Some time ago the rivalry between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma used to be a topic of discussion. Just like in Tennis, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were not highlighted much for winning a Grand Slam doubles title, but they were in news due to disputes between them, that became the subject of discussion, but in cricket a day before the departure to South Africa, Virat Kohli in his press conference praised Rohit Sharma and gave wishes for his success in white ball cricket but his one sentence brought to the fore the differences between him and Board President.

Saurav had said in the past that the BCCI had advised Virat not to leave the captaincy of the T20 cricket team and also said that the captaincy of T20 and One Day should not be given to different persons. But Virat wanted to remain captain in the ODIs.  Virat put Sourav in the dock by saying in the press conference that he did not talk to anyone about this. One and a half hours before the announcement of the Test team for the South Africa tour, he was informed by the selectors about making Rohit the captain of the ODI team. That is, in a way he proved Sourav to be a liar, but one truth is that neither of them is ready to give up.

Actually, Sourav and Virat have been very aggressive type players who can be called natural born leaders. While Sourav got used to winning Team India overseas, Virat picked up the task at even greater speed and defeated Australia in Australia twice and beat England in England and got a lead of 2-1.

While Sourav backed players from Zaheer Khan to Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra etc, Virat supported the wrist spinners in the form of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Apart from that, he has supported Mohammad Siraj, Varun Aaron and also took the initiative to introduce Jasprit Bumrah in red ball cricket. The result is in front of everyone.

At the same time, a big difference between the two is that while Sourav Ganguly used to fight with the selectors to select the player of his choice. Virat is far behind Sourav in this area. Remember India’s tour of Australia in 2003-04 when the selectors did not want to include Anil Kumble in the team but Sourav was adamant. Eventually the selectors agreed to keep Kumble in the team on the condition that if Kumble did not perform, Sourav would have to step down from the captaincy. Dada agreed. In this tour, Kumble proved to be the highest wicket-taker for India, but when Virat was not given his favorite players – Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammad Siraj for the T20 World Cup, Virat was far from fighting for them but calm.

Not only this, in the Cape Town Test of the 2018 South African tour, Bhuvneshwar Kumar performed superbly and dropped from the next Test. This decision of Virat was criticized a lot. Similarly, in the recent tour of England, R Ashwin was left out of the whole series and also not picked up against Pakistan and New Zealand in the T20 World Cup. In all subsequent matches, Ashwin proved to be a big asset of Team India, but by then it was too late.

Apart from this, while Virat was seen walking on the five-bowler formula in the playing XI, Saurabh did not compromise in less than six batsmen. Sourav believed that unless the team scored a big score, the opposition team could not be brought under the pressure of runs. At the same time, Virat’s thinking has been from the beginning that for the opposition team to take 20 wickets, it is very important to field five bowlers.

David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne ensured that Australia dominated Day 1 of the ongoing second Ashes Test here at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. At stumps, Australia’s score read 221/2 with Labuschagne (95*) and Steve Smith (18*) currently unbeaten at the crease. Resuming the final session at 129/1, Warner and Labuschagne resumed from where they left off and kept on putting pressure on England.

The duo put on 172 runs for the second wicket. Warner missed out on a century once against as he was dismissed by Ben Stokes in the 65th over. The left-handed batter scored 95 from 167 balls with the help of 11 fours.

Labuschagne along with skipper Steve Smith ensured that Australia does not lose any more wickets before stumps. It is important to note that Labuschagne was dropped by Jos Buttler when the right-hander was on 95.

Brief Scores: Australia 221/2 (Marnus Labuschagne 95*, David Warner 95; Stuart Broad 1-34).

Virat Kohli-led Indian red-ball squad departed for South Africa to lock horns with Proteas in the three-match Test series. India and South Africa will lock horns in the Test series which gets underway from December 26. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday shared pictures of the departure of the Indian Test squad.

“All buckled up. South Africa bound,” BCCI tweeted. Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the upcoming three-match Test series against South Africa after a hamstring injury during the practice session. Kohli said Team India will miss Rohit’s abilities in the upcoming tour of South Africa.

“Will miss his abilities a lot. He’s proven in England already that he’s really worked his Test game out, and the opening partnership was very important for us to play in that series. Obviously, with his experience and skill, we will miss those qualities,” said Virat Kohli in a virtual conference. “That said, it’s an opportunity for Mayank [Agarwal] and KL [Rahul] to step up and solidify that start for us and make sure the good work is carried on in this series,” he added.

