AUS vs IND: David Warner to miss first Test hints Justin Langer


It seems to be curtains for David Warner for the first Test against India, slated to begin on December 17 in the eyes of Australian head coach Justin Langer. Langer said he is not ‘holding his breath’ on the chances of Warner’s recovery in time to make it in the playing XI of the pink-ball Test. Warner injured his groin while trying to stop an off-drive off Shikhar Dhawan in the second ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.



"He's strained his abductor in his groins and they tell me it's a very painful injury. It looked like he got shot by a gun. He was in incredible pain in the changerooms after,”  Langer told SEN's Sportsday WA yesterday.

However, Langer saw a positive out of the injury as the left-hander will get an opportunity to take some time off after coming under pressure over the selection of his partner to open the innings for Australia in the red and pink ball.

Warner’s absence will make the case clear and simpler for the highly-rated prodigy Will Pucovski who has notched truckloads of runs in the recently-finished round 1 of the Sheffield Shield. There was a toss-up between him and Joe Burs who had opened the innings with Warner in the last summer but Pucovski’s hot streak of runs put him on the brink of exclusion from the team as many former players were weighing the options of trying the young man when he is in middle of his best form with the bat.

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MS Dhoni in Running for ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for Ian Bell Call Back

In the latest addition to Indian nominees for the ICC Decade Awards, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been included among the shortlisted contenders for the ICC Spirit of Cricket of the Decade Award. The act of sportsmanship that earned him this distinction was his recalling of Ian Bell during the second Test of the four-match Test series played in 2011. The Incident On the last ball before before Tea on Day 3 of the Test match, Ian Bell hit a shot behind square on the off side. Praveen Kumar, India's best bowler in that series, dived to stop the ball close to the boundary line. While the ball remained inside the boundary, Kumar reacted with great despondancy, as if his efforts have failed. He got up and without any hurry, threw the ball back to the batsman's end where opener Abhinav Mukund collected the throw without any excitement and removed the bails. At this moment, Bell was way out of the crease, almost at the other end, and assuming that it was a boundary, kept walking towards the pavillion for the tea break. There was a very very feeble appeal from the Indian side. However, the replays showed that Kumar had actually made a clean save and hence, the ball was in play when Mukund removed the bails. The third umpire gave Bell, who was batting well past a hundred, out. The entire crowed booed the Indians off the field as the team went for tea. Most commentators, including Ravi Shastri and Michael Atherton, believed Bell was at fault and thought there was nothing wrong in what happened. But the English captain Andrew Strauss went to the Indian dressing room during the break. When the Indian team came out after tea, they were again vociferously booed. But then, much to everyone's shock, Bell came out again. The English team showed their appreciation for their opponents by clapping for them when they came out. Dhoni was given the Spirit of Cricket Award for that year by ICC for this very act. The decision of the Indian team was supported by Sourav Ganguly who was commentating on the series. Now, he has the chance to win another laurel based on his captaincy career.

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5 Reasons You Shouldn't Miss New Zealand-West Indies Test Series

The upcoming two-match Test series between New Zealand and West Indies is not the most keenly-anticipated or the most high-profile contest. However, for any genuine cricket fan, this series holds great attractions. A New Zealand side that rarely loses at home taking on an optimistic and ever-improving West Indies team could turn out to be a surprisingly good encounter. The Kiwis are, obviously, big favourites. In their previous home season, also the last time they played Test matches, the Kane Williamson-led side was able to defeat two top Test teams - England and India. The victory over the latter was more impressive as they were leading the World Test Championship standings at the time. The West Indies, on the other hand, earned a very important victory over England in the first Test of their three-match series in that country. However, their performance went downhill after that. This tour gives the Caribbean side another opportunity to show improvement in their overall performance. To prep up your appettite for this contest, let us give you five specific reasons why you must watch this series, or, at least follow it closely with us. High-Quality Seam Bowling Whatever be the result of the series, one is bound to witness top-class swing and seam bowling in the series. Conditions in New Zealand do help seamers. The usual pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult would be in action. But so would be Kemar Roach, a very capable seamer in his own right. Jason Holder's stats in the last three years have been stupendous. In fact, it's the Windies captain who is most likely to make an impact with his usual full lenght. But don't forget the indefatigable Shannon Gabriel. He always bowls his heart out. This series should see nothing less from him. Young and Talented Pacers In their 2-0 victory over India, New Zealand discovered a great talent in Kyle Jamieson. The tall pacer has attributes similar to Holder with his tall height and ability to get the ball to move. Watching him in action again would be exciting. But he isn't the only talented young seamer likely to play. Chemar Holder is another very promising pacer, for West Indies. If he gets into the playing XI, it would be interesting to see how he goes. The Caribbean side contains Alzarri Joseph as well. He has already shown great promise in international and T20 cricket. He is the frontrunner for the fourth seamer's spot in the team. Lastly, there is Keemo Paul. Another bowler rated highly by West Indian experts. Search for Spinners While both teams are richly endowed with good seamers, there is a great dearth of quality spinners. New Zealand have selected Ajaz Patel again. He hasn't done much since his great debut series in UAE against Pakistan. On the other side, West Indies have persisted with Rahkeem Cornwall despite an underwhelming showing in England. Roston Chase is probably the most reliable among all the tweakers. Both Ajaz and Rahkeem will be fighting for their spots. Focus on Bravo and Hetmyer Two very important members of the West Indian batting line-up, Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer, are returning to the West Indian fold. Both left-handers are a visual treat when are in full flow. Bravo, especially, has good memories of New Zealand as he scored a magnificent match-saving double hundred here in 2013. Hetmyer, full of flamboyance, has played some breathtaking innings at Test level. His return will add more excitement to the batting line-up. How Will Windies Cope with Wagner's Barrage A distinctive feature of New Zealand's success at home has been the consistency of Neil Wagner. He was described brilliantly by a commentator as a medium pacer with the attitude of a fast bowler. This meant a lot of aggression and desire to bowl bouncers at batsmen. Despite all the expectations, Wagner has managed to use his bouncers to trouble many batsmen and pick up a whole lot of wickets. Even though he doesn't have the pace of faster bowlers, Wagner manages to turn short deliveries into wicket-taking ones. Now, West Indies have been notoriously weak against hostile short-pitch bowling in recent times. So, will they also crumble against the New Zealand seamer? That's something worth watching out for.

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AUS vs IND: Labuschagne offers to open in place of injured Warner

Australian middle-order batsman Marnus Labuschagne has offered to open in place of the injured David Warner, who has been ruled out of the 3rd and final ODI of the three-match series between Australia and India. Warner has also been ruled out from the upcoming T20I series between the two nations as well. D’Arcy Short has been drafted in the Aussie squad as his replacement. "If I got asked to open the batting absolutely it's an opportunity that I would enjoy doing. We'll wait and see how our team shapes up for the next game and see the balance of the side, but yeah I would love doing it," Marnus said in a press conference. The 26-year-old, who made 70 runs of 60 balls in the last game said, "My role at No.4 is just to read the situation of the game and play my role accordingly.” Saying that his role while batting with Steve Smith, who scored two back to back 62 ball centuries was just to rotate the strike and build a partnership, was pleasantly surprised with the batting of his senior pro. "We had Steve in so when I came to the crease it was just about building a partnership and a bit of momentum with him, and taking a back seat for the start of my innings,” he said. "That was one of the best innings I've seen in one-day cricket, not only from Steve but from anyone. I think the way he batted yesterday was superb. It almost felt like he didn't give an opportunity, didn't really take any risk, but he got a hundred off 62 balls,” he added.