Top Stories: Things that made news in the cricket world today

Babar Azam storms into top 10 in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen

• Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne has continued his surge up the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, entering the top five in the list for batsmen after scores of 143 and 50 in the Perth Test, which his side won by 296 runs against New Zealand.
• Labuschagne, who narrowly missed joining Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas and Mudassar Nazar in scoring at least 150 in three successive Test innings, has gained three slots to occupy fifth place.
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South Africa announce a new-look squad for the first two Tests against England

• South Africa are set to lock horns with England in four-match Test series starting from 26 December.
• After a dismal performance on the Indian soil, the Proteas will be eager to prove their mettle at home.
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Priyam Garg approaches Prithvi Shaw ahead of the 2020 U19 World Cup

• The ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup is just one month away. The next edition of the marquee Youth World Cup event is set to take place in the rainbow nation, South Africa, between January 17 to February 09, 2020.
• India are the current defending champions and the 2020-outfit will be led by Uttar Pradesh batsman Priyam Garg, who’ll look to emulate the heists of Mohammad Kaif [2000], Virat Kohli [2008], Unmukt Chand [2012] and Prithvi Shaw [2018] as one of the leaders who led the Men in Blue to World Cup glory.
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Don’t feel any pressure on being compared with Smith and Kohli: Babar Azam

• Babar Azam, the prolific Pakistan batsman, reckons that he has a long way to go before he can be compared with Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper.
• Babar had scores of 104, 97 and 102* in the last three Tests he played and has arguably been Pakistan’s standout batter irrespective of the format.
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Irfan Pathan tweets concern about Jamia students amid protests over Citizenship Act

• The country is seeing violent protests which started when the Indian government passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in both houses of the parliament.
• The protests have erupted in the capital Delhi as well with many students from universities around the country protesting about the same.
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Record-breaker Abid Ali dedicates his maiden Test hundred to his daughter

• Pakistan opener Abid Ali scripted his name in the echelons of history when he became the first men’s cricketer and second overall [after England women all-rounder Enid Bakewell] to score a hundred in each of his maiden One-day International and Test innings.
• The 32-year-old celebrated his debut with a pristine hundred on the fifth day of the Rawalpindi Test, becoming the first Pakistan cricketer after Younis Khan [vs SL, 2000] to register a three-figure score at the venue.
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Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: Kasun Rajitha ruled out of Karachi Test

• Kasun Rajitha, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, has been ruled out of the second Test against Pakistan, starting December 19 at the National Stadium in Karachi.
• The 26-year-old picked up the injury on the fifth day of the opening Test in Rawalpindi.
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India vs West Indies: Visitors fined for slow over-rate in Chennai ODI

• West Indies have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate against India in the first ODI match in Chennai on Sunday.
• David Boon of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the fine after Kieron Pollard’s side was ruled to be four overs short of its target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
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Gautam Gambhir backs Shubman Gill as the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2020

• The Kolkata Knight Riders franchise is one of the most successful franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), both on and off the field.
• Owned by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, the franchise has won the IPL title twice in 2012 and 2014 and there was one thing common in both those wins.
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‘Getting success against Steven Smith is a good thing but he will bounce back stronger: New Zealand coach Gary Stead

• New Zealand lost the series opener of three-match Test series against Australia by a margin of 296 runs.
• But one thing in which they succeeded was to dismiss Steve Smith early in the game.
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Brian Lara feels Shai Hope is the “best option” to lead the West Indies batting unit across formats

• West Indies pulled off a rare ODI win over the Men in Blue thanks to a Brobdingnagian 218-run partnership between Shai Hope [102] and Shimron Hetmyer [139 off 106 balls] that helped them overhaul India’s total of 288 at the Chepauk.
• One of the most heartening things about the partnership between Shai Hope and Hetmyer was the fact that contrasting approaches brought similar end results.
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It’s going to be a bit of bodyline this series, says Tim Paine after the pacers’ bouncer barrage in Perth

• Australia completed a huge 296-run victory over New Zealand in the pink ball Test match at the Optus Perth Stadium.
• In a Test that saw Marnus Labuschagne score his third consecutive century and Ross Taylor making 80 for the visitors, it was the bowlers who took the accolades for some spirited bowling in extreme temperatures which touched 40 Degrees Celsius.
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Former and current cricketers react after Ben Stokes is conferred with BBC Sports Personality of the Year award

• If the saying ‘adversity brings out a beast in you’, had a face to it, it would have to be of England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes.
• It was one hell of a year for the New Zealand-born English all-rounder, where he transcended the limits as to what is possible on a cricket field, not once, but twice!.
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‘I want to do what’s best for the team’- Marcus Stoinis on opening for Melbourne Stars in the upcoming BBL season

• Until the beginning of this year, Marcus Stoinis was one of the hottest properties as an all-rounder in world cricket.
• He was opening the batting for Australia in T20I cricket besides serving as a seam-bowling option.
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Virat Kohli is the cricketing equivalent of Cristiano Ronaldo: Brian Lara

• Brian Lara, the legendary West Indies batsman, feels that Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, is equivalent to Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
• Lara, who holds the record of the highest individual Test score of 400*, stated that the likes of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma are at par with the 31-year-old Delhi-born Virat as far as talent is concerned.
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