Players.bio is a large online platform sharing the best live coverage of your favourite sports: Football, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA, plus the latest sports news, transfers & scores. Exclusive interviews, fresh photos and videos, breaking news. Stay tuned to know everything you wish about your favorite stars 24/7. Check our daily updates and make sure you don't miss anything about celebrities' lives.
Australia were 255 for four at stumps against India on the opening day of the series-deciding fourth Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Opener Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green were batting on 104 and 49 respectively at the close of play. After skipper Steve Smith opted to bat, Australia were off to a good start with the duo of Khawaja and Travis Head adding 61 runs for the first wicket.
Former Indian cricket team batsman Sanjay Manjrekar was not impressed by the pitch in Ahmedabad for the fourth Test match between India and Australia as he called it “from 70s and 80s”. During commentary, Manjrekar remarked that the pitch was extremely batting-friendly and the fact that India were able to take two wickets in the first session of the match was a big achievement for the bowlers who did not get much purchase off the pitch. He remarked that a pitch like the one in Ahmedabad was rare in home series but also pointed out that the Indian bowlers did not bowl many wicket-taking deliveries.
Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar harbours no "ill feeling" after being sent back from the Indian Test tour without a game because he knows it's "ruthless" in top-level cricket. Agar had landed in India as one of the senior spinners in the Australian squad but returned home after not finding a place in the XI for the first two Tests with uncapped off-spinner Todd Murphy and left-armer Matthew Kuhnemann preferred over him. The 29-year-old responded by picking up five wickets for Western Australia in the Marsh Cup final against South Australia.
The nature of the pitches has been the central talking point in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The first three Tests of the series ended within 3 days each, with the 3rd Test pitch also being rated 'poor' by the International Cricket Council. As the attention turned to the 4th Test between India and Australia in Ahmedabad, a different kind of controversy erupted, with suggestions of India preparing 'two different pitches' surfacing. Ahead of the Day 1 of the 4th Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Australia great Mark Waugh fumed at the situation, suggesting such a dilemma "is not on".
Into the team for his exquisite skills behind the stumps, KS Bharat had an ordinary outing on Day 1 of the fourth Test against Australia that saw him drop an 'absolute sitter' in the first session. Bharat had a pretty straightforward opportunity behind the stumps as the ball came to him after kissing the blade of Travis Head. However, the Indian wicket-keeper batter spilled the opportunity, giving the Australian batter a prized lifeline. Be it fans on social media or commentators on duty, everyone was left disappointed seeing a wicket-keeper of the caliber of Bharat spilling that opportunity.
Australia bagged a nine-wicket victory over India in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after facing big defeats in the first two matches. The visitors arrived in India with star pacer Pat Cummins leading the pack in the first two Tests. However, Cummins had to fly back home to be with his ailing mother and in his absence, team's vice-captain Steve Smith took over the reign. Smith, who was refrained from the captaincy after he was found guilty in the 2018 'sandpaper gate' incident in South Africa, was recently shown the green signal from the ICC. The batter's stint as a captain turned out to be a blessing for Australia as he guided the visitors to a big win in the third Test.
The first three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia ended within 3 days each, prompting extreme reactions from fans and experts of both nations. As the two teams arrived at the venue of the 4th Test in Ahmedabad, India skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that the surface was considerably different from what he had seen in the first three matches of the series. At the time of the toss, Rohit hoped that the wicket would remain the same all throughout the match.
Team India had a forgetful outing in the third Test against Australia as the visitors clinched a comfortable nine-wicket win at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The Rohit Sharma-led side visibly struggled against the spinners as the pitch offered a lot of turn. Resulting which, the hosts were bundled out for 109 in the first innings. Apart from failing with the bat, Team India also received a lot flak from the fans and experts after they lost all three DRS reviews on Day 1 due to some poor LBW appeals. Out of which, the two of them were lost in the consecutive overs of Ravindra Jadeja. On the eve of the fourth and final Test, skipper Rohit Sharma shed some light on taking such poor calls.