Pandya is in the Dhoni-Yuvraj league of finishers: Gautam Gambhir

Indian spinners not the same without Dhoni: Kiran More

Former India wicketkeeper KiranMore believes that India is missing former captain and wicket-keeper MS Dhoni, not in the finishing front but as a guiding light to the Indian spinners from behind the wickets. ‘‘During Dhoni’s time, he was constantly giving advice to bowlers on what length or line to bowl - albeit mostly in Hindi. Now that Dhoni is not there behind the wickets, India’s spinners are struggling,” More told WV Raman, another former India cricketer, and Indian women’s team coach, during a chat. “You will see Kuldeep (Yadav) or (Ravindra) Jadeja are no longer the same bowlers," he added. Talking about how it is becoming difficult for Virat to motivate his spinners or talk to them, More, who played 49 Tests and 94 ODIs for India and took 173 catches, explained how the spinners are lacking inspiration. "He has done it for 10-12 years. Virat Kohli could afford to stand in the deep, but now he has to either stand at short extra cover or mid-off to talk to the bowlers,’’ added the 58-year-old. Both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav had been ineffective in the ODI series. Although Chahal did improve in the first T20I taking 3/25 in his 4 overs after coming on as a concussion substitute for Jadeja in Manuka Oval, Canberra. But in the second game, he was again taken for the cleaners leaking more than 50 runs in just four overs at the SCG.

New BBL rule may increase the potential of spot-fixing, worries CA

The new BBL rules are in the contention of being a potential threat for spot-fixing in the league worries Cricket Australia. In a recent report by The Age, CA has asked commentators to take caution while having chat with on-field players. The rule that is in the line of the bookies according to CA is the Bash Boost, which is a point given to the chasing or the defending team in the middle of the second innings. If the chasing side are above the equivalent 10-over score of their opposition, they get the point, if they are below it, the defending team gets the point. According to CA, they would advise the commentators not to talk to the players, especially batters in the 10th over or the overs leading up to it, so as to maintain the integrity of the game. Malcolm Speed, formerly associated with teh International Cricket Council, however, is of the opinion that the rule change wouldn’t really cause any problem, as the bookies wouldn’t really be interested in it. "I wouldn't be too concerned about it. If you want to have an exotic field, you can choose if it's the eighth over, the 10th over, the 12th over ... and if you have got the fix in, that's an opportunity,” The Age quoted him as saying. “But I don't think putting the emphasis on the 10th over is going to have the bookies doing handstands and saying: 'That's our opportunity, that's the one we have been waiting for'. I don't think it's any different to what's been there previously," he added. The CA has added three new rules such as Power Surge', 'X-factor Player' and 'Bash Boost' to make the league more engaging.

AUS A vs IND A: Will Pucovski gets hit on head by Kartik Tyagi as match ends in draw

Australian side has been dealt a massive blow in the first-class game between Australia A and India A. On the third and the last day of the game, India A pacer Kartik Tyagi extracted good bounce on the third ball of the third over of Australia A second innings and caught Pucovski off-guard as the right-hander took his eyes off the ball and went for an unconvincing half-hearted hook shot. He went down in pain and left his bat onto the ground immediately after getting stuck. Team physiotherapist came out and took Pucovski out of the ground in a good sign that he did not suffer any major trauma. Pucovski was certain to debut in the First Test of the series between Australia and India starting December 18 in Adelaide and in case he gets ruled out due to the subsequent concussion after this blow on the head, it will be a major blow to the hosts’ chances with David Warner already under doubts due to injury to his legs. Earlier on the third day, the visiting India A side under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane declared their second innings on 189/9, giving a target of 131 runs to Australia A to win the three-day match.

SA vs ENG: Concerns over bio bubble raised anxiety among players, says Ashley Giles

Anxieties and insecurity about the level of safety under the bio bubble among players led to the abandonment of the ODI series between South Africa and England, the Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket, Ashley Giles has said. He also said that the facilities and bio-secure environment provided to them in South Africa were not up to the standards of their expectations as there were as many as two ‘unconfirmed’ cases of COVID-19 were reported from the tourists’ camp. The talks about the integrity of the bubble started going rounds after five members within the bubble were reported to be Covid positive. At first, a member in the South African camp reported to have tested positive, which led to the postponement of the first ODI at Newlands, followed by the emergence of two positive cases among hotel staff in subsequent rounds of testing which forced both the board to delay the second ODI as well. Another round of testing was prescribed and after the reports of two England squad members found to be positive, the second match too was postponed. The ECB and the team management on the tour had sought ‘independent ratification’ of the unconfirmed cases in their camp before making up their mind on the modalities of the remaining two fixtures out of a three-match series. The tourists still believe that the result of ratification will give a false positive result of the cases reported in their camp, but the growing anxiety among the squad members would not have left them in a proper mental state to play two back-to-back matches on December 08 and 09, before taking the flight home on December 10 and hence the tour was adjourned. "It came down to well-being. I don't think it's the last three weeks, it could be the last eight or nine months. These guys have been living in bubbles for long periods and their mental health is the absolute priority for us. Clearly, this was a situation for all of us in the bubble. Not just players but management and the South African players and management. We felt trying to squeeze two games into two days here when this had been going on in the background was going to be particularly difficult and we're better off calling it and looking to re-arrange these fixtures at a better time," Giles said on the level of problems the squad was facing before the decision to call off the series was taken. The abandoned series against England will hurt the image of Cricket South Africa which is already battling many issues ranging from systemic racism and administrative failure and interventions from the federal government.