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Ravichandran Ashwin wins February’s ICC Men's Player of the Month award

Ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has won the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Player of the Month Award for February.  In the three Tests that he played in February, the 34-year-old picked 24 wickets and hit a century, helping India reach the World Test Championship Finals. 

The awards were introduced only last month. West Indies’ Kyle Mayers, who made became the first cricketer to score a double hundred in the second innings, to chase down 395 against Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series, was the first recipient of the award. 

Ashwin, who had to take 23 wickets in the four-match Test series against England to reach his milestone of 400 Test wickets, took 32 wickets and was adjudged Man of the series. 

Along with his brilliant bowling, Ashwin also scored a brilliant hundred at his home ground of MA Chidamabaram during the second Test match. 

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Things we can control, we have to control: Justin Langer laments slow over rate costing Australia WTC Final spot

Australian coach Justin Langer has called the slow over mistake committed by his team as something ‘really slack’ after it came down to a difference of 0.3 percentage points between them and their trans-Tasman neighbours New Zealand to qualify for the inaugural Wolrd Test Championship. In an interview with Australian radio SEN, Langer explained how perplexed and distraught he felt after realising the mistake made by his team during the Melbourne Test. “It wasn't until after the game that we realised our over-rate was down. Now, that's really slack on our behalf,” he said. Langer, 48, further went on to tell how he had said in a very grumpy tone to his players and skipper Tim Paine how those two overs can cost them the World Test Championship. "I remember we were in the Team room after the game, I spoke to Painey and Dene Hills, our analyst, about it. I was a bit grumpy about it and I thought 'imagine if this cost us the World Test Championship'," Langer said. "And I mentioned it to the players afterwards that two overs down could cost us the World Test Championship. And so, we have to get better at that and make sure it doesn't happen in Sydney and Brisbane,” he added. However, the four points cut after the slow over-rate in MCG did eventually come back to bite the Aussies. After cancelling the South Africa tour and India defeating England 3-1 in the series, Australia remained stranded on the third position in the Points Table. Saying that they have learnt the lesson of at least controlling the controllable, Langer said, "It's very disappointing, but the lesson is the things that we can control, we have to control. And we can't relax for a second in Test cricket."

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I lost 5kg in a week: Ben Stokes reveals England players suffered weight loss on India tour

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has revealed that he along with few other teammates had sudden weight loss during the fourth and final Test against India after a stomach illness. “Players are totally committed to England and I think that was emphasised last week when a few of us went down with illness that made operating in 41 degree heat particularly taxing,” Stokes was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. “I lost 5kg in a week, Dom Sibley 4kg and Jimmy Anderson 3kg among others. Jack Leach was ducking off the field in between bowling spells and spending more time than is ideal in the toilet,” he added. The visitors suffered a 1-3 defeat in the four-match Test series against India. The home side thumped England by an innings and 25 runs in Ahmedabad to seal the series and march into the WTC finals. Stokes though praised the Indian team but also added that the English players too put in a lot of effort. “This is in no way an excuse, because everyone was ready to play, and India and Rishabh Pant especially produced a terrific performance, but I take off my hat to the effort that was put in by players who gave everything they had to try and win for England,” Stokes said. Talking about the performance of the side, Stokes suggested that this as the first tour to India for some players and this series will prove to be “steep learning curve” for them. “For a lot of guys this was their first tour of India and it has been a steep learning curve, but that is part and parcel of being a cricketer at this level. The next test is how you react to those moments,” he said. “I wouldn’t want any player, especially a young lad like Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley or Dom Sibley, leaving this tour and thinking they are not good enough to be here. They most definitely are.” While England were knocked out of the WTC final after losing the third Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium, India rode on the emphatic win in the fourth Test to go into the title clash. The WTC final will be played in Southampton between India and New Zealand in June.