The biggest news to break this week was the postponement of the IPL after the biosecure bubble was breached and players in multiple teams tested positive for Covid-19. It's a hard reckoning for the tournament that was confident it could ride out the pandemic in the security of its bubble, but the BCCI still believes the IPL will resume at a later date, although it has a number of complications to resolve first. All this in our weekly round-up, along with Sri Lanka's spectacular routing of Bangladesh, Thisara Perera's retirement, and more.
IPL 2021 postponed as Covid-19 count increases
Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier from the Kolkata Knight Riders were the first players to test positive within the bio-bubble, after which news broke of cases in the Chennai Super Kings camp. The Sunrisers Hyderabad's Wriddhiman Saha and the Delhi Capitals' Amit Mishra returned positive tests too. Mike Hussey was the first of the overseas contingent to test positive. The tournament also saw two breaches of security when suspected corruptors were identified on two separate days during the IPL at the Kotla. Two people were arrested with fake accreditation; on a different day, one man came in the garb of a cleaner.
Raging pandemic, air travel, SOP loopholes - why IPL 2021 couldn't repeat UAE success
Six months ago, the BCCI pulled out a flawless, incident-free tournament overseas, but this time around there was no room for error given the ground situation, says Nagraj Gollapudi. With the T20 World Cup just a few months away and no signs that the Covid-19 situation will improve any time soon in India, what can the BCCI do next? And when and where can the IPL be rescheduled to?
Praveen Jayawickrama's stunning debut seals Sri Lanka's dominant victory over Bangladesh
The fourth-choice left-arm spinner claimed match figures of 11 for 178 in the second Test, the best by a Sri Lankan spinner on debut, to seal the series for the home team.
Thisara Perera: 'I think I did a lot for the country. There are plenty of records I've set'
The Sri Lanka allrounder announced his retirement last week, and spoke to Andrew Fidel Fernando about the high points and fondest memories from his 12-year career, and his plans for the future. Sreshth Shah revisited six of Perera's best match-turning performances in Sri Lanka colours.
Covid-19: Franchises ask PCB to move remainder of PSL 2021 from Karachi to UAE
There has been a fresh surge in Covid-19 cases in Pakistan and a partial lockdown is already in place in the country.
The greatest IPL performances, No. 3: Chris Gayle's 175 not out and 2 for 5 vs the Pune Warriors
Highest T20 score? Check. Throw in a couple of wickets? Why not? At third place in our staffers' list of the most memorable IPL performances is a golden day for a legend of the game.
No fairy tale yet for Mustafizur Rahman, but he's in there fighting
The Fizz had a unique set of skills early in his career but perhaps no one really understood how to make the best of him. Jarrod Kimber looks at his difficult journey from Bangladesh's unicorn to battling bowler.
Shane Jurgensen: 'Boult, Southee, Jamieson and Wagner are similar to the West Indies attack of the '80s'
New Zealand's bowling coach speaks to Mohammad Isam about the quality of the pace attack and his favourite matches.
25 Questions with Shakib al Hasan: Which KKR player is a Bollywood junkie?
The KKR and Bangladesh allrounder spills the beans on who brags the most about their workouts, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine's fashion sense, and more.
How Blessing Muzarabani became Zimbabwe's great new hope
He has come through financial struggles and World Cup heartbreak to reclaim his place among the best and brightest in a resurgent home team. Danyal Rasool profiles possibly Zimbabwe's best fast bowler since Heath Streak.
CSK smooth, Mumbai rally, Sunrisers press panic button
The IPL was at its halfway mark at the time of its suspension, and only a few teams had managed to achieve clarity, CSK being one of them, which Aakash Chopra credits to MS Dhoni's measured captaincy. Gaurav Sundararaman has a mid-season review of where the different teams stand. It's also been a reckoning of sorts for a few players - Scratchy Hardik Pandya, out-of-form Suresh Raina, underperforming Shubman Gill. The likes of Pooran, Morgan and Chahal have also failed to set the stage on fire. Vishal Dikshit takes stock. The IPL is also the proving ground for India's T20 World Cup hopefuls. How did they fare?