Rohit will be missing the upcoming Test series after the hamstring injury and Priyank Panchal was named as the replacement. Last week, Rohit was handed the reins of ODIs along with the T20I formats.

India’s squad for South Africa Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Priyank Panchal, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj.

England on Wednesday named a 12-player squad for the second Ashes Test match (D/N) at the Adelaide Oval starting on Thursday.

Lancashire seamer James Anderson has been included in the squad after missing the first Test in Brisbane. Stuart Broad has also been named in the England XII ahead of the second Test. England and Australia will lock horns in the second Test, beginning Thursday at Adelaide. Australia won the first Test by nine wickets to gain a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

“Durham seamer Mark Wood has been rested. The final XI will be confirmed at the toss,” England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement.England Men’s Squad for second Ashes Test: Joe Root (c), Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Haseeb Hameed, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Pat Cummins confirmed the playing XI for the second Ashes Test. Pacer Jhye Richardson will be replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood while left-handed batter David Warner is fit for the day-night Test at Adelaide, reported cricket.com.au.

Australia XI: Marcus Harris, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Jhye Richardson.

Lancashire seamer James Anderson has been included in the squad after missing the first Test in Brisbane. Stuart Broad has also been named in the England XII ahead of the second Test.

Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar congratulated Pakistan for register a series win over West Indies after a “consistent” performance here at the National Stadium.Pakistan overcame their batting blip as well as a maiden half-century by Brandon King and a Romario Shepherd cameo to clinch their seventh successive victory over the West Indies on Tuesday. This was Pakistan’s 19th overall win in this calendar year when they won the second T20I by nine runs that gave them 2-0 unassailable lead on Tuesday.

“Congratulations Pakistan for another T20i series victory. Going great. Loving the consistency,” Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar tweeted. Pakistan slipped from 86 for two in 11 overs to 141 for seven in 18 overs before a late flurry by Shadab Khan (28 not out of 12 balls) helped them reach 172 for eight after they had elected to bat first.

Brandon then struck a career-best 67 in his 13th match and Shepherd scored a 19-ball 35 not out as the two-time former T20 world champions were bowled out for 163 in 20 overs after being 85 for two in the 11th over at one stage.Brandon struck six fours and three sixes in a 43-ball 67 and added 54 runs for the third wicket with Nicholas Pooran (26), while Shepherd struck two fours and two sixes.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afrdi took three wickets in an over to finish with three for 26, while Mohammad Wasim Jnr followed up his Monday’s figures of four for 40 with two for 39, Mohammad Nawaz bagged two for 36 and Haris Rauf scooped two for 40. Shadab Khan remained wicketless, but conceded only 22 runs in his four overs.

While this was Pakistan’s seventh successive victory over the West Indies since the April 2, 2017 T20I at the Queen’s Park Oval, this was also the 2009 T20 world champions’ 19th victory in this calendar year.

England Test skipper Joe Root has admitted that he expected too much out of all-rounder Ben Stokes in the first Ashes Test. England and Australia will lock horns in the second Test, beginning Thursday at Adelaide. Australia won the first Test by nine wickets to gain a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. “It was a huge ask and I’m probably as guilty as anyone; I expected too much of him. It’s because I see him almost as a bit of a superhero. Look at what he’s done in the last few years when he’s played; at least once a series, maybe twice a series, he’s done something extraordinary which has won us a game on its own. And you do get a little complacent about expecting that,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Root as saying.

“It’s easy to forget on a big occasion like that, whether it’s because he’s not played a huge amount and also what he’s had to go through recently as well, I think there was a bit too much on him. But you know the character he is, it’ll have motivated him even more now to put in one of those magical performances. Whether that comes this week or further down the series, I know it’s going to come,” he added.

Stokes scored 5 and 14 in his two innings at the Gabba in the first Test, and he also seemed to be hampered with a knee injury. “I think the only thing I’d probably say – and it sounds ridiculous – is not to try too hard. They’ve not played the first game but they’re world-class performers, they know what they’re doing and should trust what they’ve done for so long. Just go and be Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad if you get your opportunity,” said Root.