SA vs IND | 2nd Test, Day 1: KL Rahul departs to leave India in danger of poor 1st innings score

India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul and Hanuma Vihari resurrected the innings after twin strikes from Duanne Olivier right before lunch on the first day of the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg. The duo batted with superb control and patience around off stump to lead India’s fightback in the afternoon session on the first day.

However, the partnership could not trouble South Africa significantly as Kagiso Rabada found an awkward bounce and got the splice of Vihari’s bat. Rassie van der Dussen, who has had to go through many close moments in the first session plucked the catch with one hand to dent India’s recovery.

The next man in, Rishabh Pant, started off his innings on the typical note and punished Rabada through the off side.

Rahul carried on his merry way and brought up yet another fifty to lead from the front. However, he could not stretch his innings to a three-figure mark like in the first Test and perished in the process of attempting to hook a short ball of Marco Jansen through another spectacular catch by Rabada at the fine leg boundary.

India had won the toss and elected to bat first and the pair of Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin carried them to 146/5 at the tea interval. Ashwin is unbeaten on 21 runs while Pant has been watchful for his 32-ball 13.

Discover more

The Ashes | Stuart Broad's limited role in the Ashes surprises Steve Smith

As Stuart Broad did not feature in the first and third Test match of the ongoing Ashes, fans and cricket pundits were left to ponder about England's selection decision.

The Ashes | Both the energy and mood in England camp is low, says Stuart Broad

England fast bowler Stuart Broad admitted that the mood in the English camp is quite low after the side lost all the three games in the Ashes series so far. The right-arm bowler further added that this Australian side is a good team but “not the best” that they have played. “Part of the reason things feel so down within our camp is that while Australia are a good cricket team, they are not the best we have faced here and I still feel that, without Covid, an opportunity existed to do something special,” Broad wrote in a column for The Daily Mail. “Both the energy and the mood in the camp is low,” Broad wrote. Mentioning about his future, Broad wrote that he isn’t someone who would take decisions emotionally and added that he is pretty fit. “There is a long time between now and the tour of the Caribbean in March and I have never been one to make emotional decisions. So I’m not going to make any spur-of-the-moment calls on my future. I feel fit, I’ve come back from the calf injury feeling strong and I’m taking wickets in the nets. That’s all I can do given the lack of tour games and the tight schedule,” he wrote. Australia have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series while the penultimate clash is scheduled to take place in Sydney from January 5, 2022.

SA vs IND | 2nd Test, Day 1: Duanne Olivier rattles India as Pujara, Rahane continue to disappoint

A brilliant comeback after a poor and ineffective first spell of bowling from Duanne Olivier pushed India on backfoot in the first session of the second Test against South Africa. Olivier was trusted to partner Kagiso Rabada with the new ball over Lungi Ngidi, who had taken a five-wicket haul in the last Test, but he looked short of rhythm and offered half volleys to Mayank Agarwal. The right-hander was up to the task and hit him for two boundaries to get India off to a confident start. The duo carried on with their usual patterns from the last game. KL Rahul was more defensive of the two but he received the most number of good balls from the Proteas pace bowling attack. He was particularly troubled by Lungi Ngidi, who bowled the best among the pacers in the first half of the first session. The first success though came to Marco Jansen, who got one to angle across Mayank Agarwal right after the drinks break and the right-hander could not resist the temptation to drive the ball. On the other hand, Rahul was going strong as ever while Cheteshwar Pujara was battling the pace attack on a surface offering spongy bounce and a lot of demons in his mind. He was defensive as ever and never tried to put South Africa pacers under pressure even when they offered him short and wide deliveries. Olivier was brought back into the attack just before the lunch break and he was all warmed up for the role of enforcer after a poor start. He first extracted the extra bounce he has been known for to take the splice of Pujara’s bat and Temba Bavuma took an easy opportunity. Virat Kohli’s absence pushed Ajinkya Rahane to the top order and a lot was expected of him at the number four slot. However, continuing the trend of his career over the last few years, he failed to make good use of his fluency and form from the first Test and played a nervous poke way outside off stump to give catching practice to Keegan Petersen. All the hard work of KL Rahul and positive intent from Mayank Agarwal was squandered in a span of two deliveries by Olivier and India will have to bat really well in the remaining two sessions of the day to post a fighting total on the board.

Former Australia U-19 cricketer alleges sexual harassment on India- SL tour by team official

A former Australia Under-19 player Jamie Mitchell has now revealed that he was sexually harassed when he went on a tour of India and Sri Lanka in 1985 along with the senior team. Mitchell, now 55, claims that he was raped on the tour by a team official. In an interview with national broadcaster ABC on Sunday, the former cricketer said through his lawyer, “Instead of being a highlight of my cricketing life, that tour has caused me trauma and distress over many years.” “Cricket Australia has a chance to distinguish itself by facing up to this issue and doing the right thing. And that means transparency, starting with proper answers to many questions. I'm going to send a list of them to Cricket Australia,” he added. Responding to the allegations, CA chief Nick Hockley said, “We acknowledge and applaud the courage of Jamie Mitchell in speaking out about his experience. We have no tolerance for any form of abuse.” Former Australian captain Greg Chappell, who was the selector during that tour said that he was shocked by the revelations. In an interview with Nine Entertainment newspapers, he added, "I would hope that CA will respond in a human way and deal empathetically with the individuals rather than try to defend the organisation.”