AUS A vs IND A: Will Pucovski gets hit on head by Kartik Tyagi as match ends in draw

NZ vs WI: Roach, Dowrich return home; unavailable for 2nd Test

Already down by 0-1 in the two-match Test series against the hosts New Zealand, the touring West Indies have been served another series of blows with the ace paceman Kemar Roach and wicketkeeper-batsman Shane Dowrich being ruled out of the last Test of the series. Both the players will return to their homes in the Caribbean islands to attend their family emergencies. Kemar Roach has decided to go back home after the death of his father while Dowrich has called off his tour owing to personal reasons, as per the release by Cricket West Indies. The 22-year-old Joshua DaSilva will in all likelihood replace Dowrich in Wellington as a like for like replacement, being a wicketkeeper-batsman while left-arm fast bowler Preston McSweenwill is in the squad as a cover for Roach. Dowrich couldn’t contribute with the bat in the last Test after suffering an injury in his hand that ruled him out of batting from both innings while Roach was impressive in the only innings that the hosts batted and returned with a figure of 3-114. The double-centurion captain Kane Williamson spoke highly of Roach for running in all day when things were not happening for the visitors. He also took a wicket off a no-ball and Williamson sympathized with him for the frustration he had to incur. The troubles for the Windies do not end here as the left-handed batsman Shimron Hetmyer is yet to recover from the concussion he suffered in the second T20 of the series that preceded the ongoing Test series. West Indies’ squad for the second Test Jason Holder (c), Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua DaSilva(wk), Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Chemar Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul.

Wade ignites debate on Steve Smith's captaincy; coach Langer says 'processes' to follow

Injury to Australia’s full-time captain in limited-overs formats, Aaron Finch has reignited the debate surrounding the captaincy of the national team. The comments made by the stand-in skipper Matthew Wade, who led the team against India in the second T20i, on former captain Steve Smith’s credentials to regain the captaincy has fuelled the fire. After the last match, Wade had said that Smith has “plenty of say” in the on-field tactics and drive players around on the field and he would do a “great job” if reinstated again to the leadership position. Notably, Steve Smith was stripped of the captaincy after the sandpaper saga in the Newlands Test against South Africa in 2018. “We have so many good leaders, I have been given the captaincy but we have got Smith, we have got Moises, who captains his BBL team. We have guys with a lot of experience, there is a lot of discussion among the seniors but we are all working together. It is not me driving the field, obviously, Finchy is our captain and we all work together when he plays well. So Smith has plenty of say, he has been a great captain for a long time and he will do a great job if he gets an opportunity,” Wade said on no dearth of leadership quality in the Australian team. However, coach Justin Langer is still not buying into the arguments of handing the captaincy to Smith and said that the former captain will have to go through some processes which will be carried out before he could lead the team again on the international stage. Langer also lauded Smith for leading the side and showing leadership abilities while not having any title at the moment. “Matty Wade was the vice-captain, Steve Smith has done a brilliant job in the past, there is a process probably to go through till he becomes captain again. We’ll go through that. He is doing all the right things to show leadership without a title at the moment,” Langer said to Fox Sports. Steve Smith’s presence in the team and his outstanding batting has rubbed onto his teammates in the past and the Ashes series held in England last year was proof of that when he almost single-handedly won Australian the marquee title. But, as Langer suggested, there is a lot to happen before Smith can be restored to the captaincy of the national team, as both Australia and the board managing the game in the county-- Cricket Australia were left badly embarrassed to explain the details of the sandpaper scandal in Newlands two years back.

India in Australia: Natarajan sparkles the light at the end of India's tunnel

With both vigour and wits in his arsenal, Thangarasu Natarajan looks the left-armed racehorse manor born.

A crying shame: Swann doesn’t want Anderson to be wasted away coaching ‘women's’ teams

Former England spinner Graeme Swann wants James Anderson to get involved with the senior national team as a head coach or bowling coach instead of whiling away his time coaching women’s national team or counties’ second elevens ‘to earn the stripes’. “If Jimmy Anderson finishes playing cricket and they make him do England Women, or Lancashire seconds or something like that, to get his stripes, it will be the biggest crying shame in the world,” Swaan told The Cricket Analyst. This statement of his sure to draw ire from the people who feel passionate about the game and especially the women’s game, that too in teh times when ECB is making all efforts to raise the women’s game to the same standard as that of the men’s. “And before anyone cries foul, I’m not having a go at the England Women team, or the Lancashire second team. You know my point,” the 41-year-old was quick to race to teh damage control. Reasoning that Anderson, who is currently the leading wicket-taker among the fast bowlers in teh world and only paceman to cross 600 scalps, would be fresh after he retires, Swann said, “The second he finishes, he is fresh, he knows all the players, he knows the game currently. He’s not had to take a few years off. He should go straight in as a head coach or head bowling coach for England.” Swann, one of the most successful English spinners (410 international wickets in 178 games across formats) to have ever graced the field believes that he was not utilized properly after his retirement and doesn’t want Anderson to go through teh same process. “Arguably, I should have been asked immediately to coach all the spinners [when I retired]. Because that was me, I was relevant, I knew the game, I knew everyone inside out. That’s when you can impart everything,” he said. “You don’t get that if you’re a few years out of it. You lose that straightaway and become run of the mill, you become humdrum, which is a crying shame,” Swann added.