1st Test, Day 4: Joe Root hits splendid century to put India under pressure

BCCI announces Rs 1 crore reward to India’s Olympic Gold Medalist Neeraj Chopra

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that it would be awarding a cash prize of Rs. 1 crore to India’s historic Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra, who won the independent country’s first-ever medal in Athletics in its 73-year-old Olympic history. Apart from Chopra, the Indian Hockey team, which won the Bronze at Tokyo 2020 to end the country’s 41-year-old drought of Hockey medal would also be given a cash prize of Rs. 1.25 crore. Jay Shah, the Secretary of BCCI tweeted the news hours after Chopra won the country’s only Gold at Tokyo to take the medal haul to seven after Bajrang Punia won the Bronze medal in Wrestling earlier in the day. Along with these athletes, the BCCI also confirmed that Silver Medalists from Tokyo 2020 Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting) and Ravi Kumar Dahiya (Wrestling) would be getting Rs. 50 Lakh each while Bronze Medalists PV Sindhu (Badminton), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing) and Bajrang (Wrestling) would be getting Rs. 25 lakh each. It was however surprising that the Indian Women’s Hockey team, which had put up an inspiring show to reach the Semi-Finals of an Olympic event for the first time ever, but went down fighting valiantly 3-4 against Great Britain in the Bronze Medal match, was not in the list of the awardees by the BCCI.

After fearing England career was over, Ollie Robinson cherishes proving himself as 'real deal'

Seamer Ollie Robinson returned to Test cricket with a five-wicket haul in the ongoing Nottingham Test against India. He was brilliant with his lengths throughout the length of India’s first innings and scalped valuable wickets of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja among others. Notably, he was making a comeback from the ban he was imposed upon by the ECB for “racist and sexist” tweets he had posted as an 18-year old. His suspension from the game highlighted the issue of “historic” tweets and ignited a deep debate over whether the ECB took too drastic measures by suspending Robinson. Now, having returned from what he calls the “the toughest few weeks” for himself and his family, Robinson has said that for once he feared his England career was over. He said that the expectation quantum of suspension was two years and someone else would have taken his place in the side by the time he would have been eligible to come back. "I definitely had doubts over my career. There was a time I was speaking with my lawyers and we were looking at the fact I could be banned for a couple of years. That would have taken me up to the age of 30 and someone else could have come in and taken my spot. So yes I had doubts over my career. I thought I might never play for England again,” Robinson said. "It was tough. Probably the toughest few weeks I've had in cricket to be honest, or in my life, actually. It affected not only myself but my family. But luckily it all came good today." He lamented “a lot of mistakes’ including those tweets that went viral after his Test debut at a young age. He also conceded his naivety at the time he had sent those tweets and also pointed out the “bad press” he attracted after exclusion from Yorkshire. However, he said that the last decade has been a learning curve for him and he has tried to become “the best person” he can be in the last 10 years when he has also become a father. "I was a young, naive guy. I made a lot of mistakes. Not just those tweets. I had negative press when I got sacked from Yorkshire as well. But I've learned a lot. I have grown as a person in that time. I've tried to develop myself as a person in the last ten years. I am father now, as well, and I have just tried to make myself the best person I can be. I hope people will be able to see that,” Robinson said. He had some moments of banter with India’s batsmen between him and KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja and Robinson said that he wanted to induce some shots out of Rahul’s bat, who was batting with supreme concentration. "It was friendly banter," he says. "I was trying to get them out of their bubble and play a few shots. They were batting well. But they were pretty defensive and I wanted KL Rahul to play some shots. It was all good fun out there. However, he was delighted to show himself as a ”real deal” on the field on the third day of the Test and will cherish the moment for a long long time. "But it was important for me to show everyone that I am the real deal on the field and try to get the scrutiny off me. It was a proud moment for myself and my family; a moment I'll cherish for a long time,” the seamer added. Robinson could well have picked a five-wicket haul on the Test debut against New Zealand earlier this year. But, Stuart Broad had spilt an easy catch of Tim Southee and hence it was fitting that it was Broad himself who took the catch of Jasprit Bumrah to help Robinson claim his maiden fifer.

