Gavaskar blames bad technique for helmet blows, says substitutes not deserved

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Remember the Name! Here's why

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth may or may not be a cricketer who would rise through the ranks in Sri Lankan cricket. He is currently playing in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), representing Jaffna Sttalions. He was seen by all those who tuned in to watch him bowl in his team's match against Colombo Kings. Viyaskanth, a leg-spinner, bowled four overs in the innings to pick up one wicket for 29 runs. But his on-field performance was only the secondary story. The fact that he took the field as a member of his team itself was of great importance. The reason is the place where the 19-year old comes from - Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka. Now, you may wonder what is special about a player hailing from the city his team seeks to represent. The answer is that he is the first cricketer not just born but also brought up in Jaffna to play in an internationally televised match. For those who keep an eye on global affairs would know the importance of this city. It is the most prominent city in that part of Sri Lanka which is dominated by the Tamil community and which was under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This terrorist organisation was responsible for a bloody civil war and myriad terrorist attacks that turned the emerald island into a blood-stained one. After the destruction of LTTE, efforts have been on to fully incorporate Jaffna and the northern region in general, into the cultural mainstream of the country. This is why Viyaskanth's historic appearance holds great value. Even though the greatest Sri Lankan cricketer of all time, Muttiah Muralitharan himself was a Tamil, his cricketing roots lay out of the northern region. Since cricket is one of the strongest indicators of society at large, the emergence of cricketers from the battered region will be a great sign for the country. From a purely cricketing angle, it would also open up another region of the country for the extraction of valuable cricketing talent. The day when a northerner like Viyaskanth represents Sri Lanka in international cricket would be a truly memorable one.

South Arica pass COVID-19 test; ODI series against England to go ahead

The widely discussed ODI series between South Africa and England will go ahead as per the revised plans after the entire SA squad passed the latest round of Covid-19 test, reported Reuters. According to the revised schedule, the sides will meet each other for the first ODI on Sunday, December 06. “The entire Proteas team has returned negative results from the COVID-19 tests that were conducted yesterday evening in Cape Town ahead of the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series,” Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed in a statement. Earlier, the first ODI was postponed due to fears over a member in the South Africa squad testing positive for the novel coronavirus infection and both the ECB and CSA had issued a joint statement on the development. "In the interests of the safety and well-being of both teams, match officials and all involved in the match, the acting CEO of CSA, Kugandrie Govender, as well as the CEO of the ECB, Tom Harrison, have agreed to postpone the first fixture to Sunday" the statement read. After the first ODI scheduled to take place in Paarl, the team will travel to Cape Town where the second and third ODI will be played on December 06 and 08.

Corey Anderson retires from International cricket; signs up for US-based league

New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson has called time on his international career. An all-rounder who featured for the Blackcaps in all the three formats of the game has taken the decision after signing a contract to feature in the United States-based Major League Cricket scheduled to take place next year. Anderson burst onto the scene of international cricket on the back of his freakish batting and astonishing ball-striking capabilities. He went on to smash a 36-ball-100, a record for the fastest ODI century in international cricket against West Indies in 2013. "It's been a huge honour and (I am) extremely proud to represent New Zealand. I would have loved to have achieved and played more but just is what it is sometimes, and different opportunities arise and send you in a direction you never thought would be a possibility. Very appreciative for everything that NZC has done for me. It hasn't been an easy decision. I asked myself several questions. What do I want to do now or what do I want to achieve in the next two years, five years, 10 years?" he said. His US-based fiance Mary Margaret had a massive role to play in Anderson’s decision-making process on international retirement as the couple believes living in the US would suit them the most in their future. "As you get older you think about life a little bit more broadly as well. And obviously, my fiance, Mary Margaret, who's born and raised in America, she's had a massive part to play in that because she's sacrificed so much for me ...So, when the opportunity arose, we thought that living in America is the best thing, not only for my cricket, but it's, it's the best thing for both of us in general as well," Anderson added. He played 13 Tests, 49 ODIs, and 31 T20Is for New Zealand in a career that was marred with multiple injuries and inconsistent run of form.

