England’s marathon run-scoring duo, Australia’s swashbuckling left-hander and India’s pace-bowling icon made for a stellar list of nominees for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

A draw in Sydney would be enough for Australia to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy contested between the nations, which India, winners of the last four series, have long held.

Fans were treated to high-scoring matches, while off-field drama surrounding ticketing issues added intrigue to the tournament’s opening day.

Afghanistan veteran Hashmatullah Shahidi and Zimbabwe rookie Brian Bennett starred as the first Test was drawn after a rain-shortened final day in Bulawayo on Monday.

Mahedi Hasan continued his upward trajectory from the West Indies T20I series with a four-fer in the BPL against Dhaka Capitals to guide Rangpur Riders to a 40-run win in the second fixture of the BPL’s opening day at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium today.

Durbar Rajshahi captain Anamul Haque Bijoy claimed that players are yet to receive payments for playing in the ongoing edition of the Bangladesh Premier League, which kicked off today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. 

South African coach Shukri Conrad brushed off criticism about the uneven scheduling of the World Test Championship after his team qualified for the final.

Reigning champions Fortune Barishal began their title defence in a spectacular fashion, beating newcomers Durbar Rajshahi by four wickets as the 11th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League T20 got off to a high-scoring start at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur today.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed asked for patience in regards to chaos of attaining BPL tickets. The BCB president inaugurated the 11th edition of the franchise tournament today at Mirpur before the opening match between Fortune Barishal and Durbar Rajshahi.

New Zealand made 186-5 in their 20 overs, with player-of-the-match Hay cracking an unbeaten 41 from 19 deliveries.

Rohit also highlighted the need for team-mate Rishabh Pant to bat more sensibly after throwing his wicket away twice in the defeat, which leaves the tourists trailing 2-1 in the series.

Cummins was named player of the match for his all-round deeds, including taking three key wickets on the final day as the tourists were skittled for 155.

A few hours before the start of the opening match between reigning champions Fortune Barishal and Durbar Rajshahi, fans gathered in large numbers in front of the main gate of the Mirpur stadium. They even broke the main gate in protest of the BCB’s ticketing system.

Jaiswal’s dismissal proved decisive as India collapsed, losing their final four wickets for just 15 runs to be bowled out for 155.

Australia captain Pat Cummins and fellow pacer Scott Boland finished with three wickets apiece, with spinner Nathan Lyon chipping in two on a dramatic final day which was tinged with controversy over the use of the Decision Review System (DRS).

“I was still sulking in the toilet. There were not a lot of conversations. We still had the confidence. I did not come out to the viewing area and was in the toilet. I came when 15 runs were needed,” Bavuma laughed.

In previous years, star cricketers like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, and Imran Tahir, who are generally seen ruling the franchise tournaments across the world, featured for different BPL franchises but this year, none of these players will be playing in the country’s sole franchise-based T20 tournament.

Early on day five of the fourth Test, a bumper crowd of 51,371 had swelled the total number of spectators since the start of the match on Boxing Day to 350,700, with still more expected through the gates.

In opening day’s fixtures, reigning champions Fortune Barishal will take on newcomers Durbar Rajshahi at 01:30pm while Rangpur Riders will face Dhaka Capitals in the second match at 06:30pm.

With the 11th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League set to begin tomorrow, players of all seven franchises are gearing up for action. Here are what members of different franchises said after the practice sessions of their respective teams today. The tournament will commence tomorrow with the game between Fortune Barishal and Durbar Rajshahi at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.