Indian team clears first COVID-19 testing; begins outdoor training

Tussle between Sports Ministry, CSA looms large on South Africa-England series

The upcoming England tour of South Africa is under serious threat as Cricket South Africa faces the prospect of losing the status of the Cricket’s governing body in the country. The beleaguered cricket board was asked by the South African sports minister Nathi Mthethwa to allow the functioning of an interim board levied by him. The CSA Members’ Council that comprises presidents of all 14 provincial sides met yesterday to discuss the proposal of an interim board by the Sports Minister and decided against approving it. Minister Mthethwa followed it up with an ultimatum that if the CSA council does not give up and ratify the interim board, the sports ministry will impose a sanction on the board, withdrawing its rights of being the official governing body in the country. Addressing a press conference, Judge Zak Yacoob, who has been assigned the task of heading the interim board, said if the CSA does not take a decision on accepting the functioning of the board structured by the Sports Ministry, England team will be asked to halt their plans of coming to the rainbow nation. "I don't know what the thinking is in England but if the Members Council does not take a proper decision this evening, England will probably be seriously discouraged from coming," Judge Zak Yacoob said to the media. Yacoob stressed that the CSA must weigh in options in terms of disadvantage and find out by itself that approving the interim board will bring a lot less of damage than the facing the ire of sanctions by the Sports Ministry. Yacoob also urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to not view this imposition of the interim board as a form of government interference that may attract sanctions from the global governing body, as well as the ICC, does not accept any form of government interference for its member cricket boards. However, he highlighted that in his views some of the CSA officials have hinted that they would formally intimate ICC about interference from the government and called the move a continuation of misleading attitude. Yacoob also said that there is a possibility of personal communication from him to ICC and asking for no action at this point of time. "I am quite happy to personally approach the ICC in order to persuade them that the minister's conduct does not amount to interference because it does not.," Yacoob said in his willingness to address the threat of sanctions from ICC. However, he put the onus of ICC sanctions on the CSA and said: “"If the ICC steps in now, it would be because the Members' Council improperly resisted a reasonable effort to fix things.” The England cricket team is due to arrive in South Africa on November 16 and after a quarantine period of 10 days, they are scheduled to take on the South African side led by Quinton de Kock from November 27.

Sourav Ganguly reveals fitness status of Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha

IPL winning captain of the Mumbai Indians and Indian batting star Rohit Sharma is only 70 per cent fit and that was the reason behind selectors not risking him for the limited-overs series in Australia albeit he has been added into the Test squad for the series starting December 17, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said. “Rohit is still 70 per cent. Why don't you find out from Rohit himself? That is why he is still not picked for the ODIs and T20s down under. He has been added to the Test squad," Ganguly said in an interview with The Week magazine. Rohit Sharma had made a surprising comeback into the Mumbai Indians’ playing XI after national selectors had raised doubts over his fitness and said that he was under the watch of the BCCI medical team. His presence for his franchise and omission from the squads for the tour of Australian raised many eyebrows before the selectors announced his addition into the Test squad. However, the mystery surrounding his hamstring injury that he had picked up while running on October 18 in the game against the Kings XI Punjab remained deepened as people argued his presence in the IPL and absence from limited-overs series down under. Earlier, Sourav Ganguly had also cautioned Rohit Sharma against rushing in to play before fully recovering from injury calling that he has a big and long career ahead of him and that the IPL 2020 and the subsequent Australia series were not the end of his cricket career. Ganguly also defended the alleged opacity regarding the nature of injuries to Indian players calling people unaware of the functioning of the board and its different functionaries. With the reference to the hamstring injury to India’s Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, Ganguly said that the BCCI, physios and the team management are having all the necessary details regarding Saha’s injury. "Who should know? We know, the Indian physio knows, the NCA knows. I think people don't know how the BCCI works. The BCCI trainers, physio and Wriddhi himself know that he has two hamstring issues. People don't understand injuries, that is why they talk rubbish,” Ganguly said in his typical no holds barred manner. Ganguly also said that Saha will be fit for the Test series as he is not part of the limited-overs series and Test series will begin only mid next month.

Justin Langer rates Virat Kohli as 'probably the best player' he has seen

As the Indian team embarked on a two-month long tour to Australia for a full series, skipper Virat Kohli started getting all the limelight much before his bat could start talking, due to his paternity leave. But, Australian head coach Justin Langer has given Virat Kohli accolades for his batting and rated him probably the best batsmen he has watched all his life. Langer, who himself had a shining career at the top of the order for Australia also hailed Kohli for his passion and love for the game, which the Indian captain put on display while folding. "Virat Kohli is probably the best player I've ever seen in my life for so many reasons, not only batting but his energy and passion for the game, the way he fields," Langer told reporters in a virtual conference. The leave sought by Kohli will see him miss the last three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy scheduled to begin on December 17 in Adelaide. But, Langer saw an emotional part of Virat Kohli behind the decision-making process to leave the series after just one game. Langer said he too would have advised his players to not miss the birth of their first child as the moment is one of the greatest in a human's life. "He's a human being like all of us... if I was giving advice to any of my players I would always say never ever miss the birth of your children because it is one of the great things you'll ever do," Langer said further. Discussing the impact that Virat Kohli’s absence will leave on the widely-anticipated Test series, Langer reminded his team about the defeat they faced the last time the sides met in Australia and warned his players to not get complacent in his absence as Indian Test team will still pose a formidable challenge. "Of course it will have an impact, but we also know that India beat us last time. They're a very, very good team, we cannot get complacent for a second with or without Virat," Langer added in his remarks on the build-up to the series against India. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is likely to lead the side in absence of Virat Kohli while Rohit Sharma will join the squad in Australia for the Test series only. The absence of Virat Kohli will be a big factor and it will be a tough series for the Indian side to compete against an all-strong Australian side with the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner who had missed the last series between the sides.

Australia's coach Justin Langer backs out of form Joe Burns for India series

With the competition for an opener slot in the Australian Test team heating up between the incumbent Joe Burns and prodigy Will Pucovski, head coach Justin Langer has come in support of Joe Burns and said that the right-hander had formed nice chemistry with David Warner who is certain to feature in the playing XI in the first test against India in the Day-Night Test in Adelaide. Langer said that the opening pair of Warner and Burns worked well for the team the last series they played together and hinted that he is in no mood to fix something not broken. "Last time we played Test cricket, we loved the combination of Joe Burns and David Warner. They've got real synergy or chemistry. They work well together. So, at this point I'll say that that'll remain the same," Langer said. Langer batted for consistency in selection and warned against underestimating the role of these partnerships and consistency in picking players does to the performance of the team. He listed the successes of the pair in the last summer and how it did shape the Australian team in becoming the number 1 ranked side in the world. "There used to be a saying that it's harder to get out of the side than it is to get into the Australian cricket team. It's actually really important because when guys have done a really good job for us - like in this case that Joe and Davey did for us last summer, there's a reason we're ranked the No.1 Team in Test cricket at the moment. Those sorts of partnerships are really important, so we should never underestimate that," Langer added. Earlier yesterday, selectors picked 22-year-old Will Pucovski who has been in red-hot form in the first round of the Sheffield Season piling up two consecutive double centuries. On the other hand, Joe Burns has not been in good touch in the last few innings and Australia A fixture against Indian team would have determined the fate of Burns over Pucovski for their place in playing XI in the Adelaide Test. Langer’s backing will send some sense of relief to Burns but he would not like the prospect of walking into the big game against India with lack of runs and subsequent short on confidence.