Virat Kohli back in training ahead of Mumbai Test

Sanju Samson to be retained by Rajasthan Royals for a staggering Rs 14 crores

Sanju Samson is set to be the first retention for Rajasthan Royals ahead of the Indian Premier League mega auction. ESPNcricinfo reported that Samson will be RR’s first retention and will be earning Rs 14 crores per season from the franchise. He was promoted as the captain of the Jaipur based side last season and rewarded their trust by notching up a career-best 484 runs in 14 matches. The report further stated that Rajasthan are looking to finalise their final three retentions by the next couple of days with Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer being the frontrunners for the two foreigners spot. Barring the two English superstars, the names of Liam Livingstone and Yashasvi Jaiswal have also been floating around. With a total of four retentions being allowed, the toss-up will be between the foreign players, two of whom, who have been out of international cricket for a considerable amount of time. While Stokes has taken a voluntary leave from cricket to work on his mental health, Archer has been out due to an elbow injury that he had been nursing for a while. The biggest concern for Rajasthan will be the money that will be spent over the whole arrangement. According to the rules, four retentions will cost Rs 42 crores in total, but if they choose to retain the uncapped Indian in Yashasvi Jaiswal, it would come down to Rs 40 crores. The retention window closes on November 30.

Fresh Covid-19 outbreak risks South Africa's home series against Netherlands as UK impose travel ban

Netherlands tour of South Africa has been put in jeopardy with a fresh COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa. The three match ODI series was set to conclude on December 1 but with the United Kingdom imposing a travel ban on South Africa from Friday, November afternoon, things look a little troubling. Several Netherlands’ players reside in the UK owing to their contracts with English county cricket sides and if they are not able to enter the country before 4 AM on Sunday, 28 November, they will have to go through a mandatory quarantine period of ten days. The quarantine will have to be paid out of their own pockets. With South Africa being under a temporary travel ban, the fear is that Netherlands’ players will be stranded in the country for an unknown amount of time. The first match of the series has already started and at the time of writing South Africa were batting at 43/2 after 10 overs. The match also sees the international return for Wayne Parnell, who had left South Africa on a Kolpak deal to play for Worcestershire. He becomes the first player to have been called back after a Kolpak deal.

RCB keen on picking up Shreyas Iyer as captaincy candidate in mega auction

Royal Challengers Bangalore are looking at Shreyas Iyer as a captaincy candidate, reported Cricket.com on Friday, 25 November. With Virat Kohli stepping down from captaincy and AB de Villiers announcing his retirement, RCB have the added headache of finding a captain, with no obvious choices remaining in the side. The franchise might be interested in the likes of KL Rahul, who previously has played for the RCB but it is possible that they will not find him in the franchise pool. With the two new teams being allowed to pick players outside of the auction, KL Rahul might be picked up directly in case he decides to leave the Punjab Kings. Shreyas Iyer seems to be a strong proposition, given Ravichandran Ashwin has announced that he is not in the plans of Delhi Capitals for the next Indian Premier League cycle and could fetch big bids in case he turns up in the auction pool. Iyer is in good form as well, having scored a ton on Test debut against New Zealand. Cricket.com further reported that RCB have fixed three of their retentions in Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal. The fourth retention might be of one among Yuzvendra Chahal or Mohammad Siraj.

On cusp of new era, Pat Cummins promises 'collaborative approach' in captaincy for Australia

Both Patrick Cummins and Cricket Australia have broken a sort of unspoken glass ceiling by the appointment of the former as the next captain of the Australian Test side. Cummins has become the first pace bowling captain in the last six decades and only the second bowler to become the full-time captain after the legendary Richie Benaud. Cummins was a long-time deputy to the last captain Tim Paine who has walked into oblivion after taking an indefinite break from the game and has promised a “bit different” style of leadership from the previous leaders. He talked of bringing a “collaborative approach” to his captaincy where he will lean on each and every member of the side to own up to their roles and responsibility towards the Australian Test team. “I'm naturally quite a calm person. I'm quite positive. I'll be leaning on everyone. I'm a big one for empowering individuals to own their role (in the team). It's going to be a real collaborative approach. It might look a bit different from the outside compared to captain's of the past, which is great,” Cummins said in his first media briefing as the skipper of the Australia Test team. Bowlers, particularly, pace bowlers are not generally considered to be a good fit for the captaincy role because of their workload and subsequent management where they miss some games as part of rotation plans. Australia have been a vocal supporter of the rotation strategy for their quick bowlers and Cummins himself ruled last month that it would be a surprise for him if any of the bowlers will play all the five Tests of the Ashes series. However, he had also indicated that he would seek rest only as a last option and now having been named captain of the side, there is a high chance he would play all the Tests against England in the same manner he played in the last Ashes series in 2019. Cummins said that he has not asked for rest from the longest form of the game since his return to the format and it is highly unlikely that he would start resting from now on, more so as he has been named the leader of the side. “I very much doubt that I will rest from Test cricket. I have never rested from a game of Test cricket before, so I doubt that will start now,” Cummins asserted. The first Test of the Ashes series is scheduled to start on December 08 at the Gabba in Brisbane.