SPORTS

Ajinkya Rahane is expected to keep his place in the Indian team but whether he would remain vice captain remains to be seen when the selectors announce the Test squad for the tour of South Africa on Wednesday.

It is learnt that announcement of the ODI squad could be delayed as the first match is on January 19 and the sensitive issue of Virat Kohli's future as white ball leader is at stake.

However, Rahane, whose place in the playing XI is under doubt, will find it difficult to retain his vice-captaincy after 12 consecutive failures that led the team management to drop him from the Mumbai Test on the pretext of hamstring niggles.

Irfan Pathan, former India all-rounder, has made a tall claim on Twitter by terming Virat Kohli as the best “Test Captain” India has ever seen. 

Cricketer-turned-expert Pathan made the comment on Monday following the hosts' 1-0 Test series win over New Zealand. The Kohli-led side thrashed the Black Caps by 372 runs to seal the Mumbai Test at the Wankhede Stadium.

With this win, India also became the number one ranked Test team.

"As I have said earlier and saying it again @imVkohli is the best Test Captain India have ever had! He's at the top with the win percentage of 59.09 per cent and the second spot is at 45 per cent," tweeted Irfan.

New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra said the team has found it hard to bounce back from their flop show in the first innings of the Mumbai Test against India but they will not stop fighting to avoid a defeat at the Wankhede Stadium.

New Zealand got bowled out for 62 on Day 2 to concede a lead of 263 runs which put them on the back foot against the hosts, who need just 5 more wickets to win the Test and clinch the two-match series 1-0.

“It’s always tough being bowled out for 60, a lot of things went wrong. We all strive to be better.

A decision on Virat Kohli’s future as India ODI captain is expected to be taken this week when the selectors meet to finalise the team for the upcoming tour of South Africa, It is to be noted that the BCCI will need clearance from Government of India to continue with tour to South Africa due to Omicron fears.

It is learnt that the the national selection committee will meet this week to pick the squad for South Africa and the committe led by Chetan Sharma will also take a call on Kohli's future as skipper of ODI team.

Notably, T20Is will dominate 2022 due to another global event in Australia and Team India is scheduled to play only nine ODIs as of now in the next seven months with six (three each in South Africa and England) abroad and three in India. 

The big IPL auction has "outlived its usefulness." That is the view of Kolkata Knight Riders' chief executive offer Venky Mysore and co-owner of Delhi Capitals Parth Jindal.

Such a strong statement from the heads of two of the biggest T20 franchises came on Tuesday when the eight existing teams finalised their retentions ahead of the 2022 mega auction. While Mysore felt the big auction was no more the "level-playing field" it once was, back when it was first held in 2011, three years after the IPL's birth, Jindal said it was "heartbreaking" to invest time and money into so many players only to lose them three years later.