Maheesh Theekshana's hattrick was in vain as New Zealand sealed the three-match series against Sri Lanka with another massive 113-run victory in a rain-curtailed second ODI in Hamilton. After a lengthy rain delay, Rachin Ravindra (79) and Mark Chapman (62) hit half-centuries to propel the hosts to 255 for 9 with Theekshana tying up the lower-order. However, barring Kamindu Mendis, neither of the Sri Lankan batters stepped up as the visitors folded for just 142 in reply. After pre-toss showers delayed the start of proceedings, Sri Lanka opted to bowl first in order to make the most of the conditions on offer. But an early wicket of Will Young is all they could manage in the PowerPlay before the two half-centurions combined for a century stand. Both Ravindra and Chapman looked flawless at the crease in their 112-run partnership for the second wicket. Both were equally aggressive, but it was the opener who got to his fifty first - with a six off Wanindu Hasaranga straight down the ground - in 43 deliveries. Chapman followed soon enough, and also with a maximum - off Eshan Malinga - as New Zealand cruised to a comfortable 143 for 1 in the 20th over until Theekshana struck on the last ball. This was the start of a spin-inspired late comeback from the visitors as Ravindra lasted only a little longer. He did hit three boundaries in a quick timeframe to take the hosts past 150, but Hasaranga took him out at the end of the 23rd. Daryl Mitchell's run-a-ball 38 was well complemented by skipper Mitchell Santner's quick cameo of 20 in 15 deliveries - where he took Asitha Fernando to the cleaners - before Sri Lanka came back to clip their wings. Theekshana dismissed Santner in the very next over, followed by Nathan Smith and then Matt Henry at the start of his next - and final over - to complete a hattrick. He finished with overall figures of 4 for 44 in eight overs, playing a major hand alongside Hasaranga in restricting the hosts who looked set, at one point, to post 280+. But Sri Lanka's top-order woes continued for a second successive game. They were reduced to 23 for 4 in the first ODI, and 22 for 4 today courtesy Jacob Duffy's twin early strikes and a run-out of their captain. Kamindu fought a lone battle from there on. He led two useful partnerships - worth 57 with Janith Liyanage (22 off 31) and of 47 runs with Chamindu Wickramasinghe (17 off 27). However, the latter's run-out also came at a crucial juncture to douse any hopes. Kamindu reached his half-century in the 24th over, with back to back fours off Daryl Mitchell. However, William O'Rourke sent him packing soon after on 64. He was the eighth batter dismissed, reducing Sri Lanka to 131 for 8 and the tall pacer cleaned up the tail too all by himself to shoot down the visitors inside 31 overs and secure a big win. New Zealand 255/9 in 37 overs (Rachin Ravindra 79, Mark Chapman 62; Maheesh Theekshana 4-44) beat Sri Lanka 142 all out in 30.2 overs (Kamindu Mendis 64; William O'Rourke 3-32, Jacob Duffy 2-30) by 113 runs - match reduced to 37 over per side due to rain

Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan will serve as a mentor for Afghanistan at the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Afghanistan Cricket Board official confirmed the development to Cricbuzz on Wednesday. Younis has previously served as Afghanistan's batting coach for the team in 2022 "ACB has assigned former experienced top order Pakistani player Younis Khan as Mentor for Champions Trophy 2025. He (Younis) will join the team before the event starts in Pakistan," Sayeed Naseem Sadat, the spokesman of ACB, confirmed to Cricbuzz on Wednesday.. In his playing career, Younis scored 10,099 runs in 118 Tests, including a career-best 313. He also became world number one batsman in the ICC rankings. He also led Pakistan to its maiden T20 World Cup triumph in 2009. He took on several coaching roles after his playing career that includes serving as batting coach of Pakistan team for a short stint. Younis had worked with Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) while in the recent past he worked as head coach for the Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) pitch, used for the recent fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), has received a 'Satisfactory' rating from the International Cricket Council (ICC). The world body has rated all other four BGT venues - Optus Stadium in Perth, Adelaide Oval, the Gabba in Brisbane, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) - 'Very Good.' "The SCG has been striving to bring out their unique characteristics of early pace and bounce before the pitch wears and spins. This year was a step in the right direction to achieving this which provided an exciting finish to the Border Gavaskar Trophy series and bodes well for the Ashes summer in 2025-26," Cricket Australia said in a statement. The ICC pitch ratings, interestingly, were released by the CA. The world body is yet to make an announcement. The SCG pitch came for some criticism with both former and current players coming down heavily on the nature of the surface. With a thick layer of grass on the surface, the Test lasted less than three days and there were just about 191 overs bowled, just 685 runs scored with 15 wickets falling on the second day of the Test. Sunil Gavaskar squarely criticised the pitch stating that it was not ideal Test track. "This is not the ideal Test match pitch that you want because you want it to go into a fourth and fifth day. If 15 wickets fell (on one day) in India, all hell would have broken loose. We had Glenn McGrath saying he'd never seen so much grass. Did you hear any former India cricketer moan about the pitch?," the former India captain, who was commentating during the series, said. Apart from McGrath, a few of the current Australia players also did not rate it highly. Usman Khawaja called it a stinker. "I'm not gonna lie, I didn't want to talk about it too much beforehand, but the wicket was a stinker. It wasn't like a traditional SCG wicket with the new grass on it, there's cracks all over it, it's been tough batting, the scoreboard will tell you that. Thankfully we were on the right side of the win but when it's a wicket like that you're always on a knife edge," he told ABC Radio. Steve Smith, who has been stranded at 9999 runs, said it was the toughest pitch he saw in Sydney. "By a mile. It was two-paced, up and down, seaming all over the place, swinging. I've never played on a wicket like that at the SCG before. It was incredibly difficult to bat," he was quoted as saying by the media.

