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India Vanquished England in the 4^th Test Match as India won the Test Match by 157 runs. India now have taken 2-1 lead in the Test Series with the final Test match to be played at Old Trafford. India won at the Oval after 50 years as in 1971 India had defeated England under the captaincy of the late Ajit Wadekar.

England had won the toss & elected to bowl first as there were overcast conditions. England once again made the most of the conditions and put India in a state of jeopardy at 127-7; but then came Shardul Thakur who went into a beast mode and scored a quick-fire half century of 57 runs in just 36 balls. It was looking as if he was playing IPL. Shami & Ishant had niggles as a result Shardul Thakur & Umesh Yadav replaced them. India managed to score 191 runs in the 1^st inning. India surprisingly made Ravindra Jadeja bat at no.5 position. Virat Kohli once again got a start but failed to convert into a big one as he got duped into the off- stump channel by Ollie Robinson.

Chris Woakes played his 1^st Test Match of the English Summer and took 4 wickets & made a statement that he is still a good red ball bowler.

In the 1^st inning England were dented as they lost 3 crucial wickets of: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed & the run machine of England “Joe Root” at the end of day’s play. The flurry of wickets just gave India a ray of hope that they have an outside chance as Jasprit Bumrah & Umesh Yadav were seen bowling thunder-bolts.

In the 2^nd Day Umesh Yadav struck two wickets and put England in a spot of bother as they were reduced to 62-5. Jonny Bairstow took the gloves as Jos Buttler took a paternity leave. Ollie Pope replaced Buttler and he along with Bairstow didn’t allow India’s bowlers to settle down. Ollie Pope made the most of the opportunity as he stitched partnerships with Bairstow & Moeen. Bairstow & Moeen provided vital contributions by scoring 30 odd runs each. Ollie Pope may have played an innings of his life as he took the team out of trouble as he scored 81 runs and at his dismissal England were having a lead of 59 runs.

Chris Woakes showcased his batting prowess as he scored a knock of 50 runs. England had taken a lead of 99 runs. There was a collective effort from all the bowlers where Virat Kohli used all the tricks in the book to trouble the batsmen.

India had an hour to play before the end of 2^nd day’s play. India went unscathed while the deficit was cut by 56 runs. India required a mammoth effort on the 3^rd Day as James Anderson & Co have the habit of spoiling the party. Rohit got a life on 31 runs by Rory Burns who didn’t hold on to the catch. Rohit Sharma made England & Root pay as he scored his maiden overseas hundred and was absolutely playing frustrating the bowlers. He scored 127 runs and at his dismissal India had a lead of 137 runs. It can now be said that Cheteshwar Pujara has brushed aside his strike rate issues as he was seen rotating the strike quite frequently. He played a fluent knock of 61 runs. At the end of 3^rd day’s play India were 270-3 with a lead of 169 runs and it looked like India would inflict a lot of damage.

On 4^th Day there were high hopes from Virat to end his jinx of century but this time he was foxed by Moeen Ali and was dismissed on 44 runs. At the dismissal of Virat’s wicket India had a lead of 211 runs. Ajinkya Rahane was under a lot of spotlights as he has not scored a significant knock for the team since this Test Series. In the 2^nd Innings he was dismissed for a golden duck; this could may be the end of road for Rahane. England sensed that they are in the game. Shardul Thakur & Rishabh Pant deepened the agony for England as both of them scored half centuries and after their dismissal the lead was 313 runs. In the end the so-called tail- enders of India irked England. India had set a target of an improbable 368 runs. Chris Woakes once again was the top performer with ball as he took 3 wickets. Before the end of day 4 England were unperturbed as they scored 77 runs and required 291 runs to win the Test Match. The pitch was placid as there was no help for the fast bowlers. England needed a momentous effort to win as the highest total to be chased at the Oval was 289 runs.

