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Watch: Grass-less pitch welcomes England in 3rd Test against India

The pitch for the third Test between India and England has not been a surprising one with groundsmen shaving off all the grass that promised a lot to the England camp. With less than 24 hours left for the game to start, the surface looks dry from a distance and it will most certainly aid spinners.

There were talks about the curator may be leaving a 6mm long grass based on how it has been in the previous Day-Night Tests, but India could not afford to offer a green pitch to an England team that has James Anderson, Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad in the line-up.


India are considering playing three pacers and two spinners in a five-man bowling attack while England were thinking of playing three pacers and only spinner in the form of Jack Leach. However, with no to minimum grass left on the pitch a day before the game, Joe root will have serious dilemmas about the composition of the bowling attack.

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Ben Stokes flags 'dangerous' pink ball behaviour under lights

As the Day-Night Test between India and England approaches, the pink ball’s behaviour, especially during the twilight period has come under close scrutiny. There has only been one Day-Night Test on Indian soil when Bangladesh toured India back in 2019. The players were visibly troubled by the nature of the ball and as many as four batsmen from Bangladesh were hit on the head. Two were later forced to be substituted for showing signs of concussion. Fielders too faced the problems of visibility and were found late while attempting to catch the balls standing in slips or other close positions. Two years later, the script for the pink ball Test looks the same. England all-rounder Ben Stokes recently warned in a Talksport podcast that the tourist camp had to call off a net session owing to the weird behaviour of the pink cherry. He further stated that when the trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Jofra Archer started extracting extra bounce and pace under the lights, conditions became dangerous and England were forced to abandon ship to protect their batsmen. "Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Jofra Archer have been licking their lips, I can tell you. It's a completely different game,” Stokes was quoted as saying by talkSPORT. "It was funny in training yesterday when the lights came on, the nets actually got really dangerous. The bowlers had to stop bowling in the nets because we were actually worried that some of the batters were going to get injured because the ball started jumping off a length and a few guys actually got hit.” "We had to take the bowlers out into the middle to finish their spells. Whether that's going to be similar in the middle we're not sure. But you can tell the difference when bowling with a red ball in the normal times you see Tests played to bowling with a pink ball when the lights are on." If the words of Stokes are anything to go by, batsmen on both sides will have their task cut out against a ball that is difficult to spot in the final session and will probably move more due to a pronounced seam. To add to the complexity of visibility of the pink ball, the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad does not possess tall light-towers instead it has circular LED lights around the perimeter of the rooftop. It may alter the visibility of the ball when it goes up high in the air, and catching might be tricky in the Day-Night affair. India’s number three in Tests, Cheteshwar Pujara, had raised similar concerns after playing in the maiden Day-Night Test against Bangladesh in 2019. He had said that players walking out to bat in the second and the third session can face problems finding the pink ball that moves around a lot more than the red ball under lights. “You have to concentrate a little extra and spend a little bit more time at the crease to get used to it. When it comes to red ball, visibility isn’t an issue at all during the day. But with pink ball under lights, when you walk in to bat during the second or the third session, visibility can be a bit of a problem as you are sitting in the dressing room and suddenly you are walking in under lights. It swings a bit more. So you have to spend a little more time at the crease, try to get used to that light and then maybe you can start playing your shots,” Pujara had said to The Indian Express. England have the experience of playing in three Day-Night Test while India have played only two with the pink ball. India have won a game against Bangladesh while another match ended in a humiliation of being bowled out for their lowest score in Tests (36). England, on the other hand, have played three Day-Night Tests and have gone on to lose two of them.

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PSL 2021: Sarfaraz Ahmed refuses to shake hands with Mohammad Haeez

The Pakistan Super League has already seen its fair share of drama but none bigger than the tiff going on between former Pakistan captains Mohammad Hafeez and Sarfaraz Ahmed. After the infamous banter on Twitter not long ago, the duo was involved in another altercation during the PSL group clash between Quetta Gladiators and the Lahore Qalandars. After the conclusion of the match, the players were seen shaking hands with each other but Sarfaraz refused to share pleasantries creating a fresh controversy. On the back of a good knock from Sarfaraz Ahmed of 40 of 33 deliveries, the Gladiators posted a decent score on the board. However, they were blown away by two special knocks from Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez. While Fakhar smashed 82 in 52 deliveries while Hafeez chipped in with a whirlwind 73 0f just 33 deliveries. Recently the duo had a heated exchange on Twitter. Hafeez had taken to his Twitter handle and congratulated Mohammad Rizwan on his match-winning performances against South Africa. "Congratulations @iMRizwanPak on scoring T20. U r a Star shining star Glowing star Wonder how long u need to prove that u r NO1 wicketkeeper/Batsman in Pakistan in all formats of the game. Just asking,” wrote Hafeez. Sarfaraz who is no more the first choice wicket-keeper batsman for Pakistan reacted to the post and wrote, “Hafeez bhai Sb, whoever has played for Pakistan from Imtiaz Ahmed, Wasim Bari, Tasleem Arif to Saleem Yousuf and from Moin Khan, Rashid Latif to Kamran Akmal and even Rizwan right now has always been number ONE for the country and have been respected accordingly." He further added that a senior player like Hafeez should always look to spread positivity besides mentioning that they are all behind Rizwan.

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BCB to draft fresh contracts with players after Shakib’s IPL fiasco

The Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nazmul Hasan has clarified that Bangladesh cricketers would be given fresh contracts. This plan has been developed after BCB had to reluctantly allow their star player Shakib Al Hasan the permission to play in the Indian Premier League sacrificing two home Tests against Sri Lanka. The new contract will mention which player is being signed up for what format of the game. "We will enter into a new contract with the players. It will be mentioned clearly who wants to play which format. If they have any other engagement, they have to be clear about their availability,” the board said in a press release. "We are confirming it in writing so that nobody can say that they haven't been allowed or we kept them forcibly," the release added implicitly underlining the issue at hand with Shakib, where the 33-year-old couldn’t be forced against his will to play IPL. Hasan, the BCB chief spoke about the Shakib issue saying, "Couldn't we have stopped Shakib from going (to the IPL)? He may have played but we don't want that.” He further said that the board wants only ‘those to play, who really love the game.’ Impressing upon the point that the BCB always did what it could to keep the best Bangladesh cricketer playing the longest format of the game. “We have tried to keep him interested. When Shakib had declined to play tests three years ago, we made him the captain.” Hasan said. Visibly disappointed with Shakib’s decision, Hasan stated that he doesn’t want to force a player to play against their will either. "I didn't like the timing of it (Shakib’s decision to prefer IPL). He was among the players I expected would take charge of the difficult situation. It was disappointing," the 59-year-old added. Shakib was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 3.2 crore during the IPL mini auctions held on 18th February in Chennai.