Bangladesh pacer Jahanara Alam said she feels that continuous international cricket took a toll on her mental health and prompted her to take a break from national duty. Cricbuzz reported that Jahanara took a and as a result was not included for Bangladesh's tour of West Indies. However, Jahanara is currently playing for Sydney Cricket Club in the first grade Premier League in Australia. "I did not take a break from all kinds of cricket, I took a break only from the Bangladesh national team for a while," Jahanara told Cricbuzz on Tuesday (January 7). "That's what I let them know (BCB) but it is not a break from all kinds of cricket, then I wouldn't be able to play here (in Australia)," she said. "And I will also play in the domestic cricket in Bangladesh and I have let them know that as well. And I will also play all kinds of franchise cricket if I'm given the NOC. I will play all kinds of cricket, only taking a break from the Bangladesh national side for a while. It depends on me when I will return. I saw somewhere they mentioned that I took a break for two months, there is no timeframe to this," she said. "No special reason (for taking the break) just took it. I have played cricket at a stretch for a long time, so I thought of taking a break. Everything is related to mental state, no? We play cricket with only 10 percent of our skill and the rest is a mental game, no? Everything is related to that. You can say, I needed a break mentally," she said. "Alhamdulillah, I'm feeling better. I'm really so happy. I'm currently playing for Sydney Cricket Club here which is in the first grade Premier League, you can say. Also I'm assuming the coaching role, helping the fast bowlers here. That's my update. I got a scholarship here," she added. Many inside Bangladesh's cricket fraternity feel that Jahanara took the break due to her differences with current head coach Hashan Tillakaratne as she was feeling that she was not getting a place in the playing XI despite doing well in domestic cricket, though the right-arm pacer begs to differ. "No, nothing like that," Jahanara clarified. "If there was any issue like that, then I would think of getting into the team later since I was out for a while. There's no man-to-man issue for me and nothing like that. If you think that was the reason, no. I could have taken this decision long before since I faced a more difficult situation and I came back strongly," she said. "No one could prove anything against me. If they were proven, the board wouldn't have brought me back without any hearing. I was told that everything was a miscommunication; you just forget that even though it won't be easy, you just try to perform. I'm talking about the 2022 World Cup. It wasn't easy for me. It was a nightmare for me, each and every second of it. "I've been playing for the national team for 16 years now - 15 and a half years at a stretch and then six months after a one-year gap. During these 16 years of playing and 18 years of being with the national team, I can take a break and at least deserve that, no? Being a senior player I can ask for it from the board so that I can come back later," she said. "That's what I mentioned over the phone, not through an official letter, that I am taking a break and I will try to come back. When I talked with Sumon (BCB women's wing in-charge) over the phone, I told him that I will follow the procedure to come back to the national side after performing in the domestic arena, which I did last year too. He said 'It's okay, you want a rest, and we have nothing to say here since it's your personal matter. But you think again.' I also asked him to keep me out of the central contract since I won't be playing for the national side. If I am to come back by performing in the domestic arena, I will do it," she concluded.

Kwena Maphaka had never known anything like it. His Test debut against Pakistan marked the longest time he had spent on the field in his first-class career - which is unsurprising considering the match was only his fourth at that level. Just once in his first three games were the overs his team spent in the field across both innings more than the 122.1 Pakistan faced after following-on. Four of the six first-class innings were shorter than Pakistan's first, which lasted 54.2 overs. Maphaka became South Africa's youngest men's Test debutant at 18 years and 270 days. Many his age struggle to pay attention to anything longer than a Tik-Tok post. What was it like to have to concentrate for hours on end in front thousands of people? "It was difficult to stay focused in the beginning because it's a completely different environment from what I'm used to," Maphaka told reporters after South Africa won by 10 wickets on Monday. "But once you start getting into the game - face your first ball, bowl your first ball, field your first ball - it kind of automatically locks in that you're here, you're playing, and you're here for a reason. So it wasn't too much of me focusing on being focused. It kind of just happened." Maphaka has played only 25 matches at senior level, among them two ODIs and five T20Is. Babar Azam has won 308 caps for Pakistan across the formats. So when Babar chased a leg-side delivery and was caught behind an hour into the third day's play on Sunday, there was only one thing to do. "That ball did not go where it was supposed to, but things like that happen for a reason," Maphaka said. "Going through my mind was nothing other than, 'I've taken my first Test wicket! Let me run around and parade!'" Maphaka also had Khurram Shahzad caught at backward point to end Pakistan's first innings, finishing with 2/43 in 8.3 overs. That's not much bowling, but it was enough to set him up for an improved second act. "All the nerves were gone, so it was just me focusing on hitting an area and trying to be as consistent as possible," Maphaka said. "It was about trying to stay calm, and trying to be as focused as possible on bowling the same ball - or similar balls - consistently rather than trying too many things at once. From what I've heard and what I've seen Test cricket is a game of simplicity, so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible." Maphaka thought he had claimed his third wicket 11 deliveries before lunch on Monday, when he squared up Saud Shakeel and rapped him on the pads. Nitin Menon turned down the appeal and the South Africans declined to review - apparently on the advice of Kyle Verreynne, who gestured that the ball would have gone down leg. But the Hawk-Eye prediction was that the stumps would have been hit. "It's one of those things where you make the right decision or you make the wrong decision," Maphaka said. "It doesn't really matter; you've got to get on with the game. We made the wrong decision, but it isn't helpful to kind of look back and be like, no, but this, but this, but this. It's better to look forward and say we're going to get him out anyway. Let's see how we're going to do that." Maphaka had to wait another 49 deliveries to add to his wicket tally, which happened in controversial circumstances. He struck Shan Masood on the pads, and again umpire Menon disagreed. The South Africans reviewed, and Masood didn't like what he saw on the screen. "I was beaten on the outside edge and it was shown as an inswinger; I was baffled by that," Masood, who batted for more than six hours and scored 145, told a press conference on Monday. "I felt the technology didn't show the trajectory of that ball [accurately]." That was in the fifth over of a tight and bristling Maphaka spell of seven in which he took 1/16. Returns of 2/43 and 1/47 in a total of 21.2 overs doesn't sound like much. Especially when you're playing for a team not short on finding bowling talent - 25 players have taken five or more wickets in an innings on debut for South Africa, and two went on to claim 10 in the match. But Maphaka showed enough to suggest the interest generated by his 21 wickets at 9.71 in six games at the under-19 World Cup in South Africa in January and February last year was about more than hype or hope. He looked, and sounded, like the real deal. But he will be just another nervous teenager on Wednesday - when he will discover how he fared in his final examinations at high school. "I'll probably think about that tomorrow or the next day," Maphaka said. "I had a few comments from my teammates during the match about my results, and I tuned them out and tried to focus 100% on the cricket." That is, after all, where his future lies. He can look forward to exponentially more time on the field than he spent at Newlands.

