SMAT 2021: Siddarth Kaul stars in Punjab’s drubbing of Karanataka

Quinton de Kock can play another 100 Tests for South Africa: Mark Boucher

South Africa coach Mark Boucher has said that present skipper Quinton de Kock can become the most capped player for the side. "It's a special occasion for any player. It's just the start of his career. There's possibly another 100 Test matches there for him," ESPNcricinfo quoted Boucher as saying. "Quinny is a special cricketer. He is the type of player opposition hope doesn't get into good form because he can take the game away from anyone very quickly," said Boucher. Talking about Quinton de Kock being the captain, Boucher said that the management has added an extra responsibility on him. "Being a captain is an extra [responsibility] we have added on to him. We're trying to help him out as much as we can in that department. But I'm very happy he has taken on that role," he added. The Proteas coach further said that he is optimistic that De Kock will be among some runs in the series against Pakistan. "I know it's tough at times, especially if your performances aren't exactly where you want them to be. Hopefully, we can get the best of Quinny in this series. It can only be good for him as a person, a captain, and also for the team," said Boucher. South Africa is touring Pakistan for two Tests and three T20Is. The first Test began on January 26 while the second clash will take place in Rawalpindi from February 4. The two sides will then travel to Lahore for the T20I series slated to begin from February 11.

Match Report: Zak Evans five-for puts Hurricanes out of the BBL race

Melbourne Renegades finally pulled off the surprise that everybody had been waiting for as they became a party pooper for Hobart Hurricanes and their fans, beating the men in purple by 11 runs at the MCG in what was a must-win game for the latter. Zak Evans was the hero of the game picking up 5-33 in his four overs. Chasing a modest total of 151, the Hurricanes couldn’t get to a desirable start as they lost the skipper Matthew Wade at the score of 26, in only the third over of the innings. From there onwards, it was a struggle for the ‘Canes batsmen as their highest run-getter Ben Mcdermott got out without giving much trouble to the scorers as he was bowled by the young Peter Hartzgolu for just one. Dawid Malan, D’Arcy Short, Peter Handscomb, and Tim David, none of them could do what was expected of them as the Hurricanes lost wickets at regular intervals. Both Malan and Short had eaten up a lot of deliveries to get settled and just when the pressure built, they threw away their wickets, putting Hurricanes in all sorts of danger. The situation came down to 21 off the last over with the bowlers in form of Nathan Ellis and Scot Boland at the crease. Eventually, their innings ended at 139-9 in the 20 overs. With this loss, the Hurricanes crashed out of the race to the BBL 10 Finals even after being at equal points with Adelaide Strikers (28 points each) on the basis of the net run rate. Earlier in the afternoon, Hurricanes after winning the toss chose to field first and their bowlers did prove the decision right as, after the first 10 overs, they had Renegades on their knees at 58/4. But after that, Mackenzie Harvey and Beau Webster added 63 off 46 balls before Webster cased on and got a fifty (54 off 35) even as Harvey got out for 40. This result has now made the Stars vs Sixers game yet another interesting affair as a win with the Bash Boost for the Glenn maxwell side would see them into the BBL Finals and would knock out the Strikers.

WTC final to take place between June 18 to June 22

The final of the World Test Championship will now be played between June 18 to 22 with June 23 to be the reserve day. Earlier, the final was scheduled between June 10 to 14 at the Lord's Cricket Ground. “The WTC Final will now be played from June 18-22 and June 23 will be the reserve day. As background we pushed it back to allow for any quarantine that may be imposed, particularly given the close proximity to the end of the IPL and the original dates) so driven by quarantine,” a BCCI source told PTI. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is also expected to conclude around the same time. Though, the schedule hasn’t been finalised but it is expected to finish towards the end of May. Presently, India are sitting at the top of table with 430 points (PCT 71.7) after the fighting win against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy and are followed by New Zealand (420, PCT 70) and Australia (332, PCT 69.2). India skipper Virat Kohli had earlier said, "I think Test Championship, as an ICC tournament, should be right up there. All the other tournaments, for me, start under that. This is going to be the biggest of them all. Every team wants to make it to the final at Lord's. And we are not any different. We want those points and make sure that we qualify as early as we can, and be in that frame of mind to hopefully win that.”

Jubilant from series win in Australia, Ajinkya Rahane points out role of instinct in captaincy

When Virat Kohli had left India after the humbling loss in Adelaide, Ajinkya Rahane had his task cut out to lead a side for which the humiliation in the first test could have been too tough to handle. But, Rahane showed the signs of an astute captain who helped his side walk away from that disaster as he led the bowling attack brilliantly on the first day of the Boxing Day Test that followed the first Test and in his words, it’s all about instinct and instant reading of the game situation that decides the course. In an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times, Rahane looked back on his captaincy in the MCG Test and why he brought out many moves that looked untoward at that point of time, but in the end, turned out to be fruitful for Team India. He had introduced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin fairly early in the bowling and held back the debutant Mohammed Siraj till the lunch interval and he suggested that the decision was taken keeping in mind the moisture present on the pitch and that he backed his instinct that Ashwin will come good on the MCG pitch. "I generally back my instincts; what I feel, what I think and how I read the situation. It is for people to say whether it comes naturally to me or not, but for me, I back my instincts and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But as a player, as a captain you have to back your gut feeling," Rahane said. However, he had also prepared to take the reins from Virat Kohli after the first Test and he had started his process of leading the side in the two warm-up games preceding the Test series. “It started from the two practice games. I was thinking of how I can use certain players, the bowlers, and what type of field I can set for them. It was all about using them well and giving them confidence. Identifying who is delivering in which situations, who is reacting differently in different situations. I was just observing that. When it came to Adelaide, Virat was the captain. So, I was taking a back seat. From Melbourne onwards, I knew what I had to do. I was clear in my head on what plans I had,” Rahane added. Rahane led the Indian team which breached the fortress Gabba of the Australian team where the home side never faced defeat since 1988 and he termed the success as a special achievement. “It feels really good. It has just started to sink in that what we did in Australia was really special. I am really proud of each and every member of the team. It's not about any individual, it’s a team effort. Everyone played their part pretty well. Credit to every member of the team for this victory,” Rahne added.