Rajasthan Royals sign up Tabraiz Shamsi for remainder of IPL 2021

Sunil Gavaskar attacks Nasser Hussain, says India don't 'moan' about pitches

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was in a relentless mood during the Sony Sports Network's pre-match broadcast of the third Test between India and England in Leeds as he lashed out at Nasser Hussain during a tricky interaction. He appeared miffed with a column written by the former England captain who had written that the current Indian team led by Virat Kohli will not be bullied by any sort of aggression as their predecessors were. Hussain’s opinion on previous generations of Indian cricketers did not go down too well for the first little master of the game. He asked a reasonable clarification about the opinion from Hussain and reminded the series wins in 1986 and 1996 against what he called “better English sides”. He was also not happy with the English press and former cricketers repetitively questioning the quality of pitches in the Test series between India and England earlier this year. He had rebuked them saying “chal fut”, meaning go away with your opinions. Now, on the verge of the third Test in Leeds, Gavaskar reiterated that the Indian team have not “moaned” about the extra assistance on offer for pacers. He said that the pitches in Nottingham and Lord's were fairly green for pacers but they have taken it upon themselves to fight out the tough conditions.

Fresh from Lord's verbal battles, James Anderson leads England fightback in Leeds

After engaging and losing verbal battles with Indian players in the second Test at Lord’s, James Anderson looked determined to answer India’s sledging with the ball in hand. He was at his very best right from the start of the third Test at Headingley and deceived the in-form batsman KL Rahul with the one that nipped away, even before he could get off the mark. He followed it up with another big wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara, who too got sucked into playing at one he should have left. He was lured by incoming deliveries one after another before the champion pacer swung one away from him while bowling from wide of the crease. He then got the big fish, Indian skipper Virat Kohli, forcing him to drive at a fuller ball, just moving away, a bit too late from him. With three wickets, he was bursting with energy and bowled brilliantly in his eight-over spell in the morning session. India fielded an unchanged playing XI from the one that played and triumphed at Lord’s while England made two changes in Dawid Malan, who replaced struggling Dom Sibley, and Craig Overton, who replaced an injured Mark Wood. Virat Kohli finally won his first toss after losing eight consecutive tosses and decided to bat first. England skipper Joe Root did not mind the opportunity to bowl first on a fresh Headingley pitch and Anderson vindicated his stance with two early wickets. India are 1-0 up in the five-match long series after a spirited win at the Home of Cricket.

Virat Kohli- Joe Root exchange heated words in Lord’s Long Room: Report

It has come to light that after the animated exchange that took place between England pacer James Anderson and Indian bowler Jsprit Burmah on the field at the end of the third day’s play at Lord’s during the second Test, players were involved in heated conversations in the Lord’s Long Room as well. According to The Telegraph’s report, Indian skipper Virat Kohli and English captain Joe Root had a heated conversation in the Long Room after Jasprit Bumrah bowled a barrage of bouncers to James Anderson in a ten-ball over that transpired before Anderson was eventually bowled in the next over by Mohammad Shami. The report said that things seemed like getting out of hand before interventions by a few people cooled it off. Earlier in his weekly column for The Telegraph, Anderson had revealed that emotions got better of him during the interactions with Bumrah. "I was angry at the end. The emotion got the better of me and I felt I had to say something. I felt bad for doing that because it drew attention away from Rooty celebrating an amazing inning as he came off the field,” he had written. India went on to win the Lord’s Test through an incredible comeback on the fifth day and has now taken a 1-0 led in the series with three matches to go. The third Test begins on Wednesday, August 25 at Headingley, Leeds.

Craig Ervine becomes fifth Zimbabwe captain since 2020, to lead side on Ireland-Scotland tour

The great captaincy juggle in Zimbabwe cricket continued even as they named Craig Ervine skipper for the team’s Ireland and Scotland tour starting August 27 in Clontarf. The left-hander has become the fifth man since 2020 to lead the team in limited-overs cricket. Prior to him, the team have tried Chamu Chibhabha, Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza and Test captain Sean Williams in the same role with little success. Although this would be the first captaincy experience of the 36-year-old in limited-overs cricket, he previously led Zimbabwe in a Test match, against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2020. The southpaw has played 18 Tests, 96 ODIs and 26 T20Is for the Chevrons. However, he missed out on the ODIs, T20Is and lone Test against Bangladesh at home. The Zimbabwe team will play five T20Is and three ODIs against Ireland and the ODIs will be part of the Cricket World Cup Super League, which is also the qualifying tournament for the 2023 ODI World Cup to be hosted by India. With just a single victory from their six games in the league so far, Zimbabwe are placed bottom. Only the top seven tames will qualify directly for the World Cup with India qualifying as a host to make the top eight teams. The rest two would come through a qualifying tournament. From Ireland, the Ervine led side would march south to Scotland and play three T20Is in Edinburgh as well. Zimbabwe squad for Ireland and Scotland tours: Craig Ervine (capt), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Wessely Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tarisai Musakanda, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tiripano, Sean Williams