Afghanistans attempts to gain more ODI fixtures leading into the September 2017 cut-off for 2019 World Cup qualification is likely to gather steam with a proposal in the works to secure annual bilateral matches against India and teams touring India beginning next year.If we sign the MOU which we sent to India, potentially Afghanistan Cricket Board will be in a better position than where we are right now, scheduling ODIs with India and scheduling ODIs with teams traveling to India on an annual basis, ACB chief executive Shafiq Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. But still it will be bilateral ties. If a traveling team to India wants to play us in India, it is totally up to them.Stanikzai said the draft had been presented to BCCI president Anurag Thakur in May and further discussions had during the ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh. The BCCI officials have not yet commented on the proposal.With Afghanistan shifting their home ground from Sharjah to Greater Noida, outside Delhi, Stanikzai said Afghanistan were well placed, geographically and rankings wise for fixtures against India and sides touring India in the same way Ireland had secured more ODIs against teams touring England.Since induction into the FTP, a larger challenge arose for Afghanistan, Stanikzai said. A is arranging fixtures with Full Members and B is funding it and finding funds to accommodate your needs. The expectation of the Afghanistan people has grown immensely. Afghanistan Cricket Board is under tremendous amount of pressure by not having fixtures with Full Members. Comparatively, Ireland has obtained 14 [11] fixtures with Full Members.The advantage Ireland has is geographical and teams traveling to England getting quality cricket against Ireland … but Afghanistan is a totally different story… For us, being in the FTP, yeah the window has opened but the challenges are much greater.A strategic plan unveiled recently by the ACB set targets for Afghanistan to be a top-six ODI team by 2019 and a top-three team in both T20Is and ODIs by 2025. Stanikzai was confident it could be achieved, considering Afghanistans rapid growth on and off the field. He, however, said the gains would be stunted, if there werent enough fixtures against Full Members.The biggest challenge for us for the time being is the competition structure or the fixtures for Afghanistan to compete against Full Members, Stanikzai said. Thats somewhere we are lacking and somewhere we need the support from ICC, or maybe Full Member boards should realise they need to make this great game more globalised and take it into the Associate world.Afghanistan team is rapidly growing and the flow that Afghanistan national team currently is in is quite brilliant. If we dont get any fixtures - we dont have any confirmed fixtures after our Holland game for the rest of the year - so we are in danger of losing the flow, the momentum we have gained so far in the last nine to 12 months.Stanikzai hoped that the problem would be fixed if the proposed 13-team ODI league was ratified. In particular, he believed a guaranteed set of 36 fixtures would open up big sponsorship opportunities. He said that tours like Afghanistans current trip to both Scotland and Ireland eat up a large chunk of resources, which could be offset if Afghanistan had more teams to market and compete against.Afghanistan needs to be considered in a very exceptional case, Stanikzai said. Obtaining UK visa cost me USD 80,000 for the team. We dont have a UK High Commission in Afghanistan. We need to travel to India and obtain visas. Going there, staying there, it took us 21 days to obtain UK visa to make this tour possible. Playing Scotland and Ireland is costing us more than USD 350,000.If we are to host a Full Member, we are able to cover 80-90% of the costs but if we are traveling to play any other Full Member and they are asking us to cover our own passage, it is an extra burden on us. So things need to balanced. Either we need to be in a regular competition, which this 13-member ODI league will help us quite drastically and prosper quite hugely, and the Test league is also another good prospect for us.Michael Beasley Jersey .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. Cheap Swingman Knicks Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.cheapknicksjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-damyean-dotson-jersey . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. Charles Oakley Jersey .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Kristaps Porzingis Jersey . