Ganguly to undergo several tests before decision on stent insertion: Doctors

Rishabh Pant on lookout for new house in Delhi-NCR, asks Twitter for suggestions

Fresh from his heroic performance in Australia that won India a much-celebrating win at the Gabba, Rishabh Pant created a storm on Twitter when he announced he is on the lookout for a new house in the national capital region of the country. The wicketkeeper-batsman said that his family is doing all they can to convince him to buy a new house and that he is considering ‘Gurgaon’ as one of the options. Also, he asked his fans and followers on Twitter to help him with any other alternatives in search of a new address. Pant’s family has been residing at Ashok Nagar locality in Roorkee where his neighbours celebrated and distributed sweets after the left-hander had hit the winning runs in India's historic triumph in Australia in Brisbane. Pant first came in the limelight after his explosive batting performances in the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2016 and he was rewarded with an IPL contract by the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) where he excelled as a hard-hitter batsman and rose to cement his place in the Indian international side.

Unruly behaviour with journalist leads to termination of Interim CSA chief

The Interim Chairman of Cricket South Africa, Zak Yacoob has been removed from his post after he was caught discrediting and verbally assaulting a journalist on phone. South African Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa removed Yacoob from his post and asked interim Board member, Dr Stavros Nicolaou, to take over. Later on, Yacoob sent in an unreserved apology regarding the case. "This decision was made out of an abundance of caution, to safeguard the tremendous work done by the Interim Board, under his stewardship," Mthetwa was quoted as saying in a statement. Yacoob during in interaction with TimesLIVE journalist Tiisetso Malepa hurled objectionable slurs at him. "You are a dishonest, irresponsible idiot. You are a rogue and dirty journalist. I prefer not to answer your questions and to air my views when the enquiry comes up.” these were some of the sentences spoken by Yacoob as written in Sunday Times. Yacoob’s reference of ‘the enquiry’ was to a disciplinary hearing against suspended Acting CEO of CSA Kugandrie Govender, who has been charged with misconduct and who has in return accused Yacoob of unfair play.

Survey reveals more than 1/3rd of Asian and Black cricketers face racism in England

A survey done by the Professional Cricketers' Association of England has found that more than 1/3rd of the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) cricketers in the country have faced some or the other form of racism and, or prejudice while being involved with the game. This has forced England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to introduce anti-racism training courses for both men and women cricket players in the upcoming year. The courses will cover dressing room culture, raise awareness of how behaviour can be interpreted by different cultures and encourage people to challenge anything they deem to be unacceptable after The decision to include such courses was specially made after finding that even 'banter' was identified as a mask for racism. In the Survey it was found that 45 per cent of more than 600 respondents claimed that racism had come from a fellow player, 10 percent said it was from a coach, and around 30 percent had experienced it on social media or from fans. Not all the players responded to the Questionnaire sent by the PCA as only 173 professionals returned the mail. But even among these 173, 24 were identified as being from the BAME backgrounds which is around 90 per cent of the number of BAME players in the game right now. Charlie Mulraine, the PCA's lead personal development manager said that it would have been far better if the vast majority of players had responded. “Why they didn't is very difficult to speculate," he added. Rob Lynch, the PCA's chief executive though is of the belief that it’s just a start and they could go to higher levels with bringing parity in the game. "We needed to start somewhere. This gives us a clear direction of travel and it is an ambition to increase engagement with our members on this issue," he said. The racism Brown in England cricket started after former Yorkshire and England U-19 skipper Azeem Rafiq said that he contemplated suicide after continuous racial abuse that he underwent at Yorkshire.

PAK vs SA: Fawad Alam calls his lost decade in international cricket his destiny

Fawad Alam was one of the emerging cricket in Pakistan cricket when he made his debut in 2010 against Sri Lanka and he announced his arrival with bang and scored a splendid century on his Test debut. However, the left hander faced setbacks and the Pakistan team management under various leadership groups overlooked Fawad Alam’s batting records in the domestic circuit. Having spent a decade away from the game at the highest level, Alam has announced his arrival once again. He has scored two centuries for Pakistan when the team was staring at a disaster against a good bowling attack. First he scored a century on the tour of New Zealand where all Pakistan batsmen struggled for runs, and another ton came yesterday when Pakistan were once again under pressure against a wobbly start against South Africa. For Alam, all those years in exile was part of his destiny and hence he never blamed anyone for the time away from Pakistan team. Alam after completing a splendid century said that if playing for Pakistan again was in his destiny, no one could deny him that opportunity and that he was willing to wait for his chances. He is optimistic and is not looking back at the time away from international cricket as a decade lost, instead he is focussing more on making the most of the chances. “Whenever I spoke to the media, I have never blamed anyone for not playing international cricket for 10 years. If it was in my destiny, then nobody could have taken it away from me. I am not thinking about the 10 years that have gone by, I am focussed on what my destiny has in store for me," Alam said. "I am looking to perform in whatever chances I get, even in domestic cricket as it's my bread and butter. I am not thinking on the lines that I have lost 10 years. I don't think about the 10 years going to waste. How can I say all the runs and records made in domestic cricket went in vain? I thank the almighty for whatever I have achieved and the respect that I have earned." He recognised the occasion of playing Test cricket at the National Stadium in Karachi as the special one as it was also his first international Test match on his home soil. Notably, Alam had made his first-class debut at the same ground in 2010. "I had my heart set on playing a Test match at my home ground in Karachi. This was also my Test debut in Pakistan and I had asked the Almighty to give me respect at my home venue and he did that," Alam concluded. Fawad Alam finished with the score of 109 that propelled Pakistan to a 158 run lead over South Africa in the first Test match of the series. Pakistan finished their first innings at 378 runs.