One isn’t too sure whether any of the current Bengal cricketers will be able to secure an IPL contract when the auction gets going in Dubai on Tuesday. However, a dash of the IPL will most likely be there in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB)-planned Bengal Premier League, set to begin in the middle or third week of next June.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (Lucknow Super Giants) want to own teams in the new T20 tournament. The competition, it has been learnt, will feature eight teams.
“The Knight Riders and the RPSG Group have shown a fair amount of interest... We expect to make an official announcement by the first week of January,” a senior CAB official said on Sunday.
The Knight Riders, since 2018, has been collaborating with the CAB when it comes to the Mayor’s Cup inter-school cricket tournament, which is also called the Junior Knights Championship.
Others keen to own teams in the CAB competition are DTDC, Bandhan Bank, Bengal Ambuja, Shrachi Group and Rashmi Cement Limited, sources in the state association said.
Salt’s flourish, Brook’s finish
St George’s: England kept alive the T20I series with the West Indies by chasing down 222 with one ball to spare in the third game on Saturday.
Opener Phil Salt backstopped England by carrying his bat for a maiden T20I century while Harry Brook got them over the line by hitting 24 runs in the last over when 21 were needed.
The West Indies are 2-1 up in the five-match series.
The home side put up a formidable 222/6, the highest T20I score at Grenada National Cricket Stadium. But England followed a great start — 73/0 after the Powerplay and a 115-run opening partnership between Salt and captain Jos Buttler to reach 226/3 and win by seven wickets.
Salt finished 109 not out from 56 balls, the fifth Englishman to a T20I hundred.
England needed 21 runs off the last over bowled by Andre Russell, and Brook smacked a winning 4-6-6-2-6.
Brief scores: West Indies 222/6 in 20 ovs (Nicholas Pooran 82). England 226/3 in 19.5 ovs (Phil Salt 109 n.o.). England won by 7 wickets.
AP/PTI
