Team India pass three rounds of Covid-19 testing; to train from tomorrow before 1st Test

BBL10: Challenger shifted to Manuka Oval after Covid-19 lockdown in Perth

A snap lockdown in Perth and the changes in rules of hotel quarantine has forced the Big bash League Challenger game between Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat to be hosted at Manuka Oval in Canberra, which was scheduled to be hosted at the Optus in Perth. The match as per the hosting rights formula of BBL as to be hosted by Perth as it finished in the top two of the BBL table. Alistair Dobson, said, the Head of the Big Bash Leagues said that he is thankful to the Scorchers team and fans for understanding the situation and moving the match from Perth to Canberra. "The League would like to extend its best wishes to all BBL fans in Perth, particularly those Scorchers fans who were hoping to see their team in action this Thursday, following the announcement of a hard lockdown by the WA Government,” he said. “We support all governments across Australia in their efforts to manage the ongoing public health situation and wish Western Australia all the best in managing these latest developments,” he added wishing the best to the government in Western Australia. The final will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground as the Sixers won the Qualifier to make it to the finals and win the rights to host the tournament. Dobson also thanked the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) administration for their support in staging important games at the capital Canberra. “This has been an unprecedented BBL season and the ongoing flexibility and cooperation have been vital in getting us to this point of the Finals series,” he said.

BCCI considering to organise Vijay Hazare Trophy from Feb 18: Report

The domestic one-dayer competition Vijay Hazare Trophy has been scheduled to take off from February 18, according to a report by Cricbuzz. The report further stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is considering to organise the tournament across the same venues where the Sydne Mushtaq Ali Trophy has been organised recently, except for Chennai and Ahmedabad—where the international Test series between India and England is scheduled to take place. Just on the similar lines to that of domestic T20 competition, all of the 38 teams will be divided into six clusters while all teams in one cluster will be playing in one city before moving on to the city where knockout matches will be played. The BCCI has zeroed in on Mumbai, Baroda, Kolkata, Indore, Bangalore and a venue in Kerala for the league matches while there is lack of clarity on venues for knockout games. But Ahmedabad which hosted the knockout phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament will be out of contention as the Indian and English team will be playing the last two Tests of the series followed by a five-match T20Is series.

Virat Kohli can surpass Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar in Test series against England

When the Indian team will take the field against England in the upcoming Test series, skipper Virat Kohli will be on the verge of many milestones in his career. Kohli had dominated the last home series in England in 2016 and he will be eager to repeat his batting form come the February 05 when the first Test is scheduled to begin at the M.A.Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. Kohli is at the number sixth position among the Indian batsmen who have scored more runs against the Englishmen on Indian soil and if he starts the series in great nick he can surpass many on the list that includes the batting greats such as Sachin Tendulkar, Vijay Manjrekar, Gundappa Viswanath. Kohli has a real chance to go as far as the top of the list of the run-getters which is currently dominated by Sunil Gavaskar who has amassed 1331 runs in 22 matches, while Kohli has 843 runs from nine games against England at home. Notably, Cheteshwar Pujara does not lag far behind Kohli in terms of the number of runs against England at home and has scored 839 runs in 9 matches. Kohli will be making his comeback as he was out on paternity leave during the latter half of the Test series against Australia and he will be eager to get back in the groove from the first Test. In the last Test he played against Australia in Adelaide, he looked in good touch and only a run-out could deny him a century in the opening Test of the series.

WATCH: Karthik’s men celebrate to “Vaathi Coming” after Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win

Dinesh Karthik led Tamil Nadu celebrated their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win to “Vatthi Coming” a song from the new Amazon Prime movie of Vijay Sethupathi called Master. This was the first title win for Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after they won the inaugural edition in 2006-07 under the captaincy of Karthik itself. The video of the victory dance was uploaded by an account of ‘Srini Mama’, a popular Twitter user. In the video, the TN team members could be seen dancing to the tune of the song as Karthik instructs them to. The Tamil Nadu team defeated Baroda in the final by seven wickets at the Sardar Patel Stadium, in what turned out to be a one-sided affair. Chasing a target of 121, the Tamil Nadu team went cautious early on and then with Baba Aparajith anchoring the innings, Karthik and Shahrukh Khan led then to the win with quickfire runs at the end, finishing the match with two runs remaining. Baroda, which reached to the finals was never expected to make it and the Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal lauded the team for their brave campaign. Baroda defeated big teams like Haryana and Punjab in the knockout and Gujarat at the group stage even after their full-time captain Krunal Pandya had to leave in between after his father's death.