SA vs IND | Ahead of 1st Test, Dravid chooses to ignore 'Kohli vs Ganguly' saga

U19 Asia Cup | Pakistan defeat India in a last-ball thriller

The Junior India team lost to Pakistan in the U19 Asia Cup in a last-ball thriller on Saturday, 25 December. Coming off a win in their inaugural game of the championship, India were expected to win the match against their arch-rivals, however, a top order collapse ushered those dreams away. Batting first, India were reduced to 41/4 inside the first 10 overs with pacer Zeeshan Zameer making easy work through the top order. Last game’s centurion Harnoor Singh was the only one in the top five who was able to put up some resistance and managed to score 46 runs off 59 balls. India were rescued from embarrassment by their lower order who battled through and saw India to a respectable score of 237 runs. Coming into the chase, India would have hoped for some quick wickets, however despite grabbing their first one very quickly, the bowling attack was fended off by Muhammad Shehzad who shielded his way to 82 off 105 balls. Pakistan were put in a spot of bother in the middle overs where they lost wickets and did not get the scoreboard moving at all, however, a fiery innings of 29 off 19 balls from Ahmed Khan made sure that they won the match with a boundary off the last ball. India play Afghanistan next in their last group stage match on Monday, 27 December.

The Ashes | MCG Test, Day 1 - England openers fail once again; return to pavilion after 13 runs

England’s new opening combination for the series failed once again on Sunday, 26 December in the third Test match of the Ashes series. Being forced to bat first after losing the toss, England openers survived for a total of 7.2 two overs. Both of them edged their deliveries forcing Dawid Malan and Joe Root to come out much earlier than anticipated. Returning captain Pat Cummins took it upon himself to open the bowling with Mitchell Starc on Boxing Day and was rewarded in his very first over dismissing Haseeb Hameed for his 100th Test wicket. Australia were not hit for a single boundary in the opening spell of Starc and Cummins and that pressure bore another wicket in the 8th over with Cummins removing Zak Crawley. At the time of writing Joe Root and Dawid Malan were once again forced into the rebuilding act and had put up a partnership of 18 runs from 28 balls. England were 31/2 in 12 overs.

SA vs IND | Rahul Dravid urges India to embrace and grab ‘great challenge and great opportunity’

India’s head coach Rahul Dravid has a fair bit of experience of playing Test matches in South Africa and he would have shared a lot of that experience of dealing what he called “a great challenge and a great opportunity” with players for the three-match long series starting December 26 in Centurion. Dravid urged the players to bring their best foot forward in the series as performances in such series will earmark their place in the squad and the history of the game. "It is a great challenge and a great opportunity for everyone," Dravid said on the eve of the first Test. "It is something you look forward to as a batsman, the chance to play away from home and test yourself against some really good opposition in their home conditions. "A lot of your career is defined by those sorts of performances, so it is a great opportunity for everyone in the group to put in the performances that are something that they can remember, and people will remember them for." India have some contentious selection calls to take while deciding their playing XI for the first Test of the series. At first, they have to decide the composition and requirement of their bowling attack to take 20 wickets and after deciding for and against playing an extra bowler, they have to decide who will bat at number five and sixth position in case they decide to play six batsmen. They had sent Hanuma Vihari to acclimatise with South African conditions and were forced to hand Shreyas Iyer debut after an injury to KL Rahul. Iyer grabbed the opportunity with both hands and scored a match-winning century on Test debut to complicate the selection process tough one to contemplate for the team management. Now, they have to choose between him, Ajinkya Rahane, who was the captain of the side when Iyer made his debut and Vihari for only one spot in the batting order if they decide to play five bowlers. Dravid conceded the management has to go through “difficult conversations” as almost all players are more than eager to play but reiterated that he always believed in having proper communication with players over their exclusion to keep things sorted inside the dressing room. "Most players are professional. Sometimes you have to have difficult conversations. Everyone wants to be part of the playing XI, but they understand situations. As long as you can give them the reasons for it (not being selected). "Players will be disappointed, but that is one of the things that makes people succeed at this level, you want to be playing, competing and part of the action, not sitting out." Dravid was the first captain to lead an Indian Test side to a win over Proteas in the longest format in 2006 and 15 years later he would be hoping that an Indian team under his watch would go on to win their first Test series in the rainbow nation.

SA vs IND | 1st Test: Dean Elgar urges Proteas to impose crucial 'first punch' on India

South Africa skipper Dean Elgar strongly believes in the mantra of starting a big series such as against India starting tomorrow on a brilliant note and hence he is urging his players to land a strong “first punch” on the Virat Kohli-led side in the first Test of the series. He narrowed down further for his teammates and has urged them to take control of the first day, first session and first few important phases to gain control over the game and the series. However, at the same time, he has also asked them to follow “processes” and not get too desperate for outstanding success right from the start of the game. Elgar warned his side that they will have to go through some “tough times” in order to have their command over the game and highlighted the importance of owning the first two sessions of the game and series as a stepping stone for their path of success or failure in the series. "The first punch is important, not just in Test cricket but in other formats as well. It gives you a bit of momentum on your side if you're able to negate the first hour or two of the first session on day one. I think if you came through unscathed that can work in your favour massively and can either make or break a team early on in a series.” "We know how important it is to be on the button to land that first punch. “With that in mind, we know that we have to follow our processes. Landing the first punch doesn't mean that you have to go out there and score 100/0 in the first session or take five wickets. Sometimes it's about fighting through the tough times and not losing any wickets and showing their bowling line-up that we have things under control.” Elgar has also rated the Indian team very highly and he will be the first man to walk the talk if South Africa get to bat first at SuperSport Park in Centurion against the bowling attack likely to be comprised of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammad Siraj.