Tata to replace Vivo as IPL title sponsor

Tom Curran out of action till May after suffering stress fracture

England paceman Tom Curran has been sidelined from action till May 2022 over his stress fracture injury incurred while playing in the Big Bash League. Curran, who had returned to the BBL after a year was supposed to play a big role for the Sydney Sixers in their current campaign. However, the white ball specialist will now be added to the long list of pace bowler injuries for England in the recent times. England, this year have faced issues with Olly Stone, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Sam Curran. While the initial news of the injury came out in 17 December, the extent of it was not known till now. The development will now throw Curran out of England’s T20I series in the run up to the World Cup in Australia and he will not be in contention to play in the Indian Premier League as well. Curran will only be able to make a comeback in the domestic season during the English summer, where if fit, he might be able to participate in the Vitality Blasts.

Chris Morris retires from all forms of cricket

South Africa’s Chris Morris has bid adieu to all forms of the game. Morris made the announcement in a social media post and also revealed his future plans. “Today I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket! Thanks to all who have played a part in my journey whether it be big or small…it’s been a fun ride! Delighted to be taking up a coaching role at @titanscricket,” he wrote. Morris first played for South Africa in December 2012 in a T20I fixture against New Zealand in Durban and played his first ODI against Pakistan in June 2013 in Birmingham. The right-handed player made his Test debut in January 2016 against England in Cape Town. The right-hander played 42 ODIs where he scalped 48 wickets and also notched up 467 runs during the course. Apart from this, Morris featured in 23 T20Is where he had 34 scalps to his name at an average of 20.50 and scored 133 runs at a strike-rate of 130.39. In 4 Tests that Morris played, he had 12 wickets to his name while struck 173 runs at an average of 24.71 including a fifty.

Watch | Haris Rauf’s unique celebration to raise Covid awareness across the world

Pakistan superstar Haris Rauf celebrated his wicket against the Perth Scorchers in the most unique style on Monday, January 11. The fast bowler gave a tremendous start to the Melbourne Stars nicking off Kurtis Patterson in the third over. He ran to celebrate and did it in a superb style that lauded lots of cheers from the crowd that had the back of the bowler. Rauf brought out his mask and gestured using a hand sanitizer in the troubled Covid-19 times in Australia. The gesture comes as a welcome sign of awareness at a time when Australia has been awfully affected by Covid waves being facilitated by the Omicron variant. Serbian Tennis star and one of the most recognised athletes across the world Novak Djokovic landed himself in a lot of trouble over flouting Covid-19 regulations and was put in a detention centre after attending events despite returning positive result for Covid. Rauf’s sanitizer celebration had positive feedback over social media where netizens lauded him over doing the right thing.

If you judge yourselves on numbers, you’ll never be happy: Virat Kohli

Indian Test captain Virat Kohli has once again come out and defended batting amidst questions about his form ahead of India’s Test match against South Africa. Kohli, who has not scored a Test century since 2019 has faced similar line of questioning repeatedly and the captain this time has argued that form and the yardstick of the judgement of that form depends upon perspective. The Indian captain, who averages 26 since his last century, has argued that he has been a part of critical partnerships for the team and for him that matters more at this stage of his career. "You have to understand, in sport sometimes, things do not go the way you want them to go, but at the end of the day I realise, as a player, as a batsman, that I've been involved in very important moments for the team over the last calendar year or so, and for me that is a matter of a lot of pride, that I have been part of very important partnerships when the team needed me, and eventually those moments have been crucial for us in many Test matches.” The prolific right hander, who is looking for his first series win in the African soil further argued that he is being judged by the standards that he has set for himself and he takes a lot of pride in following what he thinks is the right process. “I don't look at myself from the lens that the outside world looks at me with, and eventually the standards that we're talking about today, that I'm being compared with, have been set by myself, and more than anyone else.” “I take a lot of pride and happiness in the process that I'm following, and I'm at peace with how I'm playing and what I'm being able to do for the team when there is a tricky scenario, and as long as I'm doing that, and taking a lot of pride and motivation to be in those moments, I have nothing else to worry about, because the reality of the situation is that you eventually want to make impact performances for the team, and my best effort is always to do that, and I truly believe that I don't need to prove anything to anyone.” Kohli concluded.