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Arshdeep Overcomes Doubts, Secures Victory for India

Arshdeep also pointed out that despite the win, the Indian fast-bowling unit wasn’t at their best and will try to put up a better show in the coming games…reports Asian Lite News

After India won the fifth T20I over Australia by six runs, left-arm fast-bowler Arshdeep Singh said he was thinking that too many runs were conceded by him and admitted to thoughts of being the culprit of the game came in his mind, before conceding only three runs in the final over of the game.

At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday night, the pitch wasn’t easy for stroke-play as India made 160/8. In reply, Australia began strongly, before being reduced to 144/7 in 18 overs.

Needing 17 runs from 12 balls, Mukesh Kumar gave away only nine runs in the 19th over, before Arshdeep, who had given away 37 runs in his first three overs, found his accuracy and rhythm to take out Matthew Wade and seal the game in India’s favour.

“I guess for the big part of the game, for almost the first 19 overs, I was thinking that I gave away too many runs and would be the culprit of the game. But god gave me another chance and I believed in myself. Thanks to god that I defended it and thanks to the staff as well who believed in me,” said Arshdeep to broadcasters after the match ended.

He also acknowledged the extra runs cushion given by the batters in the first innings. “To be honest, nothing was going through my mind. Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) bhai told me that whatever happens, happens. The credit goes to our batsmen as well. They gave us a really good total here on a tricky wicket and we had a cushion of an extra 15 to 20 runs.”

Arshdeep also pointed out that despite the win, the Indian fast-bowling unit wasn’t at their best and will try to put up a better show in the coming games. “According to the standards we have set as a bowling unit in the Indian team, it was not even near par. But a lot of lessons learnt and, in the future, I will make sure to rectify those mistakes and come back stronger.”

Right-handed batter Shreyas Iyer, whose 37-ball 53 took India to a winning total, was also in praise of Arshdeep’s final over and believed the pitch was a challenging one to bat on. “I’m elated to be honest to see everyone chipping in and contributing for the team. The shots, innovation has been on point and I could see Arshdeep’s calmness when he was bowling the last over.”

“To be honest, my mindset was to go boom-boom from ball one. But when I saw three wickets falling down, my mind started calculating what would be the best total on this wicket. Then I had a few batsmen contributing as well. It wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on, but if you have a total in mind, you try to play accordingly and today was the right example of how we did it as a team.”

“I feel 160 was the right total, which we got eventually. After losing consecutive wickets in the powerplay to get to 160, it was a commendable effort, and to defend it at the same time, brilliant performance by the team.”

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In Historic First, India Crosses 100-Medal Mark in Asian Games

India’s 100th medal was a gold won by the women’s kabaddi team that defeated Chinese Taipei 26-25 in the final in Hangzhou, report by B Shrikant

India made history by crossing the 100-medal mark in overall medals for the first time in the history of the Asian Games in the 19th edition of the Continental multi-nations, multi-discipline sports extravaganza that was first proposed and first hosted by India in New Delhi in 1951.

India’s 100th medal was a gold won by the women’s kabaddi team that defeated Chinese Taipei 26-25 in the final in Hangzhou. 

India’s 100 medals in Hangzhou include 25 gold, 35 silver and 40 bronze. Of these 100 medals, male participants have won 47 medals (12-17-18) while women have claimed 44 (9-18-19) while seven have come in mixed events.

India had 95 medals at the end of competitions on Friday night with the men’s hockey team winning the gold medal by beating Japan in the final.

On Saturday, Aditi Gopichand Swamy added a bronze and then Jyothi Surekha Vennam won the gold in the Compound Women’s Individual archery competition to take the count to 97.

Ojas Pravin Deotale and Abhishek Verma bagged gold and silver respectively in the Compound Men’s Individual archery to take the count to 99. The women’s kabaddi team then pushed it to the 100 mark.

This is India’s highest-ever medal haul in the Asian Games, surpassing the 70 medals that the country won in the previous edition of the Games in Indonesia in 2018.

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West Indies beat India by six wickets, level series 1-1

Opener Ishan Kishan (55) struck his second successive half-century but India failed to capitalise on a good start on a difficult pitch that offered variable bounce to be all out for 181 in 40.5 overs…reports Asian Lite News

A disciplined bowling effort led by three-fers from Gudakesh Motie (3/36) and Romario Shepherd (3/37), followed by a fine half-century from Shai Hope (63 not out) helped West Indies draw level the three-match series 1-1 with a convincing six-wicket win over India in the second ODI, here on Saturday.

