Daily Round-up | Dec 31: Yuvraj Singh to not play domestic cricket

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Yuvraj Singh has been denied the permission to make a comeback by the BCCI while the end of the year has brought delight for Kane Williamson as the Blackcaps skipper has moved to the top spot in the ICC Test Rankings for the batsmen. 

Apart from this, injured Indian pacer Umesh Yadav is returning home while T. Natarajan has been roped in the side for the remainder of the Test series against Australia. 

Here are the more updates from the day.

Kane Williamson takes the top spot

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has surpassed Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to take the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for the batsmen. Williamson scored a fine double ton against West Indies at home and then scored a disciplined 129 runs in the first Test against Pakistan in Hamilton. The home side eventually won that match by 101 runs. The hundred against Pakistan gave Williamson 13 points taking his tally to 890. The right-handed batsman is now ahead of Kohli and Smith by 11 and 13 points respectively. 

Umesh Yadav ruled out of remainder against Australia

Umesh Yadav has been ruled out of the Test series against Australia after sustaining a calf injury during the second match in Melbourne. T. Natarajan has been included in the squad after Yadav’s departure. Natarajan made his limited-overs debut against Australia earlier on this tour. The four-match series between India and Australia is levelled at 1-1 after the visiting team won the second match by 8 wickets. 

Neil Wagner to miss Christchurch Test

New Zealand fast bowler Neil Wagner will miss the Christchurch Test against Pakistan. Wagner had injured his toe during the first match of the series. The left-arm pacer showed exemplary intent and continued to bowl during the first encounter and even picked up the important wicket of Fawad Alam who scored a ton in the second innings. He eventually returned with figures of 2/55. "Neil was absolutely outstanding," Stead was quoted as saying by Reuters. "I don't think there are too many individuals who could do what he did in that test match.” "Neil hasn't travelled with us. The injections he was getting (to lessen the pain) were wearing off (quickly) and we can't let him go through that again." The second match between the two sides Is slated to begin on January 3 at Hagley Oval.

BCCI denies Yuvraj Singh’s request to come out of retirement

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has turned down Yuvraj Singh’s permission to come out of retirement and play in the domestic circuit. The Punjab state team had requested Yuvraj to play for the domestic side and also mentor the young players. Talking to Asianet Newsable, Yuvraj’s father Yograj has said, “Meanwhile, besides playing, giving back to the boys and Indian cricket is very important. If he can produce four-five players for the country in the coming years, it would be great. I will be very, very happy. He continues to practice even today.”  

Perth Scorchers beat Adelaide Strikers

Perth Scorchers defeated Adelaide Strikers by 7 wickets in Adelaide. Chasing 147 in 20 overs, Perth went over the line in the 18th over. Jason Roy struck 49 off 32 while Josh Inglis and Mitchell Marsh remained unbeaten at 44 and 38 respectively. Earlier, Jhye Richardson scalped three wickets for 19 in 4 overs for Perth. For Adelaide, it was Alex Carey who was the lone warrior for the side as he scored 82 in 49 balls. 

 



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Desperate Australia ready to play even '90% fit' David Warner at SCG

Under pressure after the defeat at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test, the Australian side is desperate to plug holes in their batting order. For that, they need David Warner at the top to set the tone, in order to provide a platform to the pair of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to dictate terms to opposition bowling attack. Warner is recovering from the groin injury he suffered in the ODI series against India, and has been included for the third Test at the SCG. There are few doubts on the status of his recovery, but Australian think tank has suggested that the left-hander will be included in the XI even with 90-95 per cent of fitness, in case Warner himself feels ready to go to the field. Australia assistant coach Andre McDonald has hinted that the head coach Justin Langer will have a word with the southpaw to assess where he is in terms of readiness for the third Test. "Look, if he's 90-95% fit and the conversation is that he's fit enough to be able to go out there and perform his duties for the team, then I'm sure that'll be a conversation the coach has with the player. Most times Justin (Langer) is pretty open with the players in terms of giving them accountability around that," McDonald said. Although McDonald neither confirmed the availability of Warner for the SCG Test nor he ruled him out in case of inadequate preparation before heading to the game, he said: "He's very optimistic that he should be ready to go, which is great news for us. We are really excited to have him back. I'm sure that he's excited to come back into the group as well. There's nothing worse than being injured when you are at the top of your game as David has been over a period of time." The Australian team has another riddle to solve at the top of the order as Will Pucovski is returning after suffering a concussion in the tour game before the series began and McDonald confirmed he will debut if the right-hander passes all process necessity to validate his recovery from concussion. "He will be put through tests whatever it needs to be put through to make himself available for selection to potentially open the batting. So it's good to have a little bit of depth out there," McDonald said. The hosts have failed to go past the 200 run-mark in both the Tests and a lot of it can be attributed to the slump in form for the team’s mainstay in the batting—Steve Smith. Smith has looked a pale shadow of himself, and Indian bowlers have been able to affect the mental aspect of his batting, along with challenging his technique with astute tactics and field placements. But McDonald is not too perturbed at him getting out cheaply as he believes the right-hander is batting very well in the nets, although Smith has not reached the double-digit score in all the four previous innings. "I wouldn't be too quick to be judging Steve Smith not looking good in the middle. He looks pretty solid and hitting the ball well at the nets," McDonald said. There will be changes to Indian playing XI as well as Umesh Yadav who had walked off the field with an injury in his calf muscle and may well be replaced by one among Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan. The third Test between Australia and India is scheduled to start on January 07 at the iconic SCG.