ICC Rankings: Williamson reaches joint second with Kohli, closes in on Smith

Kane Williamson to take paternity leave; coach Gary Stead says 'other things are much more important'

New Zealand’s skipper in Tests and ODIs, Kane Williamson may well miss out from the few games of the series against Pakistan that will be the ongoing series against West Indies, and the team management will not have any problem with him prioritising the family over cricket. Head coach Garry Stead has hinted that Williamson will opt for paternity leave and that the move will be justified as in his words ‘other things are much more important’ than playing the game when the family is in need. The series against Pakistan will comprise three T20Is from December 18 and Two Tests and starting December while Williamson and his partner Sarah Raheem are expecting their first child later this month and this may force the right-hander to miss some of the matches of the series in ‘worst-case scenario.’ Garry Stead said that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be around your family at the occasion of the first child and that then the moment will be special for Williamson as well. "Worst case scenario, Kane misses some matches. As a dad, as a parent, you only get that opportunity once in your life to be there for your (first) child's birth and I know that it's important for Kane too. At the end of the day, we play cricket, and other things are much more important. And that is much more important," Stead said after the completion of the first Test against West Indies that the hosts won by a whopping margin of an innings and 134 runs. The discussion around prioritizing family over cricket dominated headlines as the debate ignited on the issue of players opting for personal life over professional and patriotic commitments. Pandemic related travel restrictions and compulsion for players to be in travel bubbles to be able to play cricket. Earlier last month, Indian captain Virat Kohli, too, opted for paternity leave after the scheduled end of the first test between India and Australia as he and his partner Anushka Sharma are expecting their first child back in India and the travel restrictions will mean that the most important batsman of the Indian batting line up will miss out of the remainder of the Test series. The year that has been plagued by pandemic has forced players to weigh options such as their and their families' safety over playing cricket and it has been a serious departure from early days when players kept on playing irrespective of the situations in their families back home.

BBL 2020-21: Botha comes out of retirement for Hobart; Tom Curran pulls out

Former South African spin all-rounder Johan Botha has come out of retirement to play for the Hobart Hurricanes, the side he abandoned in the 2018 season midway. Botha,38, says he wants to finish his long BBL career with a flourish and not the way he did last year. “Obviously, the Hurricanes is the last team I finished with, and it wasn’t quite the end I wanted,” Botha who has joined the Hurricanes as local talent, after becoming a naturalized Australian citizen, was quoted as saying in the Hurricanes’ official Press Release. “I figured I’m as fit as I’ve ever been, and I feel I can still make a contribution to the team. I’ve missed playing but I didn’t really want to put it out there and say ‘can you pick me’ in case it didn’t work out, so we kept it quiet from when we first chatted about it at the Shield hub in Adelaide, and it slowly built up from there,” he added, divulging the details of how he came to such a decision. Botha has over the years represented three teams in eight seasons of the league, taking 39 wickets in 65 games while scoring 619 runs at the same time. Botha will be joined by Charlie Wakim, as replacement players for Matthew Wade and Tim Paine whilst they, are on international duties. The Hurricanes play the Sixers in the inaugural BBL game at the Blundstone Arena on 10th December. On the other hand, Tom Curran, the English bowling all-rounder became the second England player after fellow teammate Tom Banton to pull out of the BBL citing bubble fatigue. "I'm really sorry not to be playing in this year's Big Bash. As you'll already know, it's been a very challenging year and I've been in bubbles since July,” Curran said in a statement. "I feel very lucky to play for the Sixers, I have loved my time with you all over the last two seasons and I can promise you, this decision was not taken lightly. I will hopefully be back for many years to come, recharged and ready to go again, but for now I just need some time, normality, see family and be home," added the 25-year-old who has taken 157 wickets and scored 972 runs in 133 T20 games in his career.

