Franchise Cricket

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Australia duo Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will both make their Pakistan Super League debuts when the tournament returns from Thursday.

Smith will play under his former Test captain Tim Paine at Multan Sultans, while Labuschagne will captain new side Hyderabad Kingsmen.

Fellow Australians David Warner and Adam Zampa (both Karachi Kings) are also involved, with New Zealand's Devon Conway (Islamabad United), Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza (Lahore Qalandars) and West Indies' Alzarri Joseph (Quetta Gladiators) among other big overseas stars.

England players include Richard Gleeson (Islamabad United), Moeen Ali (Karachi Kings), Tom Curran (Quetta Gladiators) and Sam Billings (Rawalpindiz).

Australia's Usman Khawaja was a late replacement for Laurie Evans at Rawalpindiz, while James Vince also pulled out of a spell with Peshawar Zalmi.

They join a host of Pakistan players including some who will captain their sides: Babar Azam (Peshawar Zalmi), Shaheen Afridi (Lahore Qalandars), Shadab Khan (Islamabad United), Saud Shakeel (Quetta Gladiators) and Mohammad Rizwan (Rawalpindiz).

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Australia's left-arm seamer Spencer Johnson has joined Chennai Super Kings as a replacement for Nathan Ellis before the Indian Premier League.

Ellis, 31, was ruled out last week with an injury so the five-time winners have turned to Johnson.

The 30-year-old has played nine IPL matches in the past two seasons - four for Gujarat Titans in 2024 and five for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2025 - and taken five wickets.

Johnson is set to join CSK between the 21-23 April.

Super Kings' opening game is against Rajasthan Royals on Monday.

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India seamer Akash Deep has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League, while England left-armer David Payne has signed as a replacement player.

Deep, 29, has a lumbar stress injury and will receive treatment at the national cricket medical centre.

He was due to play for Kolkata Knight Riders for the first time, having previously been with Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Benagluru, but has been replaced by uncapped 28-year-old Saurabh Dubey.

Payne, 35, has been signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad as a replacement for the injured Australian Jack Edwards.

It will be the first time left-armer Payne has played in the IPL.

He has taken 304 wickets in 233 T20s and has experience playing in the Big Bash and International League T20 on the franchise circuit.

Sunrisers open the tournament against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday.

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England all-rounder Sam Curran has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League with an unspecified injury.

The 27-year-old was due to represent Rajasthan Royals for the first time but has been ruled out before the season opener on Saturday.

Curran has played 64 IPL matches, scoring 997 runs and taking 59 wickets.

He has been replaced by Sri Lanka T20 captain Dasun Shanaka, who has previously played for Gujarat Titans in the 2023 campaign.

"We are disappointed to lose a player of Sam's calibre so close to the start of the season," said Rajasthan Royals director of cricket and head coach Kumar Sangakkara.

"Sam brings immense value with both bat and ball. However, we are pleased to have found an ideal replacement in Dasun Shanaka, a finisher with the bat and a quality all-rounder who helps maintain the balance of our side."

The Royals' first game is against Chennai Super Kings on 30 March.

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South Africa batter Reeza Hendricks has signed as a replacement player for Johnson Charles at Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League.

Hendricks, 36, has replaced West Indies' Charles, who has withdrawn for personal reasons.

Hendricks has played in the PSL before, scoring 304 runs at an average of 43.42 for Multan Sultans in the 2024 season.

Elsewhere, Australia's Jake Fraser-McGurk has pulled out of playing for new franchise Rawalpindiz.

The 23-year-old batter was due to play in the tournament for the first time and the side say they will announce his replacement in due course.

Kings' first game is against Quetta Gladiators on Friday, while Rawalpindiz play Peshawar Zalmi on 28 March.

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Chennai Super Kings seamer Nathan Ellis has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League with a hamstring injury.

The Australian, 31, was due to return to Super Kings, after playing one game in 2025, where he took one wicket.

He has previously played 16 games for Punjab Kings, taking 18 wickets.

No replacement has been announced but CSK are expected to call someone up in the coming days.

They start their campaign against Rajasthan Royals on Monday, 30 March.

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Los Angeles will host Major League Cricket (MLC) for the first time in 2026 as the city prepares for the 2028 Olympics.

Knight Riders Cricket Field in California will stage five matches, including Los Angeles Knight Riders versus Washington Freedom on 1 July and matches on 4 July to mark the United States' 250th birthday.

"Bringing Major League Cricket to Los Angeles is a huge milestone for our league and for the growth of cricket across the United States," said Johnny Grave, CEO of MLC.

"The Pomona Fairgrounds will be the future home of Olympic cricket in 2028, and we're thrilled to give fans in Southern California their first taste of the sport at this iconic venue."

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India batter Ishan Kishan will captain Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening "few games" of the Indian Premier League as Australia's Pat Cummins returns from a back injury.

Cummins, 32, missed the T20 World Cup last month and only played in one of the five Ashes Tests at the backend of 2025 as he manages a lumbar bone stress in his back.

A statement from Sunrisers said he will miss a "few games while recovering from injury", with Kishan, 27, named as captain and opening batter Abhishek Sharma, 25, vice-captain until Cummins returns.

Kishan joined Sunrisers last season having played the past seven editions with Mumbai Indians.

He has captaincy experience with Jharkhand and led them to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in 2025-26.

Sunrisers face defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game of the 2026 IPL on 28 March.

Timothy Abraham
BBC Sport Journalist

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South Africa Test and one-day captain Temba Bavuma and ex-England internationals Dawid Malan and Ravi Bopara have signed up to play in a men's T20 league being staged in Belgium this summer.

BBC Sport understands the trio have all been pre-signed for the EUT20 Belgium, a five-team tournament which will be played on the outskirts of Brussels from 6 to 14 June.

Bauvma has no international commitments with South Africa between March and October and has been signed to play for the Ghent Gladiators.

The 35-year-old has featured in 66 Tests and 55 one-day internationals for South Africa. He played the last of 36 T20 internationals for the Proteas in 2023.

Malan, 38, has been signed by the Brussels team but will only be available from 8 June due to T20 Blast commitments with Gloucestershire.

Bopara, 40, is yet to sign a T20 deal with a county for the 2026 season so in theory is available to feature in the whole event.

Other notable pre-signings include former West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell, who will represent the Antwerp Anchors, while ex-South Africa batter Rassie van der Dussen will turn out for JB Bruges.

All of the matches at the EUT20 will be played at the 12 Stars Cricket Club Hofstade near Brussels.

A draft to allocate the remaining players to the teams will take place in the Belgian capital on 24 March.

The EUT20 is founded by an Indian-backed group called Destino Legends Sports LLC, in partnership with Cricket Belgium, with former India international Zaheer Khan among the team owners.

Belgium are an Associate member of the ICC and are currently 45th in the global governing body's T20 rankings.

England World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan is an ambassador for the tournament which has no connection to the European T20 Premier League being played in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands later in the year.