Couldn’t turn left, right: R Ashwin talks about his injury, batting on final day in Sydney Test

The Indian team wrote history during the Tour Downunder in 2020-21 when they clinched a 2-1 win in the four-match series. The winning triumph wasn’t just special because India had defeated Australia in Australia for the second time on the trot but it was more about overcoming the off field issues.

The players were injured, racially abused and Team India was without their regular captain Virat Kohli after the first Test. Kohli had returned home for the birth of his first child.

But the Indian side, comprising youngsters, didn't give up. They fought back and they fought back really hard despite suffering a thumping defeat in the opening clash.

One of the injured players from the Indian camp, R Ashwin has now narrated the story of the Sydney Test when he and Hanuma Vihari saved the game for India.

“They will give you a bowling place just besides the pitch where there is a pitch which is hard. But in Sydney, they give you the outer surface which is full of sand. So, we had bowled for four days, the foot holes were big and I went and just warmed up bowled the first ball. My toe landed and it stuck in the hole and my upper body twisted. I’m like ouch and it hurt. My one of the hips went down and the other one went up. I was wincing in lower back pain and went to the physio and told him that it was paining. He gave me a really powerful pain killer and I kept bowling. It was painful and it took me two overs to go over the pain barrier. Once I bowled the two overs, I kept going for 14 overs. I told Ajinkya that I can’t stop because if I had, I couldn’t bowl again. Later, they declared and I went in but little did I know that I’m going to have the worst night of my life,” Ashwin revealed while talking to Boria Majumdar.

“When I went to lie down after the dinner, my back didn’t go down. I literally put a towel underneath my back, held my hip up and then went to sleep."

"Next morning, when I woke up, my mind was telling me to get up but I couldn’t. I couldn’t turn left, right or couldn’t get up. I was shouting in pain and then my wife came, my children were holding my hands and she just pulled me up but I couldn’t get up. I called the other physio. He came and gave me a pain killer, lifted me and put me in the hot shower. Once I put the hot water on, my back started warming up and I don’t even know how I went to the game. My wife looked at me and asked, “you are going to play the game to which I replied, “have to do it”,” Ashwin added.

The right-hander scored an unbeaten 39 off 128 while Vihari struck 23* off 161 on the final day to save the game for India.

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Harbhajan Singh to write autobiograpy; will reveal truth about 'Monkeygate'

One of India’s best ever spinners who recently retired from all forms of cricket - Harbhajan Singh, has decided that he will unravel the secrets behind the infamous ‘Monkeygate’ that hangs as a blot on his illustrious career. The incident that occured in 2008 is one of the most notorious incidents in the history of cricket with allegations of racism being thrown towards the Indian side against Australian all rounder Andrew Symonds. Back then, things had escalated from the ground and players were put through judicial trials on tour over complaints made by the Aussies led by Ricky Ponting. Harbhajan Singh never quite spoke publicly about the event, but now has promised to come out with the truth in his autobiography. “It was something that was uncalled for. Whatever happened during that day in Sydney shouldn’t have happened and also what it led to. It was really unnecessary. But forget about who said what. You and I both know the truth has two sides,” Harbhajan told PTI after retiring on Friday, 24 December. “No one cared about my side of the truth in the whole episode. No one cared what I went through in those few weeks and how I was mentally sinking. I have never extensively given my side of the story but people will know about it in my upcoming autobiography. What I went through shouldn’t have happened to anyone,” he added.

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Had I been supported, my career would have been better: Harbhajan Singh

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh bid adieu to all forms of cricket on Friday (December 24, 2021). The right-arm bowler in a chat with Dainik Jagran has said that he could have ended up taking 500-550 wickets in Test cricket but didn’t really get the backing as far as his selection in the side was concerned. "As long as there is support, it feels great. I would say that if the support had come at the right time, I would have taken 500-550 wickets long ago, because when I was 31 years old I had taken 400 wickets and if I had played for three-four more years I would have taken 500-550 wickets,” he said. "But, all that did not happen. There are so many reasons for that, if we go into that, we will dig up a lot of things, which I don't want to do," he added. Bhajji stressed that he didn’t really get the respect that a player of his stature deserved. "There comes a time when you must give your players the respect they deserve. But that is the decision of a particular category of people. I would like to say that after 2001-02, the support that Sourav Ganguly gave to me, there was no such need for support, but in 2012, had I been supported, my career would have been better,” he said. Harbhajan ended his career with a total of 417 Test wickets, 269 scalps in ODIs and had 25 dismissals to his name in T20Is.

