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India’s Fighting Draw, Ashwin Retirement And Samson Dropped – December 18 Cricket Highlights

Aakash Saini

Team India and Ravichandran Ashwin [Source: AP, @whos_snext/x]Team India and Ravichandran Ashwin [Source: AP, @whos_snext/x]

Jasprit Bumrah sparked a late Indian fightback in the drawn Gabba Test after another rain-marred day. Concurrently at the same venue, legendary Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket. In India, dashing wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson was dropped from Kerala’s squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 season.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest news that emerged out of Wednesday, December 18.

India, Australia Share Honours In Rain-Marred Gabba Test

Team India held on to a fighting draw against Australia in the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test after a rain-marred Day 5 at the Gabba. The hosts, after securing an 185-run first innings lead, had its entire top-order jolted by Indian seamers Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep.

After overnight heroics with the bat, Bumrah put the new ball to good use by dismissing Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne in quick succession, while Akash got rid of Nathan McSweeney and Mitchell March as the hosts crashed to 28-4 at one stage. Mohammed Siraj also snared two of his own in the form of Steve Smith and Travis Head before Australian captain Pat Cummins made early declaration at 89-7. Chasing 275 runs for a victory in the middle of constant rain delays, the Indian innings lasted just 2.1 overs as both captains shook hands to acknowledge the drawn affair.

Ravi Ashwin Retires From International Cricket

Legendary Indian all-rounder and 2011 World Cup winner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket on Day 5 of the Brisbane Test against Australia. Ashwin, who was ruled out of the playing XI, made the sudden announcement and brought an end to his decorated 14-year journey with Indian cricket.

Ashwin bowed out of the game with 537 Test wickets, 228 white-ball scalps for an overall tally of 765 international wickets. The 38-year-old also notched up six Test centuries in his 106-match career, and maintained a composed batting average of 25.75.

Jimmy Peirson Makes Light Work Of Stars In Brisbane Heat Win

Jimmy Peirson carved 72 unbeaten runs from just 56 balls while Max Bryant made 36* from 22 as the two shared an unbroken 78-run partnership to navigate defending champions Brisbane Heat to an eight-wicket victory in the penultimate over against Melbourne Stars at the MCG.

Earlier in the match, the Stars conjured 162-6 courtesy of a fluent 46 from wicketkeeper-batter Sam Harper and a sharp 32 from opener Joe Clarke. Captain Marcus Stoinis also muscled 26 off just 17 balls from his end, but a three-wicket haul from Xavier Bartlett prevented the Stars from flourishing further at the death. The outcome marked the second defeat in succession for the Stoinis-led Stars in the ongoing Big Bash League 2024-25 season.

Joe Root Soars Past Brook In ICC Test Rankings

English batting legend Joe Root regained his number one spot on the ICC rankings for batters in Tests. The 34-year-old recently accumulated 218 runs in six innings against New Zealand at an average of 43.60. Root and his teammate Harry Brook swapped their top two positions on the rankings, with the latter slipping to number second with 876 rating points.

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, rising Indian star Yashasvi Jaiswal and Australian batting dynamite Travis Head round up the top five charts on the ICC rankings. Sri Lankan batting prodigy Kamindu Mendis, South African skipper Temba Bavuma, New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, India’s Rishabh Pant and Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel took the subsequent five slots to sum up the latest top 10 batting charts.

Sanju Samson Dropped From Kerala’s Squad

Sanju Samson was excluded from Kerala squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 season. As per reports, the dashing wicketkeeper-batter was excluded for not attending Kerala’s three-day training camp earlier this month.

Salman Nizar was appointed as Kerala’s new captain to fill in for Samson, while players like Mohammed Azharuddeen M and Ajnas M will now serve as the primary wicketkeeping options for the team.