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

England inch closer to India in latest ICC Test rankings

• The year 2018 started on an ugly note for England as they lost the overseas Ashes against Australia.
• The victory has also helped the visiting team to a large extent as they now have moved to the second spot in International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test team rankings.
• (Read more about the story)

MS Dhoni can still hit the ball into the stands: Sourav Ganguly

• MS Dhoni’s free time has increased nowadays as the ace wicket-keeper-batsman is now playing only in the ODIs.
• Nevertheless, Dhoni continues to be key figure in India’s bid for the third world title in England in May-July next year.
• (Read more about the story)

India’s Kuldeep Yadav attains career best T20I ranking

• The latest player rankings include player performances in the one-off T20I between Australia and South Africa and the T20I series between Australia and India.
• Yadav has jumped 20 places to claim the third position, while Zampa has leaped 17 places to occupy the fifth spot.
• (Read more about the story)

ICC bids for the inclusion of Women’s T20 cricket into the Commonwealth Games

• Cricket has made just one appearance at the Games previously, with men playing in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.
• The International Cricket Council (ICC) today confirmed it has submitted a bid for the inclusion of T20 women’s cricket into the Commonwealth Games.
• (Read more about the story)

Cricket couple Alyssa Healy and Mitchell Starc become owners of a unique record

• The Australia Women’s team claimed a thunderous win by eight wickets against the England Women in the final match of the Women’s World T20.
• It was also the fourth time in the tournament’s history that the girls from Australia lifted the prestigious title.
• (Read more about the story)

Sarfraz Ahmed needs to quit captaincy in at least one format, feels Zaheer Abbas

• Sarfraz has given a stable leadership to Pakistan after a while and the team has done well under him across the formats.
• Former Pakistan captain Moin Khan backed the current skipper, who is also the team’s wicketkeeper like the former was, saying it was not right to blame the captain every time the team played badly.
• (Read more about the story)

Australia vs India: Warner and Smith to help hosts’ speedsters prepare for Test series

• The Aussies also lost the Test series in the Rainbow Nation following their resounding victory in the opening match.
• Australia recently played the three-match T20I series against the Men in Blue. The hosts won the opening match by four runs.
• (Read more about the story)

Babar Azam betters Virat Kohli with his Test average

• The century was also special for Babar as it helped him eclipse Indian batting great Virat Kohli in an annual record.
• The 24-year-old has been in a good nick in Tests though he could not manage a hundred before this.
• (Read more about the story)

Englishman Jos Buttler wants the third-umpires to call no-balls

• In the meantime, the umpiring standards in the encounter have come under the scanner. Sundaram Ravi and Chris Gaffaney are the on-field umpires.
• After the revelations, Buttler, England’s limited-overs wicketkeeper-batsman, isn’t satisfied by any stretch of the imagination.
• (Read more about the story)

Mithali Raj contemplating T20I retirement after World T20 debacle

• The 35-year-old is the country’s leading run scorer in the T20I format above the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
• To everyone’s surprise, the veteran wasn’t included for the semis against England in Antigua.
• (Read more about the story)

Sunil Gavaskar picks one between Hanuma Vihari and Rohit Sharma for the Tests

• With the end of the T20I series, the focus shifts on the four-match Test series between Australia and India starting December 6 in Adelaide.
• One such dilemma lies over picking seasoned batsman Rohit Sharma or newcomer Hanuma Vihari for the sixth slot in the batting order.
• (Read more about the story)

IPL players earn more per game than those in any other sport, says survey

• It has broken all barriers of the game and every country has started their own versions of the franchise-based cricket ever since.
• Rajasthan Royals also returned this year after a two-year ban which was imposed over a betting-related scandal.
• (Read more about the story)

Australia vs India: Sunil Gavaskar picks the preferred Indian opening pair for the first Test

• Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar recently revealed his opinion on the two openers who should open for the visitors in the first Test match.
• Gavaskar revealed that he would like to see Prithvi and Vijay open the innings in the first Test match against Australia in Adelaide.
• (Read more about the story)

To win the Test series, all batsmen will have to support Kohli, feels Adam Gilchrist

• The much anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy will commence on the 6th of December at the Adelaide Oval.
• However, the visitors failed to win the series because of the other batsmen significantly falling apart.
• (Read more about the story)

Wasim Akram predicts it will be tough for the Indian bowlers in Australia

• Despite the T20I series between Australia and India got a lot of response from the crowd, the much-awaited part of the tour is the Tests.
• He was of the opinion that the Kookaburra stops moving after it loses its shine which is the reason the teams like India and Pakistan struggle.
• (Read more about the story)

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