RAJKOT: India reached 388/7 in their first innings at lunch on the second day of the third Test against England here on Friday.

Ravichandran Ashwin and debutant Dhruv Jurel were batting on 25 and 31 respectively at the break.

India resumed the second day’s play on their overnight score of 326/5 with Ravindra Jadeja and night-watchman Kuldeep Yadav at the crease.

Both Jadeja and Kuldeep, however, got out at the start of the day with Joe Root and James Anderson accounting for the two wickets.

Brief scores:

India 1st innings: 388/7 in 113 overs (Rohit Sharma 131, Ravindra Jadeja 112 Sarfaraj Khan 62; Mark Wood 3/95)

JAMSHEDPUR: Ishan Kishan’s absence from Ranji Trophy continued as the wicketkeeper-batter, who plays domestic cricket for Jharkhand, skipped the final round of matches that started on Friday, a move that will not go down well with BCCI.

Kishan’s reluctance to play first-class cricket and focus only on the IPL forced the BCCI to make a minimum number of Ranji Trophy games mandatory for players in order to be eligible for the cash-rich league’s lucrative auction pool.

Deepak Chahar and Shreyas Iyer are also missing in action in the ongoing final round of matches that started across venues. Iyer was, however, having issues with his lower back and groin.

These three players — Kishan, Chahar and Iyer — were specifically told to play for their respective state teams in first-class cricket.

In the absence of Kishan, Kumar Kushagra continued doing wicket-keeping duties for Jharkhand.

Jharkhand, who have only one win and 10 points from six matches so far, are playing Rajasthan at home in their final round.

The manner in which Kishan has missed match after match since returning midway from the national’s team South Africa tour citing “travel fatigue”, hasn’t gone down well with the men who matter in the Indian cricket establishment.

More so after it was found that he was training in Baroda with his new Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya while his state team languished near bottom of group A table in Ranji.

There is a general consensus that a strict policy needs to be adhered to so that a group of young players don’t make “playing IPL to IPL” a habit.

NEW DELHI: India’s oldest Test cricketer and former captain Dattajirao Gaekwad died on Tuesday due to age-related ailments.

Gaekwad, who was the father of former India opener and national coach Aunshuman Gaekwad, was 95. He breathed his last early this morning after battling for life in the ICU of a Baroda hospital for the past 12 days

The right-hander made his debut against England at Leeds in 1952 and his final international game was against Pakistan in Chennai in 1961.

In the Ranji Trophy, Gaekwad represented Baroda from 1947 to 1961. He scored 3139 runs at an average of 47.56, including 14 hundreds. His highest was a 249 not out against Maharashtra in the 1959-60 season.

He became India’s oldest living Test cricketer in 2016 after the death of former batter Deepak Shodhan at the age of 87 in Ahmedabad.

CHENNAI: Virat Kohli will not feature for the duration of the India – England Test series. This was the main piece of selection news as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 17-man squad for the remaining three Tests of the series. “Virat Kohli will remain unavailable for selection for the remainder of the series due to personal reasons,” a BCCI press release stated while announcing the team. “The Board fully respects and supports Mr. Kohli’s decision.” It’s the first time that Kohli will not feature in a multi-match Test series since making his debut in 2011.

As expected, both KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, players who missed the second Test at Visakhapatnam with niggles, could be in line for an immediately recall at Rajkot. However, they will have to be cleared by the BCCI medical team. If Rahul is cleared, he is expected to replace Shreyas Iyer in the XI. Shreyas, considered as one of the better batters of spin in the line-up, has been left out. If Rahul is not cleared and the hosts want to stick to the same combination, Sarfaraz Khan could make his debut in Rajkot.

Shubman Gill, another batter who was feeling the pressure in Vizag, had come up with a match-winning contribution. So, he retains his place and will likely come in at No. 3. An immediate area of concern for the team will be a very greenhorn looking middle-order, especially if Rahul does not pull through.In such a scenario, both Rajat Patidar — the debutant from Vizag — and Sarfaraz may well feature in the XI.

The squad the BCCI has named is further evidence of them looking to move away from the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara (a name they may well revisit in the days to come) and Ajinkya Rahane. While Rahane’s struggles have extended to the Ranji Trophy, Pujara is flourishing for Saurashtra. He began this year with an unbeaten 243 in Rajkot — venue for the third Test — in January before a 91 to close out January. While he was dismissed without opening the scoring against Maharashtra, he made a 100 against Rajasthan a few days ago.

In terms of the bowlers, Mohammed Siraj, rested for the second game, is back in. While there are no asterix next to Jasprit Bumrah’s name, it won’t be a surprise if he’s rested for either the fourth or the fifth Tests. The management is conscious of his workload management and they will be mindful of the upcoming assignments which include a T20 World Cup in under four months.

One pacer who will remain unavailable is Mohammed Shami. The pacer, who set the pulses racing during last year’s World Cup, picked up an ankle injury late last year. In terms of new faces, Bengal’s Akash Deep, who possesses a first-class average of 23.18 across 29 games, has been included at the expense of Avesh Khan.

Squad for the final three Tests

Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul*, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Retired Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik has launched a scathing attack on the country’s iconic sportspersons PT Usha and Mary Kom for not extending support to the public protests by a group of female wrestlers over sexual harassment charges against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Though Usha and Mary Kom were celebrated as “inspirations” by sportspersons like her, they did not speak up for the aggrieved woman wrestlers despite listening to their stories, Malik said.

The Olympic medal winner was speaking during a recent session held as part of the ongoing Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL) 2024 at Kanakakkunnu here.

Expressing shock over the response of the legendary sports stars towards their agitation, she said both of them had assured all support to wrestlers but did nothing to find any solution.