In what was among the finest comebacks witnessed in BBL history, Melbourne Renegades recovered from 10 for 4 to chase down the target of 148, sealing a four-wicket win over Perth Scorchers in Perth. Needing to win in order to keep their campaign alive, it was skipper Will Sutherland (70 off 45) and Tom Rogers (49* off 31) who put on a counterpunching 92-run stand that turned the game on its head. The former couldn't hang on till the end but Rogers kept his calm to seal the deal with two deliveries to spare. The duo had earlier also put up strong bowling displays to keep Perth in check. The chase couldn't have gotten off to a worse start for the visitors as Jason Behrendorff (2-22) started with a double-wicket maiden - Tim Seifert and Jake Fraser-McGurk being his victims. The scoreline of 0 for 2 soon read 9 for 3 and thereafter 10 for 4 as Jacob Bethell and Laurie Evans also fell to Scorchers' intimidating new-ball skills. At that point, the game seemed all but done with the ball moving around appreciably under lights. However, as is the case with most T20 games in Perth, it was about getting through the first ten overs and staying in the game as the back end is generally when majority of the runs are scored at the venue against the softer ball. Sutherland showed great composure, unfurling deft touches and also displaying his power game according to the situation. Marcus Harris (21 off 26), in for the injured Josh Brown, gave some support as the pair added 37 for the fifth wicket with Sutherland being the aggressor. Once the southpaw departed, the game again seemed to be stacked against the Renegades, particularly with specialist batter Jonathan Wells struggling with a hamstring injury. It meant that Thomas Rogers had to bat at no.7 and the all-rounder rose to the occasion with a top knock. After a passage of play when it was all about Sutherland, Rogers also joined in, as boundaries rained in Perth. Batting got easier and with the game going deep, the Scorchers uncharacteristically felt the heat. Sutherland and Rogers had to do something out of the ordinary to pull the game through for the Renegades, and their knocks were exceptional. The pattern was similar to the Scorchers innings earlier in the afternoon as the home side also found batting tough on a spicy Perth surface. Finn Allen struck a boundary and a six in the first over but it was soon evident that the surface wasn't as batting-friendly as in the previous games. The New Zealander fell to Sutherland (2-22) who then had comeback man Mitch Marsh for a duck. Rogers chipped in with the big wicket of Cooper Connolly as Perth lost three in the PowerPlay for the first time this season. Aaron Hardie (34 off 34), promoted to open, struggled and saw wickets fall around him as he tried to work his way through the innings. At a crucial juncture, he became Rogers' second wicket, off the first ball of the power surge. Scorchers were heading for a paltry total but Ashton Agar (51* off 30) weighed in with a crucial innings to prop up the home side. The southpaw took his time early on and then struck a few hefty blows at the end to take Perth closer to the 150-run mark. Adam Zampa (3-27) was a bit expensive initially but bounced back with timely strikes through the middle overs and at the death, even as Agar did his job at the other end. The total of 147 was a tad under-par but the Scorchers still nearly pulled it off. Perth Scores 147/8 (Ashton Agar 51*; Will Sutherland 2-22, Tom Rogers 2-40) lost to Melbourne Renegades 150/6 in 19.4 overs (Will Sutherland 70, Tom Rogers 49*; Lance Morris 2-21. Jason Behrendorff 2-22) by four wickets

The third edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is all set to take place in two phases across two cities, with Baroda and Lucknow shortlisted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as potential venues. The season is expected to commence on February 6 or 7, with Baroda in contention to stage the second phase, including the final. The BCCI has yet to officially confirm the dates and venues to the five franchises. However, it is understood that the board has held informal discussions with the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) and the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA). A formal announcement is expected in the coming days. Baroda has recently raised an international standard facility - the Kotambi Stadium - and the BCCI wants to hold the WPL at the venue. Inaugurated last month, the stadium recently hosted three Women's ODIs against the West Indies. It has also been the venue for several senior Women's T20 tournament matches and a few Ranji Trophy games. The BCA, which has been allotted the knockout rounds of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting January 9, is also planning to stage the semifinals and final under lights there to check the full preparedness of the new facility. Since the BCCI intends to host the 23-match WPL in two phases, the BCA is understood to have sought to host the second phase so that it will have a couple of weeks more time to provide the finishing touches to the facility. The final is likely to be held around March 8-9. The inaugural season of the league was entirely hosted in Mumbai, while Bengaluru and Delhi staged the second season. Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the defending champions. Meanwhile, it has been learned that India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who is not part of the three-match ODI series against Ireland, is understood to have been directed to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. While announcing the squad for the series, the BCCI stated that Harmanpreet and Renuka Singh Thakur were being rested for the three matches, to be held in Rajkot on January 10, 12 and 15. However, it is learned that Harmanpreet's absence is linked to her summons to the NCA. The nature of the injury or treatment that she needs to undergo is not clear yet.

