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

IPL set to introduce concussion substitute for the first time in the upcoming season

• Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a couple of months away from kicking off and the fans are eagerly waiting for its commencement.
• There is no doubt over the fact that the upcoming season of this T20 tournament will be more enthralling and competitive.
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IPL 2020: Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni likely to play together in All Stars charity game

• The Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council met on Monday where a wide range of topics from deciding on the time slot of the fixtures to conducting just five double-headers and the date and venue of the final of the cash-rich league was discussed.
• Apart from this, there was another interesting development as for the first time in the history of the IPL, a one-off all-star charity match will precede the opening game of the tournament and will be played three days ahead of the season opener.
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Glenn McGrath picks the top-two batsmen and bowlers of the current generation

• Former Australian fast bowling spearhead Glenn McGrath is currently in India.
• The legendary fast bowler and a three-time World Cup winner, McGrath recently featured in a private session hosted by HCL Technology during the World Economic Forum [WEF] where he opened up on a plethora of things.
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818 runs- 48 sixes, 70 fours: Bizarre run-fest in a second-division domestic 50-over match in Bangladesh

• Bangladesh domestic cricket has always been under the scanner after having racked up headlines for all the wrong reasons.
• But, on Monday, it stormed back into the headlines thanks to a bizarre run-fest during a Bangladesh second-division fifty-over fixture where a whopping 48 sixes and 70 fours were hit in a run-fest that saw both sides accumulate a total of 818 runs.
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Stuart Broad fined 15% of match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct

• England fast bowler Stuart Broad has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers.
• Broad was found to have breached Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “use of an audible obscenity during an International Match.”
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KL Rahul on the verge of surpassing MS Dhoni’s T20I record

• KL Rahul, the right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman from India, is in scintillating form with the bat in the last couple of months.
• He has certainly emerged as one of the biggest positives for Virat Kohli and Co.
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‘You don’t make decisions like that when you are emotional’ – Faf du Plessis on captaining South Africa

• South Africa were out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded and out-thought in almost facet of the game as England completed a stunning 3-1 heist in what eventually turned out to be a brutally one-sided series.
• The final nail in the coffin was hammered in the Johannesburg where England inflicted a 191-run hammering on the deflated Faf du Plessis-led South Africans.
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Video surfaces about Bangladesh team’s entourage of security in Pakistan

• The Bangladesh team might have lost the T20I series 2-0 and will play the first Test match on February 7 in Lahore.
• The 20-over series proved to be a farce for the visiting team given that they were without their experienced players in Shakib-Al-Hasan, who has been banned by the ICC for a year and Mushfiqur Rahim, who refused to travel owing to his family is concerned for his safety.
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Ahead of Hamilton T20I, Virat Kohli on the brink of surpassing MS Dhoni’s tally

• Virat Kohli’s India have started their T20I sojourn in New Zealand on an emphatic fashion without a doubt.
• In the five-match series, the Men in Blue are sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead courtesy of comprehensive victories at the Eden Park in Auckland.
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‘We know what India’s team is going to be for T20 World Cup 2020’ – Vikram Rathour

• Team India is currently on a pristine run in T20I cricket. The Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue are on a five-match winning streak and have taken 2-0 lead in the 5-match series against New Zealand after they successfully disposed of the Kiwi challenge in back-to-back encounters by six and seven-wicket respectively.
• With the ICC T20 World Cup set to take place in Australia later this October, teams’ are looking to try out new players and zero-in on a winning combination.
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New selection committee will pick India, squad, for South Africa ODIs, confirms Sourav Ganguly

• Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly on Monday said the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa at home in March will be chosen by a revamped selection committee.
• The first match will be played in Dharamsala on March 12 while the second and third match will be played in Lucknow and Kolkata on March 14 and 17, respectively.
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‘I hope Haris Rauf can play 100 Tests, 400 T20Is and 150 ODIs for Pakistan’ – David Hussey

• It has been quite a few surreal months for the newest Pakistan teenage sensation Haris Rauf.
• The tearaway Pakistan bolter shot into limelight after he replaced the injured great fast bowler Dale Steyn for the Melbourne Stars at the start of the Big Bash League.
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‘India is becoming a ruthless team’ – Shoaib Akhtar after Virat Kohli and Co thrash New Zealand in 2nd T20I

• Riding on a collective brilliance from the bowlers and another dominating performance by KL Rahul, India defeated New Zealand in the second Twenty-20 International (T20I) by seven wickets in the low-scoring encounter.
• With the victory at the Eden Park on Sunday, the visitors have gone 2-0 up in the three-match series.
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Todd Astle retires from Tests to focus on white-ball cricket

• New Zealand leg-spinner Todd Astle announced his retirement from Test cricket on Tuesday.
• The veteran spinner has made himself unavailable for the upcoming New Zealand A first-class series against India A in Christchurch to focus on his limited-overs career.
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How does the World Test Championship table read after South Africa’s point deduction?

• South Africa have become the first team to be docked World Test Championship (WTC) points for slow over-rate in addition to being fined 60% of their match fee after falling short of their target in the fourth Test against England in Johannesburg.
• The Proteas did not bowl any frontline spinner in the team and did not bowl a single over of spin in the game which played a big part in the slow over-rate.
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