SL vs IND | Sandeep Warrier makes T20I debut as India bat first in series decider

Recovered from injury, 'focussed' Ajinkya Rahane hits nets in Durham

In a welcome sign for India and their fans, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has returned in the nets just a week away from the first Test against England. As per BCCI and the team management, Rahane missed the warm-up first-class game against Select County Xi in Durham due to swollen hamstring. Along with him, Virat Kohli too missed the game and he reportedly was going through back pain. Injury concerns to the topmost Indian batsmen prompted the BCCI to consider reinforcement of the batting department for the series. Rahane has played 11 Test matches in England including a World Test Championship final against New Zealand. He has not been able to pile on big runs and mustered only 620 runs across 22 innings at a substandard average of 29.52 and with the help of four fifties and one century. Rahane had a magnificent start to his career in England as he had scored a brilliant hundred on a green top at Lord’s in 2014. However, he could not maintain his form overseas from the first series in 2014 and could not manage big runs in the last series in 2018. Rahane has been a mainstay of India’s abetting in the longest format in his 74-game long Test career and has amassed 4,647 runs at an average of 41.12. He has scored 12 centuries and 23 half-centuries across 125 innings.

Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dickwella slapped with bans in bio-bubble breach case

Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella have been reportedly slapped with individual bans in the bio-bubble breach case. While Gunathilaka and Mendis have been handed a two-year cricket ban each, Dickwella has been banned from the game for 18 months. All three players have also been fined $ 25,000. Earlier, the images of the players had gone viral where they were seen roaming freely in Durham during Sri Lanka’s tour of England. The three cricketers were suspended by the board and were called back immediately from the tour. "The players have been suspended pending a full inquiry, but have confessed to having gone out," SLC vice-president Mohan de Silva had said earlier. "They are being recalled from the tour with immediate effect." The three players were issued a show-cause notice and their hearings were slated to begin on July 29. They were though allowed to bring their lawyers or representatives according to a report in Deccan Chronicle but they couldn’t intervene with the hearings. A panel comprising of Justice Nimal Dissanayaka (Retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka), Panduka Keerthinanda, (Attorney-at-Law), Asela Rekawa (Attorney-at-Law), Uchitha Wickremasinghe (Attorney-at-Law), and Major General (Retired) M. R. W. De Zoysa had to hear the plea in the matter.

Dom Bess will "never ever turn down" chance to play Ashes in Australia

After having a horrendous tour of India that led to exclusion from the Test side, England young off-spinner Dom Bess is not thinking twice over whether he should travel to Australia for the Ashes series irrespective of the Covid-19 norms imposed by the Australian government. He has said that the Ashes series has been a “pinnacle” and he would “never ever turn it down” albeit there are rumours about England players contemplating pulling out of the series due to the government’s policy. Calling the series an opportunity that gives him “goosebumps”, Bess emphasized that no one who can see a larger goal can deny the opportunity of going out there and defeating Australia in their own backyard. "It gives me goosebumps talking about it. It is the pinnacle. Just watching the 2005 Ashes and then being at school and staying up all night to watch 2010-11 when Cooky [Alastair Cook] scored hundred after hundred. That is the pinnacle of the career - everyone thinks about it. It is a tough ask," he added. "Obviously I don't know what will be happening about Australia and their regulations - but I think if your name was on the ticket and you were going to an Ashes series as a 24-year-old, a young lad, you would never ever turn that down,” Bess said. "I think it would be very tough leaving family and supporters at home, but it is an Ashes series away from home - something you dream of, playing against Australia in Australia and looking to win there. Certainly, you wouldn't turn that down. I don't think anyone who dreams of doing that would be able to turn that down." Bess was the leading England spinner until the start of the Test series against India but his inaccuracy with line and length did not make skipper Joe Root confident of his spinning abilities. He was dropped from the second Test after a relatively successful first Test with the ball and came back only in the final Test where his morale and confidence to land the ball in the right areas were certainly out of order. The career seemed to be out of track for Bess after the series as he expectedly did not find a place in the Test squad to face New Zealand at home. However, the disenchantment did not last longer for Bess as England have recalled him in the squad for the first two Tests against India. Bess has not had a great time with the ball in the initial phase of the County Championship either but a tally of 23 wickets from 10 games does not look terrible either on pitches not so much conducive for spin bowling. However, Bess is not at all putting a lot of pressure on himself leading up to the Test series against India and is instead willing to enjoy the series after having worked his way back to the side. "It is an exciting time but there is no pressure from me to put myself under. I just want to enjoy this series because I know how much I have worked this summer and what I have done,” Bess said. The Test series between India and England is scheduled to kick in from August 04 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham while the Ashes series is scheduled to start in the fag end of the year.

Indian players had dined together a day before Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19

The eight Indian players who had missed the second T20I against Sri Lanka had dined together a day before all-rounder Krunal Pandya had tested positive for Covid-19 according to a report in The Indian Express. The players who didn’t feature in the second clash of the three-match series and are will be missing the third game as well are Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, K Gowtham and Ishan Kishan. All these players were kept in isolation after Krunal tested positive. The left-handed all-rounder had complained of a sore throat ahead of the second match and underwent a Rapid Antigen Test which returned positive. The match that was scheduled for Tuesday was subsequently postponed for Wednesday and all the Indian players underwent RT-PCR tests. The results of all others returned negative. The third and final T20I between the two sides will be played on Thursday in Colombo. Meanwhile, the Indian team is likely to take a chartered fight to Bangalore after the third T20I. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in continuous contact with the Sri Lankan board and the medical team is taking care of Krunal’s health. The board is also making arrangements for Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav who were earlier called-up for the Test series against England. The two batsmen will have to present three negative RT-PCR tests to join the squad in the UK.