Sri Lanka vs England: James Anderson replaces Stuart Broad for 2nd Test

Byju's logo removed from Rahane jersey in welcome party

India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane was given a grand welcome in the society he lives in Mumbai after returning from a historic series win in Australia. India won the series 2-1 after Rahane led the team from the front after putting a splendid century in the Boxing Day Test after their dismal show in the Adelaide Test. However, the development during the ceremony may cause a bit of treble as the members of Rahane’s housing society cropped the logo of the principal sponsor of the Indian team jersey—Byju’s. Rahane was also offered to cut a cake in celebration of his return after a heroic win down under but he showed his class off the field as well as he refused to accept the cake that had a Kangaroo—representation of the Australian team on it.

Rishabh Pant wants to make a name for himself, doesn't want to be compared

Receiving a hero’s welcome on his return to New Delhi, Team India stumper, Rishabh Pant stated that he feels ‘amazing’ when people draw comparisons with legend MS Dhoni but he reiterated the fact that he wants to make a name for himself in Indian cricket. Pant was one of the pivotal members of the Indian squad which went onto win the historic Border Gavaskar Trophy after breaching the Gabba fortress in the final Test of the series. This was India’s 2nd Test series win in Australia on a trot. "You feel amazing when you are compared to someone like MS Dhoni and you compare me with him," Pant told reporters after his arrival in Delhi from Australia. Pant scored a match-winning 87 in the 2nd innings of the final Test and stayed there till the end as India won the Test by 3 wickets with 3 overs still left in the day’s play. Pant finished as India’s leading run-scorer in the Test series and in the process also became the fastest to 1000 Test runs by any Indian keeper breaking MSD’s record. However, he doesn’t want to be compared with anyone. "It's amazing but I don't want to be compared with anyone, I want to make myself as a name in Indian cricket because it's not good to compare some legend with some youngster," Pant said. Pant played quite a few breezy knocks during the course of the series which also included a magical 97 in the 3rd Test in Sydney which gave India a realistic chance of chasing down the target of 407. However, injuries to Ashwin and Vihari didn’t allow them to go after the target but the duo played some terrific cricket in the last session to draw the Test. Pant who scored 274 runs in just 5 innings just wants to savour the moment for years to come. "I think the whole team is very happy with the way we played the series in Australia," he said. The feat of India is quite staggering especially given the fact that was bowled out for 36 in Australia and didn’t field even their 2nd XI in the final Test.

Maharashtra Government exempts Rahane and four others from quarantine protocols

Following a historic series win Down Under, members of the Indian cricket team, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Prithvi Shaw and head coach Ravi Shastri arrived in Mumbai on Thursday and to ensure their smooth landing, former MCA President Sharad Pawar granted the permission that the 14-day quarantine is not imposed on them. Most of the Indian players have been in a secure bio bubble for the last 5-6 months and it would have been very hard on them especially after being in quarantine since August and undergoing several COVID tests. The 5 members of the Indian cricket team along with their head coach was absolved from the 14 day quarantine period after the authorities at BCCI and MCA requested the former president Sharad Pawar to make sure that the quarantine procedures are not imposed on them. "We requested Mr. Pawar to help obtain an exemption from institutional isolation for these players. They have been in quarantine since August and have also had regular Covid tests. The exemption was obtained at around midnight (on Wednesday)," an MCA official who was there at the airport to receive the aforementioned players was quoted as saying by the Cricbuzz. It must be noted here that the guidelines which were laid out by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) on December 21 clearly states that passengers coming from Europe, South Africa, UK and the Middle East have to be in isolation for 14 days including a week-long institutional quarantine. The 5 members of the team arrived in Mumbai via a connecting flight from Dubai. Maharashtra is one of those very few states where a 14 day isolation period is compulsory. "This is because of sudden emergence of a fast-spreading Covid-19 variant in UK which is believed to be more transmissible than the original strain. But we understand the bio-bubble these players were in and regular testing they had to undergo in Australia. Also, it is not that we have not granted exemption in the past. The MCGM website lists out the conditions when an exemption can be granted," the quarantine in-charge Anil Wankhede said. Meanwhile, the Indian players who will be returning from Australia will be assembled in Chennai on the day of the country’s Republic Day for the upcoming 4 match Test series against England. Meanwhile, the players who were not part of the squad for the tour Down Under will reach Chennai on 23rd January. All the players from either team will be arriving in two batches and will be part of the bio-secure bubble for a week. "A hotel has been booked for the teams near the Chepauk and the players will be allowed to practise only from February 2," a Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

