Team India off to South Africa; see pics

PAK vs WI | ODI captain Shai Hope, others test Covid-19 positive, raise doubts over future of series

As many as five members of the West Indies touring party in Pakistan including three players such as Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, and Justin Greaves have tested positive for Covid-19 and they have been ruled out of the remaining part of the T20I and ODI series. Notably, Windies are already without Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers, who tested positive for the virus in the first round of Covid-19 in the camp and the fresh inclusion of Hope and others have cast a doubt on the future of the tour. Cricket West Indies has confirmed that none of these six players will take part in the remainder of the tour and that they will have a discussion with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after testing rounds of remaining members of the West Indies squad including the support staff over the fate of the series. After seven players tested positive, West Indies have only 13 players to choose from in the remaining one T20I of the three-match series and a three-match long ODI series scheduled to follow the ongoing T20I series. If the Cricket West Indies pull the plug on the tour and ask the Windies to come back home aborting the tour, it will be a fresh setback to the PCB and their hopes of hosting international matches at home. They already suffered massive losses due to the pullout by New Zealand and England earlier this year and a pullout from West Indies will raise questions about their management of the international sides.

The Ashes | Day-Night Test: England drop Jack Leach, again

England have gone back to playing an all pace bowling attack and dropped the lone frontline spinner Jack Leach from the playing XI of the second Test of the Ashes series underway in Adelaide. There was direct competition between him and Stuart Broad for a place in the side and Joe Root opted for seam and control of Broad with the Pink ball for the second Test. Notably, Leach played his first Test in more than six months in the first Test at the Gabba but came under severe onslaught against Australian batsmen. All Australian batsmen right from David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne to Travis Head and Mitchell Starc came hard at Leach and took him to the cleaners. There was the discussion over his place in the side for the second Test as Pink ball generally offers more to seamers than a spinner and Root has taken what he called “brave call” to drop Leach from playing XI. England welcomed the experienced duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad back for the Day-Night Test and continued with Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes in a four-man pace attack. They rested Mark Wood after his spells of pace bowling at the Gabba in a move that brought a lot of criticism to the team management.

The Ashes | Day-Night Test: Steve Smith returns as Test captain as Covid scare rules Pat Cummins out

Australia suffered a massive setback as their skipper Pat Cummins got ruled out of the second Ashes Test being played at the Adelaide Oval after coming in close contact with a Covid-19 infected person. In his absence, Steve Smith returned to lead Australia for the first time since the ball-tampering scandal. Apart from missing Cummins as the skipper, Australia are playing also without the leader of their bowling attack. Cummins has been the number one bowler in the longest format for the last one and half years and missing him along with Josh Hazlewood from the Day-Night Test will affect their chances big time. The hosts handed their reputed Baggy Green to Michael Neser in place of Cummins while Jhye Richardson has made a comeback in place of Hazlewood. Smith started his second stint of captaining the Australia Test side by winning a vital toss and decided to bat first on a flatter looking surface at Adelaide Oval. The hosts are 1-0 up in the five-match long series on the back of a big win at the Gabba in the first Test and would be eager to continue their winning streak albeit without two of their first choice pacers from the four-man bowling attack.

PAK vs WI | 3rd T20I: With just pride to play for, will Windies finally break the Pakistan deadlock?

The third and final T20I between Pakistan holds nothing but formalities if it is just looked at from the perspective of results, but cricket is not only about end results, especially in bilateral tournaments. Thus even as Pakistan lead the three-match series 2-0, there are still things that the team would be looking to improve. As far as West Indies are concerned, they are without the core of their team and even after that they showed in the second game how dangerous they could be if they play to their potential. Hence this game gives an opportunity for both eth teams to test their strengths and bench strengths and try and put yet another solid performance. Babar and Fakhar's worrying form If one thing that Pakistan team management and the fans at the National Stadium in Karachi would be eager to see is the class of Babar Azam, of which they have so far been devoid of in the first two games. While a peach of delivery got Babar out in the first match, a cruel run out saw his back in the second one. Similarly, Fakahar Zaman has not been his usual self either, be it the Bangladesh tour just after the World Cup, or this series at home. He looks like a pale shadow of his batting. But given the amount of potential he carries and has displayed over the years, expectations are high and the team would expect a senior member to get up and perform. Pooran and Powell need to cash on For West Indies, it has mainly been the failure of their batting as their bowlers however have been on their toes, even if they are not naturally as talented as their predecessors have been. Skipper Nicholas Pooran and senior all-rounder Rovaman Powell, who was called into the side from in between his stint in Lanka Premier League, need to show what mettle they are made up of and why they are rated as highly as they are. Pakistan vs West Indies: Match Details Match number: 3rd T20I Venue: National Stadium, Karachi Date and Time: December 16, 06:30 PM IST, 01:00 PM GMT Broadcast and Live Stream in India: Sony Ten and Sony LIV Pitch Report The pitch in both games has slowed down as time passed and the spinners were able to get grip, bounce and turn, meaning that even a total of 160 looked defendable if bowled well. The boundaries have been pulled in, otherwise, had they been at their natural length, it would have been very tough to get past 150 on that pitch. Weather Forecast In winters, Karachi remains rain-free as has already been witnessed in the first two games. Similarly, there are no chances of rain for the third game as well. The temperature will be chilling as it is in these days and help the pacers with swing early on as well. Team News Pakistan The management would be looking to play the players who have so far not got the chance and that would include pacers Shahnawaz Dahani and Mohammad Hasnain in place of senior men Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. Even Usman Qadir could be given an opportunity in place of Mohammad Nawaz as the second spin option and Khushdil Shah can be tried at Asif Ali’s position who has not been able to do much in the first two games. Probable XI Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Hasnain West Indies As far as West Indies are concerned they would not be in a mood to make a lot of changes, although they can play experienced Darren Bravo in place of Shamarh Brooks and Probable XI Brandon King, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran (C) (wk), Rovman Powell, Odeon Smith, Romario Shepherd, Dominic Drakes, Hayden Walsh Jr, Akeal Hosein, Oshane Thomas CE Fantasy XI Nicholas Pooran, Babar Azam, Brandon King, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Romario Shepherd, Odeon Smith, Akeal Hosein, Mohammad Wasim Jr Captain: Shadab Khan Vice-captain: Nicholas Pooran