The big news: India gain upper hand in 5th Test

Karun Nair hit his maiden Test century as India inched closer to England’s target of 477 on the fourth day of the first session in Chennai. After KL Rahul’s inspiring innings of 199, Nair took it upon himself to take India closer to the target. India went into lunch at 463/5 trailing England by 14 runs. Nair remained unbeaten on 122 with Ravichandran Ashwin on 9. India added 72 runs in the first session with the loss of only one wicket.

The only casualty for India was the wicket of Murali Vijay, who was caught leg-before-wicket by a Liam Dawson delivery on 29. Vijay challenged the decision but it was not reversed as he was clearly out. India will look to bat throughout the day without losing wickets and gain a lead of a 100 runs at least. With the century, Nair became the sixth Indian batsman to score a century in this series.

Other top stories:

  1. Former Australian Mike Hussey said that Salman Butt should not be allowed to make a return to international cricket. “If I am being honest, it doesn’t sit well with me,” Hussey said, reported The Indian Express. “Some would argue he has done his time and been allowed back in, much like Amir. But you’ve got to remember Amir was a 17-year-old kid being directed by Butt to do the wrong thing. I have a bit more sympathy for Amir…But Salman Butt, it doesn’t sit well to have him back in international cricket,” Hussey added.
  2. Australia beat Pakistan by 39 runs in the first Test in Brisbane on Monday. However, the Aussies were made to slog it out as Asad Shafiq’s knock of 137 gave Pakistan a fighting chance to chase down a world-record target of 490. In the end, Australia managed to scrape through owing to the heroics of Mitchell Starc, who took 4/119.
  3. Murali Vijay and Ravinchandran Ashwin were named in Tamil Nadu’s 16-man squad for their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Karnataka in Visakhapatnam. Parthiv Patel can feature in Gujarat’s squad, who play Odisha in Jaipur. Defending champions Mumbai will play Hyderabad, who are in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2011-’12. Jharkhand will play Haryana in Baroda. The knockouts begin on December 23.
  4. Former Pakistan fast bowler and coach Waqar Younis wants Salman Butt to play for Pakistan based on his recent form, now that he has served his ban for spot-fixing, reported ESPNCricinfo. Waqar was Pakistan’s coach during the infamous Lord’s Test in 2010, when Butt was found guilty of match-fixing along with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. All three of them served bans, but only Amir returned to the national team since. “He was playing really well and also he has served his sentence and punishment and I feel personally that everyone deserves a go,” Waqar Younis said. “People are going to have different views. He is a good player, he is playing really well.”