WATCH: President Ramnath Kovind felicitates Ishant Sharma on playing 100 Tests

IND vs ENG: Axar Patel starts with bang on home ground

Local boy Axar Patel tasted immediate success on his debut at the home ground in Ahmedabad. The left-arm spinner got Jonny Bairstow was trapped in front of the stumps and the umpire had no doubt raising his finger. The batsman called for DRS to overrule the decision, but the hawkeye suggested the ball was hitting the stumps and India were delighted to get two wickets of England. Earlier, England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first after making as many as four changes. Jofra Archer, James Anderson, Zak Crawley, and Jonny Bairstow came into the playing XI in place of Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Moeen Ali and Olly Stone.

Motera Stadium renamed as Narendra Modi stadium

The newly-built Motera Stadium has been re-named as Narendra Modi stadium. The ground is slated to host the remainder of the Test series between India and England. The four-match Test series between the two sides is presently levelled at 1-1 with the third clash which would be a day-night game is scheduled to begin on Wednesday. The ground has the capacity of 1,10,000.

Records as a captain mean nothing to me or any other player: Virat Kohli

India skipper Virat Kohli has a chance to surpass MS Dhoni’s record of winning the most number of Tests at home. However, Kohli has made it pretty clear that the numbers don’t really matter to him and it is about winning matches for the team and the country. “Records as a captain mean nothing to me or any other player.” “It is a responsibility given to me and I’m trying to do my best. This has always been the case and will remain the same, as long as I play the game. These are fickle things which look great from outside, doesn’t matter to me as an individual,” Kohli said at the pre-match conference. Talking about the bond with MS, Kohli said that the two players share mutual respect. “We (MS Dhoni) share a great camaraderie, and mutual respect is something you hold very dear to your heart. It is always more important than these milestones. I have a responsibility to keep Team India on top, and the same applies to someone who takes over after me.” “You don’t play for those reasons. We are looking to win both games, and not win this one and draw next. There is no point running too far ahead into the future. Let other people think about the what-ifs.” The four-match Test series against England is presently levelled at 1-1 with the last two encounters scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad.

Déjà vu for Multan all over as Peshawar’s Haider Ali steals the show from Shahnawaz Dhani

Not once, but twice have Multan Sultans lost a game in the 19th over of the second innings, after dominating it for the most part. While they needed to defend 21 against Peshawar Zalmi tonight where they failed, they had also failed to defend 20 against Islamabad United on 21st February in a similar situation. The culprits on both occasions might have been different in name and deeds, but were similar in letting down the expectations of the captain and the team. Sohail Tanvir had conceded 19 in the 19th over against Islamabad to kill the game even before it went to the last over, tonight it was Shahnawaz Dhani. Dhani, a young man from Sindh was entrusted by skipper Mohammad Rizwan to defend 21 from the last two overs. It was expected that the 22-year-old who gave way just eight runs in his previous over and took two crucial wickets of dangermen Sherfane Rutherford and Tom Kohler Cadmore, would curtail the runs and leave more for senior pro, Sohail Tanvir to defend in the last over. Cadmore and Rutherford were taking the game away from Sultans with their seven ball 19 runs partnership. However, the plan turned on its head as Under-19 star Haider Ali smoked a six off the very first ball of the Dhani over to put the young fast bowler under pressure. Dhani then bowled a high bouncer, which threatened to go for four byes behind the wickets, if it wasn't for a great effort from skipper Rizwan with the gloves. Ali, who had also hit Carlos Brathwaite for 13 runs in the 18th over, transferred the responsibility of achieving the target to senior partner Shoaib Malik. Malik, 39, utilised his 20 years of experience and hit Dhani for a six over long-on off a length ball to kill the game. As if all this was not enough, Ali who came to the crease to face the last ball with four runs still required, tonked the overpitched delivery over extra cover to finish things in style with a six. The Attock born remained unbeaten on 25 off just eight balls, while Malik made 11 runs off five balls. While Ali was the show stealer, it was Cadmore who had actually made a game out of the contest for the Zalmi in the first place. The Yorkshire man scored a 32 ball 53 to keep Zalmi in the hunt, even as the required run-rate kept on mounting. He was supported well by Imam-Ul-Haq early on and then by Rutherford. Credit must also be given to Sultan fielders for missing chances in the field. While captain Rizwan missed a stumping chance when Cadmore failed to read a flipper from Shahid Afridi early on in the innings, Rilee Rossouw too let go of an easy run-out chance to dismiss the Englishman. Cadmore was awarded Man of the Match for his brilliant innings. The Zalmi started the run chase in a positive manner as Kamran Akmal counter attacked the Multan pacers and got Peshwar to a flyer. Zalmi had scored 57 in just 6.2 overs before Akmal was trapped by Usman Qadir before the wickets. Qadir turned out to be the most economical Multan bowler giving away just 29 runs in his four overs. Earlier in the evening, put into to bat after losing the toss, Sultans were given a jolt very early in their innings as Chris Lynn failed once again, getting caught in the slips off an outswinger from Mohammad Irfan. James Vince, who came to the crease after this wicket, turned out to be the game-changer for Sultans, scoring a brilliant 84 off 55 balls. He hit nine fours and three sixes in his innings. While he added 82 with Rizwan for the third wicket. Sohaib Maqsood got together with the Englishman to add another 71 off just 40 balls, helping the Multan total to reach 193 at the end of 20 overs. While Rizwan scored 41, Maqsood with the help of four fours and two sixes reached 36 in 21 balls before being removed by Saqib Mahmood. Mahmood was the pick of the bowlers for the Zalmi taking two wickets off his four overs after conceding 24 runs. This win at the National Stadium in Karachi was the first for Zalmi as the Sultans would remain winless heading into their third game on 26th February against Lahore Qalandars, who have won two in two.