U19 Asia Cup | India play Bangladesh in semis after group-deciding game called off over Covid-19

SA vs IND | 1st Test, Day 3: Mohammad Shami picks up fifer, reaches 200 Test wickets landmark

Pacer Mohammad Shami bowled magnificently well on the third day of the first Test against South Africa in Centurion to pick a five-wicket haul and reach a special milestone of 200 wickets in Test cricket. He dismissed Kagiso Rabada edging to the wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant to reach the landmark in his 55th Test. With the feat, Shami went on to become the fifth most successful Indian pacer to have ever played the format after Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Javagal Srinath. He was in terrific rhythm on the third day and hit immaculate line and length from the first ball of his spell in the first session of the day. He bowled Keegan Petersen and Aiden Markram in his six-over long spell in the morning session. He came back to dismiss the well-set batsman Temba Bavuma and Wian Mulder to keep South Africa in check despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. He finished the innings with five wickets for 44 runs and helped India restrict South Africa below the 200-run mark and take a vital lead of 130 runs. Shami has taken his 200 wickets at an outstanding average of 27.10 runs per wicket and a strike rate of 49.48 deliveries per ball.

SA vs IND | 1st Test, Day 3: Pant surpasses Dhoni, becomes quickest keeper to affect 100 dismissals

Rishabh Pant has surpassed former skipper, MS Dhoni, to become the quickest wicketkeeper to affect 100 dismissals in the longest format of the game. He reached the landmark in his 26th Test in the first Test of the series against South Africa in Centurion while Dhoni had taken 36 games to achieve the feat. He caught Temba Bavuma off the bowling of Mohammed Shami to get to 100 dismissals in Tests. Notably, Pant made his Test debut against England in the year 2018 and has gone strength to strength both with the bat and wicketkeeping gloves to establish himself as one of the critical elements of the Indian Test side over the years.

The Ashes | Root seeks 'reset' of English Test setup, downplays 'selfish' decision over captaincy

All seems to be doomed and gloomy for the English cricket after a disastrous and “embarrassing” defeat in the Boxing Day Test and a lot of voices of the game are writing obituaries of Joe Root, the captain and Chris Silverwood, the all-powerful coach and also selector. For Root though, the question of captaincy comes only after the end of the Ashes series and he is all in with all his mind and heart to try and win the next two Tests of the series. He downplayed the talks around captaincy a “selfish” act for him and refuted that he is contemplating any such move in mid of an away Ashes series. “The series isn’t over yet. We’ve got two very big games and, more than anything, it’d be wrong to look past that. As a player and as a team, [we must] talk about the next hour, the next session or the next ball. That’s all we have to focus on and that applies to me as well, as captain. We’ve got to make sure we come away from the tour with better performances and a win or two under our belt. “My energy has to be all about trying to win the next game. I can’t be selfish and start thinking about myself.” Critics of the England Test side and many former players have also launched a scathing attack on the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for compromising with the quality of County Cricket in the country and pushing it to extreme conditions in order to organise cash-rich white-ball tournaments in mid of English summer. Root chose to downplay that aspect of criticism as well albeit conceding that England will have to go through a “reset” such as the one they went through a disastrous ODI World Cup campaign in 2015. However, he added that those “long conversations” over the health of first-class cricket in the country should be deferred for a later time. He did not pin the blame on the “system” and instead said that he had all the “best 18 players from the county game” to choose from on this tour of Australia. “That [the domestic structure] is a long conversation that should probably be had at another time. I would say that the best 18 players from the county game are definitely on this tour. There are some very talented players within this squad and we have to just keep looking to find ways of up-skilling ourselves and managing pressure better. “With where the game is in our country right now, the only place you can really learn is in the hardest environment for what is a young batting group. They are having to learn here in the harshest environments. Maybe you look back at 2015 and the reset that happened in white-ball cricket and maybe that’s something that needs to be happening in our red-ball game.” Joe Root looked deserted and tired after losing the third Test of the series which was his seventh Test loss in Australia as a captain and it’s highly unlikely he will be able to hold on to his leadership role after this Ashes loss.

R Ashwin nominated for for ICC Test Cricketer of the year award

India’s R Ashwin has had some good time during the course of the year after he played some important roles in the side's successful run in Australia and England. The right-hander has now been rewarded for his contributions as he is one of the four players to be nominated for ICC Test Cricketer of the year award. Ashwin has 52 wickets to his name in 8 matches while has been a handy customer with the bat too as he scored 337 runs during the course. Apart from Ashwin, England captain Joe Root who has been in terrific form, New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson and Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne are the others to be nominated. The winner of the award will be announced on January 24. “One of India's greatest match-winners in the longest format, R Ashwin again asserted his authority as one of the world's finest spinners in 2021. Apart from his wizardry with the ball, Ashwin also made invaluable contributions with the bat,” the ICC said. “The year began on a high in the Sydney Test against Australia. Bowling a disciplined line and length with the ball, Ashwin then embarked on a patient 128-ball 29* and along with Hanuma Vihari, helping India to a memorable draw that kept the series level at 1-1,” it added. There are as many 13 awards in all along with five Team of the Year announcements for each format across both men’s and women’s cricket. Apart from this the other categories are Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for men’s Cricketer of the Year, Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for Women’s Cricketer of the Year, men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, Emerging men’s Cricketer of the Year, Emerging women’s Cricketer of the Year, Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year, women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year, Spirit of Cricket Award and Umpire of the Year. “The nominees for each of the first seven categories will be announced from 28 December to 31 December,” ICC said.