Don Bradman's 1928 Baggy Green auctioned for AU$ 450,000

Suresh Raina booked for violating Covid-19 norms in Mumbai

Former Indian batsman Suresh Raina was arrested by the Mumbai Police on December 22 for flouting Covid-19 containment norms. He was among 34 people to be booked by the police at the Mumbai Dragonfly club near the Mumbai airport that also included singer Guru Randhawa among others. Later, Raina was released on bail. Mumbai Police booked Raina and other accused of violating Covid-19 related norms under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC and provisions of NMDA as the Dragonfly pub for was kept open beyond the permissible time limit. Notably, the Maharashtra state government has passed brought in rules to impose night curfew in order to stop people from violating Covid containment norms. Suresh Raina had announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this year after he went out of favour of national selectors for a prolonged period of time.

BCCI AGM: Expansion of IPL to 10-team tournament likely to kick in from IPL 2022

The top brass of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is scheduled to meet tomorrow, December 24 in the annual general meeting of the board. There are various decisions on 23-point agendas that have to be taken in the AGM which will be the 89th of the boards, and it is highly likely that the members will give a go-ahead on adding two more teams in the Indian Premier League. However, there is uncertainty on the year when the two franchises will be added and it is widely believed that the BCCi will decide to expand the league in the 2022 edition, and not in the next edition next year. As per a PTI report, stakeholders involved in the decision-making process of addition of two more teams believe that the new franchises will not get adequate time to build a team competitive enough to challenge other teams with not more than 3-4 months left for the next IPL. “There are a lot of modalities that need to be discussed and most of the stakeholders feel that with IPL being held in April, there is very little time for a mega auction and to have a uniform retention policy, agreeable to all the existing franchises. You have to invite tenders and have a bidding process ready. In case you have two teams winning bids in late January or early February, they need to be given time for auction which can then be held only in March. That leaves a new team with very little time to plan,” PTI quoted an unnamed BCCI official as saying. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has already confirmed that the IPL will be held in India next year. In case of two more teams, there will be as many as 94 matches, which is significantly higher than the total number of matches in the IPL which remains around 60 every season and it would need the board to restructure its broadcasting rights and will have to take all stakeholder such as current franchises, ICC, broadcaster and other cricket boards as the length of the tournament will also be longer.

Tim Paine: The unsung hero of Australia's coup

Tim Paine's match-defining 73* couldn't grab the spotlight but was of paramount importance in laying the bricks for Australia's come-from-behind triumph.

New Zealand squad for Test series against Pakistan named, Santner returns

New Zealand selectors have declared the Test team that will face Pakistan in the upcoming two-match Test series which begins with the Boxing Day Test on December 26. Captain Kane Williamson returns to the squad after missing the second Test against West Indies due to the birth of his first child. The return of the skipper has resulted in Devon Conway being left out of the 13-man squad while Will Young retains his spot. The latter batted in Williamson's position in the second Test against the Winidies but would, in all likelihood, sit out of the upcoming Test. There has been an important change in the spin bowling department with Mitchell Santner getting back into the squad while Ajaz Patel has been dropped. Santner is primarily a defensive bowler who has been very useful for the Kiwis in limited-overs format while struggling to make an impact in Test arena. Ajaz, who picked up a five-for in his debut Test against Pakistan in UAE, which led to a victory, has failed to back up that effort with more good performances, thereby losing his spot. This latest move is another in a continuing saga of New Zealand looking for a long-term successor to Daniel Vettori as an effective and dependable spin bowler in the longest format. In the selection of Santner, the batting abilities of the left-hander may have also played a part. The omission of Ajaz was explained by the coach Gary Stead in his statement. "The toughest squad selection was clearly around the spinner. That basically came down to the balance of the side and with the four-strong pace attack going so nicely, we wanted to have a spinning all-rounder as an option for that number seven position. "It's really unfortunate for Ajaz, who has overcome his calf-injury, but the all-round ability of Mitchell Santner is our preferred option for this series. The fact Ajaz hasn't been able to have any game-time in the lead-up was also a concern for the selectors," Stead said. All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme continues to be absent due to an injury. This provides Daryll Mitchell with another opportunity to make a strong case for himself as a regular member of the Test team. The selectors have also given the green signal to Tom Blundell for continuing as the opener alongside Tom Latham. Blundell scored a hundred last year against Australia opening the innings and is hoped to be the long-term opener the team has been searching for. He only had two innings in the series against West Indies. This series would be crucial for him as a failure could see other options getting tried. Matt Henry, an able seamer with a proven ability to swing the ball, misses out despite picking up a six-wicket haul against Pakistan Shaheens (Pakistan A) in an one-off unofficial 'Test' for New Zealand A. Despite that performance coming against a batting line-up which had some regular members of the Test line-up, selectors haven't seen the need to get him in a squad which already has four seamers who are certain to play in the upcoming matches. New Zealand Squad Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Daryll Mitchell, Will Young, BJ Watling (Wk), Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee