Sourav Ganguly confirms England's full tour of India early next year

The President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly has said that the England team will tour India for a full series comprising T20s, ODIs and as well as Test matches. However, the Test series which was a five-match affair has now been reduced to a four-match series. Ganguly also urged caution on the second wave of COVID-19 in the country but suggested that managing a bilateral series is an easier prospect to deal with amid these uncertain times.

"England is touring India for four Test matches, three ODIs, and five T20Is, it is easy to have bilaterals as there are just two teams, we have to keep assessing the situation, a lot of people are talking about the second COVID wave, we have to be careful," Sourav Ganguly said in a remotely organised press conference organized by Livingguard AG.

Ganguly also had his eyes in Australia where a large contingent of players is touring for a full-fledged series scheduled to start on November 27. He said that players’ quarantine period will be over today and they will be ready to take the field and take on Australia in an all-important series.

"Team is in Australia, they reached on November 11 (13), they will finish quarantine today, the team is in Australia, they will be starting cricket, Australia does not have a high number of COVID cases, boys are ready to get on to the field," Ganguly revealed his outlook of the Indian team in Australia.

Commenting on the value and richness that the Indian Premier League brings on to the table for the Indian Cricket, Ganguly said people should come to the country to witness the euphoria and impact of the league on the people. Notably, he exalted confidence when he said that efforts are being made to host the next edition of the IPL in India after hosting this year’s event in the United Arab Emirates.

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Aus vs Ind: Shikhar Dhawan unveils team India's new but retro jersey

Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan has revealed the new jersey which the Indian team will wear from the series against Australia onwards. He posted a picture in the blue jersey that resembled the one Indian team had worn in the ICC World Cup in 1992. Newly signed kit sponsor Mobile Premier League and the principal sponsor Byju’s found prominent laces on the new jersey which Dhawan was seen wearing in the picture uploaded on Twitter. India is set to take on Australia in a full-fledged series comprising three ODIs, three T20Is, and four Test matches. Last time the Indian team toured down under, they gave a proper hammering to the Australian team who otherwise prove to be unbeatable at home. This time though the challenge will be different and may well be daunting for the Indian team as some of the architects of the rise of India cricket in the last few years will be missing from action due to various reasons.

Shastri reckons India’s fabulous five can beat Aussies in their own den

Indian bowling coach Ravi Shastri reckons that the pentagon of Indian pacers in Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, and Mohammed Siraj or the ‘fabulous five’ as he likes to call them, can get the better of the Australian batting line up in their own den. Admitting that Ishant Sharma’s absence will obviously impact the Indian Test team in terms of experience, but that does not mean that the present bowling lineup is any less. "His absence does make a difference to the fast-bowling department, but then we have the capacity among the young bowlers to deliver," Shastri said about Ishant to Sportstar. At the same time, he described the abilities of the rest of the five bowlers available for the Test series calling them fabulous five. The Test series begins with the first Test, a day/night affair in Adelaide. "Yadav has the experience. Saini is young and fast. Bumrah is one of the best in business. Shami is raring to go. Siraj is an exciting prospect. You put up runs on the board and watch these fast bowlers hunt the opposition. They can beat Australia in their own den," said the 58-year-old. The Indian team would be without the services of Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma in the Test series and captain Virat Kohli would also leave after the first Test. In such a situation, alongside the pandemic, the situation gets tough for the Blue Brigade and Shastri knows it. But he is sure that the Indian team will step on the gas in time. "We are prepared and let me remind you that never has cricket, or a cricket team, faced such a situation since the Second World War. We are going through the drills of staying mentally tough and approaching the series by taking one step at a time," he said.

Tim Paine still in pain on losing last Border Gavaskar Trophy against India

Australia's Test captain Tim Paine has revealed that the home Test series loss to India, suffered in 2018/19 season, still rankles with him. That series was played when the Aussie side was reeling under the absence of its two most prolific batsmen - Steve Smith and David Warner. The Indians took advantage and earned their first-ever away series win over the Australians. Speaking to a radio channel days before India commence another tour of Australia, the wicketkeeper-batsmen said that he still recalls that loss with poignancy. The Aussie skipper also didn't see the absence of Smith and Warner as a plausible excuse for that defeat. "Certainly for me, sitting back it still annoys me that we lost that Test series," Paine said in an interview with 2GB radio station. He added, "Whether we had Steve or David or not you don't want to be losing any Test matches or Test series you're involved in, so that still grinds me a little bit." However, all set to go into another four-match contest agaianst the Indian team, Paine feels his players will use that humbling experience to raise the level of their game and perform better. "I know that it drives a lot of the guys that were involved in that and I certainly know Steve and David are looking forward to coming back and showing just how good they are as well," the 35-year old stated. This time, not only would the Aussie skipper have the services of Smith and Warner, both of whom have scored heavily since their return to the Australian team, but also the prolific form of Marnus Labuschagne. Indeed, Paine is expecting his entire side to rally and produce a better collectife effort. "We're a much better all-round side. Not just adding Steve and David back into it, which is a hell of a lot of runs to add back into a side, but I think every other cricketer in that team has improved in the last 18 months as well and we've been playing some really good cricket," the incumbent skipper tsaid in his statement. While batting needs to be many nothes up in this series for the hosts compared to earlier, its the bowling also there needs rectification. The veteraln cricketer has acknowledged that its was the shambolic performance with the bat for his team that lost them the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood continue to be the leading bowlers for Australia with the new ball. But it will be Nathan Lyon whose flight and guile may prove too hot to thande slom

Steve Smith feels glad on finding his 'hands again' before India series

Former Australian captain and now a star of the batting line up, Steve Smith is feeling happy about things clicking for him in his technique while he is preparing for an all-important series against India. The Blacktown Sports Park where the members of the Australian squad who have returned from the Indian Premier League in the UAE, Steve Smith has found a perfect positioning of his hands on the bat which he found missing during the IPL which did not turn out to be well with the bat for him. The past few days I have found something ... I have found my hands which I am extremely excited about," Smith said today. It's taken me about three-and-a-half or four months to do it. I had a big smile on my face after training the other day, I walked past (men's team assistant coach) Andrew McDonald and said 'I've found them again'”, Smith said. Smith said the missing aspect in his batting technique was a pretty simple flaw but it made him feel uneasy about where he was meeting his bat with the ball and ultimately it hindered his performances. “Theoretically it is a simple thing, but it is just getting that feel and the look of the bat behind my toe the right way and the way my hands come up on the bat. It's hard to explain but it just hasn't quite been right until probably two days ago and I found a little something and everything just clicked in. It changes where you meet the ball to hit the ball in certain places. Just slight things and bits of rhythm aren't quite right,” Smith added. Steve Smith did not bat for a considerably longer period of time and blamed it for taking a long time in ironing out this chink in his batting technique which is unique in so many ways. He expressed immense happiness on being able to find that old sort of feeling while batting after finding the perfect rhythm at the batting crease. “It's taken me a lot longer than usual, I don't know why … I pretty much didn't bat for four months at the start of COVID. So whether it's taken me a bit longer to get them back, I don't know but I'm glad I've been able to find something in the last few days," Steve Smith concluded. Steve Smith will be one of the mainstays of the Australian batting line up in the series against Australia and the Aussies will bank on him to post high scores to put the India team which will be without its best batsmen in the Test series.