BUMRAH'S STATUS CONFIRMED AS INDIA ANNOUNCE ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2025 SQUAD

Two-time winners India have named their 15-player squad for the upcoming ICC Men's Champions Trophy.

India, who won the ICC Men's Champions Trophy in 2002 and 2013, will look for a third title under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.

Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who missed a portion of the Sydney Test due to injury, has been included in the squad, with chief Selector Ajit Agarkar stating that the team management will keep an eye on the pacer's fitness in the lead-up to the tournament.

Bumrah delivered for India at the highest stage in the 2024 Men's T20WC 2024

Keeping Bumrah's fitness in mind, Harshit Rana comes into India's squad for the England ODIs, preceding the Champions Trophy, as a cover.

Yashasvi Jaiswal joins regular names Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill at the top of the order, while experienced KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant comprise the middle order.

Hardik Pandya, whose last ODI came in the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup, features as the sole pace-bowling all-rounder. Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar are the three spin-bowling all-rounders in the squad, and left-arm tweaker Kuldeep Yadav also returns following an injury.

The pace attack will comprise of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammad Shami, alongside Bumrah and Hardik.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.

In the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, India reached the finals before losing to Pakistan.

India's Group Stage Fixtures:

20 February - India vs Bangladesh, Dubai

23 February - India vs Pakistan, Dubai

2 March - India vs New Zealand, Dubai"

 - ICC

AUSTRALIA SECURES SERIES WIN LEAD AGAINST INDIA WITH 'ONE OF THE BEST' TEST WIN

Australia beat India by 184 runs in the fourth Test to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match Border-Gavaskar series.

Australia have taken seven wickets after tea on the final day of the fourth Test to win a classic against India by 184 runs and snatch a 2-1 series lead heading into the final match in Sydney.

India were coasting on the back of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant’s partnership through the entire middle session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday but lost 7-34 after being bowled out for 155 in front of a mammoth crowd of 74,362.

Australia captain Pat Cummins and fellow pacer Scott Boland finished with three wickets apiece, and spinner Nathan Lyon chipped in two on a dramatic final day that was tinged with controversy over the use of the Decision Review System (DRS).

“It was an amazing Test match. I reckon that’s one of the best to be part of,” said Cummins, named Player of the Match after scoring 100 tail-end runs and taking six wickets in total.

“All week, the crowd’s been ridiculous, and the cricket’s been just as good. Pretty happy at the moment, happy to contribute.”

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The big fifth-day crowd brought the total attendance in Melbourne to 373,691, a record for a Test match in Australia, who had been frustrated by rain in the third Test.

India were 112 for three when they resumed after tea with Jaiswal and Pant well set, looking to bat the tourists to safety if not take a record 340 runs for victory.

However, after showing unusual restraint early on, Pant threw away his wicket with a hard pull at part-time spinner Travis Head and was caught for 30 by a sprinting Mitchell Marsh in the deep.

The wicket ended an 88-run partnership and turned the match.

Boland had number six Ravindra Jadeja caught behind for two with a steepening delivery before Steve Smith lunged for a brilliant catch at slip to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy, who nicked Lyon to be out for one.

Controversy erupted when Jaiswal pulled at a short Cummins ball, prompting a big appeal for caught-behind, and the Australia skipper reviewed immediately when it was turned down.

Replays showed a clear deviation high off the bat but no evidence of a nick on the “Ultra Edge” technology. The TV umpire decided the deviation was enough, though, and overturned the decision.

Jaiswal, out for 84, remonstrated with the on-field umpires and sections of the crowd chanted, “Cheater! Cheater!”

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India ‘put up a fight’

Akash Deep was then dismissed for seven, again on review, caught by Head off the bowling of Boland with a thin edge pinging off his pads. Australia referred the not-out decision, and this time “Ultra Edge” showed a healthy nick.

That left tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to try to hold Australia out with about 40 minutes to stumps. Both fell for ducks with Lyon sealing the win by trapping Siraj LBW.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” said India captain Rohit Sharma, who was dismissed for nine on Monday after managing only three in the first innings.

“If you look at the overall Test match, we had our opportunities. We had our chances. We just didn’t take them.”

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India will rue their failure to clean up Australia’s tail late on Day 4 with Lyon and Boland finishing with a 61-run partnership for the final wicket.

Bumrah bowled Lyon for 41 on the final morning to wrap up Australia’s second innings for 234. He finished with 5-57 for the innings and nine wickets for the match.

Cummins had taken flak from some fans and pundits for not declaring on Day 4 to give his bowlers a chance for quick wickets after tea.

But he silenced the critics by striking twice in the same over before lunch on Monday, dismissing Rohit and KL Rahul for a duck.