The 2024/25 was one of the most eagerly anticipated series of the cricketing calendar and the five Tests did live up to the billing. It was significant as it will most likely to be the last time some of the greatest names that enriched these contests would come face to face. The added context of a spot in the WTC final further raised the stakes. Though it would have been the likes of Virat Kohli and Steven Smith that would have headlined the commercial prospects, it was indeed a contest on the field between two pace bowling attacks led by two of the greatest contemporary names of the trade - Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins that dominated the series. The new batch of Kookaburra ball with a more pronounced seam and extra layer of lacquer have brought bowlers into the contest more often in recent summers in Australia. The pitches in this series witnessed more grass on tracks than we are used to seeing Down Under and these two factors made two very good seam bowling attacks more lethal. Batters played false shots to 25.1% of the deliveries from seamers in the series - one in four deliveries - making it the toughest series for batters in Australia since 2006/07, the period from which we have such data available. In terms of batting average for top seven (31.43), it was the second lowest in a series in the same period after 27.61 in the 2018/19 Border Gavaskar trophy when the home team were bereft of three of their first choice batters. OYzv9MkDxLM In a series where fast bowlers dictated terms, it was eventually down to the depth and experience of the two seam attacks that clinched the deal. Cummins had Mitchell Starc in his arsenal with the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland to follow up while India, despite Bumrah's great run, had little support act once the ball got older and had lesser assistance of the wicket. Australia's change seamers bagged 32 wickets at 21.96, Boland picking 21 of those at 13.19, while the same numbers for India were 20 wickets at 36.10. It was here India made baffling selection calls which were questioned multiple times as the series progressed. India picked the combination of three seamers, an uncapped seam bowling all-rounder and a finger spinner throughout the five Tests. Once the management found more trust in Nitish Kumar Reddy's batting abilities, they added a second finger spinner in the last two Tests, who eventually ended up playing a more prominent role with the bat instead. The tracks had little to offer for finger spinners and the series saw Nathan Lyon having his least workload in a series outside of his debut calendar year. Spinners bowled an average of 51 overs across the five Tests, the lowest in a series of at least three Tests in Australia since 2006/07 and only drew a false shot once in ten balls compared to one in four by the fast bowling counterparts. It led India effectively playing three-men attacks as the series wore on. aNmDBlX9mBx As it seemed, India picked an attack for the new ball, and it played out exactly the same way and it was only the mastery of Bumrah that kept them in the series longer than it should have. The seamers from both teams have had eerily similar numbers with the first new ball (overs 1 to 30) with Bumrah having numbers out of this world. It was his new ball burst in Perth where he bagged five top order wickets across two innings that paved for India's only win of the series. Australia's top order was always under siege against Bumrah and Usman Khawaja admitted as much post the series. Mohammed Siraj picked as many wickets with the new ball as Starc and Cummins at a marginally better average and strike rate while Akash Deep was unlucky to end with just two wickets at 48.00 despite drawing more false shots in this phase than anyone bar Bumrah. The story began to diverge once the ball got older and the better know how of the conditions and experience of dealing with situations in general of the bowlers from the home team began to show and the numbers bear it out. With the older ball (overs 31 to 80), the seamers from the home team averaged 16.88 and struck every 34.9 balls to 30.31 and 51.4 respectively from the visitors. Cummins matched Bumrah in terms of average in this phase but picked five extra wickets at a superior strike rate. But the key differentiator in this phase was Boland who picked 12 wickets at 8.33 and drew a false response every third ball from Indian batters. Siraj and Harshit Rana averaged north of 40 as well leaked runs while Akash Deep was unlucky not to pick a single wicket in this phase despite drawing more false shots than anyone else except Boland in this period of play (in fact he's yet to pick a wicket with a ball aged 30+ overs in his seven-Test old career). 2E6jOz9GwAv The Australian batters, especially Travis Head who ended up as the leading run getter of the series, also did not make life easy for India's bowlers. Australia attacked more than 50% of the balls in this phase and left alone less than half of what the Indian batters did. Head smashed 190 runs at a strike rate of 103.82 between overs 31 and 80 and his knocks proved to be the difference in both Adelaide and Brisbane. Australia got to over 400+ totals in the first innings of both those matches and had India playing catch up for the rest of the game. It enabled them to ply more attacking fielders when India batted and on tracks which put bowlers in play often, those extra catchers came in handy. India, on the other hand, when put to bat first made scores of 150, 180, and 185, the latter two from positions of 69/1 and 57/2 against the first new ball. India required more reinforcements in the pace department to back up their efforts with the new ball to make inroads to the fragile Australian batting lineup, but their confusing selection calls pulled them down. The Indian teams under Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid too played similar bowling combinations more often than not as the ones India did this series. But the key difference being the former having a much more rounded three men seam attack and more serviceable bowling options in the all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur, the latter with 200+ wickets in domestic first class cricket. The question for Gautam Gambhir was whether he was willing to sacrifice the additional batting depth at #8 for a more rounded seam attack and bite the bullet with a longer tail. With India's top order batters not at their best form with the bat, it was not a hedge that Gambhir was willing to take. Under Shastri and Dravid, India did play four specialist seamers (excluding the ones where Hardik and Shardul featured as the fourth seamer) on five occasions and returned with a win rate of 60% highlighting there is merit in that line of thinking. India picked up 20 opposition wickets only twice in the five Tests and the eventual scoreline was a true reflection of their inability to dismiss the opposition twice, a pre-requisite for winning in the longest format. Siraj has not had desired control of the