Ishant Sharma becomes only 6th Indian to pick up 300 Test wickets

Ishant Sharma achieved a remarkable feat of 300 Test wickets in the ongoing match between India and England at Chepauk in Chennai. He reached the milestone on the fourth day’s play when he trapped England batsman Dan Lawrence in front of the wicket.

He joined the elite club of Indian bowlers comprising Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Zaheer Khan, who have taken 300 wickets in their Test career.

He’s just 11 wickets away from the 311 Test wickets of Zaheer Khan to become the highest wicket-taker among Indian pacers behind Kapil Dev who achieved 434 wickets his Test career.

Ishant has made a comeback after an ankle injury that ruled out of the tour of Australia that preceded the series against England. He looked short of rhythm on the first day, but bounced back quickly on the second day with his immaculate lengths, and picked up two big wickets of Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer on consecutive deliveries on the second day.

Ishant has reached the milestone of 300 wickets in his 98th Test, with an average of 32.25 runs per wicket and he has been instrumental in turning around India’s improved bowling performance son overseas tours in the recent past. He has bowled exemplary in all conditions in England, Australia, and South Africa and has led the Indian bowling admirably well.

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Rishabh Pant donates match fees for relief work in Uttarakhand

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has announced donating his match fees from the ongoing Test match against England in Chennai. Pant took to his Twitter to express his ‘pain’ over the disaster in Uttarakhand, his native state, and said the donation will be made to help the rescue efforts in the state. He also urged his fans and followers to extend helps to people of Uttarakhand who have been hit by the glacial break. There was a glacial breach in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, and while experts are yet to identify the exact cause of the breach, it has reportedly killed around 150 people in the nearby areas. The phenomenon behind the latest disaster in the state surrounded by the Himalayas has been termed Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). Pant has emerged as a match-winner for India with the bat in recent times as his 89 not out helped the team win a historic series in Australia. He followed his batting magic with another counterattacking 91 against England in Chennai.

Vijay Hazare Trophy: Injury rules out Manoj Tiwary, Majumdar remains skipper of Bengal

Experienced Bengal batsman and India cap holder Manoj Tiwary has not been picked in the Bengal team for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy (SMAT). Tiwary, 34 is suffering from a knee injury which he picked up during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Anustup Majumdar, Bengal’s hero from the last year’s Ranji Trophy has retained the captaincy even as the team crashed out from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy from the group stage in his captaincy. Shreevats Goswami, the wicket-keeper batsman will be his deputy while last year’s Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is with the Indian team as an injury cover has also been named in the 21 man squad for the 50-over tournament. Speaking about the SMAT crashing, Bengal head coach and former India cricketer Arun Lal said, "You can't hold baggage of the previous years or the previous tournament. It's a dynamic game, you move on, you learn from your mistakes, losses and forget about it.” "We are preparing very hard for the next," he added. Bengal would once again be playing at home in Elite Group E, which is stationed at the Eden Gardens. Other teams in the group are Services, Jammu and Kashmir, Saurashtra, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Chepauk to operate in full capacity for the first time since 2012

The three stands I, J and K of the MA Chidambaram Stadium, also called Chepauk in Chennai are going to be thrown open for the first time after 2012. This decision has been taken for the second Test of the India-England series which will be played from 13th February. Closed since 2012 due to various conflicts with the Municipal Corporation and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), people would be able to witness games from those stands as the tickets for the second Test would go on sale from 9th February onwards. TNCA Secretary R S Ramasaamy said that a total of 15000 tickets would be on sale and all the tickets would be sold online only. Since the closure of the stands, Chepauk missed out on hosting matches in the 2016 T20 World Cup as well as the IPL final of the 2019 season.

How George Linde bowled with a disfigured finger to scalp five wickets

South African left-arm orthodox spinner George Linde has picked up the first five-wicket haul in Test cricket as South Africa dismissed Pakistan for 298 in the second innings to set up a target of 370 for themselves at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi. Linde, 29, who is playing only his third Test, had got injured in the first innings as a Babar Azam straight drive hit him on his fingers in the follow-through. There were visible red spots on his whites and Linde rushed to the dressing room. "I started running off when I saw a bone sticking out and I just popped it in myself," he said. But to his surprise, his finger was not broken. "I went for X-rays and for some reason my finger wasn't broken. I was quite happy with that," added the Capetown born. Although he could only bowl 5.5 overs in the first innings, the left-hander contributed with the bat by scoring 21 runs in South Africa’s first innings. "I always say you never know when you will get another opportunity to play for your country. It's not going to get me down, because it's just pain,” Linde explained his decision of being part of the game It was in the Pakistani second innings that he actually pulled out a brilliant performance, finishing with the figures of 5-64 in his 26 overs. Sying that his injury is nothing compared to all the misery that people are going through, Linde exemplified team spirit. “There are people who are sick at home, people who are losing their jobs, people who are dying from Covid or other diseases or something. My injury is nothing compared to that," he said. On being asked about whether the little finger causing any hurdle to him to while bowling, he said, "I had to make a small adjustment with the grip. I didn't even know I use my pinkie (little finger) when I bowl. It's weird because every time I bowl, I have to first lift it up a little bit to get a better grip.” With 243 runs still needed for South Africa going into the last day at Rawalpindi, Linde's ability to handle the bat is going to come handy for the Proteas in levelling the series. Pakistan have won the first Test and have an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match series.