Rohit now has 31 runs at an average of 6.20 for his three matches, the worst-performing specialist batter in the series.

Virat Kohli was unable to save India, falling for five to Mitchell Starc with another nick behind when driving outside off-stump.

The result left India’s hopes of making the World Test Championship final on a knife-edge while boosting Australia’s chances.

India need to draw the series with victory in Sydney and then hope other results fall their way to reach the WTC decider.

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INDIA, AUSTRALIA OPEN WITH DOMINANT VICTORIES; UGANDA GETS IT'S 1ST WIN AT CRICKET'S T20 WORLD CUP

AP

 WESTBURY, New York (AP) — Jasprit Bumrah and India's pace attack did most of the damage before Rohit Sharma scored a 37-ball half-century to steer the team to an eight-wicket win over Ireland on Wednesday at the Twenty20 World Cup.

Sharma plundered four boundaries and three sixes before retiring hurt for 52. Rishabh Pant added 36 not out off 26 balls as India reached 97 for 2 in 12.2 overs after routing Ireland for 96.

Allrounder Hardik Pandya took 3-27 for India while Bumrah (2-6) and left-armer Arshdeep Singh (2-35) chimed in to ensure pace accounted for eight of the 10 Irish wickets.

India next plays fierce cricket rival Pakistan in the marquee match of the league stage on Sunday.

“Early wickets set the tone for us,” Sharma said. “It was good to spend time on this wicket, although it didn’t change too much in the second innings. We will prepare for the Pakistan game as if the conditions will be similar.”

In Wednesday’s later games, Uganda secured its first victory in a T20 World Cup match in a low-scoring thriller against Papua New Guinea at Guyana, and Marcus Stoinis posted a half century and took three wickets as 2021 champion Australia opened with a 39-run win against Oman.

India took four fast bowlers into its tournament-opening game in New York, noting the inconsistent bounce in the pitch at the venue where South Africa routed Sri Lanka two days earlier.

It paid off immediately, with Arshdeep causing havoc under overcast conditions to remove both openers and have Ireland reeling at 9-2.

Pandya went in as first change and struck immediately, bowling Loran Tucker (10) and having Curtis Campher (12) caught behind.

Gareth Delany provided some resistance and top-scored with 26, the only Irish batter to cross the 20-run mark, and put on 27 runs with Joshua Little (14).

In a top-order reshuffle, former skipper Virat Kohli opened for India with Sharma but the move backfired when he was caught at third man attacking Mark Adair (1-27).

India's second-wicket pair added 54 off 44 balls before Sharma retired hurt after being struck on the right arm.

Returning to international action after nearly 18 months out since a car accident in late 2022, Pant finished off the match with a reverse-hit six.

Uganda's first win

Uganda dismissed Papua New Guinea for 77 but had to work extra hard for victory, losing its first three wickets by the start of the third over in reply and then slipping to 26-5 before rallying to reach 78-7 with 10 balls remaining.

Riazat Ali Shah's 33 was more than double the highest score by any other batter in the match in difficult, uneven conditions, but he was out with Uganda three runs away from victory.

He had two big reprieves — chopping an inside edge just over his stumps before he'd scored with Uganda on 8-3 and again when the total was 35-5 when Charles Amini dropped a regulation catch in the ninth over.

Uganda rallied to set up victory with a 35-run sixth-wicket partnership between Riazat and Juma Miyagi (13) before a runout added an extra element of tension at the end.

“First win of a World Cup is a special win for us,” Riazat said. “It was not easy to bat on this wicket ... our plan was just to stay in and take our time.”

Stoinis sets up Australia's win

Australia posted 164-5 and then restricted Oman to 125-9 at Barbados in its tournament opener but it wasn't a straightforward win.

The Australians were in spot of bother when Mehran Khan dismissed skipper Mitchell Marsh for 14 and Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck on consecutive balls to make the total 50-3 in the ninth over.

Stoinis took a single off the hat-trick ball and then set about accelerating Australia's run rate in a 102-run stand with opener David Warner.

Stoinis had a reprieve in the 15th over when a fielder caught him in the deep but fell back over the boundary, giving the batter six runs. It was the first of four sixes in that over that cost Mehran 26 runs.

Warner became Australia's highest scorer in T20 internationals before he was out for 56 off 51 balls. Stoinis finished unbeaten on 67 off 36.

“Maybe a few cobwebs for us, but we're better for the run," Stoinis said. “We got the win, some boys spent some time in the middle and everyone got a bowl.”

Left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc (2-20) struck in the first over and the Australian bowlers steadily reduced the threat from Oman with regular wickets. Stoinis returned 3-19 to complete a player-of-the-match performance.