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

Graeme Smith and VVS Laxman pick the dream team to challenge India at home in Tests

• Team India has been near-invincible at home in Tests. They have lost only a single Test in last 32 matches and are literally thumping South Africa at the moment in the ongoing three-match series.
• After winning the first two games, the home side is once again piling on the runs batting first in Ranchi.
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Reports: Babar Azam to be given leadership roles in Tests and ODIs too

• Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continued its tradition of post-World Cup captaincy change by sacking Sarfaraz Ahmed as the Test and T20I captain.
• The PCB was perhaps considering a change in the leadership for quite some time now and the recent debacle in T20Is against Sri Lanka seem to have made its task easier.
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Former Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga criticizes Sri Lanka Cricket for their remarks at PCB

• Sri Lankan cricket team recently toured Pakistan for limited-overs bilateral series which included three One Day Internationals and as many Twenty 20 Internationals.
• This was the first time the Lankan side travelled to Pakistan after the horrendous terrorist attack on their side way back in 2009 in Pakistan.
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Gautam Gambhir reveals why he helped a 6-year-old Pakistan girl with India visa

• At a time when bilateral relations between India and Pakistan are at an all-time low, former India opener Gautam Gambhir, on Saturday, showed the way forward with a beautiful gesture.
• Despite his differences with Pakistan, the BJP politician did not hesitate in helping a Pakistani family get a visa.
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Elder brother Assad’s sacrifice a reason behind Shahbaz Nadeem’s Test debut

• Shahbaz Nadeem has never been in the selectors’ scheme of things as far as the selection in Team India is concerned. But the doors opened for him in the ongoing Test series versus South Africa.
• Prior to the third Test in Ranchi, Kuldeep Yadav complained of a shoulder pain and Nadeem was called up as a cover.
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Rohit Sharma takes a dig at reporters after scoring his maiden double century in Tests

• In-form Rohit Sharma is on a record-breaking spree now. Ever since making a debut as a Test opener, he has carved out a reputation for himself as the pleasing batsman by chipping in with candid scores in the ongoing Test series.
• He grabbed the opportunity in both hands tightly by making a sudden impact in the team in the first Test, he scored twin hundreds and in the third Test in Ranchi, he essayed a flamboyant maiden double century, registering his personal best score of 212.
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‘What about overseas?’ – Nick Compton makes a controversial comment on Rohit Sharma’s overseas Test record

• Indian opening batsman Rohit Sharma is in the ultimate form of his life without the shadow of any doubt. He used to bat down the order in Test cricket and hasn’t found much success.
• Rohit Sharma has long been a source of immense frustrations to Indian cricket fans all over the world.
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‘It will be the same game as last week’ – Michael Vaughan tweets on ‘boring’ India games yet again

• India might not have produced an electrifying start against South Africa in the third Test match as they got early hic-cups, losing three wickets in the first session.
• Kagiso Rabada accounted for Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara and Anrich Nortje got the big wicket of Virat Kohli.
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‘We touched many milestones’ – Wahab Riaz pays tribute to Sarfaraz Ahmed

• Sarfaraz Ahmed has recently been sacked as the skipper of the Pakistan national team.
• He has been under the pump for a significant amount of time and in the end, the PCB ran out of patience with the keeper.
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Michael Vaughan calls ‘ageless and timeless’ Virender Sehwag a 50-year-old; birthday boy trolls back

• Virender Sehwag, the former Indian batsman, was one of the most dynamic batsmen the country has ever been a witness to.
• He was nowhere close to the textbook and was purely unorthodox in his stroke-making. But it didn’t stop him from weaving magic on the cricket field.
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