Ashish Nehra set to become head coach of Ahmedabad IPL team

The Ashes | Australia persist with Scott Boland, replace Head with Usman Khawaja for Sydney Test

Australia have announced their playing XI for the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes series and have continued to put faith in Scott Boland’s seam bowling abilities. It was being wondered if Bolland will be made a one-Test wonder for his six-wicket haul at the MCG but return to fitness of other pacers such as Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson for the Sydney Test. Hazelwood suffered a side strain in the first Test of the series in Brisbane and continues to be sidelined from the playing XI. Richardson played the second Test of the series at his place and picked a five-wicket haul in the second innings of the Day-Night Test. Apart from the third pacer’s slot alongside the skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, Australia have also earmarked Usman Khwaja as the replacement from Travis Head. The South Australian tested positive for Covid-19 in Melbourne and was ruled out of the fourth Test. Australia lead the series 3-0 and have already retained the Ashes while England will be eager to make a strong comeback in the final two Tests of the series and salvage some pride.

1st Test | Day 4: Ebadot Hossain rattles NZ as Ban inch closer to creating history

Bangladesh have inched closer to making history against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui. The hosts are tottering at 147/5, leading by just 17 runs in the second innings at the end of the fourth day. New Zealand started off the second innings in a disappointing manner and were 63/2 when Will Young and Ross Taylor tried to steady the ship for the side. The two batters stitched a partnership of 73 runs for the third wicket before Young was sent back to the pavilion for 69 by Ebdot Hossain. Taylor though was unbeaten at 37 at stumps but the Kiwis lost a couple of more wickets during the course as Hossain ripped through the batting line up. He has already picked up four wickets. For New Zealand, it was Sachin Ravindra (6*) along with Taylor who was still at the crease. Earlier, Bangladesh began the proceedings from their overnight score of 401/6 and posted 458 before getting bowled out. Mominul top-scored for his side with 88 while Liton Das struck 86. Apart from these two, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shanto had also notched up a fifty each and Mehidy Hasan chipped in with 47. For the hosts, Trent Boult scalped a four-fer and Wagner had three scalps to his name.

The Ashes | 4th Test: Stuart Broad returns back to England's playing XI, Ollie Robinson ruled out

England have included fast bowler Stuart Broad while Ollie Robinson has been ruled out of the fourth Test due to a shoulder niggle. "We felt like it was too much of a risk to go in with a couple of lads who are carrying niggles," England's assistant coach, Graham Thorpe, said. "So, therefore, it was right to bring Stuart back in." England have struggled both on and off the field. While they have suffered defeats in the first three Ashes Tests, four coaches including the head coach Chris Silverwood have been in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19. Thorpe believes that getting the players in the right frame of mind is important at the moment. "I hope we've got a couple of caged tigers coming into this match, Ben being one of them and Stuart Broad another," Thorpe said. "Getting the players into the right frame of mind is important. I think they want put in a performance for themselves and collectively for the team." The penultimate clash is slated to take place in Sydney from January 5, 2022. Squad: Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson.

SA vs IND | 2nd Test, Day 1: Pacers put Proteas on top as Pujara, Rahane continue to let India down

