that. No point switching off for two days and straight away getting back. This break helped me get back into the groove with the one-day domestic tournament.”Looking ahead to the Australia series, Dhoni revisited one of his favourite themes – the need for quality seam-bowling all-rounders. “When it comes to performances at the international level they [other teams] have got good seam-bowling allrounders,” he said. “That is something we are lacking to some extent.”He was, however, happy with the competition in the spin-bowling department between the recalled Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. He reckoned that their batting abilities would eventually determine which one would feature in the playing XI. “You will have different criteria for judging performance when it comes to the players performing outside the subcontinent, and in India because the spinners will get a lot more assistance here.”I think Jadeja has been bowling really well, Ashwin has been our premier spinner irrespective of where we have played. We have two spinning allrounders who are competing for a spot which I feel will be very good for the team. It’s an open opportunity for both of them.”Dhoni typically played down speculations surrounding his retirement, opting to channel his energies towards the immediate challenges of the Australian series and the World T20. “I am somebody who has always believed in the present,” he said. “You won’t get answers regarding the future that’s too far ahead. As of now the Australia series is important and after that once we get in T20 groove we need to move in one direction as to what we need to do as a team so as to have the best chance of winning the WC. So those are the primary concerns as of now.”There are a lot of things you need to think about, and I don’t think this is the right time. All the energy needs to go there. It’s a very important three months and after that we will see what happens.”