old ball as a Mohammed Shami while the other seamers lacked wherewithal in these parts of the world once the new ball stopped doing things. Nitish Reddy, the designated fourth seamer of the attack, neither had the experience nor the attributes to succeed Down Under and was taken to task by the Australian middle and lower order. This meant Bumrah had to be called upon time and again which eventually led him to breaking down during the series decider in Sydney and India down without their best bowler for the final act on a spiteful wicket. JoX93j04bl7 qvrNxzwYdWW Any mention of the series cannot be complete without dwelling on Bumrah's gargantuan efforts and it turned out to be one of the greatest solo acts in a series defeat for a team in the 21st century. Bumrah ended the series with 32 scalps at 13.06 and a wicket every 28.3 balls which happens to be the most by an Indian bowler in an away series and the joint most by an Indian seamer ever. He was equally effective across phases picking 16 wickets at 11.12 with the first new ball, nine wickets at 16.44 with the old ball and seven wickets at 13.14 with the second new ball. Unfortunately for him there was little backing from the rest of the seam attack who aggregated 40 wickets between them at 34.82. 26 of these 32 wickets were of Australia's top seven who cumulatively averaged 12.26 against Bumrah. Among the home team's top seven batters, only Sam Konstas managed to average above 21 against him and he was the only batter apart from wicketkeeper Alex Carey not to fall to Bumrah at least thrice in the series. The most comparable recent performance by a bowler against an opposition top order was Courtney Walsh's efforts in the English summer of 2000 where he had 28 wickets from England's top seven at 10.28, at the age of 38. Like Bumrah in 2024/25, Walsh found little help from rest of the attack barring Curtly Ambrose and succumbed to a 3-1 defeat much like India this series. Lva7zYNwmJV

Bangladesh batter Mominul Haque said on Tuesday that the prospect of a two-tier Test structure is 'frustrating' as it will devalue the longer format in the country. According to a report in the , India, Australia and England are in talks to divide Test cricket into two divisions to allow cricket's "Big Three" to play each other more often. The two-tier structure, which if approved, would be introduced following the current Future Tours Program in 2027 where It would allow the 'big three' of Australia, England and India to play each other twice every three years rather than twice every four years under the current format. The International Cricket Council's Indian chairman Jay Shah will meet representatives of the Australian and English boards this month, the report said. The ICC did not offer any immediate comment on whether the proposal was under consideration but the speculation itself seemed disturbing for the left-handed batter, considered to be a Test specialist. "It's frustrating for me," Mominul told Cricbuzz on Tuesday. "To be honest I am not making any team small but I am not sure what process will be followed in the lower tier. I am not sure whether we can progress to the first tier if we play well in the second tier. "I think the number of Test matches will be lesser and it is very frustrating for the Test players and I don't think it will be good for us. To be honest if we don't play against good teams our game will not improve and you will remain at the same level if you are playing among yourselves and not against bigger and tougher opposition. "When you play against a good team you will try to see how to better yourself just to compete against them and where you want to take your Test cricket you can understand all those things. The value of Test cricket will go down if this happens as there will be lesser Tests and as the value will get lesser the players will go for white ball cricket," he added. If the move goes through, it is speculated that the likes of South Africa, Australia, England and India will be placed in Division 1 with Bangladesh likely to be present in the second division.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri questioned the handling of Mohammed Shami's fitness and return to action, and stated that he would've taken him to Australia and let the medical team monitor him on the tour. Following an incredible 2023 World Cup campaign at home, the fast bowler needed an ankle surgery in February 2024 that laid him low for a long period. It took until last November to make a competitive return through Ranji Trophy. He featured in all three domestic competitions for Bengal over the course of the next one month but yet wasn't given an all-clear from the NCA for him to travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy even midway through the series. In the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test, Shami was for what remained on the tour of Australia. "I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team," Shastri told the ICC Review. "And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can't play the rest of the series, I would let him go. "But I would have brought him with the team, kept him, monitored him with the best of the physios and best of the advice even from international physios who are in Australia and seeing how he went. But I would have kept him in the mix," he added. "To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Shami. Where is he when it comes to recovery? He's been sitting in the NCA for I don't know how long. Why can't proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia." Shastri felt Shami's inclusion would've not just added experience but also helped lessen the pressure and workload on Jasprit Bumrah's shoulders. India's stand-in captain had an incredible series, picking 32 wickets at an average of 13.06. He however, bowled as many as 151.2 overs in the series and suffered a back spasm that kept him out of action on the final day of the SCG Test and crucially left India a pacer short. "It got so tight at 1-1 going into Melbourne. You just needed that experience and support. For all you know, he might have raised the bar as well. And it would have been the two guys there (Bumrah and Shami). "Pat Cummins couldn't have done it on his own, Scotty Boland had to step in. So you needed a bowler of his experience. You know, as hard as Mohammed Siraj tried, you needed Shami's experience there," Shastri added. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting echoed Shastri's thoughts. "If Shami, Bumrah and Siraj were in their starting team, I think things could have been completely different here in Australia," Ponting told the ICC Review. "I was really surprised when he wasn't flown out even halfway through the series, two Test matches in. India's make-up obviously had Nitish Reddy there. So you had another seam bowling all-rounder anyway. "So if Shami, even if he wasn't fully fit, if he had to bowl fewer overs in a day, you had a backup seam bowling option to help him out and I think he could have been the difference," Ponting added.