On 5^th Day Burns & Hameed were cautious. India’s bowlers used reverse swing and that paid off as Shardul Thakur bowled a peach of a delivery to send back Rory Burns who played a knock of 50 runs. Virat used Jadeja from one end and Jadeja was seen hitting the rough patches. Just before the lunch there was a run out of Dawid Malan where Haseeb Hameed tried to squeeze a single from nowhere. The equation of a victory for England looked a bit bleak. Jadeja took a big scalp of Haseeb Hameed as he was well settled and played a dodged knock of 63 runs. The wicket of Haseeb saw a tragic collapse as England lost 3 wickets for 6 runs where the wrecker in chief for India was Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah was bowling immaculate yorker which bamboozled Bairstow. Bumrah was playing mind games as he was not at all conceding runs. His 3^rd spell of 6 overs gave away only 6 runs and he took 2 wickets of Pope & Bairstow. The captaincy of Virat was spot on as he was in ultra-attacking mode. India’s bowlers all hunted in a pack as there was no respite. The pitch was a belter where the bowlers had to toil a lot. Umesh Yadav & Shardul Thakur wrapped up the match and India won the Test Match. Shardul Thakur proved to be a X factor for India as in the 1^st inning he took the wicket of the well-set Ollie Pope & in the 2^nd inning he took the wicket of the big fish Joe Root. His contribution in the Test Match as a bowler was like a catalyst. Jasprit Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to take 100 wickets in 24 Test Matches beating the record of Kapil Dev who had achieved the feat in 25 Test Matches.

The task is cut out for England, they have to win the next Test Match to avoid a Series Defeat. If they want to win the next Test Match then the likes of Bairstow need to score match winning knocks. England have added Jos Buttler & Jack Leach for the 5^th Test Match; this indicates that England may play two spinners for Manchester. If England wants to Draw the Test Series, then Root should not use defensive tactics; he should not wait for things to happen instead of that make things happen.

There was a lot of buzz about the non-selection of Ravichandran Ashwin as he hasn’t played a single test match in this series as Virat is seen going for 4 pacers & Jadeja the spinner. In the post-match presentation when Virat was asked about the 2^nd spinner he said that the team is not concerned about the noise on the outset. The concern for India is regarding the form of Ajinkya Rahane and if India decides to drop/rest him then Suryakumar Yadav/ Hanuma Vihari would play or may be that would another surprise. If India wants to win the next Test Match, then they should blunt the new ball the same way they did in the 2^nd innings while the bowling line up of India may see return of Ishant & Shami so there are a lot of happy headaches for India; if India wins the Test Series, then they would win after 14 years as earlier in 2007 India had won under the leadership of the “Wall” Rahul Dravid.

England are in a precarious position currently as there have been a lot of collapses. India would hope that they don’t get too overjoyed by this victory as it is often said: “It’s never over until it’s over.”

India clinched a thriller by winning the 2^nd Test Match by a huge margin of 151 runs. India now have taken a 1-0 lead in the 5 Test Match Series. This was India’s 3^rd   Victory at Lord’s as earlier in 1986 under the leadership of Kapil Dev India had won by 5 wickets whereas in 2014 under MS Dhoni India had won by 95 runs.

England had elected to bowl first as there were cloudy conditions. Rohit Sharma & K.L. Rahul showed immense grit & determination as they scored the 1^st 100 opening partnership for India in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand & Australia) Countries after 2010. K.L. Rahul displayed a proper Test Match Inning as he played a knock of 129 runs. Rohit Sharma was undone by a peach of a delivery from the sensation of swing bowling James Anderson as Rohit scored 83 runs. India was looking set for a total of in excess 400 runs but England restricted India to 364 runs. Virat Kohli failed to capitalize on his start as he hasn’t scored a century in Test Cricket since November 2019. James Anderson took his 31^st 5 wicket haul and test by test he is getting younger & better as Joe Root is giving him long spells.

England’s top order’s woes were seen where the batsmen were making same mistakes. Haseeb Hameed who made his debut against India in 2016 had a forgettable comeback as he was dismissed for a duck on the very first ball by the speedster Mohammed Siraj. Joe Root & Rory Burns tried to steady the ship but Rory lost his concentration and gave India a chance to make a comeback. Burns scored 49 runs & would rue the fact that he was well set as he had faced 136 runs. Joe Root then played a marathon innings as he scored a gigantic knock of 180 runs. He was well accompanied by Jonny Bairstow who scored 57 runs; while he would be somewhat relieved that he has contributed to team’s score as he has been on the radar since the last couple of years. England got bundled out for 391 runs as they got a slender lead of 27 runs. Jasprit Bumrah had bowled 13 no balls in the first innings which is a worrying sign for India as he is one of India’s lethal fast bowlers. Siraj bowled impeccable lines & length’s which forced the batsmen to make a mistake as he took 4 wickets. The experienced campaigner Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets who is currently playing his 4^th Test Series in England guided the bowling line up.