Opener Ishan Kishan (55) struck his second successive half-century but India failed to capitalise on a good start on a difficult pitch that offered variable bounce to be all out for 181 in 40.5 overs.

In reply, West Indies chased down the target in 36.4 overs with six wickets in hand, courtesy of a steady 91 not out stand between Hope and Keacy Carty (48 not out). This was West Indies first ODI win against India in last ten matches

Chasing a small total, Kyle Mayers was off the blocks quickly, driving and flicking India’s new-ball pair of Hardik Pandya and Mukesh Kumar before Brandon King joined in, going past 1000 ODI runs with consecutive boundaries off Umran Malik.

Mayers then welcomed Shardul Thakur into the attack with a stylish flick for six to bring up the fifty partnership on the first ball of the ninth over, but fell attempting a repeat of the same one ball later. In the same over, Thakur trapped King LBW to reduce West Indies to 54/2.

With Hope on crease, West Indies had managed to move on quickly but Thakur struck again to remove Alick Athanaze. However, the captain ensured West Indies didn’t waste a perfect start like the visitors.

Hosts lost Shimron Hetmyer to a Kuldeep Yadav googly but Hope kept the scoreboard ticking just enough to keep them ahead of the DLS par score given the overcast conditions. And once Carty got his eye in, the pair did well to rotate strike effectively and inch closer to the target.

Hope brought up his fifty in 70 balls, also taking his team past the 150-run mark in the process. Despite not exactly dealing in boundaries until the very end, the pair took control of the chase and made sure West Indies scaled the target comfortably.

Earlier, put into bat first, India made a hash of things after getting a good start thanks to Ishan, who struck a run-a-ball 55, his second after the 52 in the first match that India won.

Kishan and Shubman Gill raised 90 runs for the opening wicket but the West Indies capitalised on the juice offered by the wicket that was slow but offered bounce too. The disaster struck India just before the first rain interruption midway through their innings when the visitors lost two wickets off successive deliveries, slumping to 113/5 in the 25th over from 95/2 in the 18th over.

Axar Patel, sent ahead of Hardik Pandya failed too. Stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya (7), leading the side as Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli have been rested, tried to pull a bouncer around shoulder height from Jayden Seales but got it straight to Brandon King at midwicket. Pandya was the fourth batter to get out in the last ball of the 24th over.

Sanju Samson (9) got out off the first delivery of the 25th over as he edged leg spinner Yannic Cariah to King in the slips, getting squared up as he shaped up to hit it square and the ball spun and bounced and took the edge.

India lost two quick wickets again after a 30-minute rain interruption as Ravindra Jadeja (10) and Suryakumar Yadav (24) got out, after repairing the innings a bit by adding 33 runs for the sixth wicket. Shardul Thakur contributed 16 runs off 22 balls but the Indian tail did not last for long as India were eventually bowled out for 181.

Brief scores: India 181 all out in 40.5 overs (Ishan Kishan 55, Shubman Gill 34; Romario Shepherd 3-37, Gudakesh Motie 3-36) lost to West Indies 182/4 in 36.4 overs (Shai Hope 63 not out, Keacy Carty 48 not out; Shardul Thakur 3-42) by six wickets.

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India blanks Nepal 2-0 in SAFF Championship

Kuwait beat Pakistan 4-0 earlier in the day and will join India in the semi-final from Group A. Nepal, finalists of the previous edition, are eliminated….reports Asian Lite News

