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U16 Vijay Merchant Trophy postponed for the season over growing Covid concerns in India

Days after pushing the age limit of U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has now postponed the tournament over the rising number of Covid-19 infections in the country.

In a statement to the state associations BCCI secretary Jay Shah informed that the competition has been postponed for the season keeping the health and safety of the children in mind.

"After consulting experts and seeking views of the medical teams and operations team, it has been decided that keeping health and safety in mind, the U16 Vijay Merchant Trophy is postponed for this season," Shah informed.

The children in India have not yet been vaccinated and it was this week that PM Narendra Modi stated that teh country will be opening a vaccination drive for kids below 16 years.

"The primary reason is that the participants are still not vaccinated and as such, are vulnerable," Shah added.

 The developments of the Vijay Hazare Trophy has come under scrutiny since the time BCCI’s chief medical officer resigned last month.

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Quinton de Kock retires from Test cricket with immediate effect

In a shocking move right after the completion of the first Test of the series against India, wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has announced retirement from Test cricket. He has announced his departure from the format with immediate effect but said that to reach the decision took him a lot of time. However, he maintained that his international career for South Africa is not over and reiterated his commitment to play the other two formats of the game. He was all set to miss the remainder of the Test series against India but he has chosen to walk a completely different with the purpose of spending more time, which he said is the most precious thing in his life, with his young family. “This is not a decision that I have come to very easily. I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that. My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives. “I love Test cricket and I love representing my country and all that it comes with. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs, the celebrations and even the disappointments, but now I’ve found something that I love even more. In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me.” “I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of my Test cricket journey from the very beginning. To my coaches, teammates, the various management teams and my family and friends – I couldn’t have shown up as I did without your support. “This is not the end of my career as a Protea, I’m fully committed to white ball cricket and representing my country to the best of my ability for the foreseeable future.” “All the best to my teammates for the remainder of this Test series against India.” He made good start to his innings in the first innings of the Centurion Test before getting out while in the seocnd innings he struggled throughout to time the ball before playing on his stumps for 21.

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Ross Taylor forgoes South Africa Tests to end career playing his favourite format against Australia

Ross Taylor, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Thursday, December 30th, 2021 said that he chose to play ODI cricket against Australia away from home as supposed Tests against South Africa at home because ODI is his favourite format and Australia one of his favourite places to play cricket. "The Australian series is really close and with quarantine and coming back, it's probably going to be one side that goes to Australia and the Test side will stay behind. That's what made the decision a lot easier. It would have been nice to play against South Africa, but Australia's a place I've always enjoyed ... and finishing my career playing one-day cricket which is probably my best format,” he was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. Talking about the timing of his retirement so close to the ODI World Cup in 2023, Taylor said, "It's the right time for me and my family. At the same time, I've still got some cricket to play. In an ideal world, I would have played and then [announced] it at the end, but at this level, you can't do that." "It's something that I've thought about for a long time, it's not a decision I've made in the last couple of weeks. It's nice to have a bit of clarity and finish on your own terms. I think it's just the right time for me and my family," he added. Taylor, who became the first player in the world to play more than 100 games in all three formats, said that he was never sure about his Test cricket, but is very proud that he was able to mould his game and went on to represent his country in more than 100 Tests. "After my first Test series I thought that was me done, so I've done alright since then. I always thought I could play one-day cricket, I wasn't [100 per cent] on whether I'd be a good Test player or not, but I worked hard at that and I think that's probably my greatest achievement. I could have just smacked it and averaged 30-odd but I changed my game for the team, I don't think many people would have been able to move their game in that direction and I'm happy I made that decision,” he said. Taylor, who made his debut in March 2006 would bid goodbye to the game in April 2022 at the end of the New Zealand summer with three ODIs against a touring Netherlands side. In between then and now, he would play two Tests against Bangladesh and three ODIs against Australia.