ICC Test Rankings
The Indian test skipper, Virat Kohli is on the seventh place in the latest released ICC Test Rankings for Test batters whereas Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, with his thundering Ashes form, replaced England skipper Joe Root to become the number 1 Test batter. Kohli, who played the second Test against New Zealand, was earlier holding the sixth position and now with 756 points falls one place down to seventh. India’s Rohit Sharma remains at fifth position as per the Latest ICC Test Rankings.
Among bowlers, Ravi Ashwin held his second position behind the Australian Test skipper Pat Cummins.
Marnus Labuschagne has climbed upto the top of the Latest ICC Test rankings for batters for the very first time after his sensational performances in the two matches of the Ashes till now.
With his career-best 912 rating points, he surpassed the England skipper Root (897), who fell down to the second place in the Updated ICC Test Rankings.
Watch : Cricketkeeda Sports Test Team Of The Year 2021
IPL Auction news
The BCCI has plans to hold the two-day mega Indian Premier League auction on February 7 and 8 in Bengaluru, a senior BCCI official said on Wednesday.
It can be the last mega auction that BCCI might conduct as most of the original IPL franchises want it to be discontinued.
“Unless the Covid-19 situation worsens, we will have the IPL mega auction in India. The two-day event will be held on February 12 and 13 and like other years, we plan to hold it in Bengaluru. Preparations are underway,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
There were reports that auction will be held in the UAE but as of now, BCCI has no such plans.
However with the emergence of Omicron variant of Covid-19 and cases on the rise, the situation will remain fluid but if there are restrictions with regards to overseas travel (unless all owners decide to use charter planes), conducting it in India will be less of a logistical nightmare.
This year’s IPL will be a 10-team affair with Sanjiv Goenka owned Lucknow franchise along with venture capital firm CVC owned Ahmedabad making their debut in the cash rich league. Most of the franchise owners feel that mega auctions have passed their sell-by-date and a team’s composition and balance gets severely compromised when there are auctions after every 3 years.
Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal said that it’s very difficult to release the players after making a perfect team from the core.
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“It is very sad to lose Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada and Ashwin. The auction process itself is something like this. Going forward, IPL should look at this because it’s not that you build a team, give chances to young players, groom them and get them opportunities from franchises, play for the country and then you lose them after three years,” Jindal had said after players’ retention was announced November 30.
Vijay Hazare
Himachal Pradesh V/S Uttar Pradesh Quater Final 1
Himachal Pradesh won by 5 wickets
Vinay Galetiya(3/19), Sidharth Sharma(2/27) and Pankaj Jaiswal’s (2/43) excellent bowling spells followed by Prashant Chopra exceptional knock of 99 runs helped Himachal Pradesh beat Uttar Pradesh by 5 wickets to enter the semi finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Brief Scores: Himachal Pradesh: 208/5(Prashant Chopra 99; Shivam Mavi 3/34) defeated Uttar Pradesh: 207/9(Rinku Singh 76; Vinay Galetiya 3/19) by 5 wickets.
Tamil Nadu V/S Karnataka Quater Final 2
Tamil Nadu won by 151 runs
Riding on a brilliant century by N Jagadeesan which was followed by superb bowling performances by R Silambarasan and Washington Sundar Tamil Nadu thrashed Karnataka by 151 runs to enter the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu: 354/8(N. Jagadeesan 102, Shahrukh Khan 79*;Praveen Dubey 3/67) defeated Karnataka: 203/10(Srinivas Sharath 43;R Silambarasan 4/36) by 151 runs.
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