File photo of Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir© AFP

During the India vs Australia Border Gavaskar Trophy, there were several reports and rumours about ‘leaks’ from the Indian dressing room. There has been an intense scrutiny post the series which India lost 1-3. In fact, recently, India captain Rohit Sharma, India coach Gautam Gambhir and BCCI’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar took part in a review meeting at the BCCI headquarters after the debacle. Now, a startling claim has been made by a video report from News 24, where it has been said that India head coach Gautam Gambhir accused batter Sarfaraz Khan of leaking dressing room information during the recently-concluded Tour.

There has been no official reaction from Gambhir or Sarfaraz on the report so far. This report will be updated, as and when, there is a reaction from any of the two parties.

Sarfaraz didn’t play a single game during the five-Test tour as Australia reclaimed the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014-15. According to the report, Gambhir made the accusations against Sarfaraz during the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s review meeting in Mumbai.

The report said Gambhir told the BCCI stakeholders that it was Sarfaraz who leaked the information to the media about his dressing room rant following the loss in the Boxing-Day Test.

The report also added the BCCI stakeholders are not happy with Sarfaraz, and that the player is unlikely to play for India as long as Gambhir is the head coach of the team.

However, the report couldn’t confirm whether Gambhir has any proof against Sarfaraz.

Gambhir has come under scrutiny following India’s loss to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His future as head coach also hangs by a thread, with reports claiming that a call on his position will be taken after the Champions Trophy.

Even veteran like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are at crossroads after enduring poor returns with the bat. Both have been told to play Ranji Trophy ahead of the Champions Trophy.

While Rohit has made himself available for Mumbai’s final round of games, Kohli is yet to break his silence on the matter.

Ahead of the mega event, India are scheduled to play England in a white-ball series. A five-match T20I series, set to get underway on January 22, followed by a three-game ODI bilateral.

The first T20I will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

File image of Gautam Gambhir.© BCCI

The Indian cricket team reached Adelaide after a successful pink-ball practice game in Canberra. As the players prepare for the day-night Test against Australia, a few players went shopping at the airport. The likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Washington Sundar tried a few hats before taking their flight to Australia, with the latter also deciding to buy one. However, Sundar couldn’t prevent himself from facing Sarfaraz’s quips as he tried a few hats. Sundar’s hat shopping also earned him a new nickname ‘Mogambo’, from none other than the funny Sarfaraz.

The video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) starts with India’s opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal getting himself trapped behind a glass wall. He was eventually brought out, but not before Shubman Gill and a few others in the team had a laugh on the subject. Jaiswal even had to face skipper Rohit Sharma’s scolding. Here’s the video:

Banter check

Hat check

Travel day #TeamIndia have arrived in Adelaide#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/hRDUfOTcpf

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 3, 2024

In the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India staged a stunning comeback from a series whitewash against New Zealand at home, defeating Australia by 295 runs in Perth despite being bowled out for a mere 150 runs in their first innings.

In the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they were dismissed for just 150 runs, with Nitish Kumar Reddy (41 off 59 balls, six fours and a six) and Rishabh Pant (37 off 78 balls, three fours and a six) playing crucial knocks and adding a vital 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Josh Hazlewood (4/29) was the standout bowler for Australia, with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, and Mitchell Starc claiming two wickets each. Australia’s reply was even worse, as they were reduced to 79/9 before Mitchell Starc (26) and Alex Carey (21) took the total to 104, giving India a slender lead of 46 runs.

Jasprit Bumrah starred for India with figures of 5/30 in 18 overs, while debutant Harshit Rana impressed with 3/48.

In their second innings, India amassed a massive lead. KL Rahul (77 off 176 balls, five fours) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (161 off 297 balls, 15 fours, and three sixes) put up a 201-run opening partnership. Despite losing quick wickets, an unbeaten 100 by Virat Kohli (143 balls, eight fours, and two sixes), supported by Washington Sundar (29 off 94 balls, one six) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (38* off 27 balls, three fours and two sixes), propelled India to 487/6 declared, setting Australia a daunting target of 534 runs.

