File photo of Adam Griffith.© X (formerly Twitter)

Jasprit Bumrah and Australia PM Anthony Albanese© X (Twitter)

India vs Australia: Virat Kohli was involved in a heated exchange with Sam Konstas© AFP

Cooper Connolly’s strike hit the roof of the stadium, injuring Kane Richardson in the process.© X (Twitter)

Steve Smith celebrates his century during the India vs Australia 3rd Test.© AFP

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has given his two cents on the spat between India pacer Mohammed Siraj and Australia batter Travis Head during the pink-ball second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Adelaide. Harbhajan – himself no stranger to controversy during India-Australia encounters – opined that the ICC has been too harsh on the players, following sanctions for both Siraj and Head. The former off-spinner also refused to take sides on the matter, but added that things are likely to heaten up again between the two sides.

“Well, I think the ICC is a bit too strict on players. These things happen on the ground. The players have patched up and talked to each other. Anyways, ICC being ICC has sanctioned the players,” said Harbhajan, speaking on Star Sports.

“Let’s focus on cricket rather than all these controversies. Enough is enough,” Harbhajan said further.

Both Siraj and Head were handed one demerit point by the ICC, while Siraj was also fined 20 percent of his match fees from the second Test.

Harbhajan predicted that things are likely to heaten up even more from the next Test match. With the series tied at 1-1 and three more Tests remaining, it is vital for both sides to win as they battle to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final.

“You can’t really say who was wrong, who was right here. What I feel is that this should be the end of this thing right now. What I feel personally is, the things will definitely get heated from the next Test match again, but whatever incident happened here, should be left here in Adelaide,” Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan was infamously embroiled in the ‘Monkeygate’ controversy with Andrew Symonds during the 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Back then, Harbhajan had initially been handed a three-match ban for alleged racism towards Symonds, before it was overturned and he was fined 50 percent of his match fees instead, after sufficient evidence couldn’t be found.

India and Australia resume rivalry on Saturday, December 14, in the third Test in Brisbane.

As the Indian cricket team prepares for the upcoming pink-ball Test in Adelaide starting December 6, fast bowlers Akash Deep and Yash Dayal have shared their experiences and observations about the challenges and nuances of bowling with the pink ball. Reflecting on his experience, Akash Deep highlighted the unique characteristics of the pink ball compared to the traditional red ball. “It’s skidding, it’s difficult for the batters, it has got more bounce,” Akash explained in a video posted by BCCI on their official website.

“The main thing about this ball is that it remains new for a long time. Generally, what we see with the red ball is that it starts getting old after 5-6 overs,” he said.

Yash Dayal, who has been bowling to Indian batting stalwarts in the nets, shared his observations on the pink ball’s behaviour.

“What I felt bowling this ball in nets to Rohit (Sharma) bhaiyya and Virat (Kohli) bhaiyya is that it’s not swinging much,” Yash noted.

“You have to keep the seam position straight. If you pitch the ball in the right areas, then it might change directions,” he added.

The Indian team heads into this Test with renewed confidence, having secured a victory against Australia in the first Test in Perth. The memory of being bowled out for 36 in their last pink-ball Test against Australia will undoubtedly linger, but the team’s recent success adds a layer of optimism.

The insights from Akash Deep and Yash Dayal provide a glimpse into the team’s preparation and strategic considerations as they aim to tackle the pink-ball challenge and continue their winning momentum in the series.

In the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India won the toss and elected to bat but managed only 150 runs. Nitish Kumar Reddy (41 off 59 balls, six fours, one six) and Rishabh Pant (37 off 78 balls, three fours, one six) added a crucial 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Josh Hazlewood (4/29) was Australia’s standout bowler, while Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, and Mitchell Starc claimed two wickets each.

Australia’s response was dismal, collapsing to 79/9 before a late partnership between Mitchell Starc (26) and Alex Carey (21) took them to 104, conceding a 46-run lead. Jasprit Bumrah led India’s bowling with 5/30, while debutant Harshit Rana impressed with 3/48.

India dominated in the second innings. KL Rahul (77 off 176 balls, five fours) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (161 off 297 balls, 15 fours, three sixes) put on a 201-run opening stand. Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 100 (143 balls, eight fours, two sixes), supported by Washington Sundar (29 off 94 balls, one six) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (38* off 27 balls, three fours, two sixes), took India to 487/6 declared, setting Australia a target of 534.

Nathan Lyon (2/96) was Australia’s most effective bowler, while Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood took a wicket each.

At stumps on Day 3, Australia were reeling at 12/3, with Bumrah taking two wickets and Mohammed Siraj one. On Day 4, valiant efforts from Travis Head (89 off 101 balls, eight fours) and Mitchell Marsh (47 off 67 balls, three fours, two sixes) couldn’t save Australia, as they were bowled out for 238, handing India a commanding 295-run victory.

Bumrah (3/42) and Siraj (3/51) starred in the second innings, with Washington Sundar taking two wickets and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana chipping in with one each.

Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his eight wickets in the game.

Nathan McSweeney after getting out in the India vs Australia 1st Test.© AFP

The home team bowlers did not put a foot wrong but the pitch “surprisingly” dried up quite quickly at the Optus stadium on the second day, eventually helping the Indian batters, reckons Australia head coach Andrew McDonald. India openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (90) and KL Rahul (62) frustrated the hosts with their dogged unbeaten 172-run stand that has put the game in firm control of the visitors, who now lead by 218 runs. While the wickets fell in heap on the opening day with as many as 17 batters getting out, only three Australian tail-enders were dismissed on the second day. “The surface looked considerably dry today. It dried out fairly quickly,” said McDonald during the post-day press conference.

“We thought there may have been a little bit more there. So, I suppose if you want to say that we were a little bit surprised, yeah, there wasn’t as much seam movement or swing.

“The bowlers were presenting the seam in a similar fashion to they were yesterday. So I think the conditions may have had some say in that.” McDonald said there was hardly any assistance for seam or swing, compared to the first day.

“If you look at the seam and swing, it was down comparative to yesterday. Yesterday was difficult work, I thought KL (Rahul) and Jaiswal played extremely well also.

“You need to ride your luck a little bit. Our guys got the balls in the right areas, and there was some plays and misses as well, so anything can happen if you get some edges on that. It could be a totally different day, but I think the conditions have changed, I’ll state that,” he said.

“In terms of the way that we bowled, I don’t think it was too dissimilar, potentially early on we may have been a fraction short, if it was to be critical, but I thought they went about their work well, it could have been a different day.” However, McDonald does not think Australia do not stand a chance in the series-opener, pinning hopes on the nature of Test cricket that keeps both the teams in hunt till the end.

“You’ve got the driver’s seat at the moment, but that’s not to say that tomorrow can’t change very quickly. Test cricket ebbs and flows, we’ve all been a part of a game when you’ve been well ahead of the game and it can twist and turn, so we’ve got to get to work on what it looks like for us tomorrow morning,” he said.

“It’s about 20 odd overs to the second new ball, we’ve got to work out a way to navigate through a few batters before that second new ball arrives and that could be our entry point back into the game.” He though admitted that they have to “get tactics right”.

“If we’re too aggressive then the scoreboard runs and then you put yourself right up against it. So it’s a real combination about controlling the tempo of the game and creating opportunities within that.” From the situation that India have batted themselves into, it is real a possibility that the hosts maybe looking at stiff chase of beyond 400 but McDonald would prefer not to look that far ahead.

“We’re not looking that far ahead, we’ve got 10 wickets to take first, so that’s our first focus. No, no targets, clearly 10 wickets to get, first priority, then we’ll move from there.” Talking about the frantic first day, the Australia coach admitted that it could be due to the nerves the players of both the teams felt due to the occasion.

“No doubt both the teams would have had some nerves there leading into a big series, so there might have been some error on the back of that, but I think as a batting unit when you get a look at a wicket and then obviously your bowlers go about their work and you get a second up opportunity, I think it looks a little bit different in terms of your mindset, your knowing what to expect and you can work from there.” McDonald also backed Marnus Labuschagne, who consumed 52 balls for his two runs in the first innings.

“He’s working his game as hard as ever. There’s no doubt he can learn some lessons from the first innings, like I think both teams’ batters.

“So he’ll be the same in the nets this morning, working through what his method’s going to be in the second innings. And clearly, your mindset changes based upon the conditions as well. So the game plan from the first innings is going to look different from the second innings.” 

Top-order batter Shafali Verma was on Tuesday dropped from India’s 16-member women’s team for the three-match ODI series in Australia in December after a string of poor performances in the past year. The BCCI selectors seem to have once again lost patience with the 20-year-old right-handed batter, whose recent ODI form has been disappointing. Shafali has scored just 108 runs in six matches this year with 33 being the highest. She was dropped in December last year from the team midway during the home ODI series against Australia on the basis of her poor run, before making a comeback against South Africa in June this year in Bengaluru.

In fact, the youngster, rated as the next big thing in Indian women’s cricket when she broke into the team in 2021, has not scored a ODI half century since making an unbeaten 71 against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in July 2022. Her next highest score was a 49 against the same opponent in the same series.

Four other players — Uma Chetry, Dayalan Hemalatha, Shreyanka Patil and Sayali Satghare — were also left out from the squad that played in India’s 2-1 home series win against New Zealand in Ahmedabad last month.

Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh, Minnu Mani, Titas Sadhu and Priya Punia are the five players who did not face New Zealand but were named in the team for the Australia series.

The first two ODIs will be played at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on December 5 and 8 before the action shifts to WACA Ground, Perth on December 11 for the final match of the series, which is a part of the ICC Women’s Championship.

India’s squad for three-match ODI series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Richa Ghosh (WK), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Saima Thakor.