Page 2 - Ranchi Test

IND vs ENG 4th Test: Take Bairstow out of firing line urges Alastair Cook

Former captain Alastair Cook has urged England to drop wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow from the Ranchi Test against India, to "protect the player" who is having an abysmal series. Bairstow, who is playing as a specialist batter, has endured a woeful run in the ongoing five-match series. He is averaging 17.00 having registered scores of 0, 4, 25, 26, 37 and 10 in six innings. "I'm taking him out of the firing line to protect the player, as I think he's had a tough tour so far and India is a tough place to keep going on the treadmill," Cook told 'TNT Sport'. "I'm not saying he'll never play Test cricket again, but it's good to have someone who's fresh of all the debris of this series so far," he added. Cook backed Dan Lawrence to replace Bairstow as the all-rounder will step up out in Ranchi without any baggage. "When you're not scoring runs, there's a build-up of pressure and momentum from certain bowlers on you, so I'd let Dan Lawrence have a go." However, another former capta

IND vs ENG 4th Test: Pope feels spin-friendly wicket will even things out

England would not mind a rank turner in the fourth Test because assistance to spinners from the word go will make it a level-playing field, vice captain Ollie Pope said on Wednesday. The Tests in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Rajkot all had sporting pitches, which were not predominantly spin-friendly and had something for everyone. "If it does spin from ball one, it takes the toss out of the equation, then it's an even playing field," Pope told reporters here. "A lot of the time the wicket starts out flat and then deteriorates. We won the first game batting first, India the last two batting first. It doesn't define the result if you bat first on slightly flatter wicket but it does give you an advantage," he added. Pope, one of the heroes for England in Hyderabad, feels that a wicket offering good turn will provide them with wicket-taking options. "If it does do a fare bit like we expect it to then it gets us into the game. We have got some young spinners, they have bowled well in s

IND vs ENG 4th Test: Jurel hopes to meet Dhoni again during Ranchi game

Young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel wants to relive his fanboy moment by meeting the talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the fourth Test against England here, starting Friday. Jurel, who made an impressive debut in the third Test at Rajkot scoring 46 in India's first innings, has met Dhoni only once during his first year in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals in 2021. But the 23-year-old stumper aspires to meet Dhoni again and pick his brains as much as possible. "It is always my dream to meet Mahi bhai. The last I met him was in IPL, but I wanted to meet him in India jersey. Whenever I spoke to him, I got to learn some things and that helped a lot in my cricket," Jurel told BCCI.TV. "I will try to meet Mahi bhai in Ranchi and talk to him." Jurel recollected his first meeting with Dhoni during IPL 2021. "I was just watching him and stood up, like 'is this MS Dhoni standing in front of me'. That was the first time I interacted with MS Dhoni, so I was just pinching myself, 'Is this a

Ranchi Test: Pujara's defiant century guides India to 360/6 against Aus

Pujara's undefeated stay at crease spanned 6 hrs and 52 mins and he faced 328 balls

Sportsperson of the week: The curious case of Glenn Maxwell

His test career was almost over, with no centuries in two years; the Ranchi ton changed all that

Ranchi Test: India steady in reply after Smith takes Australia to 451

India still need 132 runs to avoid the follow-on but with Virat Kohli's fitness a concern

Virat Kohli's claims are complete rubbish: Steve Smith

I made a mistake and it was an error on my behalf, it was a brain fade, says Australian skipper

I don't regret anything I said, insisted Virat Kohli

Kohli also said that he doesn't think about the criticism