The year 2022 started off on a similar note to that of what was the trend for India’s Test side in the last year as they banked once again on their bowling attack to cover up for their brittle batting display. A Virat Kohli-less India could not extend their batting efforts beyond the 64th over and a score of 202 runs and asked their bowlers to run through the South Africa batting unit. The trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj were supreme in their display of pace bowling and hit the fuller length from the word go to test both the techniques and patience of Proteas top order. Aiden Markram, whose technique has been ripped open in the series, was found out in front of the stumps of a wobble seam delivery from Shami. Shami has been the standout pacer from India and the trend did not change one bit towards the end of the first day. Siraj was also at it with tempting length around off stump and he was all over Dean Elgar in the 15th over. He could have dismissed the Proteas skipper on four out of the six deliveries of the over and the left-hander could not offer anything but shake of the head in total disbelief over pacer’s command over his line and length. Keegan Petersen had shown good signs as a number three batsman and all virtues of his batting were on full display on the first day at the Wanderers when he had to offer his dead bat to the variations of the pace and bounce off the surface available for the pacers. The duo of Elgar and Petersen would be delighted to have walked off the field after what was a stern and relentless examination for 18 overs by the Indian pace trio. Earlier, India were rocked right on eve of the game with a back spasm to Virat Kohli that provided KL Rahul with a dream start to 2022. Notably, he was not even the third choice opener of India’s Test side before the start of the Test series in England and today, he was wearing his India blazer and walking with Elgar to call the coin toss for his country. He won the toss and had no hesitation to bat first despite having enough awareness of what the pitch was supposed to offer and playing a thin batting lineup and that too without Kohli at number four. South Africa, too, had opted for a risky tactic of going in with a bowling-heavy side with the inclusion of Duanne Olivier and went a step further in the wrong direction by giving him the new ball in place of Lungi Ngidi, who picked a five-wicket haul in the first Test. Olivier was not ready for the job immediately and offered juicy half volleys to Mayank Agarwal, whose eyes were lit up to see those scoring opportunities on a pitch where he was expecting balls around his throat or shoulders. He provided India with a positive start while the skipper took it from where he left in Centurion and carried on with the mindset of a monk. The duo blunted the new ball once again and tried their best to calm whatever nerves would have been there in the dressing room with respect to the nature of the pitch. However, the drinks break brought about a lapse in concentration of Mayank and he got lured into driving a delivery he was leaving with ease before the ball he edged to the keeper. India needed to start well to assert their dominance in the Test and a solid opening partnership has been the building block of their success in overseas Tests last year. Mayank’s wicket brought the duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in consecutive order to the crease and the onus was, even so, heavier on their shoulders with the absence of Kohli in the middle order. Pujara looked uncomfortable while handling the spongy bounce on the surface and South African pacers did not make his life easier by offering him any delivery in very full areas. They hit the short of good length areas and relied on the surface to offer tennis ball bounce and Pujara, with his contentious technique of playing with low hands-on front foot defence, was found wanting on many occasions. However, the success went to Olivier, who dragged Pujara forward by flummoxing with a good length ball but the pitch did enough to help the ball take the splice of his bat and Bavuma was more than happy to send him back. Rahane, continuing the trend of losing all his control and touch after a fluent innings, poked at a very wide delivery and went back to the pavilion for a golden duck. Both his and Pujara’s careers hang by a thread and the result of the game and the performance of Hanuma Vihari, who has been an undeclared overseas specialist, will decide their fate before the final Test of the series. Vihari batted like someone who was accustomed to the conditions and vindicated the move by the selectors to send him with India A side in retrospect. He was assured around his off stump and looked in a positive frame of mind to capitalise on the scoring opportunities that came his way. He had a mixed share of luck as first Bavuma dropped a sitter to hand him a reprieve but Rassie van der Dussen took a brilliant catch after Rabada found the inside edge of his bat with the same extra bounce which has been a trademark of the surface at the Wanderers. Rishabh Pant, too, has not been making the best use of his flamboyance and once again he failed to rise to the occasion. Things change quickly in the world of cricket and the wicketkeeper would be wary of his diminishing returns with the bat in the last few games with the bat. However, not all were doomed and gloomy for India with the bat and Ravichandran Ashwin stepped up to the challenge and batted with absolute fluency and confidence to take India closer to the 200-run mark. He played some drives that would make the likes of Kohli and Rahul proud and once again established his batting credentials just when things were at stake for the men in blue. India have enough runs on the board and the surface is offering plenty of opportunities for the pacers to keep asking tough questions of the batsmen. However, if Elgar continues to bat with patience and resilience to keep one end intact, the Proteas can mount a monumental challenge for the tourists on the second day.