 Indiadefeated Nepal 2-0 in the SAFF Championship 2023 on Saturday at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. After securing the win against Nepal the Indian football team confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the tournament.
With this victory, India extended their unbeaten run on home turf to 12 matches. After a first half where the Blue Tigers were left frustrated by the stubborn Nepal defence, goals from captain Sunil Chhetri and Naorem Mahesh Singh after the break bagged the three points for the hosts, who had assistant coach Mahesh Gawli on the touchline in place of the suspended Igor Stimac.
Kuwait beat Pakistan 4-0 earlier in the day and will join India in the semi-final from Group A. Nepal, finalists of the previous edition, are eliminated.
There were as many as eight changes to the India side that cruised past Pakistan 4-0 in the opener. Only hat-trick heroes Sunil Chhetri, Anirudh Thapa and Sahal Abdul Samad were retained in the eleven. In the entirely-new backline, Rahul Bheke was handed his first start of the month.
The game started at a lighter pace than the one three days earlier. India, expectedly, did see plenty of possession in the starting stages and most of their attacks came from the left wing, with Akash Mishra, Naorem Mahesh Singh and Sahal, who occasionally drifted wide.
The latter spurned the first big chance of the game in the 16th minute when Akash cut the ball back from the by-line but he could only side-foot it wide.
In the very next minute, Nepal lodged their first shot on target as Mehtab Singh’s clearance fell for Arik Bista, whose first-time volley was well-saved by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Nepal had Manish Dangi causing India trouble from the right flank. On one such occasion, his low cross was met with a vital interception by Rohit Kumar, allowing the hosts to move forward on the counter-attack. In a three-on-three situation, Sahal took a bit too much time to pick out a pass and was dispossessed by the visitors.
India came out a much more rejuvenated side after the break, and after Mahesh’s snapshot from a distance flashed just wide, the deadlock was broken in classic fashion in the 61st minute.
Sahal and Mahesh combined well before the latter sent an inch-perfect low cross into the middle for Sunil Chhetri to tap in his 91st international goal with the simplest of touches.
India was finally getting in the groove and less than 10 minutes later, the lead was doubled after a rather bizarre first India goal for Mahesh. As Sahal sent Chhetri clean through, the skipper took his time before releasing his left-footed shot. The effort was deflected by goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu, and bounced twice on the crossbar before Mahesh bundled it in from point-blank range.
Limbu was called into action soon again and prevented the fiery Indian offence from registering more goals. He made two strong saves in quick succession to first keep out substitute Lallianzuala Chhangte’s shot from a narrow angle before holding firm to Bheke’s header from the resulting corner.
India will take on Kuwait in their last Group A match on Tuesday. (ANI)

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Tammy Beaumont’s 208 makes history

Beaumont became just the second England woman to hit a hundred in all three formats of the international game…reports Asian Lite News

After scoring a magnificent maiden Test century in the ongoing Women’s Ashes Test against Australia, England opener Tammy Beaumont said she was pleased to tick off a dream she had seen as a kid and added that contributing to the team comes first for her before personal milestones.

Beaumont became just the second England woman to hit a hundred in all three formats of the international game after current skipper Heather Knight by striking 16 boundaries to hit an unbeaten ton, taking England to 218/2 in 53 overs, trailing Australia by 255 runs at the end of day two’s play.

“Heather said to me when I came into the changing room ‘welcome to the club’ – I didn’t realise she meant the all three formats one, I thought she just meant an Ashes hundred.”

“If we go on to win this Test match then it would be right up there. It’s great to tick it off and as a kid, I dreamt of scoring an Ashes Test hundred. But as I’ve gone on, it’s contributing to the team.”

“It’s always good to look back at personal milestones and nice to tick that one off – something that I thought probably might evade me as I’m coming to the later half of my career,” said Tammy to Sky Sports at the end of day two’s play.

Tammy was also given a massive lifeline on 61 when an edge to short leg off Alana King went undetected and wasn’t reviewed. “There were probably moments where I thought I wasn’t going to face enough balls to get there but it put the team in a good position.”

“If you apply yourself as a batter there’s definitely runs out there to be had and so far our batters have pretty much looked at ease.”

Former England captain Charlotte Edwards remarked that Tammy is a type of player who lives for games like this and steps up to do the job for the team.

“I thought she played spin really well, she was proactive, she sweeps really well and that was something we did not see from the Australian players. A hundred off 154 balls is a great knock, she has come off two hundreds in the warmup games, so she was in really good form.”

“And I am really chuffed for her in front of her home crowd at Trent Bridge. These are the games that she lives for, a big game against Australia, and she’s really stepping up. The team really needed this. England are in a decent position.”

Charlotte also feels Tammy’s hundred came on the back of her trying to prove her strokeplay, especially after being dropped from England’s squad for this year’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.

“I have, and that’s when she’s at her most dangerous, when she’s trying to prove a point and that’s what I love about her. She’ll want to play T20 cricket, and so she should, and she’ll want to show the England coaches that they should have picked her in that T20 World Cup. It’s good for English cricket, it’s good for the team that it’s highly competitive for places.”