“P T Usha madam had visited our protest venue. We told her in detail about our issues. She could have supported us. But she remained silent despite assuring us that she would stand by us and extend all help,” Malik said.

The decorated wrestler slightly turned emotional while speaking about legendary Mary Kom.

Kom was a member of the oversight committee formed to probe into the sexual harassment charges against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and submit a report.

Malik recalled that the boxing icon turned “very emotional” when the complainants narrated the shocking details.

She also said that Kom heard the stories of each woman wrestler as she was in the panel.

“After listening to the stories, she became very emotional like I am sorry feel so bad she also said she would stand by us,” she said.

But, there was no solution even after months had passed, she pointed out.

The wrestler said she was deeply anguished over Kom’s silence as she was considered an “inspirational” figure by her.

“Even she didn’t speak for us and remained silent,” Malik said on Saturday at the fifth edition of MBIFL where over 400 speakers from around the world have been invited to participate and share their views and experiences.

Top grapplers such as Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik had staged a sit-in protest in New Delhi demanding the arrest of Bhushan after accusing him of sexual harassment against female grapplers.

Later, Punia had returned his Padma Shri award to the government in protest over Bhushan’s aide, Sanjay Singh, being elected as the WFI chief.

Malik too had quit wrestling for the same reason.

The MBIFL which began on February 8 would be concluded on February 11.

The theme for this year’s edition of the literary event is ‘Exploring Plurality’ — a 360-degree attempt at understanding diverse perspectives, cultures, and identities.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Indian bowlers won an engrossing battle against England’s firebrand batting for a series-levelling 106-run victory in the second Test here on Monday, blunting ‘Bazball’ with their resilience in a roller-coaster contest.

England began day four at 67 for one, chasing a record target of 399. They were bowled out for 292 in the extended afternoon session.

The visiting team’s no-holds-barred approach, which has largely been successful, did not work on this occasion as India picked up nine wickets over the course of two sessions to bounce back in the five-match series.

The third Test will be played in Rajkot from February 15.

“You know winning a Test in these conditions is not easy. (I) wanted our bowlers to step up, and they did that,” said an elated India skipper, Rohit Sharma.

Only Zak Crawley’s (73 off 132 balls) strategy of mixing caution with aggression worked before the collective efforts of Jasprit Bumrah (3/46), R Ashwin (3/71), Axar Patel (1/75), and Kuldeep Yadav (1/60) yielded the desired results for the hosts, who were under pressure going into day four.

Bumrah picked up the Player of the Match honours for his overall haul of nine wickets in the game, ahead of young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a crucial 209-run knock in India’s first innings.

“He (Bumrah) is a champion player for us,” reiterated Rohit.

After James Anderson claimed that India were nervous while batting in the second innings and did not know a safe target to counter ‘Bazball’, England walked the talk on Monday and went ballistic.

“Coming into this last innings, (we) had full belief in ourselves that we’ll chase it down,” England skipper Ben Stokes said at the end of the game.

His team would have been better served taking a cue from Crawley, who saw out an intense morning spell from Bumrah before going for his strokes.

Night-hawk Rehan Ahmed (23) wanted to smash his first ball of the day out of the park while Hyderabad Test hero Ollie Pope (23) and Joe Root (16) were pushing their luck, frequently attempting sweeps and reverse sweeps on a pitch with variable bounce.

The visitors managed to make 127 runs in the opening session, but the loss of five wickets effectively sealed their fate.

When skipper Ben Stokes (11 off 29 balls) got run out via a brilliant direct hit from Shreyas Iyer post-lunch, there was no coming back for England.

But Ben Foakes (36) and Tom Hartley (36) frustrated the visitors with a 55-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

Hartley could have been Ashwin’s landmark 500th wicket, but the TV umpire overturned the on-field decision of a catch as the ball had ballooned after hitting the batter’s arm and not the glove.

However, Rohit and Co. were not convinced with the DRS showing umpire’s call for LBW. Since the appeal was only for a catch and not LBW, the umpire’s call for the latter was not considered.

At the stroke of lunch, Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Crawley while Bumrah trapped Jonny Bairstow (26) in front to deal a massive blow to England, who slipped to 194 for six at the break.

Crawley, by far the best batter on show, was adjudged LBW off Kuldeep with a close DRS call. On the sixth ball of his first over, Kuldeep got one to turn back in from the middle stump. It seemed the ball was going down the leg, but DRS showed that it was hitting the leg stump.

India’s standout bowler in the game, Bumrah, bowled his heart out in the two-hour session.

For someone who was operating in four-over spells, Bumrah bowled one extra in his opening burst before returning towards the end of the session to send back Bairstow. He also cleaned up Hartley to end the game.

Root and Pope perished while going for their strokes.

Root, in particular, would be disappointed with his effort as he danced down the track and went for a wild slog without getting to the pitch of the ball to be caught at short third man, giving Ashwin his 499th wicket.

While Axar Patel found Rehan’s pads with a straighter one, Pope offered a sharp catch to Rohit Sharma at first slip off Ashwin, and the Indian skipper made no mistake in pouching it.

Crawley’s play in the first session stood out. He was patient enough to leave balls in Bumrah’s opening spell, and when the champion fast bowler did for a full ball, the England opener was quick to put it away with a straight bat. His cover and straight drive off Bumrah were the standout strokes of his innings.

When Axar was bowling his first spell, India were a tad defensive and had both long off and long on in place for Rehan, who was promoted to bat at number three before stumps on day three.

Pope played a sweep, flick and stepped out to Axar in the same over for three boundaries.

Root, who had missed the last two sessions on Sunday due to an injured right little finger, was in full attack mode, with his first two scoring shots being reverse sweep for four.

Brief scores:

• India 1st innings: 396
• England 1st innings: 253
• India 2nd innings: 255
• England 2nd innings: 292