India started their innings with a careful approach as it was necessary to see off the new ball. All of a sudden India lost Rohit, Rahul & Kohli when their lead was just 28 runs. Then Cheteshwar Pujara & Ajinkya Rahane went into ultra-defensive mode as most of the times they were blocking & leaving the ball. Pujara showed his class as he faced 206 balls & scored 45 runs as he took the pressure off from Rahane. Rahane departed by scoring 61 runs just when the lead was looking threatening. India were looking in a spot of bother where their lead was 188 runs but then from no where Mohammed Shami & Jasprit Bumrah stitched a partnership of 89 runs. Shami scored 56 runs whereas Bumrah frustrated England by scoring 34 runs. Joe Root made a blunder by keeping fielders at boundaries for these two batsmen which is not acceptable at this level. Mark Wood was the pick of the bowlers as he took 3 wickets and was breaking partnerships. England’s bowlers didn’t try to execute Yorker on a consistent basis as the best way to dismiss a tail-ender is to thrash his stumps. England had a target of an improbable 271 runs to chase in a span of 60 overs or to salvage a draw by playing out 60 overs.

India’s fast bowlers Bumrah & Shami dismissed both the openers for duck in their 1^st over as England was seen rattled. Root once again carried the burden of taking the team out of trouble. Half of England’s team was dismissed under 23 overs whereas this time Root was dismissed early. The onus was on Jos Buttler & Moeen Ali to eke out a draw. India’s bowlers were hunting in a pack as there was no sight of relief.  With 2 wickets left and 9 overs remaining it was a nervy situation as Buttler was still there who was looking unperturbed. Siraj came in to bowl the 52^nd over & then Buttler saw a wide delivery and throwed his hands to it and nicked the ball to the wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant which opened the gate of victory and then Siraj wasted no more time as he castled James Anderson’s stumps and India won the Test Match. The entire bowling line up of India now is proving to be a force to reckon with. Siraj took 4 wickets in the 2^nd innings and a total of 8 wickets in the Test Match. The captaincy of Virat Kohli was spot on as he was in an attacking mode which didn’t allow the batsmen to rotate the strike.

This loss would hurt England a lot as on Day 5 they were in a state of commanding position. Their top order needs to be revamped and that has been done as ECB (England Cricket Board) have axed Dominic Sibley & Zak Crawley and in their place Dawid Malan has been named. Malan last played a Test Match against India in 2018. Mark Wood’s availability is uncertain as a result the uncapped Saqib Mahmood has been named. England have been jolted with these blows as earlier before the start of 2^nd Test Match Stuart Broad got injured. If England wants to win this Test Series, then it would require a hurricane effort as currently India is in ascendancy.

India would be happy that their bowlers created a miracle out of no where as bowling out a team out of 60 overs doesn’t happen too often. The only area they would be concerned that Pujara, Kohli & Rahane are not scoring the bulk of the runs. India needs to use Siraj carefully and not make the same mistake which they made with Bumrah by playing him in all matches.

There was a lot of sledging done by England & India which says a lot about the rivalry but at the same time the major focus needs to be on the field. Earlier in 2014 there was a spat between Jadeja & Anderson which was carried all the way till the end of the series and now there is between Bumrah & Anderson.

In 2014 England had lost the Test Match at Lord’s which was the 2^nd Test Match of the Series and then went on to win the Test Series by 3-1 under the leadership of the Sir Alastair Cook; Root would hope & believe that his team can turn the tide by taking a leaf out of that Series. India should not give any chance to England because the shift of momentum can prove a decisive point.

Australian Cricket is known for dominating the opposition across the formats but ever since the outbreak of Covid-19 they have failed miserably. In 2020 Australia became the No.1 T20I ranked side for the first time and it looked like Australia is going in the right direction Australia then lost 5 Consecutive T20I Series.

