BAN vs PAK | 2nd Test: Rain washes the entire third day's play in Dhaka

Ashwin wins 9th Player of the Series award, stands behind only Muttiah Muralitharan on iconic list

There is no stopping Ravichandran Ashwin in India as he has leapfrogged former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan and equalled former South Africa’s all-rounder Jacques Kallis on the list of players with most Player of the Series award to their names. He has now won nine Player of the Series award in only 81 Tests across 33 series and stands behind only M Muralitharan, who won 11 such awards in his 133-game and 61-series long career. Kallis won nine such awards in his 161-game long career spread across 61 Test series while Imran Khan played 88 Tests and 28 series to win eight Player of the Series award. He has been an instrumental figure in India’s indomitable rise in the longest format in home conditions and the story was no different in the series against New Zealand. He picked 14 wickets in the two-match long series and also played a crucial role with the bat in the first Test to bail the hosts out of troubling situations. He picked three wickets in each innings of the first Test and followed it up with four wickets each in the second and final Test of the series in Mumbai. He bowled his heart out on the final day of the first Test in Kanpur but New Zealand lower-order batsmen, especially Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel held their grounds to deny India the win. The pitch in Kanpur did offer spin to him and his fellow spinners but the pace of the surface was so slow that batsmen did get more than enough opportunity to defend good balls. He rated the pitch at Wankhede Stadium as “wonderful” as it offered both the spin and “bit more bite” which he always emphasize on. The balls were bouncing as well while taking turns and hence there were a lot of wickets to spinners, unlike the first game where they had to toil hard and purchase wicket. "I enjoyed that pitch, spun and had a bit more bite," he said in the post-match presentation. “It was a wonderful pitch. Every time you come to Wankhede, there's something to look forward to.” When Ajaz Patel completed his rare achievement of picking all 10 wickets in an innings, whole spectators at Wankhede Stadium were up on their feet and one prominent of them all was Ashwin, who was giving him resounding applause from the Indian dressing room. He credited his bowling effort and called it part of destiny that he came to the city of his birth to achieve such a monumental feat. “Before I get to what I did, it was wonderful from Ajaz. He put the ball in the right places, I enjoyed watching him bowl. It was destiny, I think,” Ashwin lavished praise on Ajaz Patel. India were playing with two off-spinners after a long time and the last time they did the combination was the same as it was there in Mumbai as Jayant Yadav returned after a long gap of nearly five years. They work on a different mode of operations but Ashwin said that he enjoys a “good relationship” with Jayant, who has spent time with him to understand his understanding of the game and also Axar Patel, who has been his teammate for a long time now while playing in the IPL as well outside of Team India. “Jayant and I have a good relationship from 2014 when he flew down to Chennai from Haryana to pick my brains. Axar, I've been playing for a while at Kings and Delhi Capitals. For starters, I'd look to play a part in South Africa and finish off with a series win,” Ashwin said.

Mayank Agarwal recalls words of wisdom from Dravid, Gavaskar after Player of the Match performance

Mayank Agarwal has been adjudged Player of the Match for a big 150 in the first innings and following that up with another splendid half-century in the second innings on a pitch where all New Zealand batsmen and even Indian batsmen found it tough to negotiate for a long time. He would have been competing with Ajaz Patel, who took a staggering 14 wicket-haul in the game and tried to keep New Zealand in the game for as long as possible. However, he was the lone man standing for the hosts and Mayank Agarwal turned out to be the difference between the sides on a pitch where balls were turning square from the very first day. He expressed his jubilation at coming back to form and scoring runs at the top of the order. Notably, there were question marks over his future after twin failures in Kanpur where he struggled against Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson. "Feels nice to be among the runs, this knock will be special for me," he said in the post-match presentation. He was asked about the adjustments in the technique he made after the failures in Kanpur and he rejected the claim citing a discussion with the coach Rahul Dravid, who backed him to play with his own technique rather than changing the style midway through the series. He said that Dravid backed him by saying that his style of play has earned him runs in the past and rather he should focus on the mental aspect of his game. However, he did make some tweaks in his technique after suggestions from Sunil Gavaskar, who suggested that he was not getting side on to counter the away going deliveries and also that his backlift was too high to play with soft hands. Having delivered big runs in Mumbai, he has earned the right to be in India’s squad for the tour of South Africa, at least as a backup opener and he relished the prospect of the challenges that may come his and India’s way in the rainbow nation. "Very honestly, did nothing different after Kanpur. It was about having mental discipline. Rahul bhai told me there's no point thinking about technique mid-series. 'This is the technique that has got you runs, have a solid mindset, stick to your game plans, the runs will come. Sunny G told me to keep my bat low, be more side-on. I couldn't do that early on but it helped. I wasn't really thinking of a century in each innings, but yes definitely should've converted the 60. A different challenge in SA, we relish as a team."

The Ashes | Cricket Australia relocates fifth Test from Perth, yet to finalise new venue

The fifth and final Test of the Ashes series between Australia and England will not be played in Perth due to stringent Covid-19 related restrictions being imposed by Western Australia, Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement. However, an alternative venue has not yet been decided and the process of finalising the venue for the Ashes finale is undergoing. "While absolutely every effort was made to ensure the final Test match of the series could be staged in Perth, border controls, quarantine requirements and the complexities of staging a five-Test series in a tight schedule have meant it is unfortunately not possible to align the respective priorities of the WA Government, CA and WA Cricket," CA said in a statement. "These complexities also mean that any suggestion of changing the order of the venues would not be feasible. Discussions about a replacement venue for the fifth Test match are underway." The Ashes series is scheduled to begin on December 08 in Gabba before the teams will travel to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney for the second, third and fourth Test of the series respectively.

IND vs NZ | 2nd Test, Day 4: Jayant Yadav demolishes Kiwis lower order to propel India to series win

India needed to take the last five wickets on the fourth day of the second Test of the series to defeat New Zealand and Jayant Yadav took it upon himself to bring about a complete demolition of the Blackcaps batting order. He first got the better of Rachin Ravindra and followed it up with the wickets of Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee and William Somerville to come closer to a five-wicket haul. However, his off-spinner teammate Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed New Zealand’s last wicket in the form of Henry Nicholls to end the game inside the first session of the fourth day. India had set New Zealand a massive target of 540 runs and did not give them any sniff on the Wankhede Stadium surface that offered plenty of assistance to the spinners.