BAN vs AUS | Dan Christian pummels Shakib Al Hasan for five sixes in an over

Australia’s Dan Christian seemed in a very different mood altogether as he dismissed Bangladesh’s prime bowler Shakib Al Hasan for five sixes in an over after being prompted as a pinch hitter in the fourth T20I of the five-match series. Christain, who was ridiculed for not being able to even make a good connection in the 19th over of the third T20I against Mustafizur Rahman in the 19th over, chasing 22 off two overs to keep Australia alive in the series, it was looking like a revenge story for the 38-year-old. Into the fourth over, which was also the second for Shakib, who till then had only gone for five runs in his last over, was tonked over mid-wicket, long on and cow corner by Christain for the five balls hat he hit for six. While he hit three sixes in a row on the first three balls of the over and then after missing out on the fourth ball, he once again hit the next two balls for sixes as well. However, instead of going on to remain there and see his team home, Christain was dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman for 39 off 15 balls. At the time of writing this piece, the Australians were 61-4, needing 43 to win from 66 balls to chase down 105, set up by Bangladesh, as they managed to get only 104/9 in their 20 overs earlier on August 07.

KL Rahul learns 'control' from past failures, willing to 'challenge' himself with any role

KL Rahul was facing a torrid time with the bat in Test cricket and it compelled the Indian team management to drop him for the side. He had scored a brilliant century against England at the Oval, but it could serve no purpose other than to showcase his capabilities as a batsman. He was dropped from the side midway through the last tour of Australia in 2018-19 and could make a comeback only after Mayank Agarwal was concussed in the nets. But now, having made a stellar comeback with the bat in Test cricket, Rahul has said that the time away from the action and repetitive failures helped him learn how to “control’ the urge to explore all the shots in his arsenal. Speaking of the key to success in the longest format and what actually worked for him, Rahul pointed out that batsmen must be willing to “hold back” some of their shots to fight it out in tough conditions. "I used to have a lot of thoughts in my mind. I felt I could play two or three different shots for every given ball in red-ball cricket, so that was something I realised, I had to learn to control,” Rahul said in a press interaction after the end of the third day’s play in Nottingham. “Sometimes when the going gets tough or the wickets are challenging, playing against good bowlers when the ball is swinging, you have to hold back some of the shots, so those are the things, I tried to work on, or those were the learnings from when I was failing in Test cricket.” He was delighted to be able to “go out there and show a lot of discipline” with the bat against the bowling attack comprising of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Sam Curran. "I haven't got to play a lot of red-ball cricket but sitting outside, watching the games and watching batsmen score runs was good enough for me. I have been playing cricket, so the mental bit, like I said, in any format is it important that shot selection is spot on. I am happy that today I could go out there and show a lot of discipline, and get my team a good start and then put us in a good position." The wicket at Trent Bridge has had enough for pace bowlers through all phases of the game, irrespective of the state of the ball but Rahul refused to rate the pitch as “unplayable”. Nevertheless,, he lamented the challenges of playing Anderson and Broad on a “good wicket”. "It was a good wicket, I won't say it was unplayable, or anything, but having to play against the likes of Anderson, Broad in these conditions, is no batsman's dream, but I always wanted to," the India opener said. Rahul was reminded that his return to the playing XI was only a result of injury to Mayank Agarwal and that he could well be shifted to the middle order in case the team management decides to go in with Agarwal in the second Test. A passionate Rahul downplayed those talks and pointed out his willingness to “challenge” himself by committing to fulfil many roles he has been asked to perform for the Indian side in the past. "Look, if anything in the last two years I have learnt is that you need to be ready to do anything, I have been asked to do different roles, a lot of times and I quite enjoy doing it, so this was another opportunity for me to go out there and challenge myself," he said. Rahul could not score a century but his 84 ensured India walked away with a first-innings lead after the failure of the middle order to take control of the game situation. India were bowled out for 278 and England conceded a big lead of 95 runs. They will need the help of weather gods to turn the tide in the ongoing Test.