•  England defeated Australia by 2-1 in England 2020
• India defeated Australia by 2-1 in Australia 2020
• New Zealand defeated Australia by 3-2 in New Zealand 2021
• West Indies defeated Australia by 4-1 in West Indies 2021
• Bangladesh defeated Australia by 4-1 in Bangladesh 2021

In all these T20I Series Australia have found a way to gift the match to the opponent. As the T20 World Cup is knocking the door Australia is in tatters as they don’t know their playing 11 nor do they have their spots finalized. Their recent defeats against West Indies & Bangladesh augurs that they are failing to pick the spinners & their shot selection is nowhere great.

There is uncertainty regarding Steven Smith’s participation in T20 World Cup as he is nursing an elbow injury as a player of his class is required in tacky conditions of UAE. If Smith doesn’t play then Mitchell Marsh would cement his place. Mitchell Marsh was the alone batsman in the batting department in the tours of West Indies & Bangladesh who accumulated runs. Australia has problems of finding the finisher as they have tried “n” players and recently against West Indies & Bangladesh they tried the veteran Daniel Christian who didn’t perform according to his reputation & credentials.

The pace department of Australia is red hot but how they manage would be critical as playing Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood & Patrick Cummins would affect their work-load. The spin department is quite good with the spin duo of Ashton Agar & Adam Zampa. Australia’s bowlers most of the time have been good and they have been led down by batsmen which is unacceptable as the morale of bowlers takes a huge drop.

Australia is going to face England, South Africa, West Indies & two teams which will qualify from the T20 World Cup Qualifiers. If Australia wants to make it to the knock out stages & win the World Cup then they have to pull of a heist as all these 3 teams are a force to reckon with. Every-time Warner & Finch won’t win the games & the same applies with Starc, Cummins & Hazlewood. It can be said that if Australia win the T20 World Cup it would be an upset.

IPL (Indian Premiere League) returns to India as previous edition of 2020 was entirely played in UAE. IPL is one of the biggest Carnivals in the World Cricket as it’s often called as the stepping stone towards the T20 World Cup.

This time though the situation is tricky as India is reporting more than 1 Lakh cases daily as it is getting gloomier and darker. As of now 4 players tested positive for Covid 19 in which Devdutt Paddikal of RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) reported 2 negative tests and joined the squad; Daniel Sams of RCB, Axar Patel of DC (Delhi Capitals) and Kiran More of MI (Mumbai Indians) who is a Scout and Spin Bowling Consultant. Recently 10 members of Ground Staff reported positive at the Wankhede Stadium. There is a lot of uncertainty especially at the matches of Mumbai as Mumbai is the hotspot of Covid 19. Maharashtra Government has assured IPL Commission for matches but if cases keep on rising it would be like playing with fire. BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has kept contingency plans in place in the form of Hyderabad but shifting the matches would be a tricky.

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has assured that IPL Matches will take place and said that don’t panic. BCCI has taken a great step by playing matches all behind the doors so there won’t be any chances of transmission of Covid 19. PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) made that mistake by allowing 10 % and then 50% spectators which hindered their PSL (Pakistan Super League) and the tournament was postponed in the middle stage. PSL is lucky as their remaining matches are tentatively scheduled to be held in the early June but if IPL gets abruptly postponed then they don’t have the window as the International Cricket Resumes from June. There are bio bubbles at every venue as BCCI is quite strict regarding as BCCI should take a leaf out of the entire England Summer and CPL (Caribbean Premiere League) too.

The State Governments have given green signal to IPL as there would be testing of all the players and staff at every venue. If a player reports positive test, he would be isolated for 10 days as currently Axar Patel is in isolation and would need to give two negative tests to join the squad. The major concern for IPL would be if the boards of Australia or England take a U-turn then BCCI would be in tatters. Players have that freedom to opt out of IPL as their Franchises haven’t paid them because all the payments are processed only after the tournament. After all players safety and security cannot be compromised. Currently India is the 3^rd Country badly hit with Covid 19 after USA and Brazil.

There is no home advantage for this year’s IPL. 6 venues are too much for the matches as 3-4 venues would have been ideal. The fate of the 14^th Edition of IPL lies in the hands of players as breaches of bio-bubbles would hurt a lot.  This year’s IPL could be the last one of the Legendary MS Dhoni and after the IPL there is T20 World Cup scheduled at India in October-November 2021. This IPL would give every nation idea of their squad.

