The Weekly Wicket: Usman Khawaja’s Retirement to India’s NZ ODI Squad - This Week in Cricket

This week in cricket saw Usman Khawaja retire and Damien Martyn battle meningitis. KKR released Mustafizur Rahman amid controversy, India named its ODI squad for the New Zealand series, and Bhutan’s Sonam Yeshey took a record 8-wicket haul in T20Is.

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Top Cricket Highlights of the Week

The final week of December 2025 and the first week of January 2026 have witnessed major developments in world cricket, including Usman Khawaja’s retirement, Damien Martyn’s health scare, India’s squad announcement for the ODI series against New Zealand, Mustafizur Rahman being released by KKR, which triggered cricket and diplomatic dispute between India and Bangladesh, and blazing performances in Vijay Hazare Trophy.

As the week concludes, let’s take a look at the top cricket highlights of the week that grabbed the headlines.

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Usman Khawaja’s International Retirement

Australia’s veteran opener Usman Khawaja announced his retirement from his 15-year international career. The 39-year-old will bid farewell after the fifth and final Test of the Ashes 2025 series at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), which is his home ground and the venue where he made his Test debut. Khawaja played all three formats for Australia, but Test cricket has been his forte, where his resilience and ability to play marathon innings made him one of the reliable batters for the team in the longest format of the game.

In his retirement speech at the much-anticipated press conference, Usman Khawaja highlighted the stereotypes he has encountered throughout his career, calling out racial bias, cultural misunderstanding, and being unfairly judged on attitude and commitment despite consistently delivering for Australia at the highest level.

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India Women 5-0 Whitewash vs Sri Lanka in a T20I Series

Team India completed the five-match T20I series whitewash with a 15-run win over Sri Lanka at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. The Women in Blue won the first two matches of the series at Dr YS Rajashekhara Reddy Stadium in Vishakhapatnam before carrying the momentum in the remaining fixtures against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram.

After posting a total of 175/7 in 20 overs, thanks to Harmanpreet Kaur’s captain's knock of 68 off 43 balls, Indian women bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 160/7 in 20 overs. Despite two fifties by Hasini Perera (68) and Imesha Dulani (50), the hosts fell 16 runs short of the target as India’s disciplined bowling in the death overs sealed a victory. With a fifth and final of the T20I series, Team India completed a comprehensive 5-0 whitewash.

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Damien Martyn Diagnosed with Meningitis

The former Australian batter Damien Martyn was put in an induced coma after hospitalization due to meningitis. The two-time ODI World Cup winner fell ill while resting at his Gold Coast home during Boxing Day, December 26, and was immediately taken to the hospital in Queensland, where he has remained under close medical care as the cricket world rallies behind him with support and well-wishes.

Martyn’s former Australian teammate and captain, Adam Gilchrist, confirmed on behalf of his family that he was receiving treatment at the hospital. As per the latest update, the former Australian batter has come out of induced coma, as confirmed by Gilchrist, and will be moved out of the ICU for further treatment. The former Australia captain hailed Martyn’s recovery as ‘miraculous’ due to the severity of the condition.

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Mustafizur Rahman-KKR Controversy

According to the directive by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and IPL committee, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) released Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman ahead of the IPL 2026. Rahman was bought for INR 9.2 crore by the Kolkata-based franchise, making him the most expensive Bangladeshi player. The KKR was forced to release the left-arm pacer due to widespread backlash for his signing amid the ongoing religious tensions in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has been witnessing heightened religious tensions following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, with multiple reports and allegations of attacks on minority communities, particularly Hindus, emerging from different parts of the country, which instigated public outrage in India and several backlashes over Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL signing by KKR.

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India’s Squad for the ODI Series vs NZ

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the India squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. The ODI series will begin on January 11, with the opening match taking place at the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium in Kotambi. This is India and New Zealand’s first international assignment in 2026.

The squad saw the return of Shubman Gill as India's ODI captain and is set to play his first match for the Men in Blue since his exclusion from the T20 World Cup 2026 squad. Shreyas Iyer was also included in the squad as a vice-captain, but based on subject to fitness. Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad were dropped, while Rishabh Pant was picked as a second-choice wicketkeeper despite reports of Ishan Kishan being the preferred option for selectors. Mohammed Shami awaits his national recall despite his impressive performance in the ongoing domestic season.

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Sonam Yeshey’s Historic 8-Wicket Haul in T20Is

Bhutanese spinner Sonam Yeshey scripted a historic feat during the third T20I of the five-match series against Myanmar. Yeshey became the first bowler to take 8 wickets in a single T20I match, creating history for Bhutan cricket. The rare feat by Sonam Yeshey was confirmed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the fifth and final T20I against Myanmar.

Sonam Yeshey, the 22-year-old spinner, rattled Myanmar’s batting line-up in their 128-run chase by bundling them for just 45 runs while registering the figures of 8/7 in four overs at an economy rate of 1.80. The previous record for most wickets in a single T20I match was jointly held by Malaysian pacer Syazrul Idrus and Bahraini seam bowler Ali Dawood, who picked seven wickets each.

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Ben Stokes Backs Brendon McCullum Despite Ashes Loss

There has been an uncertainty over Brendon McCullum’s future as England’s Test coach following the Ashes series loss in the third Test at the Adelaide Oval. Despite calls for change in England’s leadership in Tests, skipper Ben Stokes urged the ECB chiefs to have faith in McCullum, the architect of ‘Bazball’, despite England’s tough tour of Australia.

Stokes believed he and McCullum are ‘the right people’ to carry on the Bazball project, stating he could not see anyone else who could take the England Test side to greater heights, and urging the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to stick with the coach despite the setback in Australia. Under the leadership of the captain-coach duo of Stokes and McCullum, England ended a 15-year winless Test streak on Australian soil, with a four-wicket win in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

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Blazing Performances in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Since the start of the Vijay Hazare Trophy season, there have been outstanding performances by the batters and bowlers, with several international cricket stars grabbing attention through big centuries, five-wicket hauls, and match-winning contributions across venues. In the fifth round of the ongoing VHT, yet again witnessed dominant batting displays and incisive bowling spells.

Devdutt Padikkal continued his impressive run of form with another century against Tripura, while Hardik Pandya marked his comeback with his maiden List A hundred against Vidarbha, including 34 runs in an over. Rishabh Pant struck an unbeaten 67 off 37 balls against Services, and Axar Patel hit his maiden List A century for Gujarat against Andhra. In bowling, Arshdeep Singh registered a 5-wicket haul against Sikkim, while Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Mohammed Shami picked four wickets each in their respective matches against Services, Rajasthan, and Assam

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Bangladesh Refuses to Travel to India for T20 World Cup 2026

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman and the Indian Premier League’s controversy has snowballed into a diplomatic and cricket dispute, with the Bangladesh sports advisor Asif Nazrul confirming that the country’s cricket board would not send its players to India for the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup. Bangladesh are scheduled to play all four group stage fixtures in India, with three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.

Asif Nazrul stated on his official Facebook handle that he directed the BCB to write a letter to the International Cricket Council to relocate Bangladesh’s matches from India to Sri Lanka due to the players’ safety concerns and heightened tensions between the two nations after targeted killings of minority communities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh. He added that the decision follows the KKR controversy of releasing Mustafizur from the IPL, stressing that the Bangladeshi players cannot play under the current circumstances.