Neil Wagner ruled out of second Test against Pakistan; Matt Henry likely to play

BCCI turns down Yuvraj's request to come out of retirement

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has turned down former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh’s request of returning back to the game and play domestic cricket. The Punjab Cricket Association had earlier requested Yuvraj to play the domestic cricket for the state team as well as mentor the youngsters. Talking to Asianet Newsable, Yuvraj’s father Yograj has said that the left-handed cricketer still practices and can mentor the young crop. Meanwhile, besides playing, giving back to the boys and Indian cricket is very important. If he can produce four-five players for the country in the coming years, it would be great. I will be very, very happy. He continues to practice even today," Yograj told. I think it's all about how you feel. I believe it is very important to give back. If you are doing so, I think that is the greatest thing you are doing rather than playing cricket,” he added. Yuvraj had hung his boost in June last year but was set to come out of retirement. He was in fact included in Punjab’s list of 30 probables. The former cricketer played a massive role in India’s successful run during the World T20 in 2007 and the 50-over World Cup in 2011. India won the two tournaments under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Desperate Australia ready to play even '90% fit' David Warner at SCG

Under pressure after the defeat at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test, the Australian side is desperate to plug holes in their batting order. For that, they need David Warner at the top to set the tone, in order to provide a platform to the pair of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to dictate terms to opposition bowling attack. Warner is recovering from the groin injury he suffered in the ODI series against India, and has been included for the third Test at the SCG. There are few doubts on the status of his recovery, but Australian think tank has suggested that the left-hander will be included in the XI even with 90-95 per cent of fitness, in case Warner himself feels ready to go to the field. Australia assistant coach Andre McDonald has hinted that the head coach Justin Langer will have a word with the southpaw to assess where he is in terms of readiness for the third Test. "Look, if he's 90-95% fit and the conversation is that he's fit enough to be able to go out there and perform his duties for the team, then I'm sure that'll be a conversation the coach has with the player. Most times Justin (Langer) is pretty open with the players in terms of giving them accountability around that," McDonald said. Although McDonald neither confirmed the availability of Warner for the SCG Test nor he ruled him out in case of inadequate preparation before heading to the game, he said: "He's very optimistic that he should be ready to go, which is great news for us. We are really excited to have him back. I'm sure that he's excited to come back into the group as well. There's nothing worse than being injured when you are at the top of your game as David has been over a period of time." The Australian team has another riddle to solve at the top of the order as Will Pucovski is returning after suffering a concussion in the tour game before the series began and McDonald confirmed he will debut if the right-hander passes all process necessity to validate his recovery from concussion. "He will be put through tests whatever it needs to be put through to make himself available for selection to potentially open the batting. So it's good to have a little bit of depth out there," McDonald said. The hosts have failed to go past the 200 run-mark in both the Tests and a lot of it can be attributed to the slump in form for the team’s mainstay in the batting—Steve Smith. Smith has looked a pale shadow of himself, and Indian bowlers have been able to affect the mental aspect of his batting, along with challenging his technique with astute tactics and field placements. But McDonald is not too perturbed at him getting out cheaply as he believes the right-hander is batting very well in the nets, although Smith has not reached the double-digit score in all the four previous innings. "I wouldn't be too quick to be judging Steve Smith not looking good in the middle. He looks pretty solid and hitting the ball well at the nets," McDonald said. There will be changes to Indian playing XI as well as Umesh Yadav who had walked off the field with an injury in his calf muscle and may well be replaced by one among Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan. The third Test between Australia and India is scheduled to start on January 07 at the iconic SCG.

Big Bash League: Adam Zampa to miss next match

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa has been suspended for next match of the Big Bash League after "accepting a charge for an audible obscenity”. The news was announced by Cricket Australia in a statement on Thursday, December 31. In addition to the suspension, the leggie has also been fined $2500 in accordance to a Level 1 offence under CA Code of Conduct as well as one suspension point. The incident happened during the BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder on Tuesday. Thunder won the match pretty convincingly by 75 runs after bundling out Stars at 144 while chasing 220. Chris Green picked up four wickets in 4 overs at the cost of 34 runs. Earlier, Thunder rode on some aggressive batting from Alex Hales to post 219/7 in 20 overs. Hales notched up 71 off 29 balls that included five maximums and 8 fours. Ferguson too chipped in with a half-century. Zampa scalped a three-for and eventually returned with figures of 3/49 in 4 overs. Melbourne Stars will next lock horns with Hobart Hurricanes on Saturday in Hobart.

ICC Test Rankings: Kane Williamson surpass Kohli, Smith to No.1 rank

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has jumped to the top of the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen. Williamson has been in terrific form with the bat in the last few matches scoring a double century against West Indies and a hundred against Pakistan in the just-concluded Test against Pakistan. The absence of Indian captain Virat Kohli and the eartwhile number one batsman—Steve smith’s failures against India in the first two Test also played a role in Willliamson’s surge to the top of the rankings with 890 rating points. Smith dropped two positions in the latest ICC Rankings and is at 877 points, while Kohli remained at the number two position with 879 points. India’s stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rhahane who brought a magnificent century to lead the team to weight wicket win over Australia in the Boxing Day Test, has also jumped five positions to the number six spot on the ICC Rankings for batsmen in Tests. He stands at 784 rating points. In the bowlers’ ranking, Jasprit Bumrah has jumped two positions to the number nine position on the table, while off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin jumped a position to seventh on the Rankings table which is topped by Australian pacer Pat Cummins. His partner with the ball for Australia, Mitchell Starc has also jumped positions to break into the top five bowlers in the longest format of the game. Blackcaps [pacer Neil Wagner, who bowled his heart out in the first Test against Pakistan with broken toes slipped past Stuart Broad to the number three position on the Rankings table.