England Test skipper Joe Root on Tuesday said that spin has played a big factor at the Adelaide Oval in the past, so the team needs to consider playing Jack Leach in the second Ashes Test.

Australia and England will square off in the second Ashes Test, beginning Thursday at Adelaide. The match would be contested under lights. Stuart Broad and James Anderson had missed the first Test which Australia won by nine wickets to gain a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

“From our point of view, it’s not over-thinking that night-time part of it. There will be two sessions of the game where the sun will be out, then it might not do as much. Not falling into the trap where it will swing around corners for five days, understanding the different challenges that a pink-ball Test at this ground takes. Also, as a batting group, managing those different phases and finding ways to make big totals,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Root as saying.

“The most important thing from a batting element is recognising when those periods come along. It could be very good for batting, sun out, for large portions of the day then it’s making sure if it does start moving around you adapt and don’t lose three wickets in ten overs and let the turn Test on its head,” he added.

Talking about spinner Jack Leach, Root said: “Spin has generally played a good factor in recent times on this ground, especially as the game progresses, so it’s something we’ll have to look at. See where we are physically as a bowling group and how we can be balanced out.”

“I’m sure he [Leach] will want to respond and get back into the series. I don’t think it’s as straightforward as looking at that as a concern, actually you look at it, they [Australia] took an opportunity, played it pretty well, and if they try to do that on a wicket that’s a bit more responsive then it brings him into the game even more.”

Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled perfectly at the death as Pakistan defeated West Indies by 9 runs in the second T20I of the three-match series here at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

With this win, Pakistan has gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The final match will be played on Thursday. Chasing 173, West Indies lost Shai Hope (1) and Shamarh Brooks (10) with just 31 runs on the board. Brandon King and skipper Nicholas Pooran then got together at the crease to retrieve the innings for the visitors. Both batters put on 54 runs for the third wicket before Pooran (26) was scalped by Mohammad Nawaz with Windies needing 88 runs to win from 54 balls.

Brandon King finally departed in the 16th over after playing a knock of 67 and West Indies was left in a spot of bother, needing 55 to win from 28 balls. The visitors kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and in the end, Pakistan registered a win.

Earlier, a collective batting effort saw Pakistan posting 172/8 in the allotted twenty overs. Opting to bat, Pakistan got off to a bad start as the hosts lost skipper Babar Azam (7) in the third over of the innings. Fakhar Zaman (10) also failed to leave a mark with the bat as he was sent back to the pavilion by Akeal Hosein. Rizwan and Ali then put on 48 runs for the third wicket to revive the Pakistan innings, but as soon as the hosts started to gain an upper hand, Rizwan (38) and Ali (31) were dismissed by Odean Smith in quick succession, reducing Pakistan to 109/4 in the 14th over. In the end, Shadab Khan played a cameo of 28 off just 12 balls as Pakistan posted 172/8 in 20 overs.

The game-changing Indian Chess League boasting of the world’s and India’s top players will be held in June 2022, the All-India Chess Federation revealed here on Tuesday.

The first of its kind 6-team franchise model event will take place over two weeks in the double round-robin format in one or two Indian cities. The top two teams will clash in the finals. ‘Our dream is coming true,’ Dr Sanjay Kapoor, president of AICF told at a press conference. ‘The Indian Chess League is going to change the face of chess in the country. It will help us attain our goal of becoming World No.1 in the near future,’ he added.

AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan explained that each team will consist of eight players, including 2 Super GMs, 2 Indian GMs, 2 Women GM and 1 Junior Indian Boy and Girl each. ‘The idea is to not only draw the best players from around the world but also to provide India’s players a formidable platform to sharpen their skills,’ he said.

The AICF has roped in Gameplan Sports Private Limited as the official and exclusive Rights Holder to hold, organise, promote and market the Indian Chess League. ‘The matches will be telecast live to draw more and more players to chess,’ Bharat Singh said. ‘We will announce the criteria for becoming a franchise owner shortly. We have already received a good response from corporates,’ he revealed.

‘We are delighted to partner with the AICF to make the Indian Chess League a reality,’ Gameplan Director Jeet Banerjee said. ‘Our aim is to build a buzz around it, and make it into a viable and sustainable league that the chess fans can enjoy,’ he added.

The AICF has been aggressively promoting the sport since a new set of office-bearers took charge last year. It recently announced its calendar for 2022, with as many as 13 international tournaments lined up. The prize money in the national championships, too, has been hiked up, with MPL coming on board as the main sponsor. The AICF is also close to realising its Chess in Schools project, with the sport set to be introduced as part of the curriculum in schools across the country.

India was denied a winning start to their campaign at the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy with a spirited Korean team holding the defending champions to a thrilling 2-2 draw here at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium.

For India, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (3’) and Harmanpreet Singh (33’) scored while Jonghyun Jang (42’) and Kim Hyeongjin (46’) scored in Korea’s resurgence. Although it was India who dominated the proceedings in the first and second quarter with better ball possession (58 percent) and a higher number of circle penetrations (14 for India and 8 for Korea), the Korean side rallied on a strong defensive structure in the third and fourth quarter to deny any opportunity for India to score. After Lalit put India ahead early in the game with a fine field goal, converted brilliantly after controlling the ball upon receiving an aerial pass in the attacking circle, India created another fine opportunity in the second quarter through Akashdeep Singh’s tomahawk from the left top of the circle. But a highly vigilant Korean goalie Kim Jaehyeon made a fine save to keep India from extending the lead. He came up with another brilliant save when India won their first PC of the match only minutes before the end of the second quarter. It was Varun Kumar who took the shot which rebounded off Kim’s pads but newcomer Mandeep Mor’s attempt off the rebound too was well saved by the Korean goalie.

After the ten-minute half-time break, India extended their lead to 2-0 in the 33rd minute with a fiercely struck penalty corner converted by Harmanpreet Singh. It was India’s third take of the PC after the first two were blocked by Korea’s first rusher. Even though India created several chances in the following minutes, they could not find success even as Korea had successfully begun to make inroads into India’s circle. Their tactic to force India to make infringements in defence worked, as India conceded the first PC of the match in the 42nd minute. After the two retakes, Jonghyun Jang successfully put the ball past India’s goalie Krishan Pathak..They continued to challenge the Indian defence in the final quarter and even found success in the 46th minute when Kim Hyeongjin converted a fine field goal which could not be stopped by India’s young keeper Suraj Karkera. The final few minutes saw India create PCs but could not convert, thus settling for a 2-2 draw. Incidentally, India had drawn against Korea 1-1 at the same venue in 2017 during their successful campaign at the Hero Asia Cup.

India Test skipper Virat Kohli is set to miss the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa. Kohli has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a break in January to spend some time with his family. It is important to note that Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s daughter Vamika will turn one on 11 January 2022.

Sources in the know of developments confirmed to ANI that Kohli has indeed asked the board for a small break in January next year. “Yes, Kohli has asked for a small break in January to spend some time with his family. It effectively means that he would miss the ODI series against South Africa,” the source said.

Last week, Rohit Sharma was appointed as the white-ball skipper and it was confirmed that Kohli would just lead the Test side. The BCCI President Sourav Ganguly also spoke about how he spoke to Kohli and he also revealed how he had asked Kohli to not step down as the T20I skipper. “It’s a call that the BCCI and the selectors took together. Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” Ganguly told ANI.

“So it was decided that Virat will continue as Test captain and Rohit will take over as the white-ball captain. I as President personally spoke to Virat Kohli and the chairman of selectors has also spoken to him. We have full faith in Rohit Sharma’s leadership abilities, and Virat will continue as the Test captain. We as BCCI are confident that Indian cricket is in good hands. We thank Virat Kohli for his contributions as captain in the white-ball format,” the BCCI president added.

On Monday, Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the upcoming Test series against South Africa due to a hamstring injury and Priyank Panchal was named as the replacement.

Frenetic bidding involving top Indian Tennis players like Saket Myneni, Prerna Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Vishnu Vardhan was witnessed at the third edition of Pro Tennis League at Delhi NCR.

This edition also saw an engrossing session of players bidding in which eight different teams bagged a total number of 40 players divided into 5 playing categories including men and women.

Zeeshan Ali, the current head coach of Indian Davis cup team and head of the National Tennis Centre is associated with PTL. He said, “I am envious to witness the players auction, I wish tennis leagues existed at our time.

One of the biggest attractions of PTL Prerna Bhambri found this event motivating and termed it as propellant to next gen players.

Present on the occasion, the owner of the Team Stag Yoddhas Mr. Rakesh Kohli was delighted to mention that they were the winner of the first season of PTL and happy to see that PTL is taking Tennis to the next level in India.

Raadhika Khetarapal, owner of Team Radiant said “PTL completes full circle for me and Prerna Bhambri. Our tryst with Tennis started at Radiant Academy Delhi two decades ago in DLTA and now Prerna happens to be flag bearer of our team Radiant, as I graduate into team owners mantle.

Format of Play

The tournament also engulfs a unique format of play this time. In an official Draw Ceremony to be organized on the 20th of December 2021, a day before the league begins; all 8 teams will be divided into 2 groups of 4 Teams in each group, where they will play a Round Robin Format. Every tie would be decided on the basis of total number of games won by the players during the match. Match format will be best of 11 games with Regular Tie Breaker to be played at 5-5.

The categories are as followed;

1. Men’s Singles (Pro 1 Vs Pro 1)

2. Men’s Singles (Pro 2 Vs Pro 2)

3. Next Gen Singles (Next Gen Vs Next Gen)

4. Men’s Doubles (Pro 1 & Pro 2 Vs Pro 1 & Pro 2)

5. Mixed Doubles (Next Gen Men’s & Pro Women’s)

6. Mixed Doubles (Women’s & 35+ Professional Players)

2 Teams will be selected from each group on the basis of total number of games won during the Round Robin Matches and winner of Group 1 will play with the Second-place team in the Group 2 & vice versa in a knockout event.

To make the League more interesting and intense, Players & Mentors will be allowed with the Team members to be present on the courtside right next to the Player to guide them and encourage them during the side change. This gives the younger upcoming players a first-hand opportunity to learn from the best in the business and showcase their talent & keeps the Owners and Mentors involved in the game at every stage. All this is topped up with the Music & Activities for everyone in the stadium.

After the auction, the eight teams who will be fighting it out for the coveted title are;

3rd season of the Centena Pro-Tennis League (PTL) is starting from 21st December 2021 at DLTA Complex, RK Khanna Tennis Stadium, New Delhi.