Australia were simply the second-best side in the chase, as Indian bowlers continued to dominate.

With ANI Inputs

In a strange move by India’s captain Rohit Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan was given the responsibility of keeping wickets for a few overs, after the team decided to give Rishabh Pant some rest. Sarfaraz, however, had his typical quirks behind the stumps, especially with skipper Rohit. Once, Sarfaraz even received a friendly punch from Rohit after failing to collect a ball. Later, Sarfaraz was also seen demanding the dismissal of Australian batter Hanno Jacobs as he had hit the ball twice.

As for the rules, a batter isn’t technically allowed to strike the ball twice but can do so if the sole aim is to protect the ball from hitting the stumps.

In this case, Jacobs didn’t really hit the ball with the intent of scoring runs but only ensured that the ball didn’t threaten to disturb his stumps. Hence, Sarfaraz’s passionate appeal wasn’t considered.

Drama on the field! Sarfaraz Khan engaged in a serious conversation with Hanno Jacobs – while keeping behind the stumps. Always leading from the front with his passion! #SarfarazKhan#ManukaOval #PMXIvIND #INDvsAUS #BGT #Canberra #CricketAustralia #BCCI pic.twitter.com/OITOvSquU3

— lightningspeed (@lightningspeedk) December 1, 2024

pic.twitter.com/N0BQcNSIFC

— Kaushik Kashyap (@CricKaushik_) December 1, 2024

While it looked like a pun initially, Sarfaraz did seem to be serious over the discussion. Jacobs even had to clarify his stance to the Indian.

Jacobs was eventually dismissed for 61 runs from 60 balls by Indian spinner Washington Sundar. Courtesy of his brilliant knock, Australia PM’s XI managed to put 240 runs on the board. For India, Harshit Rana was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 4 wickets for 44 runs.

Opening batter Sam Konstas was the top-scoring batter for Australia PM’s XI, registering a memorable ton (107 runs) in the pink-ball match. 

In the match, a rather baffling decision from captain Rohit was also witnessed as premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who led the team in the Perth Test, didn’t bowl a single over. 

India captain Rohit Sharma was involved in a hilarious incident with teammate Sarfaraz Khan during the second day of two-day practice match against Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Sarfaraz, who came on as a substitute wicketkeeper to replace Rishabh Pant, fumbled a regulation take behind the sticks. As a result, Rohit jokingly punched him on the back. The incident happened on the 23rd over of the innings after Harshit Rana bowled a short pitched delivery to Oliver Davies, who had just came out to bat after the dismissal of Jack Clayton.

The ball whisteled past Clayton, but Sarfaraz, who was keeping the wickets, failed to hold on to the ball. As Sarfaraz was about to collect the ball from the ground, Rohit hilariously punched him on the back. However, both shared a smile after the incident.

Rohit pic.twitter.com/ivusxzLlhh

— Abhi (@CoverDrive001) December 1, 2024

Davies was dismissed for a duck on the very next ball by Rana, who cleaned him up with a ripper.

Earlier, the two-day practice match was reduced to a 50-overs-a-side contest after no play was possible on Day 1 due to heavy rain.

In the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India staged a stunning comeback from a series whitewash against New Zealand at home, defeating Australia by 295 runs in Perth despite being bowled out for a mere 150 runs in their first innings.

Star Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the upcoming Adelaide Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after he sustained a side strain, as reported by ESPNcricinfo on Saturday.

Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett, who are yet to make their debut in the Test were added to the Australian squad for the second Test match.

As per ESPNcricinfo, Scott Boland will likely be Hazlewood’s replacement in the playing XI for the day-night Test.

ESPNcricinfo quoted Cricket Australia’s statement saying that Hazlewood had a “low-grade left side injury” and he would remain with the squad in Adelaide to recover from his recovery.

The day-night Adelaide Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be starting from December 6.

