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

Hardik Pandya spotted with Elli AvrRam at Mumbai airport

• Pandya is the vital cog of the Indian side currently and has currently been rested for the upcoming Nidahas Trophy in which India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are facing each other in the shortest format of the game.
• Elli AvrRa, on the other hand, is a Bollywood actress and came to the fame with the TV show Big Boss hosted by the actor Salman Khan.
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South Africa vs Australia: Graeme Smith terms David Warner a ‘fool’

• The Australian team has quite comfortably won the first Test match against South Africa. They won the game by 118 runs and have taken a lead of 1-0 in the series.
• While everything seemed to go well in the match, a few acts from the Australian players irked the South African fans. Especially, David Warner is now garnering a lot of criticism with his ill behavior on and off the field.
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Shah Rukh Khan welcomes Dinesh Karthik as the new skipper of KKR this season

• The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is one of the most acknowledged and celebratory franchises of them all in the ten years history of Indian Premier League (IPL).
• They have played each and every single game in their paradigm journey with great compassion and also incomplete sportsmanship of the game.
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Fantasy Sports platform Dream 11 announce MS Dhoni as their brand ambassador

• With the intense growing spirits between the teams involved in the various high-pressure cricket matches on the field, the millions of fans and lovers of the games also require a platform to build on their interest, involvement in a particular game and support their respective favourite players and teams.
• One such huge global platform is the fantasy sports brand ‘Dream 11’, which is a very popularized and exciting podium for the cricket fans across the globe.
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Tamim Iqbal back PSL to become the second-best T20 League in the world

• Tamim has been one of the shining lights for the franchise this year and has scored 134 runs by featuring in all the five matches.
• However, he will not take further part in the tournament as Nidahas Trophy is commencing on March 6 in which Bangladesh will face India and Sri Lanka in the shortest format of the game.
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Virat Kohli shares a lot of similarities with Pakistani great Imran Khan: Ravi Shastri

• Indian captain Virat Kohli under the thorough guidance of head coach Ravi Shastri compiled together to win the first ever ODI and T20I series against the Proteas on their home turf.
• The victory was a hard fought battle as the team came after the Test series loss and laid the foundation of the fightback with the motivational win in the third Test in Johannesburg.
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BCCI postpone IPL opening ceremony

• BCCI was planning to host a grand opening ceremony before the first match. According to the Indian Express, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has asked decided to thwart the plans.
• The governing council had set a budget of 50 crores for the event to be held on April 6, a day before the first match of the season.
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Sanjay Manjrekar wants this Indian youngster to play all matches of Nidahas Trophy

• Sanjay Manjrekar was very critical about the approach the Indian management shows towards Rishabh Pant in the series.
• He noted that it is not a good sign to look back at veteran players every time one talks about replacing MS Dhoni or Wriddhiman Saha. The management should keep the future in their mind, and hence, let Pant play in all the matches on the tour this time around.
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South Africa vs Australia: Steve Smith has his say on Warner-De Kock altercation

• The match was going close when De Kock and Aiden Markram were involved in a partnership and the tempers flared between the players in the second session.
• The things took an ugly turn when Warner was attempting to run over the wicket-keeper batsman while going for the tea break in the tunnel.
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Pakistan Selectors pick 20 probables for 2019 World Cup

• The 30-year-old received flak after the humiliating 5-0 defeat against New Zealand in the ODI series in January and is currently leading the Quetta Gladiators in Pakistan Super League.
• The team’s next international assignment will be the Windies Tour of Pakistan in late March where they will play 3 T20Is at Lahore.
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Sony Network wins England telecast rights for Indian subcontinent

• Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) has acquired the exclusive media rights for all television broadcasts related to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in the Indian subcontinent.
• As per the new media rights deal, SPN can both televise and digitally broadcast within the Indian subcontinent upwards of 80 men’s and women’s international matches played in England.
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South Africa vs Australia, 1st Test – Who Said What

• It was a complete team performance by the visitors as they never allowed their opponents to make a comeback.
• Mitchell Starc was at its brutal best when the ball started reversing and just skittled the lower order for almost nothing.
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ICC looking into heated off-field exchange at Durban

• The video shows Warner being restrained by Australia batsman Usman Khawaja and spin bowler Nathan Lyon as he directs a verbal barrage at De Kock, who left the field as South Africa’s not-out batsman at the same time as the Australians.
• Australia wicketkeeper Tim Paine also intervened to block Warner before his captain Steve Smith ushers the opening batsman away.
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Will Pucovski hopes to get back on the field after complete recovery of major injury

• Many drastic and painful incidents could occur on the cricket field, even with the advancement in safety restriction for the players as well as for the on-field umpires.
• The most disastrous incident that happened in 2014 in which young Aussie cricketer Phillip Hughes died after collapsing on the field due to being hit with a tenacious bouncer during a domestic game.
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Nathan Lyon charged for dropping the ball on AB de Villiers

•  The visitors have continued to dominate in the rainbow nation and won the game by 118 runs. The fourth day saw a stupendous century from Aiden Markram which kept Australia at bay.
• However, the day was also marred by Nathan Lyon dropping the ball on AB de Villiers after running him out for which he has been charged by the match referee Jeff Crowe.
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Reports: David Warner’s altercation with Quinton de Kock was a result of barb about his wife

• The Australian vice-captain exploded with anger in a stairwell altercation with South Africa’s Quinton de Kock at Kingsmead after derogatory comments were allegedly made about his wife, Candice.
• Warner was so incensed that he needed to be held back by teammate Usman Khawaja, with captain Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Tim Paine also attempting to calm him down before Smith dragged him away.
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Things still not certain on India hosting the Asia Cup 2018 says Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

• The India-Pakistan rivalry is not certainly restricted within the cricketing barriers, but it also rather circulates through the various political and cross-border activities.
• In the recent years, these activities have played the major role in severely affecting rivals between the two cricketing nations.
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