Top Sports news of the day

Top Sports News of the day - 31 Dec 2020

Cricket | India tour of Australia

• 33-year-old Umesh Yadav is also back to India post suffering an injury
• This is not good news for India as two of their fast bowlers are already injured - Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma
• Now Jasprit Bumrah will lead the pace bowling attack along with Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini
• Two of these three net bowlers will replace Umesh Yadav and Shami - Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, and Kartik Tyagi 
• Talking about Australia, David Warner is back to the team and is expected to open the innings for Australia
• The third test will be played at Sydney cricket ground beginning 07 January 2021
• Teams will travel to Brisbane from Sydney for the fourth and the last test

Cricket | International Cricket Council's (ICC) Test ranking for Batsmen 

• Kane Williamson (New Zealand) leads the table with 890 points followed by Virat Kohli (India - 879 points) and Steve Smith (Australia - 877 points)
• Williamson is such a humble gentleman…despite being on top of the table, he praised and thanked Virat Kohli and Steve Smith for being great cricketers
• Leading the last against Australia, India's stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane moved jumped 5 spots in the ICC Test ranking and is now at No. 6

Cricket | Big Bash League (BBL) 10

• Perth Scorchers beat Adelaide Strikers by 7 (seven) wickets today (with 14 balls remaining)
• Perth Scorchers won the toss and decided to bowl
• Scorchers wrapped up Strikers at a fighting score of 146/9 in 20 overs and achieved the target in 17.4 overs with 7 wickets in hand
• Jhye Richardson from Perth Scorchers was declared as Man of the Match for taking 3 wickets for 19 runs, in 4 overs
• The highest scorer for Adelaide Strikers was Alex Carey (scored 82 runs in 59 balls), for Perth Scorchers it was Jason Roy (scored 49 runs in 32 balls)
• The highest wicket-takers for Adelaide Strikers was Wes Agar ( 2 wickets for 43 runs) and for Perth Scorchers it was Jhye Richardson
• Sydney Strikers leads the table with 16 points (4 wins in 5 matches) followed by Sydney Thunder with 15 points (4 wins in 5 matches)
• The 22nd BBL-10 match will be played on Friday, 01 January 2021 between Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder
• Melbourne Star's leg-spinner Adam Zampa was caught on the charge of 'Audible Obscenity' when playing against Sydney Thunder and has been suspended for one match

Cricket | Afghanistan Vs Ireland

• Afghanistan and Ireland are scheduled to play three One-day Internationals in January 2021
• Matches will be played on 18 January, 21 January, and 23 January 2021 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
• On a lighter note - Ireland reached prior to Afghanistan and Ireland's media manager tweeted, "Guests are waiting for the hosts!"

Cricket | Sri Lanka tour of South Africa

• In the Two-Tests series, South Africa took a lead by winning by an innings and 45 runs against Sri Lanka
• South Africa will replace their medium-fast bowler Migael Pretorius (due to injury) with the left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks.
• The Second Test will begin from 03 January 2021, at Wanderers Stadium

Cricket | Pakistan tour of New Zealand

• New Zealand's first-Test hero Neil Wagner will not be playing the second test against Pakistan, due to an injury
• Wagner is World's third-ranked Test bowler and took 4 wickets in the first test against Pakistan
• The Second Test will start from 03 January 2021 at Hagley Oval
• Hagley Oval historically offered a bouncy and fast pitch

Cricket | West Indies tour of Bangladesh

• West Indies was scheduled to play three ODIs and two Tests in Bangladesh in January-February 2021
• However, due to Covid 19 (and for personal reasons), twelve West Indies players (including Test captain Jason Holder) has declined to visit Bangladesh
• Now, Kraigg Brathwaite will lead the Test team and Jason Mohammed will be the caption of the ODI team
• Best wishes to West Indies Team A, B, or C for their matches with Bangladesh!

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