Spectators trickling into Newlands on Monday were greeted by the angry ugliness of a police riot vehicle brooding on Campground Road. With its barred, dark windows and bulletproof everything, it was conspicuously incongruous on these streets, which are among Cape Town's leafiest. Considering there were only 3,038 people in the ground by lunch, it was difficult to understand why the monster - officially an RG-12, unofficially a Nyala - had been deployed. "Because," a policeman who had almost as much brass on his epaulettes as he had hair on his top lip explained, "sometimes that's just how we get to where we need to be." Ah. So, no anticipation of a riot, then? "No." As an analogy for the fourth day of the second men's Test between South Africa and Pakistan on Monday, that will do. There was no riot, neither of runs nor wickets. There was only a plodding progression of wickets and not enough runs to tilt the balance away from the expected outcome: victory for South Africa. The visitors resumed with eight wickets standing and needing 208 runs to make South Africa bat again. That they accomplished by making their highest total against South Africa - 478. But that left the South Africans a nominal target of 58, which David Bedingham - who opened because Ryan Rickelton had tweaked a hamstring - and Aiden Markram dealt with in 43 deliveries to win by 10 wickets. In Nyala-speak, what became the last day of the series and the end of South Africa's season eased into third gear and dawdled at 60 kilometres an hour before labouring over a few speedbumps and puttering into its garage. It took South Africa 49 balls to strike - Marco Jansen's extra bounce found the outside half of Khurram Shahzad's bat and the catch flew to point. Five balls later in the same over, Kamran Ghulam drove and Bedingham, at slip, should have caught. He didn't. Four overs after that, Kagiso Rabada bowled a front-foot no-ball. It was the first of seven he would send down on the day to take his total for the six Tests South Africa have played this season to 51. In his four Tests before that, Rabada overstepped only three times. Even more remarkably, while Rabada was bowling those 51 no-balls, he also took 28 wickets at 21.19. Monday's eight no-balls - Wiaan Mulder bowled the other - brought the team total for the six Tests to 94. Piet Botha, you have a problem. Or maybe not. Shan Masood comes from a family of lawyers, which he sounded like when he mounted a defence of his opponents' issue at his press conference: "People say they were overstepping, but you realise they are pushing themselves and trying to create chances. You know that as soon as the ball gets soft, it gets easier to bat on a surface like this." Eleven balls before lunch, Nitin Menon turned down Kwena Maphaka's lbw appeal for Saud Shakeel's wicket. The gizmos said the stumps would have been hit. The South Africans opted not to send the call upstairs. Menon, the best umpire currently in the game, also had two decisions overturned on review. It was that kind of day; more memorable for what went wrong than right. Masood's dismissal in the seventh over after lunch was a prime example. Maphaka and the rest of the South Africans levelled another leg-before shout at Menon, and again he said not out. This time they reviewed, and were successful. Masood was plainly incensed, convinced that he had been struck outside the line of off stump. And so ended his innings of more than six hours in which he scored 145, a performance of grit and gumption that did more than any other to keep Pakistan in the match. "I was beaten on the outside edge and it was shown as an inswinger; I was baffled by that," Masood said. "With the naked eye you could see that it looked like it was outside the line as well. I felt it was a different picture. "I didn't get hit where Hawk-Eye showed it had hit [the pad]. I was hit more on the outside of the leg than the inside. It shows it on the inside; it shows it as an inswinger. That's not an inswinger - it's being beaten by an outswinger, and that's what the umpire thought as well." Had he taken up the issue with the officials? "No. It's up to the administrators whether they feel that's a fair decision. But I certainly felt that technology didn't show the trajectory of that ball [accurately]." Masood's opposite number didn't have that problem, or it seems many others. Temba Bavuma has captained South Africa in nine Tests - eight won, one drawn. Would he take some of the credit for his team's success? "I'd never do that," Bavuma told a press conference. "Probably among the players I would, but not here. As a captain, you're only as good as your bowlers. But you're also only as good as the rest of the team. The bowlers have been superb, and the batters have done their jobs when the time has come. "There's nothing special about me as captain. I'm just enjoying being part of this group of guys, and enjoying the responsibility of executing the coach's [Shukri Conrad] vision." Bavuma's next Test assignment will be to beat Australia in the WTC final at Lord's in June. To help that happen, improvement would be required: "I don't think we're a well-oiled machine. You can see in certain phases how we let the game go too much in the opposition's favour. And then it takes brilliance for us to bring it back. "When you play against top sides who are on their game, you can't allow that. But when you talk about a special factor in the team, it's our ability to bring it back. That stands out. But we're on a journey. I don't think we are close to us playing at 100%. It will be scary when we are firing on all cylinders." Bavuma himself has fuelled South Africa's cylinders that have fired. He has scored three centuries and four 50s in his 15 innings as captain, and he averages 57.78 at the helm. "I understand my game a lot better, and I'm trying to stay within my strengths; I'm not trying to play like anyone else," he said. "In my early days I was always being told, 'You need to trigger.' I tried that, and it was never natural for me. But now I've put that aside and I try to do what comes naturally to me. From a mental point of view, I'm more at ease. "I'm a lot calmer about things. I don't take them as personally. I think there's a sense of me not, in a good way, caring as much." Do not get that wrong. Temba Bavuma cares a great deal. There's no brass on his shoulders. But there's gold in his heart.

Sam Konstas was still in his whites and with the Baggy Green on. He had a beverage in one hand, which he happily flashed towards the handful of media personnel still left at the SCG. He was living the life. He'd been living the life ever since he was handed a largely unexpected Test debut only 10 days earlier. Beau Webster wasn't too far behind. He left the ground maybe a few minutes after Konstas did. He had his whites on too, along with the Baggy Green. He probably had a beverage or two in his hands as well. Unlike Konstas, he didn't quite worry about looking up to the upper reaches of the SCG. He had his head down and his eyes on the path ahead. Just like he did on Test debut. Just like he had done on his way to making it to the big stage. He was living the life. He'd been living the life ever since he was handed a largely unexpected Test debut only 3 days earlier. And here they were, two new-comers at very different stages of their cricketing journeys, both having played significant parts in helping Australia regain the Border Gavaskar Trophy after nearly a decade. And they'd done it in less than two weeks of joining the quest for the elusive missing piece in the current Australian Test team's glittering