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Ashes 2021 22 Out Of Quarantine First Thing Justin Langer Does Is Meet Former Captain Tim Paine

Ashes 2021-22 | Out of quarantine, first thing Justin Langer does is meet former captain Tim Paine

To put in perspective how strong the bond was between Tim Paine, the former Australia captain who resigned just recently and Australian coach Justin Langer, the first thing that the latter did after getting out from quarantine was to make a trip to Hobart to visit Paine and comfort him in his times of trouble after.

According to Fox Cricket, Langer, who was in quarantine in Queensland after returning from the World cup campaigning, made a trip to Hobart just after his release.

“We can reveal Langer decided to fly from Queensland to Tasmania on compassionate grounds the day he was released from hotel quarantine. Langer made the decision in recent days to go and see Paine face-to-face and to offer his support to the 36-year-old,” Fox Cricket quoted sources as saying.

Langer and Paine go way back to early 2018 when the Tasmanian was asked to take upon the leadership of the Australian Test team which was trying to overcome the Sandpapager Gate fiasco which had banned Steve Smith and David Warner, captain and vice-captain of the side for one year. Langer has so far not spoken publicly on the ouster of Paine from the Australian set-up.

Apart from the coach Josh Inglis, Ashton Agar and Mitch Marsh also flew out of the quarantine centre on Tuesday. While Agr and Marsh were not in the Test squad, Inglis flying back home confirms that Carey is going to make his Test debut as the wicket-keeper batter in the first Ashes Test starting on December 08.

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IPL 2022 Retentions: Where and when to watch Live, what to expect

All the eyes would be set on the TV screen at 09:30 pm Indian Standard Time as that is exactly when the list of the retained players is going to be announced by the eight existing franchises of the Indian Premier League. The retention will be broadcast live on the official broadcaster of the IPL, Star Sports Network and can be live-streamed on Hotstar in India. All eight teams can retain a maximum of four players and a minimum of no player. Out of the four players, only two can be foreigners and a maximum of three could be Indians. After the retention is announced, the remaining players who have not been retained by their team can then be picked up by the two new teams. The two new teams can pre-sign (sign player before the auction) a maximum of three players each out of which only two could be Indians and not more than one foreigner is to be signed by the side. The two new teams, whose names have yet not been announced were bought by RPS Group and CVC Capital to represent the cities of Lucknow and Ahmedabad respectively. The new teams would get a window of 25 days, which would start from November 30 and go on till December 24 to sign their three players and the announcement for the same would be made on December 25 most probably. We at OneCricket and Cricketexchange have already predicted the probable retentions you can check them out here.

Alex Carey on course for Test debut in the Ashes

Mainstay in the Australian ODI team as their first choice keeper, Alex Carey is set to make his Test debut against England in the Ashes. The 30-year-old left-hander, who has been earmarked as the successor for the gloves for a while, will finally be getting to wear the Baggy Green, close to four years after his white-ball debut. Carey will have taken over Tim Paine who resigned from his role after a sexting controversy and went on an indefinite break. Carey has been a well-regarded commodity in world cricket, known for his versatility in the middle order. He has the ability to play both as an aggressor or as an accumulator depending upon the conditions of the game. Coming into the Test squad, Carey will have competition from his younger compatriot, Jos Inglis, who has been in tremendous form in the franchise leagues. However, considering Inglis’ age (26) the selection panel might have swayed towards a more proven performer in Carey. The first Ashes Test begins on 8 December at The Gabba.

It’s just a matter of one inning: Rahul Dravid confident of Rahane getting back in form

Newly appointed Indian coach Rahul Dravid is not worried about the form of Ajinkya Rahane, the vice-captain of the team. He is expecting Rahane to get back in form and feels that he is a quality player who is just one inning away from hitting his way home. "I don't get worried, you don't get worried. Of course, you would like more runs from Ajinkya. I am sure he would like a few more runs. He is a quality player. He has done well for India in the past. He is one of those guys who has that quality,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference after the end of the 1st Test in Kanpur. “He has the experience. Hopefully, it's just a matter of an innings, a matter of a game where he can turn it around. Certainly, he would like to score more runs. He knows that. And we know that” Dravid added further. The performance of Shreyas Iyer in which he became the only Indian player to hit a century and a half-century on debut in Tests has made things difficult for coach Dravid to select the playing XI. Virat Kohli in whose place Iyer played, will be back and hence to accommodate both an opener, most likely Mayank Agarwal would have to make way, but Dravid refused to comment on it. "We haven't decided the playing XI for Mumbai. It will be too early to talk about it. We have only been thinking about this Test till now,” he said. “When we get to Bombay, we will look at the conditions, the pitch. We will look at the guys' fitness. Virat Kohli will also join us so there will be consultation with him. Then we will decide who will be in the playing XI,” the coach added signalling that the captain Kohli would have a larger say in how the combination looks like in the all-important second Test. The series which starts the World Test Championship 2021-23 circle for defending champions New Zealand is now tied at 0-0 with one game to go.

Lance Klusener will not extend his Afghanistan’s head coach position

Former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener has said that he will not be extending his contract as head coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team. The decision was arrived at by Klusener as a result of his personal choice rather than to have anything to do with the team’s performance or the administrative changes in the country and its cricket board. "Having spent two years with the team, I will take away some memorable moments with me,” Klusener said in a press statement. “As I walk away from Afghanistan cricket team and its cricketing structure, I look forward to the next stage in my coaching career and opportunities it brings,” he added. The South African, who previously served as coach and consultant in various leagues and with various domestic teams was appointed in the role of head coach of Afghanistan in September 2019. But due to Covid-19, he was not able to spend a lot of time with the team and had to give online coaching. His contract expires on December 31, 2021, and the all-rounder who was one of the most feared batters of his time is not willing to extend it. T20 World Cup 2021 was Klusener's last assignment where Afghanistan could not move ahead of the Super 12. Klusener played 49 Tests and 171 ODIs for South Africa from 1996 to 2004. In total, he took 272 international wickets and scored more than 5000 runs.