Rishabh Pant donates match fees for relief work in Uttarakhand

Vijay Hazare Trophy: Injury rules out Manoj Tiwary, Majumdar remains skipper of Bengal

Experienced Bengal batsman and India cap holder Manoj Tiwary has not been picked in the Bengal team for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy (SMAT). Tiwary, 34 is suffering from a knee injury which he picked up during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Anustup Majumdar, Bengal’s hero from the last year’s Ranji Trophy has retained the captaincy even as the team crashed out from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy from the group stage in his captaincy. Shreevats Goswami, the wicket-keeper batsman will be his deputy while last year’s Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is with the Indian team as an injury cover has also been named in the 21 man squad for the 50-over tournament. Speaking about the SMAT crashing, Bengal head coach and former India cricketer Arun Lal said, "You can't hold baggage of the previous years or the previous tournament. It's a dynamic game, you move on, you learn from your mistakes, losses and forget about it.” "We are preparing very hard for the next," he added. Bengal would once again be playing at home in Elite Group E, which is stationed at the Eden Gardens. Other teams in the group are Services, Jammu and Kashmir, Saurashtra, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Chepauk to operate in full capacity for the first time since 2012

The three stands I, J and K of the MA Chidambaram Stadium, also called Chepauk in Chennai are going to be thrown open for the first time after 2012. This decision has been taken for the second Test of the India-England series which will be played from 13th February. Closed since 2012 due to various conflicts with the Municipal Corporation and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), people would be able to witness games from those stands as the tickets for the second Test would go on sale from 9th February onwards. TNCA Secretary R S Ramasaamy said that a total of 15000 tickets would be on sale and all the tickets would be sold online only. Since the closure of the stands, Chepauk missed out on hosting matches in the 2016 T20 World Cup as well as the IPL final of the 2019 season.

How George Linde bowled with a disfigured finger to scalp five wickets

South African left-arm orthodox spinner George Linde has picked up the first five-wicket haul in Test cricket as South Africa dismissed Pakistan for 298 in the second innings to set up a target of 370 for themselves at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi. Linde, 29, who is playing only his third Test, had got injured in the first innings as a Babar Azam straight drive hit him on his fingers in the follow-through. There were visible red spots on his whites and Linde rushed to the dressing room. "I started running off when I saw a bone sticking out and I just popped it in myself," he said. But to his surprise, his finger was not broken. "I went for X-rays and for some reason my finger wasn't broken. I was quite happy with that," added the Capetown born. Although he could only bowl 5.5 overs in the first innings, the left-hander contributed with the bat by scoring 21 runs in South Africa’s first innings. "I always say you never know when you will get another opportunity to play for your country. It's not going to get me down, because it's just pain,” Linde explained his decision of being part of the game It was in the Pakistani second innings that he actually pulled out a brilliant performance, finishing with the figures of 5-64 in his 26 overs. Sying that his injury is nothing compared to all the misery that people are going through, Linde exemplified team spirit. “There are people who are sick at home, people who are losing their jobs, people who are dying from Covid or other diseases or something. My injury is nothing compared to that," he said. On being asked about whether the little finger causing any hurdle to him to while bowling, he said, "I had to make a small adjustment with the grip. I didn't even know I use my pinkie (little finger) when I bowl. It's weird because every time I bowl, I have to first lift it up a little bit to get a better grip.” With 243 runs still needed for South Africa going into the last day at Rawalpindi, Linde's ability to handle the bat is going to come handy for the Proteas in levelling the series. Pakistan have won the first Test and have an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Pujara doesn't want to curb Pant's 'natural game', but suggests to be 'selective'

India were already behind in the game as the English batsmen had made merry of a placid pitch at the Chepauk, but there were expectations from the Indian team as well to repeat what their counterparts achieved on the first two days of the Tests. Openers failed to seize the opportunity although they were looking in supreme touch, and the wickets of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane only made the matters worse for the hosts as English spinner Dominic Bess showed how the mountain of runs affects the mindset of a bowling attack. When Rahane departed England spinners in Bess and Jack Leach were settling into a nice rhythm before the storm of Rishabh Pant arrived to defy the troubles India found themselves in and the game situation. He unleashed a calculative assault against the left-arm spin of Leach which could have ended in a disaster for both him and the team with them being so far behind in the game, but for Cheteshwar Pujara who has had the luxury of witnessing these assaults from the non-striker's' end never doubted the willpower of Pant to get at the top of England bowling attack and rather hailed his approach as a good development for the game. However, the cool customer that Pujara is also urged caution to his teammate and asked him to be selective while continuing to be belligerent in his approach. He suggested Pant be mindful of game situations and balance his attacking mindset with sensible shot selection based on the quality of bowling and juncture of the game. "It is his (Pant) natural game so we cannot restrict him much. He can't be too defensive because by doing so he can get out quickly. It is good for his game that he keeps on playing his shots but, at times, he has to be very selective," Pujara said in the virtual press conference at the end of the third day's play. "He needs to understand which shots to play, which not. He needs to understand in which situation it is important that he stays in the crease. Balancing things out is the most important for him." Pant’s counterattacking innings made life easier for Pujara at the other end but there was always a question mark that for how long can his onslaught continue and Pujara reckoned that he should recognise his potential of piling on big innings and helping the team put up a big total, instead of getting out in ‘ugly’ manners. "He will learn from his mistakes. There are times when he can be a little more patient and build another partnership with whoever is there in the crease. He is capable of putting the team first because whenever he bats longer, then we will always end up posting a big total. So, I am sure he will realise that. And then there are times when he also has to understand and the coaching staff always communicates with him that. He has to put the team first and be little sensible at times. He has done that most of the times. There are times when gets out and looks ugly." Indian batting efforts other than that of Pujara and Pant found wanting on the third day when England delayed declaration in order to make as many as they could to put them under pressure and Pujara too rued the soft dismissals from his teammates. Pujara himself was caught in a bizarre fashion after his pull shot deflected off Ollie Pope’s body only to be taken by Rory Burns and Pujara downplayed his and Rahane’s wicket which was achieved by the brilliance of Joe Root as unlucky dismissals. India’s unbeaten batsmen-- Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin have had the reputation of being resilient as well as effective in the recent past and Pujara has placed high hopes on the duo to take the team in a forward direction on the fourth day of the Test match which he called ‘most crucial’ for his team. "Batting wise, we could have batted better, there were some soft dismissals which didn't go in our favour. The way I got out or Jinks got out... I felt those two wickets were crucial for us, but at the same time we are still confident of doing well. Ash and Washington are both batting well, so we will just have to move on from here. Tomorrow, it will be the most crucial day for us,” Pujara added. India conceded 578 on this pitch while England bowlers made life difficult for the Indian batsmen and Pujara said that the time his teammates were bowling, the pitch offered no assistance while it started to assist spinners on the third day. "There is a bit of spin now but I think it's still a good pitch to bat on. The first two days, it was really, really flat and our bowlers did a fantastic job. It was a pitch where there was not much assistance and we were expecting a little bit more from the surface. But we have to accept and move on," Pujara opined. India are still 321 runs behind England's first innings total of 578 runs, and their hopes of avoiding follow-on hinge on the last-recognized batting pair of Washington Sundar and Ashwin. If India manage to avoid getting bowled out before the follow-on mark, the task of saving this game will become far more difficult than forcing the tourists to bat again and then trying to save the game on the last day of the Test.