Women’s Ashes | Day 1 - Meg Lanning & Rachel Haynes denied centuries as England keep on the fight

Former head coach Ravi Shastri wants Kohli to take a break of 3 months

Former Head Coach of the Indian national team Ravi Shastri wants Virat Kohli to take a 2-3 month long break. Speaking on Shoaib Akhtar’s YouTube channel, Shastri has argued that the break will do a world of good for the former Indian captain and he could come back to dominate the world for the next three or four years. "He realises he is 33, he realises he has 5 years of good cricket ahead of him. If he can calm down, focus on his batting, take one game at a time, probably take a break from the game as well, I think, if he goes out for 2-3 months, if he takes a break from one series, it will do him a world of good," Shastri opined. He further argued that it is important for Virat’s legacy as well stating that Virat - the batter has a lot more to give Indian cricket. "He can come back and play those 3-4 years like a king, absolute king where he is clear mentally, and knows exactly what his role is and play as a team player. That's what I want to see Virat Kohli do now, come, contribute as a team player and win games for India. That will be the legacy he will leave. Virat Kohli’s next assignment will be India’s white ball series against West Indies at home next month in February.

BCCI announce squad for WI series, Kuldeep Yadav makes comeback in the national side

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's squad for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against the West Indies on Wednesday. Fit-again Rohit Sharma is all set to make a return, this time as the white-ball skipper of the national side after fully recovering from the hamstring injury. While, Virat Kohli was earlier expected to sit out of the squads, the former India captain chose not to rest as he will be playing alongside Rohit for the first time since he took over the leadership reins. After a horrific ODI series against the Proteas, Bhuvneshwar Kumar did not make the cut in the ODI squad. However, the veteran pacer has been retained in the T20I squad. Meanwhile, spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami have been rested. Prasidh Krishna and Avesh Khan have been rewarded for their outstanding domestic form. Prasidh found a spot in the ODI squad, while Avesh has been slotted in to play both the series. Kuldeep Yadav's entry to the ODI squad comes as a surprise. After recovering from COVID-19, Washington Sundar also made it to the squads for both the series. Interestingly, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been dropped from the T20I team, he found his name listed for the ODIs. KL Rahul will be available from the second ODI onwards. Notably, Venkatesh Iyer has been selected for the T20Is. In a bid for an all-rounder in the side, Deepak Hooda has been selected for the ODIs. Ravi Bishnoi has earned his maiden international call-up as he has been picked up for the T20Is. India ODI squad against West Indies: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan. India T20I squad against West Indies: T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel.

BREAKING | Lasith Malinga makes a comeback in the Sri Lanka team

Fast bowler Lasith Malinga is set to comeback in the Sri Lanka national team for the Australia series. However, this time around, the retired player would be in the dugout as the bowling strategy coach instead of an active player. Sri Lanka Cricket Board in a statement said that this would be a short term role for the former fast bowler and it is aimed to provide tactical insights for the promising fast bowling contingent of the national team. Malinga announced his retirement last year in September having not played for the national team for over one and a half years. It was speculated at the time that he would have played his last T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020, which was postponed to 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

9 days after breaking her jaw, Beth Mooney returns to play Ashes Test

Australian top order batsman, Beth Mooney is set to stage an incredible return in the Women’s Ashes on Thursday, 27 January. Mooney, who fractured her jaw in the nets on January 18, has been confirmed to return by captain Meg Lanning, who has stated that the attacking batsman has been looking really good in the nets. The left hander, who is the top ranked T20I batsman in the world got caught off guard against a ‘rouge delivery’ while practicing throwdowns with the head coach. Lanning revealed that Mooney has been an incredibly positive influence on the rest of the camp who are taking inspiration from her miraculous recovery. She said that there is a flipside to playing Mooney in the Test match as the batter cannot yet eat solid food. "She's only a liquid diet at the moment, which doesn't sound like a lot of fun, not a lot of variety," Lanning said. "I think our physio and Pip the doc and the dietitian have been coming up with some meal plans for her to make sure she's getting enough energy and obviously with the Test match, the longer format you need to have that over a long period of time, but they've done a great job and so far, so good. "She said she can eat unlimited amounts of ice cream. So she's pretty happy with that." Australia take on England on one-off Test match starting January 27 in Manuka Oval.