(With ANI Inputs)

Sarfaraz Khan‘s unorthodox fielding style left Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel in splits during Indian cricket team’s practice session ahead of the first Test match against Australia in Perth starting Friday. In a video going viral on social media, Sarfaraz took a catch extremely close to his face while fielding at the slip cordon. Kohli was left amused by his catching style while Rishabh Pant could not control himself and fell on the ground while laughing. Even Sarfaraz joined in on the fun as the Indian cricket team stars shared a fun banter before resuming their catching practice.

Former all-rounder Shane Watson has advised the Australian team to avoid getting into confrontations with Virat Kohli in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he feels the intensity the celebrated Indian batter derives from provocations brings the best out of him.

Going through a lean run of form, Kohli has enjoyed great success in Australia in the past and will look to regain his touch in the five-match Test series, which gets underway on Friday at the Optus Stadium.

What did Sarfaraz do?#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/P2PgQ5KAJX

— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) November 19, 2024

Provoking the Indian batting mainstay has often proved to be counterproductive for the Australians, and Watson has experienced it himself.

“The one thing that I know of Virat is… because the fire burns so brightly and deep inside him, the intensity he brings to every ball that he is engaged in a game has been superhuman,” Watson was quoted as saying on the Willow Talk podcast.

“But, there have been in recent times where moments in this career that fire has started to go out because it is just so hard to maintain that intensity in every moment he is involved in a game.

“And, that is where Australia have to leave him alone and hope he doesn’t bring the intensity — nine out of 10 intensity — to every ball.” Kohli has played 13 Tests in Australia since 2011, amassing 1,352 runs at an average of 54.08, including six centuries and four fifties, with a top score of 169.

While this would be his fifth tour Down Under in the longest format, Kohli’s best outing came during the 2014-15 series when he aggregated 692 runs in four Tests at an average of 86.50, including four hundreds and a half-century.

These remarkable numbers are not lost on Watson.

“We have seen that when he has had success in Australia, he is up and above for everything in the middle. Every ball he is up for every single moment.

“You can see the fierce intensity that he brings, and if he gets that, then it shuts everything else out. That is when he is at his absolute best.

“If there is stuff happening around and that intensity is not there, that is when you will see the not-so-best version of Virat. So from an Australian perspective, let’s hope we get to see that version of him,” Watson said.

Kohli’s performance in the red-ball format this year has been below par, managing just 70 runs in six Tests at an average of 22.72.

(With PTI inputs)

Things are about to get very serious Down Under. It’s India vs Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The teams’ rivalry is currently the most followed battle on the cricket field. In recent times, India have dominated Australia but this time things look different. Smarting from a 3-0 loss to New Zealand at home, India look vulnerable. All eyes will be on players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah among others to deliver against Australia. 

Before the battle starts, the Indian cricket team members engaged in a fun session where they were asked about a particular question about their career. Virat Kohli was asked about his best knock in Australia.  

“My best knock in Australia is definitely be my 100 at Perth. 2018-19 series that we played. I thought that was the toughest pitch that I played on in Test cricket. It was great to get a hundred on that tour,” Kohli said while answering Mohammed Siraj‘s question.

After that Siraj and Sarfaraz Khan could be seen getting star-struck  as they looked at him and said “legend, legend”. 

So hawttt @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/pK1r94FMGU

— H. (@cmoncheeeks) November 18, 2024

Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar, a former cricketer and now a cricket analyst, delved into how Australian bowlers might tackle Kohli’s batting approach. Manjrekar believes that Kohli is “well aware” of the tactics that will be used against him.

He said exclusively on Star Sports, “I think Virat knows exactly what’s going to be planned. They’ll start with that line outside the off-stump and gauge what his mindset is. These days, he often leaves balls outside off and looks to drive anything pitched up. Australia might also try to cramp him for room and attack his body since he likes to get forward. This was a tactic New Zealand used effectively.”

