Ravindra and Abbas impress in 'unofficial' Test against New Zealand A

Ashwin picks four as Australia lag behind

Ravichandran Ashwin was the star of the show as India bundled out Australia for 191 on the second day of the pink-ball Test.

Match Preview: Renegades seek to regain poise against Hurricanes

Both Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades are coming off a loss in their previous game. For Hurricanes, the loss came after two good victories so isn't that big an issue presently. However, the Renegades suffered a humiliating defeat in their match against Sydney Sixers, going down by a massive 145 runs. Conceding 205 runs in T20 game isn't such a big setback in the current T20 cricket scenario. But getting bowled out for 60 must have shattered the morale of the Renegades unit. But T20 cricket is also very fickle and it wouldn't take an upset for the same team to bounce back. Hurricanes Look to Regain Winning Ways Despite their loss to Adelaide Strikers in the last game, there is no reason for Hobart to panic. Their batting line-up is in good shape with most of the key players showing good form. Openers D'Arcy Short and Will Jacks form a good opening pair with the former already having a fifty under his belt. The rest of the batting line-up is also able to get good starts. The foreign player that they have acquired - Colin Munro - has shown that he is a valuable import. The Kiwi batsman's hitting ability is well known but the question has always been about his consistency. His batting so far in the season has been good. The problem is currently with their captain Peter Handscomb's returns so far. He is supposed to play the role of a pivot in the innings. That hasn't happened yet. Lower-order batsman Tim David scored a fifty which adds some strength to that section of the line-up. Macalister Wright has also been sub-par while Ben McDermott's knock in the last match has given another batting option for the top order. The bowling also looks in reasonably good shape. James Faulkner has been brilliant. Some support has been there but not consistent enough from other bowlers. Scott Boland had a good spell in the last game. But the disappointment so far has been Nathan Ellis. After his brilliant efforts last season, more was expected of him. Renegades Need Morale-Booster When you get bowled out for 60, it must be a very bitter experience. But Renegades have the batting firepower to get over this setback. They possess, possibly, the best opening combination in the league - Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch. This opening pair would have to be dislodged early else, they can cause severe damage. The rest of the batting line-up is less high-profile. South African Rilee Rossouw should add some strength to the middle order. Wicketkeepr Sam Harper has been asked to bat at the no. 3 spot. Since not much has come out of this move, there may be a reshuffle on the cards. Kane Richardson is the leader of the pace attack in normal conditions and he has Josh Lalor for support. Tall leggie Peter Hatzoglou is the one to watch out for. As is often the case with leg-spinners, he can go for runs but he will also bring wickets. The team has a more regular spin bowling option in the form of Jon Holland but the team management seems to have picked Hatzoglou as their main weapon. Hobart Hurricanes vs Melbourne Renegades: Match Details Venue: Bellerive Oval, Hobart Date and Time: December 19, 5:40 AM IST, 11:10 AM Local, 12:10 AM GMT Broadcaster: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV Pitch Report Two venues in Tasmania have been used in this season - Launceston and Hobart. Strangely, the two grounds have produced contrasting contests. At Launceston, the bowlers have found conditions very favourable while at Hobart, the batsmen have made merry. Not much is expected to be different for this match. A flat pitch with minimal help for bowlers is expected. Weather and Toss The skies are likely to be cloudy for this match. Usually such conditions in Hobart mean help for seamers. This may tempt the captain winning the toss to bowl first. Probable XIs Hobart Hurricanes: D'Arcy Short, Will Jacks, Ben McDermott (Wk), Peter Handscomb (C), Colin Ingram, Macalister Wright, Tim David, James Faulkner, Nathan Ellis, Scott Boland, Riley Meredith Melbourne Renegades: Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch (C), Sam Harper (Wk), Rilee Rossouw, Beau Webster, Jake Fraser McGurk, Benny Howell, Kane Richardson, Josh Lalor, Peter Hatzoglou, Zak Evans

