Root apologises to Moeen Ali for calling the pre-decided team move as his ‘choice’

Key England players to miss New Zealand Test series due to IPL

Top England players like Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes might not be available for England’s Test series vs New Zealand in June this year. In case their Indian Premier League sides make to the Playoffs, they might skip the Test series in favour of playing in the IPL. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) though has informed the IPL franchises that if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decide to name any of the prominent IPL players, part of the IPL sides in the Playoffs, but might not be making it to the first XI, should be released as early as possible. "In the event of ECB Selectors wishing to select a player for the 1st Test v New Zealand whose franchise has made it through to the knockout stages of the Tournament, but who is not featuring in the starting XI, the relevant franchise is requested to release such player early so that they can participate in the Test Match," the IPL email to franchises read, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.com The other players whose availability is under the cloud are the players of South Africa who would be playing their limited over series against Pakistan from April 2-16.

Virat Kohli may face one-match ban: Report

India skipper Virat Kohli might face one-match ban after a heated argument with the on-field umpire during the second Test against England in Chennai. Kohli had a spat with the umpire after English captain Joe Root was adjudged not out due to the 'umpire's call'. The ball tracker showed that the delivery from Axar Patel would have gone on to hit the stumps but the impact was where the umpire’s call played the role. The ICC Code of Conduct mandates issuance of "one to four demerit points" to a player for "dissenting at an umpire's decision". Now it would depend upon the demerit points whether Kohli is found guilty of Level 1 or 2. A player charged with four demerit points is penalised with a ban of one game. The Indian captain did draw some criticism for his reaction. "It was odd that the India team and their captain took the full 15 seconds to work out whether to review or not. They weren’t actually sure what they were reviewing for," DailyMail quoted Nasir Hussain as saying. Vaughan, on the other hand, said: “You can’t have this, I’m sorry. Kohli is such a powerhouse, you can’t have him intimidating the umpire. It’s a stinker of a decision but you can’t be doing that as a captain.” India levelled the four-match series in Chennai after winning the second Test by 317 runs. After riding on some brilliant batting from R Ashwin and Virat, India handed the visitors a target of 482 runs and later bundled them out for 164. Debutant Axar Patel scalped a fifer in the second innings while Ashwin bagged three wickets. The two teams will now move to Ahmedabad for the remaining two Tests. The Third Test will be a Day-Night affair.

Faf du Plessis bids adieu to Test cricket

South Africa batsman Far du Plessis has bid adieu to Test cricket. "My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter," du Plessis wrote, as he shared his statement. "It has been a year of refinement in the fire for us all. Uncertain were the times, but they brought clarity for me in many respects. My heart is clear and the time is right to walk Into a new chapter. It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket," du Plessis wrote in his retirement statement. "If someone had told me 15 years ago, that I would play 69 Test matches for South Africa and captain the side, I wouldn't have believed them. I stand in a place of utmost gratitude for a test coreer full of blessings bestowed on me. Every high and low has shaped me into the man I am proud to stand as today. In all things, those instances worked towards the good of who I believe I am today." "The next two years are ICC T20 World cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be. I strongly believe that I have a lot to offer to the Proteas in this format. This does not mean that ODI cricket is no longer in the plans, I'm just making T20 cricket the priority in the short-term," wrote du Plessis. "I will be in conversation with CSA over the next couple of months on what the future might look like for me over the next year to find a solution that works for both of us.” "For now, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who had an influence on my Test career. I would like to single out my wife and family in particular - I would not have been able to do without their support during the unforgettable journey that Test cricket has taken me on, To my coaches, teammates and support staff over the years, I would you like to give a note of thanks and of course, to Cricket South Africa for the opportunity to be able to represent and lead my country in the pinnacle of the game we all love. It has been an incredible journey, with many stories that I look forward to one day sharing."

IPL 2021: Players traded by franchises before big auction day on Feb 18

Although there are too many uncertainties around the venue and schedule of this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League, the BCCI has already announced that a mini-auction will take place on February 18. Before the board made public the schedule of the auction where franchises will go with in pursuit of fine-tuning their squads, franchises were given a window where they could seek negotiations with each other in order to transfer resources at their disposal. The window for trading players into one franchise to another ended on February 11, but only three players went through the process. The window for reading players before the auction every year allows players and especially franchises to make decisions based on the assessment of their financial resources and overall balance of tier squads. This year though, there were not many takers for the policy as only three players went through the process of transition which included two players of Indian origin and one overseas player. Here are the three players Robin Uthappa Robin Uthappa had a terrible season last year where he struggled to find timing whale batting at down the order for the Rajasthan Royals and has been traded by the Chennai Super Kings who really struggled with their batting at the top of the order. The right-hander has been a seasoned campaigner in IPL and the duo of MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming has played a punt on him to go berserk at the top of the order. In the last season, the Royals team management was spoilt for choices among batsmen who could bat at the top of the order where Uthappa has flourished as a batsman in the history of IPL, and the season ended up being his worst performance in this decade of the league. He could muster only 196 runs from 12 games and his days in the Royals were numbered. The management handed him an opportunity to open the batting in the latter part of the season last year and he showed sparks of his brilliance, but could not capitalise on starts. He was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise before the auction for the last season of IPL and the Royals had bought his services for Rs 3 crore and now he will be don the yellow jersey in the upcoming edition after a brief innings in pink jersey with the Royals. Daniel Sams Daniel Sams was released by the Delhi Capitals before the trading window ended on February 11 and the Royal Challengers Bangalore has decided to bank upon his all-round abilities for the upcoming edition of IPL. Sams is an impressive young left-arm seamer from Australia who has many tricks up his sleeve for the shortest form of the game and was the highest wicket-taker in the 2019 edition of the Big Bash League in Australia. However, he had gone unsold in the auction last year before England’s Jason Roy opted out of the tournament and he was roped in as his replacement by the Capitals. He could make his way into the playing XI only on three instances and returned with average numbers and hence the move by Capitals to let him go should not come as a surprise to both him and his fans. He has been picked up by the Royal Challengers and Kohli along with Mike Hesson must have gone on the back of his exploits against India in the T20 series held earlier last year. Harshal Patel Harshal Patel has been around in the IPL for a very long time now but his inconsistency and lack of X-factor has not helped him in finding any permanent home in the tournament. He had made his IPL debut back in 2012 with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the move by the RCB to trade him in from the Delhi Capitals will be a sort of homecoming for the Haryana lad. He has struggled to be consistent with the ball and it shows up in his career as he has not played more than five games in any season after the 2015 edition. He could find a place in the playing XI only one 12 occasions across the last three seasons and his economy rate was around or more than nine runs per over in each season while the wicket column too has been thin on the number. The RCB decided to let two pacers--Dale Steyn and Umesh Yadav from their squad and that could well be the reason behind the move to bring Harshal Patel back in the mix-up. These players were traded by franchises before the auction in order to have more room for manoeuvring the squads around in order to find the perfect team combination. But, if they can’t find enough room to do so even after the auction, the board will give franchises another option to trade players from one camp to another from just a day after the auction on February 18.