SPORTS

Former opener Gautam Gambhir feels India would do well to enter the upcoming second Test against Australia with five bowlers and make stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane bat at the No. 4 position.

India lost the series-opening Day/Night Test by eight wickets after collapsing to their lowest Test total of 36 in their second innings at the Adelaide Oval.

Rahane took charge after regular captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday left for India for the birth of his first child.

“I will want to see Rahane at number four. I will not want to him stay at number five because if he is the captain now, he has to lead from the front. So, Rahane should play at number four in place of Virat Kohli,” Gambhir said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’.

Young Indian opener Prithvi Shaw is likely to be dropped from the Indian playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, scheduled to start from January 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. While there are calls for Shubman Gill to replace Shaw in the opening slot, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has given his take on who should replace Shaw as the opener in Indian playing XI.

Shaw has looked out of form since the Indian Premier League and continued his poor run of form in the warm-up matches against Australia A. However, he was handed a start in the Adelaide Test, which ended up in Australia’s favour with Shaw returning with scores of 0 and 4. 

India lost the Adelaide Test by eight wickets after a historic collapse but are looking to make a few changes into the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test.

Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh, popularly known as Yo Mahesh, has announced his retirement on the eve of his 33rd birthday. The former Tamil Nadu quick was first signed by the Delhi Daredevils and then represented Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Yo Mahesh's career kicked off as he made it into the India U-19 squad for the 2006 World Cup held in Sri Lanka and he went on to play 50 first-class matches, 61 List A and 46 T20 games for Tamil Nadu.

"At the outset, thanks to BCCI for the opportunity to represent India at the Under-19 level and the India A level. It's been an honour and with utmost pride I call it the highest point in my career," Yo Mahesh said in his statement, on Twitter.

Team India took a massive leap towards gaining control of the first Test against Australia after a superb performance with the ball on Day 2 at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Ravichandran Ashwin and the Indian pace attack once again proved why they are one of the best attacks in the world as they bowled Australia out for 191 to give the visitors a first-innings lead of 53 runs.

Jasprit Bumrah started the damage early in the first session by removing both openers Matthew Wade and Joe Burns leg-before wicket for 8 before Ravichandran Ashwin came into the attack and ran through the Aussie middle order with the wickets of Steve Smith (1), Travis Head (7) and debutant Cameron Green (11).

Ashwin's 3-wicket burst left Australia in trouble at 92 for 5 at tea on the second day. Umesh Yadav then stepped up and gave the duo good support from his end, picking the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne (47) and Pat Cummins (0) in the same over early in the final session.

Russia will not be able to use its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years after a ruling Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Lausanne-based court halved the four-year ban proposed last year by the World Anti-Doping Agency in a landmark case that accused Russia of state-ordered tampering of a testing laboratory database in Moscow. The ruling also blocked Russia from bidding to host major sporting events for two years.

Russian athletes and teams will still be allowed to compete at next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, as well as world championships including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, if they are not implicated in doping or covering up positive tests.