AUS vs IND: Twitter errupts as Indian fielding drops the bar in Adelaide

A lot has been discussed and written about the batting and bowling of the touring Indian team as the Border Gavaskar started in Adelaide but poor fielding and dropping of catches have always been the Achilles heels for the men in blue in overseas tests. On the day when the team needed all 11 players of the team to stand up tall to challenge the Australian batting line up after an average team performance with the bat, the fielding efforts let the team down all over again. Both Bumrah and Umesh Yadav, who was trusted to bowl with the new ball ahead of Mohammed Shami, were guilty of bowling too short and wide and did not force Australian openers to play a lot of deliveries. The first instance of poor fielding effort came when Wriddhiman Saha dropped Marnus Labuschange when he dived to catch the ball that anyway would not have carried to Cheteshwar Pujara at the first slip off Mohammed Shami. The matter went from bad to worse for the Indians as Japrit Bumrah misjudge a mistimed pull shot off Marnus Labuschagne and he jumped in fear of crossing the boundary in pursuit of that catch. Replays clearly showed that Bumrah had a lot of room to catch that ball comfortably but rather he misjudged the distance between him and the boundary rope to hand Labuschagne another life in the first Test. If all those missed chances were not embarrassing enough for the tourists, Prithvi Shaw missed a sitter and let Labuschagne live yet another life at the Adelaide Oval. Twitter had a field day as fans and pundits flocked to the micro-blogging site and expressed their frustrations on those dropped catches while Prithvi Shaw and Jasprit Bumrah were also made fun of due to their poor fielding efforts.

Yuvraj, Sreesanth named in list of probables for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

It is going to be an interesting start to the Indian domestic season if famous names like Yuvraj Singh and S. Sreesanth get picked in their respective state squads for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which begins on 10th January. While both of them have been picked in the list of probables of their respective states, their road to the squad is entirely different. Yuvraj, 39, needs permission from BCCI to be allowed to play in the domestic competition as he has already played in foreign leagues after obtaining NOC from BCCI. According to the BCCI rules, no domestic cricketer can be allowed to play in the IPL or domestic tournaments, if he has played in any foreign league. Talking about Yuvraj’s case, Puneet Bali, the secretary of Punjab Cricket Association said,” No he hasn't been (named in the squad) because we are just waiting for the nod from the BCCI to come yet," Bali said. "He has been selected in the camp, but it is subject to approval and confirmation from BCCI." For Sreesanth to be named in the final squad, he along with the other 25 members of the squad which includes the likes of Sanju Smason, Robin Uthappa, Jalaj Saxena, and Basil Thampi would undergo a preparatory camp to be held from December 20 to 30, before the final call is taken on selection. Sreesanth last played professional cricket in 2013 before being banned by BCCI for spot-fixing. his ban ended in September this year. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy would be hosted in seven cities with league games in Bengaluru, Indore, Vadodara, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai while the knockouts being played in Ahmedabad's Motera Stadium. List of Kerala probables: Robin Uthappa, Jalaj Saxena, Sanju Samson, Vishnu Vinod, Rahul P, Mohammed Azarudeen, Rohan Kunnumel, Sachin Baby, Salman Nizar, Basil Thampi, S Sreesanth, M D Nideesh, KM Asif, Basil NP, Akshay Chandran, Sijomon Joseph, Midhun S, Abhishek Mohan, Vatsal Govind, Anand Joseph, Vinoop Manoharan, Midhun PK, Sreeroop, Akshay KC, Rojith, Arun M. Punjab probables: Mandeep Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Salil Arora, Gitansh Khera, Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh, Karan Kaila, Rahul Sharma, Krishan Alang, Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Ikjot Singh, Naman Dhir, Abhishek Gupta, Himanshu Satyawan, Gurkeerat Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Anmol Malhotra, Aarush Sabharwal, Abhinav Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Mayank Markande, Baltej Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Barinder Sran, Gurnoor Singh, Harjas, Abhijit Garg, Kunwar Pathak