India outplayed England and won the ODI Series by 2-1. England are facing gloomy times as this is the second consecutive time that England has failed to win a single Series in India; as earlier in 2016-17 they were blatantly dominated by India.

#India

India’s bowling unit was relatively inexperienced as they rested Bumrah & Shami as these two are the core of the bowling line up. India handed debuts to the all-rounder Krunal Pandya and the fast-bowling sensation Prasidh Krishna. Krunal Pandya was absolutely dangerous in the death overs while batting as he scored 95 runs which included one half century that too a fastest by a debutant.  Krunal is not quite a great turner of the ball as he was easily taken to cleaners by Bairstow and Stokes in the 2^nd ODI and at the same time he didn’t pick wickets which a Captain expects. Prasidh had a dream debut come true as he took 6 wickets and looked quite in control with his line & length. He is definitely an option for India as a back- up Seamer.

 It looks like that KL Rahul has accommodated himself as a middle order batsman. He was the top run scorer for India with 177 runs which included one century and one century. India should not tweak Rahul’s position anymore even if Shikhar Dhawan’s form is topsy-turvy as India needs a stabilizer in the middle order and a finisher too. Dhawan too had a decent series with 169 runs which included 2 half centuries with one score of 98. Dhawan should make sure that his fitness is right up to the mark as he is currently 35 years of age and if he wants to play the next 3 World Cups (2 of T20I and one 50 over World Cup) then he needs to pull up his socks as he is quite a lot injury prone. India needs to think of a back up opener may be in the form of Mayank Agrawal, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan or Prithvi Shaw. Rishabh Pant is proving his worth as he is smashing the bowlers all around the park. He scored 155 runs in 2 matches which included 2 half centuries. Pant’s fearless approach is finally giving rewards to him and team but he needs to be consistent enough as previously he was dropped from the Australian tour for the ODI Series. Virat Kohli the skipper is getting the starts and scoring fifties but not centuries as it has been almost 2 years since he has scored a century.

Surprisingly Shardul Thakur was the leading wicket taker in this ODI Series with 7 wickets which included one 4 wicket haul. Bhuvneshwar Kumar once again was at his best with his swing bowling which rewarded him 6 scalps. Kuldeep Yadav took a lot of hammering as it looks like his variations are no longer threatening. T Natarajan was picked for the 3^rd ODI who was quite impressive at the death overs and was the unsung hero in the decider. India always required a left hander seamer who can be used as a secret weapon in crunch matches. India’s bowling line up has got depth but at the same time the management should be cautious while managing the workload.

#England

The World Cup Champions had everything to succeed in India this time but they came failed once again. Bairstow was the top run scorer of the ODI Series with 219 runs which included one century and one-half century. Bairstow showed a lot of aggressive approach which he is renowned for but at the same time he should also play sensibly. Ben Stokes & Jason Roy both the batsmen scored 100 odd runs. This time as the ECB (England Cricket Board) decided to rest their key batsman Joe Root then the management made Stokes as their no.3 batsman. Stokes did a good job as he had no experience in that position but he showed signs of a destructive batsman which the management can use as a danger man who can take the game away in a span of 3-4 wickets. Eoin Morgan was injured in the first match of the ODI Series as a result there was a huge void in their batting line up because Sam Billings was also sidelined with an injury. Liam Livingstone was handed the cap who played fearlessly but couldn’t bat for longer periods which was badly needed. Sam Curran almost won the match and series for England as he played a knock of 95 runs in just 83 balls and throughout his innings there were shades of the Legendary MS Dhoni as he was targeting the bowlers smartly but unfortunately England lost that match by a whisker margin of only mere 7 runs. There were huge expectations from Jos Buttler the skipper for the 2^nd & 3^rd ODI matches but he failed without troubling the scorers so did Moeen Ali.  England would be delighted as they have found a gem in Sam Curran in ODI format as he proved that he is not only a TEST Campaigner but a white ball player too.