IPL 2021: Rajasthan risk big on Sanju Samson's firepower, questions remain on consistency

Rajasthan Royals have roped in another captain but this time thankfully ahead of the tournament rather than midway through it. However, the beneficiary of the transfer on the last instance—Steve Smith, is now a victim after the franchise had enough of seeing the team languishing at the bottom of the table despite having a power-packed team. Unlike the last instance of firing and hiring among the leadership group in the Royals setup which reflected a lack of coherent strategy, this round of handing over the baton to a 26-year-old young man from Kerala— exults confidence in the team. For that matter, it also speaks of the vision the management have as they are willing to invest in a talent who they believe has the potential to lead a team packed with domestic and international superstars. Samson has been a regular for the Royals in the Indian Premier League. He has played with them for all his career apart from the two seasons when the franchise was serving a ban for spot-fixing. Hence the people responsible for the handling of the team feel that Samson has a proper understanding of the team culture along with the fact that he is one of their batsman who could be playing for a long time considering he is just 26 years old. There’s merit in the point they saw behind releasing Smith as they were looking to build the core of batsmen who could do finishing job for them in the middle overs and the fee the franchise paid for the service of Smith was becoming unbearable, more so because the team was seen floundering in the last season after making a blistering start. Samson was the chief architect of that blazing start the Royals had got in the last seasons before everything started to unravel for the side, and also he was the linchpin of the abysmal run of form the team had after early wins. Throughout his career, Samson has been a sort of enigma who has not done enough, consistently to seal a spot for himself. He has earned reckoning in his career and has also made his way to the Indian team for the T20 format. In the recently concluded T20 series against Australia, he got a considerably longer rope for proving his worth but failed to go big and convert his starts into sizeable contributions. However, he was always under pressure whenever he came out to bat and hence he could not afford to waste balls in search of pacing innings, and hence Indian management kept backing him, but scores of 10 from 9 balls, 15 from 10 balls, and 23 from 15 balls don’t do justice to the potential that has been widely talked about. He has been guilty of not making the good use of form and wasting seasons after having a great start. In the last season played in the UAE, he amassed 375 runs from 14 matches on the back of only three half-centuries, but the in-depth look of these numbers show he went off the boil as the tournament entered its business end. He had burst onto the scene when Rahul Dravid put trust on him in the IPL 2013 and he repaid the faith by tonking the likes of Mitchell Johnson and recently retired Lasith Malinga. He impressed with his ability to pick lengths so early that resembled experts of someone like Rohit Sharma as one of the finest Indian batsman Farokh Engineer had called him the find of that season after being impressed by his attitude while batting. His numbers improved in the next edition where he crossed 300 run-mark in the IPL 2014 and the talks of him rising through ranks started brewing. The next two seasons wrecked his rise as runs dried up from his bat where he could just about manage to cross the 200-mark. The breakthrough season came in the 2017 edition when the right-hander was playing for the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) where he got his mojo back and plundered 386 runs with a staggering strike rate in excess of 140. He never looked back since that season and has become a force to reckon in IPL. The numbers are in Samson’s favour and no one can dispute that he deserved to be reckoned by the franchise to lead the side, especially when a far more accomplished captain with experience failed to pick up the intensity of the team last season. But, Samson has shown signs of breaking down in terms of his batting mindset and temperament and he is blamed very often for not seizing the opportunities he has been presented with. The decision to let go Smith was a pragmatic one for the Royals and no wonder they were involved in an intense discussion because they were heading to a far more uncertain territory by handing out the command of the team to someone who himself has not looked assured on his own abilities in the past. This time he will have the wise mind of Kumar Sangakkara who has a fair idea of managing resources howsoever little at his disposal and the duo will have to bring the best of their vision ad shrewdness to revive the Royals in the IPL 2021. If this punt on Samson works well for the Royals, it could well be the rejuvenating factor the franchise which has not tasted success after the inaugural edition of the league and having an India captain always play a big role in finding the perfect balance of overseas stars and Indian utility players.