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Netherlands Tour Of South Africa Called Off Due To Fresh Covid Outbreak

Netherlands tour of South Africa called off due to fresh COVID outbreak

The Netherlands tour of South Africa has been called off due to a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in the rainbow nation. The series has been called off keeping in mind the travel restrictions that have come into effect from the United Kingdom.

With looming uncertainty over the travel scenario, the Netherlands team will be getting up on the earliest available flight to escape the mandatory quarantine period of 10 days that the UK will be imposing starting Sunday, 28 November.

The decision was taken at the time when the Netherlands were in the field against South Africa, playing the first ODI of the three-match series.

The Netherlands women’s team which is in Africa playing the Women’s World Cup Qualifier has been called back as well.

The withdrawal from the Netherlands comes as a fresh setback to Cricket South Africa's prospects as they have had to deal with multiple pull out due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier this year, Australia refused to travel for a full-fledged series citing the Covid threat. Going back in 2020, England pulled out of their limited-overs series in South Africa after multiple cases in their team hotel which inflicted massive financial damages to Cricket South Africa.

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Netherlands tour of South Africa 2021

Virat Kohli back in training ahead of Mumbai Test

Indian Test captain Virat Kohli is back in training ahead of the second Test match against New Zealand, scheduled to begin from 3 December in Mumbai. Kohli had taken leave after the T20 World Cup owing to bio-bubble fatigue. He chose to skip the T20I series against New Zealand and then the 1st Test against Kiwis of the World Test Championship calendar. Kohli had been in the bubble since the WTC final in June. Kohli trained at the facilities of Cricket Club of India in Brabourne Stadium for four days between Sunday and Thursday morning, reported The Times of India. The Newspaper added that Kohli requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the CCI facilities, and in turn the club obliged. Head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sanjay Bangar was also seen at the facility, accompanying the captain in his early morning practice. TOI quoted a source from the club stating that the focus of Kohli’s practice was leaving the ball outside off stump, specifically focusing on red ball. Kohli has not been at his usual best for a while with his last Test hundred coming in 2019 against Bangladesh. He did score a couple of half centuries in the last tour of England but the 28th century has eluded him for a while.

IND vs NZ | 1st Test, Day 2: Will Young, Tom Latham put on 100-run opening stand as Kiwis march on

Openers Will Young and Tom Latham put on a 100-run partnership for the first wicket and lead a strong New Zealand reply to India’s 345 runs in the first innings of the first Test in Kanpur. Young, who got into the playing XI only due to the hand injury to Devon Conway was sublime in his stroke play and strong in defence and scored a well-compiled half-century. On the other hand, Latham was more resilient of the two and he weathered tight spells from Indian pacers who were trying to attack his stumps and pads from round the wicket angle. Their century partnership is the first hundred run partnership between overseas openers since the partnership between Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings in the final innings of the Test series in 2016-17. Young looked assured on the front foot while defending and also make good use of the depth of the crease to punish short balls from Indian spinners. Both did not give the Indian bowling attack any chance to get back in the game and set the game up perfectly for New Zealand in the afternoon and final session of the second day. India posted 345 runs on the back of a century from Shreyas Iyer and twin half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill.

Sanju Samson to be retained by Rajasthan Royals for a staggering Rs 14 crores

Sanju Samson is set to be the first retention for Rajasthan Royals ahead of the Indian Premier League mega auction. ESPNcricinfo reported that Samson will be RR’s first retention and will be earning Rs 14 crores per season from the franchise. He was promoted as the captain of the Jaipur based side last season and rewarded their trust by notching up a career-best 484 runs in 14 matches. The report further stated that Rajasthan are looking to finalise their final three retentions by the next couple of days with Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer being the frontrunners for the two foreigners spot. Barring the two English superstars, the names of Liam Livingstone and Yashasvi Jaiswal have also been floating around. With a total of four retentions being allowed, the toss-up will be between the foreign players, two of whom, who have been out of international cricket for a considerable amount of time. While Stokes has taken a voluntary leave from cricket to work on his mental health, Archer has been out due to an elbow injury that he had been nursing for a while. The biggest concern for Rajasthan will be the money that will be spent over the whole arrangement. According to the rules, four retentions will cost Rs 42 crores in total, but if they choose to retain the uncapped Indian in Yashasvi Jaiswal, it would come down to Rs 40 crores. The retention window closes on November 30.

Fresh Covid-19 outbreak risks South Africa's home series against Netherlands as UK impose travel ban

Netherlands tour of South Africa has been put in jeopardy with a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa. The three match ODI series was set to conclude on December 1 but with the United Kingdom imposing a travel ban on South Africa from Friday, November afternoon, things look a little troubling. Several Netherlands’ players reside in the UK owing to their contracts with English county cricket sides and if they are not able to enter the country before 4 AM on Sunday, 28 November, they will have to go through a mandatory quarantine period of ten days. The quarantine will have to be paid out of their own pockets. With South Africa being under a temporary travel ban, the fear is that Netherlands’ players will be stranded in the country for an unknown amount of time. The first match of the series has already started and at the time of writing South Africa were batting at 43/2 after 10 overs. The match also sees the international return for Wayne Parnell, who had left South Africa on a Kolpak deal to play for Worcestershire. He becomes the first player to have been called back after a Kolpak deal.