Mark Wood was the leading wicket taker for England with 5 scalps. Stokes took 4 wickets and was providing the major breakthrough for the team. Reece Topley and Adil Rashid both the bowlers took 3 wickets each. Recce’s angle was troubling India’s batsmen a lot as he was using his variations cunningly. The Curran brothers Sam & Tom took a lot of hammering and astonishingly Tom was beaten up badly who is a quite a specialist in the ODI Series. Jofra Archer missed this ODI Series due to elbow injury but England should manage his workload carefully because if they want him to play the red ball cricket then he must be given ample rest. England are making a mistake by not picking David Willey the fast-swing bowler who not only is a wicket-taker but is a handy all rounder too. He was unfortunate to miss from the World Cup squad too which Eoin Morgan admitted too as he was the leader of the bowling attack who created holes in opponent’s batting line up. England need to reassess their performance in India as not winning a single series since last two tours is a wakeup call.

Australia Vanquished India in each and every department as India won the Series by 2-1 and Retained the Prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. India showed immense grit and determination as Virat Kohli the skipper was not available who was on a paternity leave and winning the Series in his absence showed the hallmark of Team India. As the Series progressed India had a lot of injured players as: “Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, K L Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah “all were sidelined due to injuries. India had to play all the novice players whereas some had come in to team as net bowler like Washington Sundar and T Natarajan. India showed a never to say die attitude as defeating a full power packed Australian Team is nothing but a helluva. This is the second consecutive time that India has Won a Test Series as earlier in 2018-19 India had won the TEST Series by 2-1.

#Australia

Australia failed to win the crunch situations of the TEST Series. This time they had the services of Steven Smith and David Warner but their performance was not according to their reputation. Marnus Labuschagne was the leading run scorer of the TEST Series with 426 runs with one century and two half centuries. Marnus tried his best but he didn’t get ample support from the other end. Steven Smith scored 313 runs which included one century and two half centuries. Steven Smith had an awful first 2 TEST Matches which just shifted the momentum towards India and this Smith was playing under a lot of pressure unlike THE Smith who made the Indians dance. In the 2^nd TEST Match Australia dropped 6 catches which was the Boxing Day TEST Match. Dropping 6 TEST Matches that too by Australia is a nothing less than a crime as Catches win Matches in TEST Cricket. Cameron Green made his TEST Debut as he played as Batting All Rounder at No.6 position. He scored 236 runs which included one half century. His contribution in the Boxing Day Test Match was phenomenal as he was smashing the bowlers all around the park. Tim Paine the Skipper of Australian Cricket Team scored 204 runs which included two half centuries. He was seen doing a lot of sledging which affected as he was dropping catches and missing stumpings which costed Australian Team the Series. He has a tendency of doing a little banter but when you are the skipper Winning should be the ultimate goal. Matthew Wade played as an opener in the first two TEST Matches as David Warner had groin injury. He couldn’t convert a single start into a big score as he scored only 173 runs.

Australia need to think about their middle order batsmen as every-time Marnus is not going to save the team from collapses; maybe they should bring back Peter Handscomb in the TEST frame or Alex Carey who gives a glimpse of Mr. Cricket (Mike Hussey). If Australia wants to win the ICC World Test Championship and for that they need to defeat the Proteas in their own backyard where earlier in 2018 there was an infamous ball tampering scandal then they need to bring players who can spend some time in the crease and make huge runs while batting.

Patrick Cummins the spearheaded fast bowler was the leading wicket taker of the TEST Series with 21 Wickets. Whenever he was given the ball, he took wickets and was bowling quite similar to the Fast-Bowling Legend Brett Lee. Josh Hazlewood the accurate Pace fast bowler took 17 Wickets. Josh Hazlewood and Patrick Cummins demolished India’s Batting in the 1^st TEST Match where they bowled them out for 36 runs only and that spell from both reminded of the Legendary Pair of Fast Bowling: Glenn McGrath & Brett Lee. Mitchell Starc took 11 wickets and he was seen off color throughout the TEST Series as he was not only picking wickets but was conceding runs with an economy of 3.5 and sometimes 4 too. Due to Starc’s inability of picking up wickets there was a lot of pressure & burden on Hazlewood and Cummins. Australia need to use Starc as a Secret Weapon as they did in Ashes 2019 as Starc is not getting the swing which is needed to irk the batsmen. Australia need to bring back James Pattinson in the future as Pattinson has the pace to dismantle any Team.

