Jos Buttler takes stunner on Day 1; sparks ‘Spiderman’ memes

Just focusing on my process & trying to replicate the things again & again: Ruturaj Gaikwad

Maharashtra skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has been in some terrific form in the past few months and stamped his authority with the bat after scoring four centuries in five matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Talking about the same, Gaikwad while talking to The Times of India said that he is just trying to focus on the process. “No secret. I’m just focusing on my process and not thinking much, just trying to replicate the things again and again,” he said. "(On scoring four centuries in a season) it feels amazing. But it would have been nice if we as a team, we would’ve gone through. Personally, it’s a good achievement and I’m proud of myself and my team,” he added. Maharashtra failed to qualify for the knockouts despite winning four out of the five matches due to less NRR. The right-handed batsman said that it was a bit harsh on the side especially after winning four games. "I think it (not qualifying) was harsh on us. We won four out of five games. In some other groups, teams who have lost two games out of five (Himachal, Vidarbha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka) have also made it to the next stage,” he said.

The Ashes | Pat Cummins tests Covid-19 negative, stays in isolation

In a big relief to the Australia Test side, their skipper Pat Cummins has tested negative for Covid-19 infection and can come back into the side after isolation of seven days. Cummins got ruled out of the ongoing Day-Night Test being played at the Adelaide Oval to allow Steve Smith to come back as Australia’s Test captain after a gap of four years. Cummins should walk back into Australia’s biosecure bubble after completing his term in isolation and before the Boxing Day scheduled to start on December 26 at the MCG. Cummins’s absence left a big void in the Australian bowling track with Josh Hazlewood already out to side strain. Australia are playing with Jhye Richardson, who is returning after three years, debutant Michael Neser and Mitchell Starc. Despite being known for his prowess with the pink ball, Starc's recent issues with consistency and accuracy can put Smith under bother with his error in line and length.

In spite of off-field turmoil, Virat Kohli not short of motivation to create history in South Africa

Amidst the drama and series of controversies over his status as the captain of the Indian ODI team, Virat Kohli has not lost sight of the next challenge that he and his side is about to face in the final days of this year. Kohli is mindful of the “different kind of challenge” and India’s torrid history in South Africa but he is not short of motivation to write a fresh history in the upcoming series starting December 26. He tasted his first overseas win as India’s Test captain on the last tour of South Africa on a pitch that asked both technical and mental questions out of the batsmen. Kohli said that the Johannesburg win in the 2018 series gave his side the belief that they could win not only odd Tests but also series on overseas tours. He urged his teammates to take some heart out of that performance against the “toughest conditions” on that tour and asked players to be ready to stand up to any conditions or challenges that come their way in the series. “South Africa was really the start for us as a team, travelling and starting to believe we can win series overseas," he said. "We built it up nicely in England, and Australia was an accumulation of all those efforts." "We can take a lot of motivation from that [Test win in 2018]; of course we probably won in the toughest conditions on that tour. So that should give us a lot of confidence that if we have the right mindset, and we start off the series with confidence and belief, we can stand up to any challenge that comes our way and take a lot of heart from it." "South Africa presents a different kind of challenge. The wickets have a lot of pace and bounce, and you have to be at your absolute best to perform there and get runs, get difficult runs. It's something we've tried to do as a team but probably left ourselves a bit too much to do at certain times, and when sessions have gone bad, they have gone very bad, which we have controlled well in the recent past with more experience and guys understanding conditions. So, I think we're well-placed in terms of experience, belief, and confidence that this time around we can do something special and get results we want as a team and overcome conditions to go and win a series." "South Africa is one place where we have not won a series yet, so we're motivated to do that, and the mindset is to go out there and win a series in any country that we play. We don't anymore think of just winning a Test match here and there, and we will do our absolute best that we can as a team to make sure we keep contributing towards that cause." Kohli’s strong words and high expectations of his teammates is not a new phenomenon and at times he has been criticised for drawing hyperbolic comparisons. However, neither Kohli nor India have bogged down since that tour of South Africa and they have won back to back Test series in Australia and came close to winning one series in England while giving them a run for their money in the series played in the year 2018. Kohli would also be eager to get back among runs as he will lead the batting group without Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, while the other two batsmen who have had success in South Africa in Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are going through a tough time with the bat. Kohli himself is short of big runs and his last century came in the year 2019 and a lot of India’s fortunes will hinge on his bat as he was the leading run-scorer in the three-match series in 2017-18 as well.

Team India off to South Africa; see pics

The Indian team is off to South Africa for three Tests and as many ODIs. The BCCI on its official social media handle made a post that was captioned, “All buckled up . South Africa bound.” The Test series between the two sides is slated to begin on December 26 in Centurion while the ODIs will commence on January 19, 2022 in Paarl. The selectors made a tweak in the leadership group ahead of the South Africa after Rohit Sharam was handed over the full time captaincy in the limited-overs format and he was also appointed the vice-captain in Tests. On the other side, Virat Kohli will now only lead Team India in Test format. Talking about the series, Kohli said that the side is motivated. "South Africa is one place where we have not won a series yet, so we're motivated to do that. And the mindset (anyway) is to go out there and win a series in any country that we play. We don't think of just winning a Test match here and there,” he said in the press conference. Unfortunately, Sharma will be missing the Test fixtures because of a hamstring injury. The right-handed batsman had a brilliant start to his captaincy career after he led India to a 3-0 clean sweep win against New Zealand in T20Is at home.