Jaffna Stallions become Lanka Premier League champions with dominant final win

My father’s death changed my attitude towards the game: Kohli

Just ahead of the first Test, Cricket Australia made two of the most looked up to, discussed and famous batters in Steve Smith and Virat Kohli sit in front of each other and discuss at length, the things that led to the success that they have had in their careers. During the interaction, answering a question about when did the Indian skipper thought of cricket as a real career prospect, Kohli said, “I always knew I wanted to play the game at the highest level.” “I always wanted to have that Blue shirt on and win games for India. But the time that I really thought I was going to make this career is when my father passed away. That’s the time I realized that I have got to get serious about it,” the 32-year-old added. Continuing further, Virat Told Smith that it was in the year 2006 when he had just turned 18 and that’s when he decided that cricket needed a proper commitment. “I became single-minded to play for India. I didn’t even think that I was going to get dropped ever,” he said. Smith on his part, answering a question as to how his cricketing journey began said, “Since I was about four years old, this is all I ever wanted to do. Play cricket.” “Every afternoon after school, my old man [father] would bowl to me. Ever since I held a bat I always wanted to be a cricketer and progressed through the ranks,” added the 31-year-old.

Virat Kohli picks Hanuma Vihari to play pivotal role in the Test series

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has picked young and upcoming lower middle-order batsman and more than good enough bowling option, Hanuma Vihari to play a key role in the upcoming Test series against Australia for India. Kohli believes that Vihari has got a solid technique and could therefore be the game-changer. “Yeah look, most runs [for India] I don’t know really, it could be anyone, but I am quite excited to see how Jinx [Ajinkya Rahane] goes. I am sure he will enjoy the responsibility of captaining. It’s his time to step up and I think he will really relish that opportunity. But, the one guy that I am really looking forward to seeing bat here is Hanuma Vihari. I think he is quite a solid player and really up and coming,” Kohli said while answering a question during his interaction with Steve Smith, which was uploaded on Cricket Australia’s official YouTube channel on the eve of the first Test between the two sides in Adelaide. The interaction was in a question-answer format where both Kohli and Smith were given cue cards with a question to ask each other. One such question asked both the players to predict the highest run scorers and highest wicket-taker in this series. Vihari has so far impressed on the tour as he has scored a century in one of the Warm-Up games. So far in 9 Tests, he has scored 552 runs in 16 innings with one hundred and fifties at an average of 36.8 The Indian skipper while picking the bowler said that he would like most of the bowlers to perform well and would want the highest wicket being shared like the last time. Smith, while answering the same question was hesitant in naming one person, but said that he would like to be the one.

Front press: The reason behind rising cases of concussion, says Gavaskar

Former India opening batsman and a batting legend, Sunil Gavaskar has called the batsmen’s trigger movement of going forward at the time of delivery of the ball as the reason behind rising cases of concussion or the ball hitting players in the head. During a discussion with AllanBorder on Sony Six channel, Gavaskar said, "It's more to do today with the fact that everybody has got this front press, where they are technically moving forward, which is a little bit difficult, which is the reason why on bouncy pitches you have [batsmen struggling]." "They are so much onto their front foot, they are not able to transfer their weight and then get out of the way. As a batsman you tend to get a little bit locked," added the 71-year-old. Calling it a technical fault, Gavaskar who played without a helmet throughout his career explained saying, "Most of the times batsmen getting hit on the helmet are in between the crease: where their front foot is outside the crease and their back foot in the crease. You will very seldom find a batsman getting hit if both his feet are inside the crease, near the stumps, because it has given the batsman that extra yard to either duck under the ball or sway out of the way. But that is not what is happening and that is the reason I believe they are getting hit." Giving examples of how those batsmen who are generally playing back and across agave more time in hand, the septuagenarian said "See, Virat Kohli plays [the] bouncer so well. Why does he play the bouncer so well? Because he has got that back-and-across movement, so he is sort of waiting on the back foot for that short ball.” The man who played 125 Tests for India and was the first batsman to get past 10,000 runs in International cricket gave another example from which cricketers of the present generation can learn. “Rahul Dravid, he used to wait on the back foot [to play] back-and-across. Sachin Tendulkar had a minimal front press, not a big front press. Therefore, he was still balanced when he played the short ball," He said.

