WTC FINAL: IPL’s suspension will benefit India, says New Zealand’s Ross Taylor

London, May 23

Senior New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor feels the suspension of the IPL “played into India’s hands”, giving Virat Kohli’s team more time to get acclimatised to English conditions before next month’s World Test Championship final.

The IPL, which was suspended earlier this month, was due to finish on May 30, while the WTC final between New Zealand and India is scheduled to start from June 18 in Southampton. “For India, IPL finishing early under unfortunate circumstances has probably played into their hands a little,” Taylor said. “If IPL would have gone on they would have had a smaller preparation but now they will be a lot more conditioned,” he added.

However, Taylor reckons New Zealand will still have slight advantage over India as they are scheduled to play two Tests against England in the run-up to the WTC final. — PTI

A year after T20 World Cup, women’s team yet to receive prize money

New Delhi: The Indian women cricketers, who made the final of last year’s World T20 in Australia, will receive their share from the $500,000 prize money by the end of this week, a senior BCCI official said after it came to light that they are yet to be paid. A report in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper quoted an official from the Federation of International Cricketers Association as saying that the BCCI is yet to disburse the runners-up prize money of the global event, which was held in February-March last year. Asked about the delay, a senior board functionary said: “We received the prize money amount late last year.” PTI