RCB keen on picking up Shreyas Iyer as captaincy candidate in mega auction

On cusp of new era, Pat Cummins promises 'collaborative approach' in captaincy for Australia

Both Patrick Cummins and Cricket Australia have broken a sort of unspoken glass ceiling by the appointment of the former as the next captain of the Australian Test side. Cummins has become the first pace bowling captain in the last six decades and only the second bowler to become the full-time captain after the legendary Richie Benaud. Cummins was a long-time deputy to the last captain Tim Paine who has walked into oblivion after taking an indefinite break from the game and has promised a “bit different” style of leadership from the previous leaders. He talked of bringing a “collaborative approach” to his captaincy where he will lean on each and every member of the side to own up to their roles and responsibility towards the Australian Test team. “I'm naturally quite a calm person. I'm quite positive. I'll be leaning on everyone. I'm a big one for empowering individuals to own their role (in the team). It's going to be a real collaborative approach. It might look a bit different from the outside compared to captain's of the past, which is great,” Cummins said in his first media briefing as the skipper of the Australia Test team. Bowlers, particularly, pace bowlers are not generally considered to be a good fit for the captaincy role because of their workload and subsequent management where they miss some games as part of rotation plans. Australia have been a vocal supporter of the rotation strategy for their quick bowlers and Cummins himself ruled last month that it would be a surprise for him if any of the bowlers will play all the five Tests of the Ashes series. However, he had also indicated that he would seek rest only as a last option and now having been named captain of the side, there is a high chance he would play all the Tests against England in the same manner he played in the last Ashes series in 2019. Cummins said that he has not asked for rest from the longest form of the game since his return to the format and it is highly unlikely that he would start resting from now on, more so as he has been named the leader of the side. “I very much doubt that I will rest from Test cricket. I have never rested from a game of Test cricket before, so I doubt that will start now,” Cummins asserted. The first Test of the Ashes series is scheduled to start on December 08 at the Gabba in Brisbane.

IND vs NZ | 1st Test: Tim Southee picks up five-wicket haul to check India's progress

Tim Southee produced his close to best performance with the ball and picked up a five-wicket haul to check India from posting a huge total in the first innings of the first Test of the series in Kanpur. He was the lynchpin of the New Zealand bowling attack on the morning of the second day as he bowled unchanged for nine overs till he picked up his fifth scalp of the innings. He picked as many as four wickets on the second day including the huge wickets of set batsmen Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer. He had picked up the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara on the first day and it was his 13th five-wicket haul in the longest format of the game and third such milestone against India. His other two wickets were Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel, who were worked over by the barrage of variations including the outswing, inswing and the wobble seam delivery from round the wicket angle. India resumed their innings at 258/4 on the second day and were soon reduced to 314/8 solely due to the incisive and relentless spell of bowling from Southee. New Zealand are without Trent Boult and both Southee and Kyle Jamieson have heard the big call from the skipper Kane Williamson.

IND vs NZ | 1st Test: Shreyas Iyer hits century on Test debut to lead India's batting effort

Extending his dream run of form with the bat, Shreyas Iyer celebrated his Test debut with a magnificent century on the second day of the ongoing first Test in Kanpur. He was instrumental in taking India closer to the 330-run mark. He hit 13 fours and two massive sixes to reach the landmark. Iyer walked out to bat at the number five position when Cheteshwar Pujara was knocked out by Tim Southee and stitched valuable partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja to lead India’s batting efforts. Iyer was brought into the squad as the skipper Virat Kohli opted out of the first Test of the series against New Zealand and Hanuma Vihari was sent on the tour of South Africa with India A side. Still, he was competing with Shubman Gill for a place in the middle order but the injury to KL Rahul made way for his debut in the middle order. His century in this game that could well turn out to be a match-winning effort with the bat will complicate selection calls for the team management when Kohli will return for the second Test of the series. His century will also put pressure on the vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who is leading the side in this game in absence of Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, who suffered another batting failure in the first innings of the Test.

Pat Cummins appointed Australia's Test captain, Steve Smith to be vice-captain

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has been appointed as the captain of the Test team right ahead of the Ashes series. The decision comes after days of speculation when he and former captain Steve Smith appeared before a five-member panel constituted by Cricket Australia. Smith will be his deputy in the longest format. The decision to promote Cummins as the skipper can be seen as a seminal moment in Australian cricket as he has become the first pacer to take the full-time leadership position of the side. "I am honoured to accept this role ahead of what will be a massive Ashes summer," Cummins said in a statement. “I hope I can provide the same leadership Tim (Paine) has given the group in the past few years. With Steve and I as captains, a number of very senior players in this squad and some great young talent coming through we are a strong and tightly-knit group. "This is an unexpected privilege which I am very grateful for and am very much looking forward to." His first test as a leader will come in the upcoming weeks as England are already in Australia for the all-important Ashes series and he will have the task of uniting the players to move on from the saga that his predecessor Tim Paine left behind him. His appointment as skipper was more or less on cards as he was deputy to Paine for a long time and that his candidature was also approved and promoted by many former Australian players.