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Titans beat Super Giants by 7 runs in a thriller

The victory also means Gujarat are on par with Lucknow, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings on eight points, and at fourth place due to net run rate, while also managing to maintain their clean slate of victories over Lucknow in IPL…reports Asian Lite News

Chasing 136 was looking like a walk in the park for Lucknow Super Giants. A wicketless power-play, captain KL Rahul well-set after making fifty, Gujarat Titans dropping two catches and needing 31 runs off 36 balls with nine wickets in hand, everything was literally going their way for a victory.

But Mohit Sharma and Noor Ahmad picked two wickets each while Shami, despite not picking a wicket, played a crucial part in producing top-notch bowling on a slow pitch to successfully defend 135 and help Gujarat pull off a miraculous seven-run victory in Match No 30 of the IPL 2023 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, here on Saturday.

Such was the relentless accuracy from Gujarat’s bowlers in the back-end that Lucknow couldn’t hit a boundary in the last 45 balls. Questions will be asked of Rahul, who looked good in reaching his fifty in 38 balls and had a strike-rate upwards of 150 in powerplay.

But after crossing fifty, Rahul managed to get his next 18 runs off 23 balls to eventually make 68 off 61 balls as Lucknow ended up with 128/7 in 20 overs, with Gujarat leaving them stunned to record their first win of IPL 2023 while defending a total.

The victory also means Gujarat are on par with Lucknow, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings on eight points, and at fourth place due to net run rate, while also managing to maintain their clean slate of victories over Lucknow in IPL.

Gujarat’s turnaround tale began when Krunal Pandya was stumped off Noor in the 15th over. After a slew of dot balls, Noor had another wicket in the 17th over when Nicholas Pooran top-edged a slog-sweep to Hardik.

Mohit mixed yorkers and slower balls very well to concede just six runs in the 18th over, as pressure increased on Lucknow. Shami produced an excellent boundary-less 19th over, conceding just five runs.

With 12 runs needed off the final over, Mohit sealed the game in Gujarat’s favour as Rahul mistimed a pull to deep square leg and Marcus Stoinis holed out to long-on on successive deliveries. It was followed by run-outs of Ayush Badoni and Deepak Hooda as Mohit gave away just four runs, giving Gujarat a spectacular victory from the jaws of defeat.

Earlier, Rahul began the chase by playing a maiden off Shami. In the fast bowler’s second over, the LSG skipper turned the tide by smashing a hat-trick of fours. On the other hand, Kyle Mayers looked good in cutting and driving on the up for taking boundaries against impact player Jayant Yadav.

Rashid Khan’s introduction in the fifth over didn’t yield the desired result as Rahul pulled him for back-to-back boundaries, followed by Mayers dancing down the pitch to loft over long-on for six. After Rahul exquisitely pierced the gap between cover and mid-off with a nice punch off Mohit for four, Rashid bounced back by castling Mayers through the gate.

From there, Lucknow managed to get a boundary from overs 8-11, with Rahul looking sublime and Krunal supporting him very well, with the latter being aided by Abhinav Manohar dropping his catch in the ninth over.

Rahul reached his fifty in 38 balls with a single off Rahul Tewatia, followed by Krunal hoicking him cleanly over long-on for six. Rahul got a life on 55 when Vijay Shankar couldn’t hold on to his catch at long-on. But after Krunal fell, the script dramatically fell in Gujarat’s favour as Rahul and Lucknow were left wondering what went wrong.

Earlier, Gujarat’s batters found it difficult to find their timing, barring captain Hardik’s 66 off 50 balls and Wriddhiman Saha hitting 47 off 37 balls. Such was the difficulty in stroke play that Hardik was the only batter from Gujarat to hit all of their sixes in their innings.

Electing to bat first, they suffered a huge blow when Shubman Gill fell for a two-ball duck to Krunal. Saha took three quick fours off Krunal, Naveen-ul-Haq and Avesh Khan, before cutting on consecutive deliveries off Ravi Bishnoi for boundaries in the last over of power-play.

Saha nailed another cut off Stoinis for four, before Hardik, promoting himself to number three, made great use of fuller balls from Bishnoi to smash him over extra cover for four and hit a six over long-off. The 68-run partnership between Saha and Hardik came to an end in the 11th over when the former chipped straight to long-on.