Manjrekar further elaborated that if Kohli is focused on balls outside the off stump, Australian bowlers, particularly Josh Hazlewood, might target a line on the middle stump, similar to the one Vernon Philander used effectively.

“If he’s focused on balls outside off stump, bowlers like Josh Hazlewood might target that typical Vernon Philander line on middle stump. Australia will test various strategies, and Virat Kohli is fully aware of that,” Manjrekar added.

With ANI inputs 

Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan was spotted leaving the training session early after being hit on his elbow ahead of the first Test against Australia at Perth from November 22 onwards. In a training clip posted by Fox Cricket, Sarfaraz was seen walking off after the session when he was hit on his right elbow while batting. Team India is practicing in Perth’s Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground for the series, having landed Down Under in two batches a few days back. As per Wisden, Sarfaraz faces “no issues” with his elbow after the hit.

The 27-year-old is in contention to feature in the Perth Test at Optus Stadium, with skipper Rohit Sharma likely to miss out due to personal reasons. Other candidates for Sarfaraz’s spot in the middle-order is an experience KL Rahul and young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Jurel impressed in the recently-concluded Australia A-India A series, scoring gutsy knocks of 80 and 68 during the second match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) under pressure situations.

After his exploits in first-class cricket, Sarfaraz made his international debut against England in a five-match home series, starting off his journey with back-to-back half-centuries. However since then, he has been inconsistent, managing a 150 against New Zealand at Bengaluru and just a fifty in his other seven innings.

In six Tests, Sarfaraz has scored 371 runs at an average of 37.10, with a century and three fifties in 11 innings and best score of 150.

The young batter is yet to play in Tests outside India and would be tested on fast, bouncy surfaces of Australia.

Sarfaraz is yet to play a Test outside India, and will be looking to address concerns around his ability to play on bouncy pitches.

The much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia kicks off on November 22, with the first Test at Perth. The second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.

The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series’ penultimate stage.

The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.

A Test series against Australia is a transformative experience after which an individual “goes back a better cricketer” is what head coach Gautam Gambhir and some of the star senior players have been trying to instil in the younger members of the team on their first tour ‘Down Under’. It will be a baptism of fire for several young Indian players, with the visitors naming as many as eight squad members who have never played a Test match on Australian soil. The likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna, all of them on their maiden tours will have plenty to prove during the marquee series, starting here from November 22.

And who better than the troika of Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, both on their fifth Test tours (2011-12, 14-15, 18-19, 20-21) and Jasprit Bumrah, who is on his third red ball tour (2018-19, 20-21) to share their invaluable learnings from the past series.

“Gauti bhai (Gambhir) had a chat with the boys just before we started, we had some of the senior boys as well,” Nayar said in video posted by bcci.tv. on Thursday.

“Booms (Bumrah), Virat , Ash (Ashwin) having a chat with the guys how first they came here as youngsters with a lot of seniors around and how they sort of felt that once you finish an Australia series you go back a better cricketer.” “I think the young boys are very keen, raring to go and hopefully make a name for themsleves bu the end of this tour.

“It’s one of the toughest challenges for an Indian cricketer coming here and overcoming it, Nayar added.

Bowling coach Morne Morkel described the series as “a showpiece on the international calendar” and predicted that both teams would go hard at each other in every session.

“I think it’s a showpiece on the international calendar since it’s going to be teams that not going to give anybody an inch or a sniff and it is going to be hard-fought sessions,” Morkel said “I’m hopeful for the five Test matches is hard. Five days of cricket when you sit after the day’s play and you take your shoes off and say ‘Listen, I have given it all’,” he added.

Since 2014-15, Australia have not been able to lay their hands on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with India winning four consecutive series including the historic triumphs Down Under in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

India remain the only Asian nation to beat the Australia at their backyard in a Test series.

They are the only team Australia have failed to defeat in their last 16 Test series.

“It’s become a big part of Indian cricket to come here and do well. It’s obviously a very proud moment that India won here twice in the last two times as well as winning it in India,” assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said.