The BCCI is likely to remove out-of-favour Test specialists Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma from its annual central contracts while Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav may get promotion when the list for the 2022-23 season is finalised during the Board's Apex Council meeting on December 21. The meeting, which has 12 items on the agenda, will be held via video conference.
Hardik Pandya, who is being seen as future T20 captain, is likely to get a promotion to Group B from C. Stumper-batter Wriddhiman Saha will also be axed from the list as he was specifically told at the start of the year that he won't be selected for India again. “Surya was in Group C but his performance in the last one year warrants a promotion to Group B at least, if not A. He is currently world No. 1 in T20I ICC rankings and is a serious contender in ODI team also,” a senior official
Vaishali, Parul clinch doubles gold in Peru
Two women para shuttlers from Gujarat brought laurels for the country, bagging a gold medal in the doubles, at the recently-concluded Peru para badminton international 2022 in Lima. Vaishali Patel and Parul Parmar teamed up to defeat India’s Mandeep Kaur and Kelly Edith 21-17, 21-19 to win the gold medal. The duo had thrashed India’s Charanji Kaur and Maria Brenda 21-9, 21-9 in the last four clash. The pair had competed in the combined SL-3 (standing/lower limb impairment/severe) and SU-5 (standing/upper limb impairment) category. Vaishali said, “The victory means a lot to me. The doubles triumph has helped me climb up the ranking ladder from 28th position to 8th. It has improved my chances to qualify for the Asian Games in China next year and World Paralympic championship in Thailand. ”
Ahmedabad to host 4th Test of India-Australia series
Nagpur, Delhi, Dharamsala and Ahmedabad have been chosen as the venues for the much awaited four-Test series between India and Australia from February 9 to March 13. The BCCI announced the schedule for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well as the limited overs home series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in January-February. The Test series will be part of the World Test Championship cycle. The VCA Stadium in Jamtha will host the opening Test from February 9-13 before the caravan moves to Delhi for the second Test from February 17-21. Third Test takes place in Dharamsala from March 1-5. The final game of the series will be played in Ahmedabad from March 9-13. The two teams will also play a three-match ODI series with the games being played at Mumbai, Vizag and Chennai on March 17, 19 and 22 respectively.
Pak blind team gets visa for WC
Decks have been cleared for the Pakistan blind cricket team to take part in the ongoing Blind Cricket World Cup in India after the Union home ministry’s visa clearance to 34 players and officials of the neighbouring country. After its nod, the Ministry of External Affairs will issue the Visas to the Pakistani players and officials so that they can travel to India for the Dec 5-17 tournament. Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Blind Cricket Council had claimed that its team could not get clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs in India.
India win 8 medals in junior wushu world championship
The Indian contingent finished with a record eight medals, including three gold, in the 8th Junior Wushu World Championship in Tangerang, Indonesia. Besides the three yellow metals, India won as many silver and two bronze medals in the tournament that concluded on Saturday.
Boxing unlikely to feature in 2028 Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) won’t recommend the inclusion of boxing as a sport at the Los Angeles 2028 under the current leadership of Umar Kremlev, the president from Russia. The IOC’s all-powerful Executive Board (EB), which met in Lausanne for over three days from December 5-7 decided against lifting the suspension of International Boxing Association (IBA) due to concerns around its “governance, financial transparency and sustainability and the integrity of refereeing and judging processes”. The IOC will organise and conduct boxing qualification events leading up to the Paris Games 2024.
Australia rout Windies, sweep Test series
Australia routed West Indies for 77 in the second innings to romp to a 419-run victory in the day-night second Test and complete a 2-0 series sweep at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. Chasing a hopeless victory target of 497, the West Indies' defeat was merely a matter of time after they began the penultimate day on a precarious 38-4. Australia took 90 minutes to complete formalities, with Michael Neser and Mitchell Starc sharing five of the last six West Indies wickets. Tagenarine Chanderpaul's 17 was the highest score by a West Indies batter in their sorry-looking scorecard.
"Big partnerships set us up, and the bowlers were splendid as we continue to be undefeated in pink-ball tests," said stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith, referring to their 11-0 record in day-night Tests. Smith heaped praise on his batters, especially Marnus Labuschagne, whose three 100-plus scores in four innings fetched him the player-of-the-series award.