Lucknow’s slowdown effect then led to quick dismissals of Manohar and Shankar. But Hardik ended 4.2 overs of boundary drought by pulling Bishnoi for four, followed by smashing powerful sixes over deep mid-wicket and long-on, first of which fetched him his fifty in 44 balls in a 19-run over.

Hardik began the final over by pulling Stoinis for a flat six, before pulling a slower ball straight to long-on. Stoinis ended the innings by having David Miller hole out to long-on.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 135/6 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 66, Wriddhiman Saha 47; Krunal Pandya 2/16, Marcus Stoinis 2/20) beat Lucknow Super Giants 128/7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 68, Kyle Mayers 24; Mohit Sharma 2/17, Noor Ahmad 2/18) by 7 runs.

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India to host Volleyball Club World Championships

Volleyball.

The championships will be staged between December 6 and 10, 2023. The host city will be announced later this year….reports Asian Lite News

Volleyball World and FIVB on Tuesday announced India as the host nation for the Men’s Club World Championships for two years in partnership with the Prime Volleyball League.

As the host nation, the winners of the Prime Volleyball League in 2023 and 2024 will represent India in the tournaments, where they will face fierce competition against established clubs from the top volleyball nations from around the globe like Italy, Brazil, Iran and others.

The championships will be staged between December 6 and 10, 2023. The host city will be announced later this year.

The tournament brings the best of international volleyball to India, where the sport is seeing a meteoric rise since the commencement of the Prime Volleyball League in 2022.

Season 1 of the league saw a cumulative TV viewership of 133 million in India alone and managed to reach over 84 million fans on digital platforms.

The FIVB President Ary S Graa F said, “The FIVB is delighted to bring the best of men’s club volleyball to India for the first time ever! With the top clubs in the world, including the host nation, taking part, fans in India and around the world can be assured of thrilling volleyball action and incredible athlete performances.”

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Ben Stokes wins ICC Test cricketer of the year award

England captain Ben Stokes accepts luck factor playing its part in 26-run win at Multan

Stokes also becomes the third England cricketer to win the award after Alastair Cook (2011) and Joe Root (2021)…reports Asian Lite News

England captain Ben Stokes has been named as the winner of the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year 2022 award, two days after being named as captain of ICC Men’s Test team of the Year for 2022.

He also becomes the third England cricketer to win the award after Alastair Cook (2011) and Joe Root (2021), beating competition from compatriot Jonny Bairstow, Australia’s left-handed opener Usman Khawaja, and South Africa fast-bowler Kagiso Rabada, all of whom managed to find a place in the ICC Test eleven for 2022.

Stokes, along with head coach Brendon McCullum, has changed the fortunes of English Test cricket in 2022. Struggling for results and at the rock-bottom of the World Test Championship standings, Stokes took over an English side that was struggling for confidence. Before he was appointed as captain, England had been beaten in each of their four most recently completed series and had won just one of their previous 17 Tests.

His inspirational leadership has now built up a confident and attacking unit, who won nine out of 10 Test matches under his tenure in 2022. Under Stokes, England completed series victories over New Zealand and South Africa at home, beating India in the one-off postponed Test at Birmingham to level the series at 2-2, and hammering Pakistan 3-0 away from home in a historic tour in December.

Stokes has repeatedly stated about taking the fear of failure away from the players and that has reflected in the ultra-aggressive brand of cricket that England play under him. He has also led the charge by example, having a good year with both bat and ball.

He had scored 870 runs, including two centuries and four half-centuries and also scalped 26 wickets at an average of 31.19. His assertive batting style saw him net 26 sixes across the year and just short of 100 fours.

In the historic 3-0 series victory in Pakistan happening before Christmas, Stokes’s side averaged 5.50 runs per over, and the attacking batting was matched by the captain’s assertive decision-making.

An inspired declaration by Stokes in a high-scoring affair in Rawalpindi gave England the time to win the match as the sun was setting, in what will go down as one of England’s greatest away wins. Stokes will be seen in Test action when England tour New Zealand for two Tests in Mount Maunganui and Wellington in February 2023.