Australia vs India | 3rd T20I: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

It’s all but over in the limited-overs tour of the Indian team down under and it goes without saying, that it has been a tour full of bittersweet memories. This would be the last time when the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, and most importantly T. Natarajan and Hardik Pandya, two of India’s finds (in Hardik’s case, finding him as a pure batsman) of the tour, are seen in the national colours before a long break. However, the last game, dead rubber by all means, still holds a lot for both teams. A test before the 'Tests' The Test series begins on 17th December in Adelaide and it would be a day/ night affair. The likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, KL Rahul, and Matthew Wade, it presents itself as an opportunity to test themselves and find the right fit with the form before the big game. Practice games, after all, won’t give the feel of playing in a full house SCG. Team India might want to give the likes of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, some must required practice before the Test series. On the Other hand, Australia would like to go big and get that solitary win to get the momentum into the Pink Ball Test. Will the Hardik Pandya story continue! Pandy, 27, seems to be in the best touch batting wise and he is encashing it by winning critical games for the team. He too believes that he is batting the best. "I felt that throughout the IPL I was batting well. It's just that when I feel it is my time to do it and the team wins, that's the happiest [feeling]," he said in the post-match presentation. With the range of shots that he has and the way he has been middling the ball, Team India would want him to go full blast in the final and so would the audiences and fans who would fill the SCG to enjoy the game. Aus vs Ind: Match Details Match No. - 3rd T20I Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Broadcast: SonyLIV, Sony Ten Network, DD Sports Date and Timing: 2nd December, 01:40 pm IST, 08:10 GMT Pitch Report The pitches at SCG, both in the ODIs and in teh last T20I have been pure belters with almost no help for the bowlers (apart from the odd slower one gripping the surface). Added to that is the shortness in the size of the ground in one direction. It has made the wicket a flat deck with only runs to be got from. In such a situation, expecting anything less than 180 from teh team batting first would be a criminal offense Weather and Toss The weather in Sydney will remain pleasant for playing cricket and hence teams would be looking to chase once again. The only advantaging of chasing on the ground is that team has a set target and can decide how to go about it,. Otherwise, there is no due and the pitch also remains the same throughout. Team News Australia The Australian team is without its original captain Aaron Finch, who wasn’t available due to a hip injury. Whether he has recovered fully or not is still to be confirmed. In case he hasn’t then the same team is likely to play. If Finch comes in, he would most likely replace the opener D’Arcy Short as Matthew Wade has proved that he is good at the opening spot, while Short hasn’t really got going. Strongest XI D Arcy Short/ Aaron Finch(c), Matthew Wade (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Daniel Sams, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye India The Indian team has done really well in teh last game and since most of these players won’t be getting a game soon, the probability of the team remaining unchanged is very high, until and unless Virat wants to test the pairing of Bumrah and Shami. In batting, no change seems like the order of teh day. Strongest XI KL Rahul (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal Australia vs India: Dream11 and fantasy team suggestions KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Steven Smith(vc), Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya(c), Marcus Stoinis, Moises Henriques, Shardul Thakur, Adam Zampa, T Natarajan Captain: Hardik Pandya Vice Captain: Steve Smith

Coach Misbah-ul-Haq points adverse impact as Pakistan clear final COVID-19 test

The members of the Pakistan squad on the tour of New Zealand have returned negative results for their fifth and final round of COVID-19 testing conducted on the 12 th day of arrival. No fresh positive cases in the last round will come as a relief to the team management reeling under pressure from 10 members have tested positive for the highly-contagious virus. As per the advisory of the New Zealand Cricket, the tourists will travel to Queenstown in order to prepare for the T20 and Test series provided they get an approval from the Health Ministry while the other members who have been found Covid-19 positive will remain under strictly managed isolation. The Pakistan squad has been under the observation of the local health officials after they were found breaching the coronavirus containment protocols while sharing food and mingling with each other without a mask. As many as 10 members of the squad have tested positive out of which two have been deemed ‘historic’ by the health officials while the other eight were active cases. The health officials had issued a final warning to the squad against flouting the norms again and were informed that they will be sent back home without any cricket on the tour. However, their conduct improved after being served the notice and the health officials recognised the improved compliance of the tourists. Squad members reporting positive for Covid-19 hampered the preparation of the Pakistan team as they were barred to get out of the stricter isolation for outdoor training. Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has said that the extended period in isolation has affected both the physical and mental aspects of his players and that the preparation for the series have also affected severely. “While we completely respect and understand the New Zealand government laws … there is no denying the fact that the implementation of certain regulations has affected our athletes, both mentally and physically. when we will leave the isolation facility in the next day or two, we will try to put all this behind us and focus on the challenge of facing New Zealand in both the formats,” Misbah said in a statement. Pakistan will take on New Zealand in a three-match T20 series starting December 18 followed by a two-match Test series starting December 26.