Younis Khan frontrunner to be Ottis Gibson’s deputy at Yorkshire

SA vs IND | 1st ODI: All eyes on 'batter' Virat Kohli as India begin ODI WC auditions

It has been a pretty emotional ride for the Indian cricket fans after Virat Kohli stepped down as the skipper. The controversies around the topic have just mounted and there has been a lot of noise off the field. Having said that, the Indian team would like to focus on the assignment that they have next and that is the ODI series against South Africa away from home. After Kohli’s resignation as the limited-overs captain, Rohit Sharma was named the skipper while KL Rahul as his deputy. But unfortunately, Sharma is missing this tour due to injury and Rahul will be donning the captain’s hat in his absence with pacer Jasprit Bumrah being the vice-captain of the side. The first encounter between the two sides is slated to take place on Wednesday (January 19, 2022) in Paarl. The visitors would look to replicate the performance that they unveiled during the 2017-18 ODI series in South Africa where the Virat Kohli-led side clinched a 5-1 victory in the six-match series. Match Details Match: RSA vs IND, 1st ODI, India tour of South Africa, 2021-22 Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022 Time: 2:00 PM Venue: Boland Park, Paarl Pitch Report The track is likely to assist the batters in the initial phase of the game while the spinners might have something on offer. The team who wins the toss would look to bat first and put up a total around 250 on the board. Chasing a total on this pitch might be tricky but keeping wickets in hands would be the key for the side batting second. ‘Batter’ Kohli to play vital role Former India skipper Virat Kohli’s run in the 2017-18 ODI series was a dominating and a lethal one and the visiting team will be expecting the “batsman” Kohli to unleash something of similar sorts. The right-handed batsman then notched up a total of 558 runs in 6 innings at an average of 186 which included three tons & a fifty during the course. With the captaincy pressure off him, Kohli has the opportunity to focus on his batting completely. There has been a century drought for him but the right-hander has looked in good touch especially the way he batted in the first innings of the third Test. Kohli showed a lot of patience and zeal to stick around and be among runs and also struck a responsible 79. If he gets going for India, then there’s no stopping. Team selection - A headache From the opening combinations to middle-order line up to the bowling unit, the team management has a lot of options but looking at the South African side, the coach and the captain might stick to the experienced lads at least for the opening ODI. With Shikhar Dhawan back in the side and KL Rahul being the skipper, the chances of Ruturaj Gaikwad featuring in this particular game look unlikely. KL has already announced that he will be opening, which means that Gaikwad's position in the top of the batting order looks improbable. Apart from this, if Venkatesh Iyer is picked in the XI, then either Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav will have to be benched. Moreover, Ravichandran Ashwin is back in the ODI side and is likely to get a place in the final XI for this match. Probable XI India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah , Yuzvendra Chahal South Africa: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi & Tabraiz Shamsi Fantasy XI Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (VC), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma, R Ashwin, Venkatesh Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi (C)

Marco Jansen plays down bust-up against Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah

Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and youngster Marco Jansen had a bust up on the pitch in the Test series. In a heated exchange over two innings, Jansen was the first one to rile up Bumrah by going short at him and then coming down the track to sledge. In the very next innings, Bumrah rattled the rib cage of Jansen and then clean bowled him through the gates to exact perfect revenge. Jansen, who has been with the Mumbai Indians camp for two years now, shared that there are no hard feelings between him and the Indian speedster. "We are good friends but sometimes on the field things get heated," Jansen told Cricbuzz’s Telford Vice. "You're playing for your country so you're not going to back down for anyone. And he did the same. There's no hard feelings, it was just in the heat of the moment, two players giving their all for the country," Jansen further added. Mumbai Indians had Jansen as their net bowler in 2020 season, before picking him up in the auction for 2021 Indian Premier League. Jansen is supposed to go big in the mega auction as well.

IPL 2022 | KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi join Lucknow franchise

The RP Sanjiv Goenka owned Lucknow franchise which will enter the Indian Premier League as one of the two new teams from the 2022 season has grabbed KL Rahul as their pre-auction sign-ups. The other two players signed up by the new franchise have alps represented the Punjab franchise from where Rahul has been poached. According to the figures quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Rahul cost the franchise INR 15 crore, while Marcus Stoinis, who was not retained by Delhi Capitals, will take home INR 11 crore. Ravi Bishnoi, the lone uncapped signee by the two new teams combined will be given INR 4 crore for the upcoming season. As a result of this, the Lucknow based team will enter the February Mega-Auction of the cash-rich league with only INR 60 crore from its allocated maximum budget of INR 90 crore. The 29-year-old Rahul has been with the Punjab Kings for the last three seasons and was brought at INR 11 crore in the 2018 auction. Since then he has scored a mammoth 2548 runs at an average of 56.62 including 25 fifty-plus scores - two of them hundreds - in just 55 innings. On the other hand, Stoinis, who was bought for INR 4.8 crore in the 2020 auction by the Delhi Capitals, has played 27 matches since. In those games, the 32-year-old has scored 441 runs at a strike rate of 142.71 and picked 15 wickets. Bishnoi, a young boy from Rajasthan who shot to fame with his heroics in the 2020 U-19 World Cup was bought by Punjab Kings for INR 2 crore in that year’s auction. Since then the leggies have become the lead spinner and picked up 24 wickets in 23 matches across seasons at an economy rate of 6.95.

BBL 11 | Watch Unmukt Chand receive maiden cap and become first Indian to play in men's Big Bash

India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand has become the first Indian to officially play in the Big Bash League, Australia’s domestic T20 competition after he received his maiden cap from the Melbourne Renegades, the franchise which had signed him before the start of the tournament. Prior to coming to Melbourne, Chand, who represented Delhi in the Indian domestic circuit and had moved to Uttrakahad off late, went to the United States and played in their domestic competitions. The 28-year-old moved to the US after having lost all his hopes of making it big in Indian cricket as he was unable to make a mark in the Indian domestic circuit even after playing 67 First Class, 120 List A and 77 T20 games. In total, he has scored 18 centuries and 53 half-centuries in all formats combined, but could never have a perfect season to knock at the doors of the Indian national team. Now, in his second innings, he has chosen the USA and hopes to start afresh with his BBL campaign. He is playing his first game against Hobart Hurricanes. Chand had scored a century in the final of the 2012 Under-19 World Cup against the hosts Australia to lift the World Cup.