Australia vs India | 2nd T20I: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

After handing out a defeat to the hosts in the first T20I, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team will now travel to Sydney - where the tour had begun, with a couple of dismal outings for the Indian team. Virat Kohli's men got their campaign back on track where they played as a solid unit to turn their fortunes around on the tour and averted a clean sweep in the ODI series and started the T20 series on a winning note. To be fair to the batsmen, they always kept the team in the game in the two matches that India lost in the series, but the bowlers left them with too much to do with the bat while chasing, but as the pressure increased, the bowlers, too, came back to their own and resurrected the side from the position where it all looked like a complete sweep was just a matter of formality. Although the batting looked jaded at the top of the order, flourishing finishes have handed Indian the momentum to bowl with sort of confidence they were lacking in while the bowling unit is now looking like a well-oiled machine and the initial poor outing just symbolise off days instead of a grim picture that the critics were painting about it. Virat Kohli will be pleased to set the agendas and tactics in the coming T20 matches as the tourists are one shot ahead of hosts who are now depleted with a hip injury of Aaron Finch, potentially ruling him out of the T20 series. This could not have come at a worse time for Australia given Warner's absence. All in all, Virat Kohli’s men have turned around their tour in a matter of a couple of matches, exactly the number of matches their horrible performances had put question marks on the viability of tactics being followed by the side. On the other hand, the hosts will have to look hard at their batting tactics in the middle overs which will be dominated by spinners. The spinning pair of Yuzvendra Chaha and Washington Sundar choked theme for runs by denying them loose balls to be hit for boundaries. The inability of batsmen in the Australian lineup to rotate strike made the case worse for the hosts as they lost all the momentum the openers D’arcy Short and Aaron Finch had provided with a fluent start. The Australian bowlers in the first T20 game looked sharp early on, but the Pandya-Jadeja partnership threw all of that out of the window and made the hosts' attack look puzzled and short of confidence. Bowlers of Josh Hazlewood’s calibre have been found guilty of bowling full deliveries on off stump line with mid-off up in the ring in the last over while the experience of Jadeja and Pandya has made Sean Abbott’s impressive domestic record meaningless by proving him to ineffective underpressure. Coach Justin Langer will have his tasks cut out to bring back focus and confidence in the group after the hammerings the bowlers have received in the last five overs of the last ODI and the first T20. The team management will have to keep the team away from focussing on off-field stuff as well as a majority of them including Langer himself went sulking after India brought Yuzvendra Chahal into the XI after Jadeja felt dizzy on receiving a blow to his helmet. They will have to combine as a team and focus on the on-field performances rather than worrying about off-field affairs that are beyond their reach. AUS vs IND: Match Details Match No. - 2nd T20I Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Broadcast: SonyLIV, Sony Ten Network, DD Sports Date and Timing: 06 December, 01:40 pm IST, 08:10 GMT Pitch and Weather The pitch at the SCG is expected to be a flat one and batsmen will be looking to make merry of the true nature of the pitch. There is lack of clarity on the nature of the pitch, but if the first two ODIs of the tour are anything to go by, it will be another run-fest where bowlers on either side will be put to the sword and will live on the mercy of batsmen. The average 1st inning total at the SCG is 164 and out of six matches played at this ground, the team batting first has won only two matches while the team chasing has won the games on four occasions. The stat will determine the decision of the captain who will win the toss but Virat Kohli should not be reluctant to bat first, and back his spinners to come good if the SCG pitch will show any signs of wear and tear in the second innings. The weather conditions in Sydney are likely to be perfect to play cricket as the temperature will hover around the 30-degree Celsius mark while the humidity, too will be around 30 per cent. There is no chance of rain and that would mean there will be a complete 40 overs of entertainment in the second T20 of the three-match series. Team News Australia Captain Aaron Finch has reported a niggle in hip and may well miss out from the remainder of the series and that may well bring the duo of D’Arcy Short and Matthew Wade together at the top of the order, a role they have been successfully doing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. All-rounder Cameron Green has been released by the hosts to play for the Australia A team and the off-spinner Nathan Lyon has been added to the T20 squad. Another all-rounder Ashton Agar remains unfit for the second T20 while the uncertainty over the recovery of Marcus Stoinis remains as the hosts too have a fair share of injury concerns to ponder over as they face a must-win situation in Sydney tomorrow. In case Aaron Finch misses out from the XI, Glenn mAxwell is likely to take over the reins to lead the team in efforts to square off the series. Expected XI D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell (C), Alex Carey (wk), Moises Henriques, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood India All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who had scripted a comeback for the tourists with whirlwind innings late in the piece has been ruled out of the remainder of the series due to concussion he faced after facing a blow from Mitchell Starc’s bouncer. Shardul Thakur who impressed everyone with a three-wicket haul in the final ODI of the ODI series has been added into the T20 squad. Yuzvendra Chahal, who came into the match as a concussion substitute and garnered a lot of headlines will replace the all-rounder having produced a match-winning performance on the back of three-wicket haul from our overs. Expected XI Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli (C), Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal AUS vs IND 2nd T20: Dream11 team and suggestion KL Rahul, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Moises Henriques, Shikhar Dhawan, Glenn Maxwell, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, T Natarajan Captain: KL Rahul Vice-captain: Glenn Maxwell