#India

Surprisingly Rishabh Pant was the leading Run Scorer for India in this TEST Series with 274 runs which included two half centuries. Rishabh Pant was playing like the Legendary Adam Gilchrist as he was not only bashing the bowlers but also played the waiting game. He needs to work on his Wicket Keeping Skills as he was also dropping Catches similar to Tim Paine. It seems that Rishabh Pant has cemented his place in the Team for a long time now as Scoring against Australia is not an easy job. Cheteshwar Pujara the Wall of Team India scored 271 runs which included three half centuries. This time Pujara didn’t score a single ton but he consumed a lot of balls and frustrated Australia’s bowling attack. Ajinkya Rahane the stand in skipper of Team India scored 268 runs which included a glorious century at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) on the occasion of Boxing Day TEST Match. Ajinkya batted with a lot of responsibility which showed his character. Shubhman Gill made his debut in this TEST Series and scored 259 runs which included two half centuries. Gill played freely which is required at International Level and played every ball on its merit. Rohit Sharma came to Australia to play the last two 2 TEST Matches as he earlier was out of the Team due to hamstring injury. Rohit scored 129 runs which consisted of one-half century. Rohit once again throwed away his starts but was good with the new ball. Hanuma Vihari played a Stellar knock in 3^rd TEST Match by facing 128 balls as India were looking for surviving that TEST Match. India has got a great back up of Batsmen as Winning TEST Series without Skipper Virat, Hanuma Vihari, Ashwin is great attainment.

Mohammed Siraj the Debutant took 13 wickers which included one maiden five wicket haul. Siraj was absolutely at his best in the last 2 TEST Matches. Ravichandran Ashwin took 12 scalps. He foxed Steven Smith in the first 2 TEST Matches. He was giving the vital break through in the middle overs which proved to be the difference in the end. Jadeja took 7 wickets. He was acrobatic in the field with his fielding skills as he was a complete package of a Cricketer. India’s playing 11 of 4^th TEST Match was full of juvenile players as if it was a second string or may be a third string team but they showed immense character as defeating a Full-fledged Strong Australian Team doesn’t happen in a night not even in a fortnight. India’s now TEST assignment is against England where they will play 4 TEST Matches but England shouldn’t be taken lightly as this is new England under the Leadership of Joe Root.

India outplayed Australia as India won the T20I Series by a margin of 2-1. India made a record of winning 10 consecutive T20I Matches. India took away Australia’s No.1 Tag and now England is the No.1 Ranked T20I Team.

#Australia

Matthew Wade was the Leading Run Scorer of the T20I Series with 145 runs which included 2 half centuries Steven Smith had a mediocre series according to his standards as he scored 82 runs as he didn’t convert the starts into something big. Australia’s batsmen had got the potential and delivered also but they somewhat failed to deliver in the death overs.

Mitchell Swepson took 5 wickets and was quite good at his variations. The bowling attack of Australia and its performance was topsy-turvy. Moises Henriques & Adam Zampa both the bowlers took 3 wickets each. The bowling department of Australia didn’t play all their star bowlers in all the 3 matches which proved to be the difference in the end.

#India

Virat Kohli scored 134 runs which included 1 half century. Shikhar Dhawan & KL Rahul both were outstanding with the bat as they scored 81 runs each where each one scored 1 half century. Hardik Pandya proved to be the difference in the batting as he scored 78 runs and played match winning cameos & knocks. Hardik Pandya was named the Man of the Series for his eclectic performances.

T Natarajan was the leading wicket-taker with 6 wickets which was his maiden T20I Series. Yuzvendra Chahal took 4 wickets and he also came into the action as a Concussion Substitute for Ravindra Jadeja in the 1^st T20I and he surprised everyone as he took 3 wickets in that match. India won this T20I Series because India played like a Champion Team

Australia trounced India and won the ODI Series by 2-1. Australia were just dominating the ODI Series like a Champion Team where team India was clueless against Australis’s cunning tactics. Australia won 20 points in the ICC World Cup League and India opened their account with 10 points.