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period.WASHINGTON -- Back in 2012, the Washington Nationals drew all sorts of attention -- and criticism -- for deciding to shut down Stephen Strasburg ahead of the playoffs to protect his surgically repaired right elbow.This time around, the NL East champions didnt have a choice in the matter: Strasburg went on the disabled list in mid-August with a sore elbow, then returned for one start early last month that he left early and hasnt been back. Hes been ruled out for the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers that opens Friday in Washington.Most major league teams deal with injuries of some significance at some point from spring training to September, and several clubs still in the hunt for the 2016 World Series championship are no different.Covering those holes in the playoffs can be a big deal -- or can create opportunities for a relatively unknown player to move into the limelight and succeed.In addition to Strasburg (15-4, 3.60 ERA), whom general manager Mike Rizzo says possibly could return if Washington advances, the Nationals will face the Dodgers without starting catcher Wilson Ramos, who is done for the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee during a game on Sept. 26.Ramos hit .307 with 22 homers and 80 RBI this season.Its a challenge, obviously. Hes an extremely talented catcher thats having a career year. It hurts us, shortstop Danny Espinosa said. That one kind of hit home, because it happened in front of us. It happened right there. Strasburg -- we had an idea that he might not be ready for the playoffs. But the lateness of Wilsons injury was more of a shock.It appears the Nationals will try to fill in for Ramos with a platoon of the right-handed-hitting Pedro Severino, a 23-year-old rookie with a grand total of 32 career at-bats in the majors, and switch-hitting Jose Lobaton, a 31-year-old veteran who used to be a regular with the Tampa Bay Rays but appeared in 38 games this season.Injuries are always a risk, Washingtons Clint Robinson said. Weve just got to do a good job of trying to cover our losses with who we have.Taking into account that Washingtons top hitters, Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper, are dealing with health issues, too, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, Yeah, I think that were catching them at the right time.Here are other significant injured pplayers:---CHICAGO CUBSWHOS HURT: C/LF Kyle Schwarber; season-ending left knee injury in April.dddddddddddd.WHY THAT MATTERS: Schwarber hit .333 with a franchise-record five homers in nine playoff games last year, including a drive that reached the top of a Wrigley Field videoboard.WHO STEPS IN: Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, Willson Contreras or Ben Zobrist all could see time in left field; Miguel Montero, David Ross and Contreras can play catcher.WHAT WAS SAID: Now I have to be there for them in a different way. -- Schwarber.---TORONTO BLUE JAYSWHOS HURT: RHP Joaquin Benoit; tore left calf running in from the bullpen during a bench-clearing episode Sept. 26, and ruled out for two to three weeks.WHY THAT MATTERS: Benoit went 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings after being acquired from Seattle in July.WHO STEPS IN: RHP Joe Biagini (4-3, 3.06 in 60 games as a rookie), LHP Brett Cecil (1-7, 3.96) are expected to handle the seventh inning.WHAT WAS SAID: Its a big loss, no doubt about it. Hes been so good. -- manager John Gibbons.---BOSTON RED SOXWHOS HURT: RHP Steven Wright; right shoulder bursitis limited him to two starts over the past two months.WHY THAT MATTERS: The knuckleballer (13-6, 3.33 ERA) was one of the top pitchers in baseball over the first half of the season, earning his first All-Star selection.WHO STEPS IN: RHP Clay Buchholz moved into the rotation.WHAT WAS SAID: I felt like it was hard for me to get the same life, the same action, I had pre-injury. -- Wright, after allowing four runs in four innings on Aug. 31, his last start.---CLEVELAND INDIANSWHOS HURT: RHP Carlos Carrasco; hit by a line drive last month. RHP Danny Salazar; forearm tightness.WHY THAT MATTERS: Without Carrasco (11-8, 3.32 ERA) and Salazar (11-6, 3.87), the Indians were forced to juggle their rotation.WHO STEPS IN: RHP Trevor Bauer, who began the season in the bullpen, starts Game 1 against Boston. RHP Josh Tomlin also now moves into the rotation.WHAT WAS SAID: Its a big responsibility. -- Bauer, on starting Game 1 against the Red Sox.---AP Sports Writers Jay Cohen, Jimmy Golen, Beth Harris, Ian Harrison, Stephen Hawkins, Janie McCauley and Tom Withers contributed. ' ' '