cabinet. There were some others in that camp who'd waited a bit longer. It had taken Usman Khawaja nearly 15 years to finally get his hands on the Border Gavaskar Trophy. It had taken captain Pat Cummins nearly 14 years to do the same. But after being humbled by the Indians on their two previous visits here, not to forget the failure to set the record straight in India on two occasions in the interim, the set was finally complete. Australia were back to possessing all the bilateral Test trophies along with the World Test Championship (WTC) mace, which they'll get a chance to defend against South Africa at Lord's come June. There had been others meanwhile like Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc who'd not been part of a series-winning team against India since the start of 2015, back when they were all still quite early in their respective careers. This was a moment. This was a significant moment at that, not just for Cummins and his team, but for their immediate legacy and the way in which history will remember them. The Indian players, understandably, didn't hang around too long after the post match presentation on Sunday afternoon. But just as he walked back towards the visitor's dressing-room at the SCG, Rishabh Pant, with Shubman Gill in tow, did turn his head around slightly to catch a glimpse of the confetti flying everywhere as the Australian team posed on the podium with the rather heavy - as Khawaja would describe it later - actual Border Gavaskar Trophy. It was a new experience for him too, having never lost a series to or in Australia before. After nearly a decade, it'll be India who'll be in a position of the title-chase for at least another two years when the two teams collide again, this time in the subcontinent. Like with India four years earlier, there were multiple individual heroes for Australia as they went about winning the series. This wasn't a contest that came down to a couple of players dominating the summer and taking their team to glory. From the more significant ones, like Travis Head's back-to-back centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane to Steve Smith's consecutive centuries in Brisbane and Melbourne. Alongside two champion fast bowlers who set the tone and the tenor for the home team's fightback. If captain Cummins, not to forget his batting exploits at the MCG, was once again at his ruthless best at key moments throughout the series, Scott Boland was his unrelenting self, playing a starring role in all three of Australia's Test victories with the ball. In a series dominated by the era-defining exploits of Jasprit Bumrah, Boland held his own and significantly finished with numbers not too dissimilar to the player of the series. Marnus Labuschagne might not have had the kind of summer he'd have liked overall. But his half-century was crucial in setting the stage up for Head to go berserk in Adelaide, while his twin 70s at the MCG were integral to Australia taking the lead and going to Sydney 2-1 ahead. keRWmRRMw3 Starc's numbers may have dropped as the series got to the latter stages, but without his spell on the opening day of the Adelaide Test, you couldn't see Australia fight back the way they did after the humiliation of the Perth defeat. It was a stirring display with the pink ball that helped the hosts lift themselves up, and assert control over the visitors that for most parts they never let go post that. Similarly, Alex Carey's contributions were equally vital down the order in a series where the ball dominated in 4 out of 5 Tests, where tempo-altering cameos proved to be mightily valuable. Usman Khawaja probably had the quietest series among the top-order batters, but he saved his best for the last, an attacking 41 in a nervy run-chase, especially after there was an inevitable wobble. It wasn't just the regulars who put their hand up when it mattered most though. Nathan McSweeney might have lost his place in the squad after three Tests but his 39, and the way he saw off the new-ball under lights in the company of his mentor Labuschagne, in Adelaide will go down as an unheralded contribution in the bigger scheme of things. Eventually he was left out not so much for how he'd played but more so because Australia had decided to approach playing against the new-ball in a different way. And it took some bold decisions along with a lot of character to withstand the pressures, the nerves and the incessant fluctuations of a tremendous Test series to get over the line. Bringing in Konstas was the first of those, and it was the teenager's unhinged assault on Bumrah on Boxing Day that in hindsight will go down as the moment when the pendulum well and truly swung Australia's way. Even if it lasted for less than 20 overs. It felt like the right kind of fillip that needed to be injected into the dressing-room at a time which seemed to have been besieged by the Bumrah problem. It might not have seemed like a long-term solution, but eventually it'd prove to be the make-shift disruption that turned the tide. And then came the biggest call perhaps for the crunch Test. Leaving out the well-established Mitchell Marsh for Webster. The ultimate masterstroke as the towering Tasmanian produced one of the impressive displays on Test debut by an Australian in recent times with bat, ball and in the slips. It was only apt that he'd get to hit the winning runs, with that scourge of India, Head, at the other end. If Konstas was the storm at the start that Australia so desperately seemed to be looking for, Webster was the calm in the middle that they required to get the job done. No wonder neither of them was ready to get out of their whites or take the Baggy Green off on a day they'd made history together. On a day they'd helped bring the Border Gavaskar Trophy home again.

A look at all the key numbers from Pakistan's valiant second-innings effort in the second Test against South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town. - Deficit overcome by Pakistan following on in this Test, after they were skittled out for 194 in their first innings in response to South Africa's 615. Only once has a higher first innings deficit been overcome while following on in the format - by Pakistan against the West Indies in Bridgetown in 1958 - an innings led by Hanif Mohammad's 337 in 970 minutes - the longest individual knock in Tests and the only triple scored while following on. qBrdP4Qaqyd by Pakistan is their third-highest team total while following in a Test match, after 657/8d in Bridgetown 1958 and 537 against Australia in Rawalpindi in 1994. It also happened to be the second-highest total while following on in a Test in South Africa, only behind the hosts' 572/7 vs ENG in Durban, 1999 and the second-highest while following on against the Proteas, after England's 551 at Trent Bridge in 1947. Furthermore, it is also the second-highest follow-on total in defeats, after India's 510 against England at Headingley in 1967. 04xmmnXNx0q j7L68ldaJQ consecutive Test wins for South Africa, including the Cape Town Test, a run that started with a 40-run win against the West Indies in Guyana in August. It is currently their second-longest winning streak in the format, behind nine between March 2002 and August 2003. matches won by Temba Bavuma as captain out of nine, making for a stunning win percentage of 88.88%. That's the joint second-most wins for anyone from his first nine Tests as captain, after England's Percy Chapman, who had won each of his first nine before losing the 10th. Australia's Warwick Armstrong and Lindsay Hassett too, had won eight of their first nine Tests as captain. - Runs added by Shan Masood and Babar Azam for the first wicket, making it the highest opening stand while following on in Tests, surpassing 204 between Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie at Lord's in 2008. It was also the highest for any wicket for Pakistan while following on; Hanif Mohammad had added 154 and 152 with Saeed Ahmed and Imtiaz Ahmed respectively in the Bridgetown 1958 Test. The Masood-Babar stand was just the second worth 200 or more for Pakistan against South Africa in Tests (for any wicket), after 219 between Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan at the same venue in 2013. 