Abhishek Sharma and Matheesha Pathirana [Source: AFP]Abhishek Sharma registered yet another duck for Team India, this time against Netherlands at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan scripted a historic century against Namibia at the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. In other news, Sri Lanka has named a replacement fast bowler for injured Matheesha Pathirana.Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Wednesday, February 18. Abhishek Sharma falls for another duck vs Netherlands Indian opening batter Abhishek Sharma registered a three-ball duck against Netherlands in match number 36 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Opening the innings at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, the blistering left-hander got knocked over by Netherlands spinner Aryan Dutt in the first over of the match. Abhishek Sharma’s latest duck marked his third successive scoreless innings in this tournament. Overall, the 25-year-old has now registered five ducks in his last seven T20I innings for Team India, which included two ducks during the home T20I series against New Zealand last month. Sahibzada Farhan blasts record T20 World Cup ton for Pakistan Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan bludgeoned 100 unbeaten runs from just 58 balls against Namibia in their final Group A match of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The cricketer muscled 11 fours and four huge sixes in Colombo as Pakistan mounted 199-4 in 20 overs. Through the course of his knock, Sahibzada Farhan also became only the second Pakistani cricketer in history to score a century in a T20 World Cup match, joining Ahmed Shehzad in the process. Back during the 2014 edition of the tournament, the out-of-favour opener had compiled 111* off 62 balls against Bangladesh. Dilshan Madushanka replaces Matheesha Pathirana for Sri Lanka Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana has been officially ruled out of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The young speedster recently sustained a calf injury in Pallekele during Sri Lanka’s Group B match against Australia, and was ruled out of the game after bowling just four deliveries. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has now named Dilshan Madushanka as a replacement of Pathirana for the remainder of the tournament. The Event Technical Committee of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has approved Madushanka to join the national squad ahead of their Group B match against Zimbabwe on February 19. Auqib Nabi takes nine as J&K makes it to historic Ranji final Jammu and Kashmir crushed Bengal by six wickets in Kalyani in the second semifinal match of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season. Vanshaj Sharma and Abdul Samad notched up the winning runs together in their chase of 126 after Jammu and Kashmir had slipped to 71-4 at the start of Day 4. Fast bowler and Delhi Capitals star Auqib Nabi bagged the ‘Player of the Match’ award for picking up nine wickets across both innings of the match. The outcome marked Jammu and Kashmir’s first-ever appearance in a Ranji Trophy final, where they will now face Karnataka next week. Saim Ayub regains number one ICC rankings Pakistan all-rounder Saim Ayub dethroned Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza to claim the number one spot on the latest ICC T20I rankings for all-rounders. The youngster is currently sitting at the top of the ICC charts with 303 rating points. Meanwhile, Sikandar Raza lost a rung to slip to number two spot with 297 rating points. The two explosive all-rounders are followed by India’s Hardik Pandya at number three, Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee at number four and Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai at five.