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‘Happy to start like this in the World Cup year’

Kohli was the top run-scorer of the series, making 283 runs in three innings at an average of 141.50 and strike-rate of 137.37, making centuries in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram….reports Asian Lite News

After winning Player of the Series award in India’s 3-0 series victory over Sri Lanka, talismanic batter Virat Kohli said it is indeed an ideal start for him, especially with the ODI World Cup scheduled later this year.

On a slow yet placid pitch at the Greenfield International Stadium, Kohli was off the blocks quickly, and anchored the innings for a large part to be unbeaten on 166 not out off 110 balls, his tenth hundred against Sri Lanka. In his third century in last four ODI innings, Kohli hit 13 fours and eight sixes, feasting on a hapless bowling attack.

In the last ten overs, he fetched 84 out of the 116 runs India scored to literally bat Sri Lanka out of the match as the hosts’ made a mammoth 390/5 on Sunday. Kohli was the top run-scorer of the series, making 283 runs in three innings at an average of 141.50 and strike-rate of 137.37, making centuries in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram.

“It’s been a great start (to the year). It’s been a while since I started the year like this� getting a hundred and then scoring two hundred in the series and also becoming the man of the series. I am just happy that in the World Cup year, I can start like this, and I know I can be consistent.”

“When I start like this, and I start feeling confident, then things usually go well. I am happy from a team’s point of view that I got to start like this and that the team can gel really well as a batting unit,” said Kohli in a video posted on bcci.tv.

Kohli also congratulated opener Shubman Gill for his second ODI century and first in India too. “Congratulations for your first hundred in India. You deserved to get one in the first match. Today also you played phenomenally well and many more at home and away will come in the future.”

He had also shared a 131-run partnership with Gill, who was stylish in his 116 off 97 balls, hitting 14 fours and two sixes, which came after missing chances to get a big knock in Guwahati and Kolkata.

“I was disappointed when I got out in the first ODI. I was looking to go big in that match but unfortunately, nahi ho paaya (it didn’t happen). In Kolkata, also, I was playing well but failed to convert my start. Yahi tha ki agar start milta hai to lamba jaane ki koshish karunga (Today I just wanted to take it deep if I would have got a great start). I have felt in Test matches as well that I left a bit of runs there and could have gone even big,” he said.

Gill also credited Kohli for helping him through the innings to reach three-figure mark. “Jaise jab hum batting kar rahe they tab aapne aa ke kaha ki tera aaj lamba jaane ka time hai aur aapne aate hi rhythm badal diya (While we were in the middle, you told me that today I am going to score big and you changed the rhythm right from the word go).”

“You were batting on 15 in first seven-eight balls and whatever was discussed with you, I had kept that in mind while batting alongside you.”

Kohli remarked he enjoyed batting with the youngster. “I really enjoyed batting with Shubman. We haven’t batted for very long many times. But today (Sunday) was the day where we had a good partnership and it really helped the team as well. So, I was very happy about that.”

The next assignment for India in their home season is three ODIs against New Zealand, starting from Wednesday in Hyderabad.

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Injured Bumrah, Pant miss out first two Australia Tests

Jasprit Bumrah regains top spot in ICC ODI rankings for bowlers

Rishabh Pant, who is recovering from an accident, will miss the series and his absence paved the way for Ishan’s inclusion…reports Asian Lite News

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and stylish batter Suryakumar Yadav were on Friday named in the Indian Test squad for the first two games against Australia, beginning on February 9.

Rishabh Pant, who is recovering from an accident, will miss the series and his absence paved the way for Ishan’s inclusion in the 17-member squad that also has KS Bharat as the other wicketkeeper.

Kishan, who made his first-class debut in 2014, has scored 2985 runs at an average of 38.76 in 48 first-class matches while Bharat has also done well in the domestic cricket and also impressed with this performance during a practice match on England tour.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar, who has been in brillant form in T20Is for India, has also been included. He made his first-class debut way back in December 2010 and has 5549 runs in that format at an average of 44.79.

Fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, who has been out of action since September last year due to a back injury, will also miss out from the Border-Gavaskar series. In his absence, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat form the core of the pace bowling department.

Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, is set to make a comeback after injury but his availability will be subject to fitness. R. Ashwin, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are the other spinners in the squad.

Rohit Sharma, who missed the Test series in Bangladesh due to a thumb injury, also returns to captain the side. KL Rahul, who led the side in his absence in Bangladesh, will be his deputy.

India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

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