The Ashes | 3rd Test Preview - It is do or die for Joe Root’s England

England head into the third Test match of the Ashes Down Under 0-2 down, with Joe Root’s men in all sorts of trouble. The tension was palpable after the end of the last game in Adelaide after an unlikely Root outburst where he put the blame straight on the bowlers. And things did not end there. In a column with English news publication The Telegraph, star pacer and one of the most influential members of the English squad - James Anderson, hit back at the batting department for not scoring enough runs on board, calling the Adelaide pitch one of the flattest of all time. The whole scenario is fitting of a facepalm emoji. As if England did not have enough problems already. England make four changes After the whole meltdown, England have made four changes in their playing XI for the Boxing Day Test match. The divisive position of Rory Burns has been handed to another divisive opener in the English circuit, Zak Crawley. Both batsmen, however talented, have come under fire for their silly modes of dismissals. Coming into the MCG Test, Crawley has not had a prolific time in domestic cricket. After his debacle in the two-Test matches against New Zealand at home and then another failure against India, Crawley has scored three fifties in four first class matches. Barring Crawley, England have removed Ollie Pope, the 23-year-old promising youngster, who has been dismissed against all lengths in the last two Test matches. Pope has gotten out twice to Nathan Lyon - once trying to defend the ball and once punching the ball into the hands of the slip fielder. The other two dismissals of the right hander have come against pace - once while trying to hook a short ball, and the other one edging a fuller length ball to the keeper. And who have they brought in as the replacement? None other than the white ball maestro Jonny Bairstow, another player who divides opinion in England over his place in the long format. Bowling changes The final two changes out of the four have been on expected cards. With the inclusion of Jonny Bairstow in the batting department, England have chosen to bench Chris Woakes who played 97 balls in the second innings, delaying England’s defeat for a considerable period of time. His place is taken by Jack Leach. Stuart Broad also finds his way out of the playing XI and is replaced by right arm quick Mark Wood. All in all, this England attack looks more rounded with Ollie Robinson and James Anderson giving them the new ball prowess. Mark Wood will be injecting much needed pace in the attack with Jack Leach playing the role of a primary spinner. Australia bring in Scott Boland For any English fan Australia’s pace bowling riches is scary. The primary bowling line up of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins routed them in the first match of the Ashes series. England would have hoped for some reprieve after both Hazlewood and Cummins were ruled out of the second Test, but it was not to be. The new look attack comprising Jhye Richardson and Micheal Neser demolished the English batting making sure that there was nothing loose offered to the tourists. Pat Cummins returns for the MCG Test match in place of Neser and Australia have decided to give a surprise debut to Scott Boland, who replaces Jhye Richardson. Richardson has been benched over fitness concerns and with Hazlewood not making a return to the playing XI, Boland will be taking over the pace bowling duties. Pitch Report & Weather conditions Melbourne over the past couple of seasons has seen big change in the pitch conditions. In the India series last year, MCG had plenty of grass cover to aid the pace battery of both teams and spinners were helped as well once the freshness died out. One can expect similar conditions and with no rain to affect the game, both Nathon Lyon and Jack Leach can come into play in the later stages of the game. Match Details Australia vs England Match Number - Third Date & Time - 26-30 December, 5:00 Am IST Venue - Melbourne Cricket Ground England Probable XI Haseeb Hameed, Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Jack Leach, James Anderson Australia Probable XI David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon CE Fantasy XI Alex Carey, David Warner (c), Steve Smith, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Cameron Green, James Anderson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins (vc)