AUS vs IND: Team India bounce back after Adelaide debacle and Twitter is loving it

Virat Kohli is ICC cricketer of the decade; Dhoni wins Spirit of Cricket award

The Indian cricket fraternity was overwhelmed as the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the decadal awards on Monday. The reason was very simple as two of the most iconic current era Indian cricketers were honoured by the apex cricketing body on its largest stage. While Virat Kohli was named the ICC male cricketer of the year, MS Dhoni, the former India captain was given the ICC Spirit of Cricket award for his decision to call back Ian Bell, after he was given run out at Nottingham in 2011. While Bell was given run out, Dhoni called him back on the ground, after tea, as he was given out in a confusion at the stroke of Tea. Kohli, apart from receiving the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Decade, also won the award for ICC ODI Cricketer of the year. Kohli in the period of the 10 years has scored 21,396 runs in a combination of 86 Tests, 208 ODIs, and 80 T20Is. In the same period, he has scored 66 centuries as well, the most for any batsman in a single decade. Rashid Khan was chosen as the T20I cricketer of the decade, while Steve Smith was given the award for Test cricketer of the decade. Amongst the women cricketers, Ellyse Perry won all the laurels alone, winning the T20I cricketer of the decade, the ODI cricketer of the decade, and the ICC Female cricketer of the decade 2010-20.

What have you done Faf! Twitter reacts to du Plessis getting out on 199

Just after the sheer happiness of the South African and Faf du Plessis fans when he crossed 150 for the first time in his international career, his dismissal caught them unaware, shocking and saddening them to the core as the South African got out on 199, just one short of what could have been his first double hundred in international cricket. Twitter reacted to this dismissal of his in a sad way as nobody expected du Plessis who had been on the crease for more than 270 balls to get out in such a fashion. The delivery that got his wicket was not at all deserving of a wicket and it was rather the lack of concentration, or just that one lapse in it, once in a day that caused the 34-year-old his wicket. The man from Pretoria lofted a straight one from Wanindu Hasaranga, the bat twisted in his hands and a leading-edge was gulped easily by the opposition captain Dimuth Karunaratne at mid-on. This was the 10th Test century for Faf in his 66th Test for the Proteas. With the help of this marathon knock, the South African posted a mammoth 621 in the first innings, that too while scoring at a healthy run rate of 4.37 Trailing by 225 runs, Sri Lanka started their second innings on a poor note, losing captain Karunaratne at the score of 10. At the time of writing this news, Kusal Mendis had also lost his wicket and Kusal Perera and Dinesh Chadimal were braving a fiery spell from Lungi Ngidi. The islanders were trailing by 191 runs.

Rohit Sharma to fly to Melbourne, third Test likely to be shifted from Sydney

Indian opener Rohit Sharma is all set to be flown to Melbourne for the third Test, also an indicator that the third Test would most likely be shifted from Sydney, where Rohit had been stationed in quarantine to join the team before the third Test. "Yes, he will be flown to Melbourne by CA on Wednesday as the third game is almost set to take place at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) with an eye on the coronavirus outbreak," ANI quoted a source from Cricket Australia as saying. Nick Hockley, the interim CEO of the CA also confirmed that the governing body was looking at various options to host the third Test. "Should the public health situation in NSW render playing in Sydney untenable, CA's preferred contingency plan is to work with the Victorian Government to play the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground followed by the fourth Test at the Gabba," he said. Saying that Australian Board has always maintained that scheduling a full summer of cricket during a global pandemic would require agility, problem-solving, and teamwork like never before, Hockley added that they would continue to place the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved as our number one priority. However, the chances of Sydney hosting the New Year Test couldn’t be counted out as of yet as ‘the record testing numbers and the drop in new community transmissions in NSW have provided cause for optimism’. “If the situation in Sydney deteriorates, we have strong contingency plans in place," Hockley said.

Gritty resistance by skipper Rizwan and Faheem saves Pakistan from follow-on

Pakistan was able to avoid the follow-on on day 3 of their first Test against New Zealand taking place at Mount Maunganui. But that would hardly compensate for the terrible collapse their batting order suffered in the morning session. At the start of play, hopes were high from Abid Ali and other batsmen of a fightback. But the New Zealand bowling attack showed why they have been so good in the last few years. On the same pitch where Pakistan's bowlers couldn't dislodge the masterful Kane Williamson and later, the gritty BJ Watling, the Kiwi pace attack ran riot. First, Kyle Jamieson ended Abid Ali's promising innings with a delivery that jagged back in and hit the stumps. The extra bounce generated by the tall bowler prevented Abid from coming forward and the ball went through his defences. Mohammad Abbas, the night-watchman, went soon after, edging a delivery from Trent Boult. Then, Tim Southee, on the brink of 300 Test wickets, got into the act. Azhar Ali, the mainstay of Pakistan's batting, was done in by a wonderful delivery that swung away just a little bit to take the edge of Ali's bat. Southee got his 298th scalp soon after when Haris Sohail sliced a delivery to gully. Pakistan were now tottering at 5/52. The new captain Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam got together and showed some resistance. They put together 28 runs but then, Neil Wagner made an impact in his usual way. A short delivery got Fawad to attempt a pull. He only managed a faint top edge that was gleefully accepted by the wicketkeeper BJ Watling. At 80/6, Pakistan seemed set to follow on. But then Rizwan showed the same determined batting that has led him to the captaincy position. He teamed up with Faheem Ashraf who batted with such authority that he could easily have been mistaken for a top-order batsman. Ashraf was especially impressive with his pull shots, which were played in a most clinical manner. Rizwan, at the other end, also showed a solid technique and composure to keep his team from further harm. The conditions had become easier for batting and now, the New Zealand bowlers seemed much less menacing. There were a couple of chances. An aerial drive by Faheem was dropped at short cover, a difficult chance. An edge of Rizwan's bat went through the gap between slips and gully. Rizwan reached his fifty in 106 balls. Faheem also got to the milestone, in 87 balls. The two batsmen batted with much more application than was expected of them. They even dealt with the second new ball well. Eventually, what ended this brilliant partnership was some fielding brilliance. An attempted second run ended in disaster for the Pakistan captain as Mitchell Santner, who hardly bowled, sent a slingy, low arm throw from the deep that hit the stumps at non-striker end as Rizwan dived to make it to the crease, but was found short. The skipper departed for a well-made and fighting 71. This opened the door for New Zealand to wrap up Pakistan's innings before they could avoid the follow-on. Boult got a ball to swing back into right-hander Yasir Shah and smash the stumps. Shaheen Afridi parried an awkward bouncer to short-leg fielder Tom Latham. Meanwhile, Faheem saw an opportunity to get to his hundred. He had managed to take Pakistan past the follow-on mark. The lower order batsman seemed intent on getting his hundred before the close of the day's play. In the final over, he hit a boundary to move to 91, but Jamieson got a delivery outside off stump to just climb a little and take the edge. It was taken by Watling to end Pakistan's innings at 239, trailing the hosts by 192 runs. Jamieson finished with 3/35 off 23.2 overs in another impressive performance. Boult, Wagner, and Southee picked up two wickets each.