AUS vs IND: Tim Paine banking on 'willing' teammates to trump Virat Kohli and team

The test series between Australia and India will be different in so many ways and it is evident even before any ball has been bowled in the series as the hosts which used to reveal their playing XI have opted to keep their cards close to their chests while the touring Indians have made revealed their playing XI for the Adelaide Test in a move not commonly associated with them. There are troubles for the hosts' captain Tim Paine with many players battling injuries and some lack of form. The absence of David Warner and Will Pucovski has made the selection calls complicated for Paine and Langer who are now weighing options of trying options such as the promotion of Matthew Wade to top of the order. Paine did not disclose the exact tactics the team was willing to walk into the Test but hinted strongly at giving Wade a go to open the innings. He praised the left-hander for showing a perfect attitude of a team man and pointed out the fighting spirit Wade had shown in the Test series against New Zealand when the Victorian had to put his body on the line against the barrage of short balls bowled by the Kiwi bowlers. "Look, he's (Wade) certainly an option to open the batting. No doubt about that. I think we've got a number of guys who are willing to open the batting. That says a lot about our group, not just Wadey. But Wadey in particular, we saw against New Zealand last year with the short-ball stuff, he's willing to put his body on the line for his team. We know he's as tough as nails and he'll do a good job no matter where he bats. It's been nice. Obviously, we have got a scenario where we could have a different opener and we've had a number of guys put their hand up to do it if that's the best thing for the team. That's a great thing for us as a side," Paine said on Wade’s credentials to open the batting for Australia in Tests. Concerns do not end here for Paine as the other opener who was a starter to the playing XI for the Adelaide Test, Joe Burns is horribly out of form but is not short of support from his captain and the leadership group that includes coach Justin Langer. Joe Burns was out of form in the first round of Sheffield Shield and hence was included in the Australia A team to find form but instead, the Indian pacers have been able to dent his confidence further by dismissing him cheaply in all the four innings he batted against them. But, captain Paine has reiterated his confidence in Joe Burns and said that the right-hander might be short of runs with the bat, but not lacking anywhere in terms of building up towards the first Test. Paine said that Burns averaged more than 40 runs per innings in Tests and it speaks of his class and consistency over a sling period of time. "Speaking to Joe, I don't think he is (lacking confidence). He's been looking forward to this Test match. His build-up in terms of runs hasn't been great but if you look at the work he's done solely in Test cricket for this team, it has been very, very good. He averages just over 40 in Test cricket," Paine added. Although Paine did not confirm that Burns will be included in the playing Xi, he dropped the strongest hint that the right-hander may well get a look in, saying that the team will back him to come good in Adelaide. He al;so said the selection of Burns will provide stability to the team selection and ultimately will benefit the team in the long run. "If Joe walks out to bat tomorrow we have full confidence in him doing the job, there's no doubt about that. Stability in good cricket teams, in good sports teams, is really important. That's something we've tried to build over the last two years is try and have that stability around selection, it takes the worry out of it for certain players," Paine added. The cricket fans and pundits were wondering what could have been the reason behind Steve Smith’s return from the nets on Tuesday. In the end, it turned out the right-hander was feeling soreness in his back but the team management was relieved that Smith came back to train on Wednesday. Paine confirmed that there were no injury concerns about Smith and that he will certainly play and also be an important factor for the Aussies’ batting line up. "He's played all the one-dayers. Once we got to Adelaide he batted for four days straight so his preparation has been pretty good... very good actually. He's been out in the middle of Adelaide Oval, batting under lights. We expect him to play. He's had a stiff back before. Yesterday was more precautionary; he's in to train today, so we'll see how he goes but yeah come tomorrow, whether he's fit and sore in the back, or stiff in the back - I think he normally gets up, gets through it and finds a way to score runs like he always does," Paine said on Smith’s batting form and injury concerns around him. Time Paine had said that the loss in the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar series was hard to swallow for both him and the team and that they were looking for opportunities to get back on a strong momentum against the Indian team which has won the last two Test series between the sides. Paine would need his team to put up a strong performance to ward off the bad record in the recent past against the Virat Kohli’s team.