#Australia

Steven Smith was named as the Man of the Series where he amassed 216 runs where he scored 2 back to back ODI Centuries. Aaron Finch was the leading run-scorer with 249 runs. Glenn Maxwell proved his worth where he scored 167 runs and now it looks like Maxwell has cemented his place in the team permanently. David Warner scored 152 runs where he was injured for the 3^rd ODI.  Australia’s batting department was absolutely dangerous as they were continuously and consistently racking up totals in excess of 350 runs. Australia showcased their batting depth and also showed their batting class which was the difference in the end

Adam Zampa was the leading wicket-taker of the ODI Series with 7 wickets. Josh Hazlewood took 6 wickets where he took the Huge wicket of Virat Kohli all the 3 times. The bowling unit of Australia showed team-work as their bowling department also faced tough times.

#India

Hardik Pandya was the leading run-scorer of Team India with 210 runs with his personal highest score of 92 runs.  Virat Kohli scored 173 runs but he wasn’t able to convert his starts into a big century. Shikhar Dhawan & Ravindra Jadeja both the batsmen scored 100 odd runs. None of India’s batsmen scored a Century which was a barrier between India & Australia.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were the joint-leading wicket taker of India with 4 wickets. Shardul Thakur who came into the 3^rd ODI took 3 wickets while T Natarajan took 2 wickets in the 3^rd ODI. India’s bowling line up lacked fire-power and they were not picking wickets at regular intervals which hurt them a lot.

Australia asserted their Ascendancy over India by winning the 1^st ODI by 66 runs. Australia also took 10 invaluable points in ICC Cricket World Cup Super League; where now the Qualification Scenario for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 lies only in the Bilateral ODI Series.

Australia won the Toss and elected to Bat first where they posted a Humongous Total of 374 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Aaron Finch scored 114 runs in 124 balls and he also reached the Landmark of 5000 ODI Runs. Steven Smith scored a quick-fire century of 105 runs in just 66 balls. Later in the innings Glenn Maxwell scored a cameo of 45 runs in just 19 balls. Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers for India where he took 3 wickets and gave away 59 runs; while the rest of the bowling line up was taken to the cleaners by the entire batting unit of Australia.

In response to a mammoth target of 375 runs India lost 3 wickets in the first 10 overs. Shikhar Dhawan tried to put the run-chase back on target as he played a knock of 74 runs in 86 balls; but as the required run-rate was heading up to 8 runs per over Shikhar lost his wicket. Hardik Pandya was playing aggressively as he got his highest ODI Score of 90 runs. Adam Zampa once again proved his skill as he took 4 wickets. Josh Hazelwood took 3 scalps as he was the wrecker in chief in the power-play overs. Australia will look to continue their dominance whereas India have got plenty to attain as beating Australia in Australia is not going to be easy

Babar Azam of Karachi Kings once again proved to be too hot as he smashed a knock of 63 runs in just 49 balls while chasing a moderate target of 135 runs. Karachi Kings won their first ever PSL (Pakistan Super League) as they defeated Lahore Qalandars and won the final by 5 wickets.

Lahore Qalandars had won the Toss and elected to Bat. While batting first Lahore Qalandars had a decent power-play in which they scored 37 runs for the loss of no wickets and the opening partnership of Lahore Qalandars was of 68 runs; but after the opening stand Qalandars lost wickets in quick succession as a result they managed to score only 134 runs in which Tamim Iqbal was the top run-scorer with 35 runs.

In the bowling department of Karachi Kings Waqas Maqsood, Arshad Iqbal & Umaid Asif all these 3 fast bowlers took 2 wickets each. There was rhythm in Karachi Kings’s bowling line up which reflected throughout the Final Match of PSL.

In response to 135 runs Karachi Kings lost 1 wicket in the Power-play overs where they managed to score 43 runs. Karachi Kings were also losing wickets in quick succession but Babar Azam was steading the ship from one side.  He played a match-winning & Championship Winning knock of 63 runs while the Winning runs were scored by the Skipper Imad Wasim which powered Karachi Kings for their Maiden PSL Triumph.

Babar Azam was the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Tournament where he amassed 473 runs which included 5 half centuries where he was absolutely thrashing & dismantling the Opponent team’s bowlers.