The Fourth Innings

Cricket | Test | India | Captaincy Virat Kohli  wrote to the world , on 16 September, 2021, " Understanding workload is a very important thing and considering my immense workload over the last 8-9 years playing all 3 formats and captaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to give myself space  to be fully ready to lead the Indian Team in Test and ODI Cricket. " He had clearly stated that he wanted to continue leading team India in the other two formats, while giving up T20I captaincy. 121 days later, he  stepped down  as the Test captain, being  replaced  by Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain before that. He was no longer the captain of the Indian National Cricket Team. End of an era in true sense. A win percentage of 63.46 doesn't come easy in cricket. The decision to give up T20I captaincy was clearly a well-discussed and well-thought one. To quote Kohli, he arrived at the decision " a fter a lot of contemplation and discussions with my close peop...

Cricket | Test | Ashes 2021-22  | England | Australia | Fourth Test, Sydney 6 balls to survive. 1 wicket in hand. Fading light and pride at stake. Test cricket's leading wicket-taker among pacers set to go up against a batter, who many consider second only to the Don. Cricket doesn't get any better. But, hold on, the roles have been reversed. It's Steve Smith with the cherry in hand and Jimmy Anderson taking his guard to face him. Still, whoaaa....!!! Anything could happen. Test cricket doesn't get any better..... When Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed walked out to bat this morning, they had already put on England's best opening partnership on this tour. But their team needed more. After all, surviving over 90 overs on a Day 5 Sydney pitch is not considered easy in cricket.  India managed to do it  around the same time last year, but that was down to immense grit and fortune. To be honest, this England batting line-up doesn't give too much confidence to its fans. W...