22xBPRWGzw - The partnership run-rate for the 205 runs added in 46.2 overs between Babar and Masood. Of the 41 stands of 150-plus recorded in Tests while following on, only one was scored at a quicker rate: 185 between Tamim Iqbal & Imrul Kayes in 38.2 overs (RR:4.82) at Lord's in 2010. It was also the quickest 200-plus opening stand for Pakistan in Tests in terms of the scoring rate; of the previous eight, only one had been scored at 4-plus runs per over: 278 between Abid Ali and Shan Masood in Karachi in 2019. Of Pakistan's nine 200-plus opening stands in Test cricket, six have come since October 2016. by Shan Masood was only the second 50-plus score by a Pakistan captain while following on in Tests, after Saleem Malik's 237 against Australia in Rawalpindi in 1994. Overall, it was the fifth hundred for a Pakistan batter while following on. It was also the second-highest individual Test score for Pakistan against South Africa, one short of Khurram Manzoor's 146 in Abu Dhabi in 2013. Before Masood, only two other Pakistan captains had registered Test hundreds while opening the batting: Saeed Anwar (149) against New Zealand in Rawalpindi in 1996 and Aamer Sohail against Australia in Karachi in 1998. jvxxZJXYrYQ Test wickets for Kagiso Rabada at Newlands, the fifth bowler to bag 50-plus wickets at the venue after Dale Steyn (74), Makhaya Ntini (53), Vernon Philander (53) and Shaun Pollock (51). In the history of Test cricket, there have only been two venues where five different bowlers have taken 50 or more wickets, the other being the Galle International Stadium: Muttiah Muralitharan (111), Rangana Herath (102), Prabath Jayasuriya (71), Ramesh Mendis (62) and Dilruwan Perera (57). - Rabada's bowling strike-rate at Newlands, the third-best for anyone with a minimum of 50 Test wickets at the venue. It's a list dominated by Proteas bowlers, led by Rabada himself, whose 59 scalps at the SuperSport Park in Centurion have come at 31.5. VNbnzoWA0yX

The Bangladesh Cricket Board, on Monday, said that the country's leading women's pace bowler Jahanara Alam has taken a break from cricket for an indefinite period due to mental health issues. "She had given us a letter stating that she was not mentally ready to play and took a break from cricket for two months," BCB women's wing in-charge Habibul Bashar told Cricbuzz on Tuesday. "She even said that if necessary, she should not be kept in the contract. We need to respect that because if someone feels that she is not mentally ready and wants to take a break for some days, we need to accept that. There is no specific time frame for which she is out. Whenever she feels well, she will let us know." Jahanara has played 52 ODIs and 83 T20Is in her career so far. She returned to the side after one year's absence in July 2024, and was included in the T20 World Cup squad but did not feature in any of the games. She was a part of Bangladesh's last home series against Ireland, where she played in the T20Is only and was benched during the ODIs. Meanwhile, BCB announced the women's team squad for the upcoming West Indies tour. This will be Bangladesh women's team's first tour to West Indies where they will play three ODIs and three T20Is, all at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts. The Nigar Sultana-led team will reach St Kitts on 14 January. The ODIs are scheduled on January 19, 21 and 24 respectively. This series holds special importance as both sides are seeking crucial ICC Women's Championship points for direct qualification for the 50-over World Cup in India later this year. Bangladesh will need to win the series to seal their berth. After the ODI series, the teams will play a three-match T20I series on January 27, 29 and 31 respectively. Lata Mondal, Fariha Islam have returned to the ODI squad while Jahanara Alam and Ritu Moni could not retain their place. Marufa Akter, Sultana Khatun, Lata Mondal, Farzana Hoque have returned to the T20I squad while Ritu Moni, Jahanara Alam, Jannatul Ferdous have been left out. Vice-captain Nahida Akhter said that they would take inspiration from the men's team after their successful tour to West Indies recently. "Really excited, going to West Indies for the first time. The men's team just returned after a successful tour there. Hopefully, we'll do something good as well," Rabeya Khan said during her expectations regarding the tour. "We really need the four points to qualify for the Women's World Cup. That's our goal - to win the ODIs there," she concluded. Nigar Sultana Joty (Captain), Nahida Akter (Vice Captain), Murshida Khatun, Dilara Akter, Sharmin Akter Supta, Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Lata Mondol, Rabeya, Fahima Khatun, Fariha Islam Trisna, Sultana Khatun, Farzana Haque, Taj Nehar, Shanjida Akther Maghla, Marufa Akter

South Africa picked up two crucial wickets including skipper Shan Masood (145) in the post-Lunch session but an unbeaten 69-run partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha took away any hopes of the hosts running through Pakistan. The visitors added 86 runs in the session and now only trail by 23 runs. Pakistan are currently 398/5 but are effectively six wickets down with only one wicket remaining for the tail to be exposed. After Lunch, South Africa got the old ball to reverse through Kwena Maphaka as he got Saud Shakeel to play some loose drives and beat him on the outside edge. Despite this, the hosts took the new ball two overs after it became due and were rewarded almost immediately. Pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada picked up Shakeel as one shaped in with the angle from around the wicket which the batter nicked to second-slip. In the very next over, Maphaka sent back Masood LBW after the hosts asked the third umpire to have a look once Nitin Menon gave it not-out on field. The ball was just struck Masood in line in front of the off-stump and it was straight enough to hit the flush of off-stump. With two new batters in Rizwan and Salman from the crease, they had to endure fiery spells from Rabada and Maphaka. Salman first survived a leg-before shout off Rabada by bare margins as ball-tracking showed umpire's-call on impact and wickets. Couple of overs later, there was more dismay for South Africa as another DRS appeal - this time against Rizwan - was umpire's call on wickets as the search for a breakthrough continued. Wiaan Mulder did get the ball to swing late past the outside edge of Rizwan but to no reward and the batters brought the deficit down below 50 runs. Rizwan finally had the rub of the green as he drove Mulder to the fence down the ground to bring up the 50-run partnership. Salman then took control against the same bowler hammering two boundaries just before Tea. 615 (Ryan Rickelton 259, Temba Bavuma 106, Kyle Verreynne 100; Mohammad Abbas 3-94, Salman Ali Agha 3-148) lead 194 (Babar Azam 58, Mohammad Rizwan 46; Kagiso Rabada 3-55, Keshav Maharaj 2-14) & 398/5 (Shan Masood 145, Babar Azam 81; Marco Jansen 2-85) by