Briefly Cricket

ICC for sporting pitches

Lahore: The ICC has asked all its member nations to prepare sporting pitches for the one-dayer and Twenty20 internationals probably in the wake of low-scoring matches played in the Champions Trophy and Champions League T20 tournaments recently.

Irfan to skip Ranji tie

Vadodara: Injured all-rounder Irfan Pathan has opted out of the first Ranji tie against Delhi.

The team: Connor Williams capt,Satyajit Parab,Yusuf Pathan,Jacob Martin,Azhar Bilakhia,Pinal ShahV. Capt,WK,Rakesh Solanki,Shatrunjay Gaekwad,Rajesh Pawar,Sankalp Vohra,Ketan Panchal,Swapnil Singh,Salim Yusuf Veragi,Ajitesh Argal and Murtuja Vahora.

Zaheer returns to action

Mumbai: Champions Mumbai have included rookie left arm spin bowler Harmeet Singh for the opening Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Punjab from November 3-6 at Chandigarh. The team,which also includes India pacer Zaheer Khan who would be playing his first long-duration match after undergoing a shoulder surgery,is being led by opener Wasim Jaffer.

Squad: Wasim Jaffer capt,Ajit Agarkar vice-capt,Sahil Kukreja,Ajinkya Rahane,Rohit Sharma,Ramesh Powar,Vinayak Samant wk,Dhaval Kulkarni,Zaheer Khan,Abhishek Nayar,Sushant Marathe,Onkar Khanvilkar,M Hussain,Iqbal Abdulla and Harmeet Singh.