Top Stories: Things that made news in the cricket world today

Australia vs India: Ravi Ashwin geared to make the cut for Sydney Test

• Indian off-break bowler Ravi Ashwin has been suffering from an abdominal strain ever since the five-match Test series against England back in August-September.
• The same injury has come back to haunt the 32-year-old Tamil Nadu-born tweaker even in the ongoing four-match Test series against Tim Paine’s Australia that the visiting team, captained by Virat Kohli, is leading by 2-1.
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Australia vs India: ICC rates Melbourne Test pitch ‘average’

• After coming across severe criticism for the Ashes Boxing Day Test, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) curator unfurled a result pitch this time around.
• It looked flat for the first couple of days as many once again targetted a poor surface, it looked completely different when India bowled as they easily picked 20 wickets of the opposition thereby winning the Test by 137 runs.
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S Sreesanth confident of trumping youngsters if ban is lifted

• S Sreesanth has been the controversial figure over the last few years in the Indian cricket.
• He was part of India‘s both World Cup-winning squads in 2007 and 2011 but the spot-fixing allegations on him during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2013 left his career on the crossroads.
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Sri Lanka Cricket the world’s most-corrupt cricket board, reveals Sports Minister

• With every passing day, Sri Lankan cricket is almost experiencing a new low.
• Their cricket has been plagued not only by poor performance on the field but also controversy off it.
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Australia vs India: Aaron Finch likely to bat down the order at the SCG

• Australia’s backs are against the walls in the ongoing Test series against India.
• With the loss in Melbourne, they won’t be able to win the series but can certainly save it and defy India their maiden Test series win down under.
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Cricket Australia rebukes Sunil Gavaskar for Border-Gavaskar Trophy presentation

• The four-match Test series between Australia and India has only match, starting Thursday, January 3, remaining, in Sydney.
• The visitors are currently leading by 2-1 and would want to end on a resounding note.
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ICC confirm direct qualifiers for the Men’s T20 World Cup 2020

• The International Cricket Council today confirmed the sides that have qualified directly for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 to be held in Australia, based on the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings as on 31 December 2018.
• As per the qualification criteria set for the tournament, Australia and the other nine top-ranked sides have ensured direct qualification.
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Rashid Khan concludes 2018 as the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket

• Rashid Khan, the 20-year-old leg-break bowler from Afghanistan, has turned out to be a revelation in world cricket ever since he made his international debut back in October 2015.
• Among the three formats, he has been the most dominant in the T20 format and is currently International Cricket Council’s (ICC) number-one ranked bowler in T20 Internationals.
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IPL 2018 – The second-most Google-searched sporting event

• The people of India are known for their love for sports, especially cricket.
• Cricketers in this country are worshipped as demigods, especially those who rule on the international stage.
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I doubted Jasprit Bumrah but he has proved me wrong: Kapil Dev

• When Jasprit Bumrah was seen bowling for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL), not many gave him the chance of making it big at the international level.
• His unique and awkward bowling action raised doubts in the minds of the cricket experts as they felt he wouldn’t last long.
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