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Bhanuka Rajapaksa Withdraws Decision Of International Retirement

Bhanuka Rajapaksa withdraws decision of international retirement

Sri Lanka batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa has withdrawn his decision of retiring from international cricket, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said.

"Pursuant to a meeting with the Hon. Namal Rajapaksa - Minister of Youth & Sports and after consulting with the National Selectors, Bhanuka Rajapaksa has notified SLC that he wishes to withdraw his resignation which he tendered to SLC on 3rd Jan. 2022, with immediate effect,” SLC stated in a statement.

"In his letter to SLC withdrawing his resignation, he further states that he wishes to represent his country in the game he loves for the years to come,” he added.

Rajapaksa had earlier this month announced his retirement from international cricket citing family obligations.

“I have very carefully considered my position as a player, husband and am taking this decision looking forward to fatherhood and associated familial obligations,” he had written in his retirement letter. Rajapaksha's announcement comes after the SLC decided to put several conditions on the retiring players. The conditions were specifically made to prevent players from prioritising franchise games over the national team. For example, if Rajapaksha wanted to play in the Bangladesh Premier League, he would have to go through a cooling period of six months before being eligible for selection in the league.

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SA vs IND | 3rd Test | Day 3: South Africa remove Pujara, Rahane early

South Africa couldn’t have asked for a better start to the third day of this deciding Test against India in Cape Town. India began the day at 57/2 but Marco Jansen took just two deliveries to provide his team with the first breakthrough as he sent Cheteshwar Pujara packing to the pavilion after he just clipped a short delivery around the leg stump channel uppishly and found Keegan Petersen who was stationed at leg gully. Petersen held on to a blinder diving towards his right and grabbing a one-handed stunner. Later, Kagiso Rabada got into the act and removed Ajinkya Rahane for a 9-ball 1 as the right-hander’s woes with the bat continued. India were left tottering at 58/4. Earlier, India took a first innings lead on Day 2 after bowling out South Africa for 210 in reply to the visitors’ 223. The Virat Kohli-led side then had a dismal start to the second innings after the openers KL Rahul and Mayan Agarwal departed early. The three-match series is presently levelled at 1-1.

Watch | Hobart Hurricanes miss three runout chances in one ball

The Big Bash League known for its quirky style of play brought up another bizarre situation on Thursday, 13 January. In a league match between Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder, a comedy of errors ensued, when in the second innings of the game, Hobart attempted three run-outs in one single ball. In the first ball of the power surge over, Baxter Holt played a soft push to mid on. While he was not sure about the run, his partner Nathan McAndrew seemed convinced and went for a full blown sprint. This prompted Holt into taking the run and he knew himself that he was miles out if the ball had hit the non striker’s stumps. After the first missed chance, the ball was collected by Riley Meredith and he took a shy at the batter’s end, but ended up missing from a 10-yard distance. With no one to back up, the batsmen in the middle found it best to run another additional run, but ended up misjudging the depth of the fielder. Holt was forced to rush back to his orginal position and would have definitely been out if the ball had hit the stumps directly. Here’s the full video of the incident

SA vs IND | 3rd Test: Indian bowling attack is one of the best in the world, says Keegan Petersen

South Africa’s Keegan Petersen has put up a tough fight against the Indian bowlers in this series and he unveiled a brilliant knock in the first innings of the third and deciding Test in Cape Town. Petersen’s 72 helped the Proteas to keep the margin in control. But the batter has lauded the Indian pace bowling attack and said that it’s an “extremely challenging” one. "It's (the Indian pace attack) extremely challenging. It's the most challenging I've had in my whole career. You have to be focused and on your mark all the time or else they will expose you," said Petersen in the press conference. "They test you in terms of scoring, there's not much scoring opportunities. They have not given us much. They are arguably one of the best bowling attacks in the world,” he added. The home side was bowled out for 210 in the first innings as India took a 13-run lead. Later, the visitors didn’t have a great start to their second innings after they lost both the openers, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul early but skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara didn’t let any more wickets to go down. India ended the day’s proceedings at 57/2, leading by 70 runs.

Joe Root reveals his intentions on a lucrative IPL contract

England captain Joe Root will be leaving it to the last minute to decide if he wants to enter the Indian Premier League. With the mega auctions scheduled for February 2022, this could be the most preferable time for someone like Joe Root to enter the fray. Root is not a well know T20 commodity and has not played the format for England for two and a half years. ESPNCricinfo quoted Joe Root on the matter where the England Test captain made it clear that the national team and the Test format is still most important to him. "Time is ticking but I have a lot to weigh up. Will it have a negative impact on me playing Test cricket? If I don't think so then I will put myself in the auction. But I will never do anything that will detract from playing Test cricket for England. It's so important to make sure that is the priority for me and other players as well." With just a couple of days left to go, Root would be cutting it very close in putting his name in the pot. An integral part of the fab four, Root has never played in the Indian Premier League. But with the modern T20 anchor role coming to fore in the recent times on slower decks, Root could end up playing the Steve Smith role in case the tournament is held outside of India and on the slower decks. Earlier this week, Mitchell Starc made his intentions clear about playing in the IPL and stated that it could play a big part in Australia’s title defence later this year.