The big news: India avenge 2014 loss

India won the fifth and final Test against England by an innings and 75 runs in Chennai. England were bowled out for 207 in the final stages of the day’s play. India’s massive second-innings score of 759/7 had given the team a lead of 282. Then, powered by Ravindra Jadeja’s 7/48, India dominated proceedings in the final two sessions. England lost 10 wickets for just 104 runs as they crashed to give India an emphatic 4-0 series win.

This brought to an end an abysmal tour for England, whose players looked like they could not wait to go back home. None of their batsmen could last against an outstanding bowling performance.

Other top stories

  1. India will end 2016 as the No. 1 Test side following their emphatic 4-0 series win over England. India pocketed five points to move to 120 in the latest Test team rankings. India are now 15 points ahead of second-placed Australia.      
  2. Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott wants Test skipper Alastair Cook to step down and give his likely successor Joe Root time to settle in before the 2017-’18 Ashes in Australia, reported BBC. Boycott said, “If we are to have a new captain, he needs all seven Tests [next summer] to get his feet under the table. We don’t want Alastair giving it up after three or four Tests.”      
  3. Cook, meanwhile, said he will to take time to decide whether he is still the right man to lead England in Test cricket, reported The Guardian. “I’ve got to go away and do some thinking,” said Cook. “This is not right time to make decisions as big as that. I need to go home first, enjoy Christmas as much as I can do and then come back in January and look to plan with [board director] Andrew Strauss and see what’s the right decision for English cricket.”
  4. Bangladesh pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman is among five players selected in the nation’s 15-member ODI squad for the first game against New Zealand in Christchurch on December 26. Rahman’s last international appearance was at the World Cup T20 in March 2016, before a shoulder injury in July sidelined him from all competitive cricket since. 
  5. After winning the first Test against Pakistan by a whisker, Australian selectors have pushed for a more youthful squad in the second Test in Melbourne. Australia have picked 24-year-old all-rounder Hilton Cartwright, who had already been included in the ODI squad to face New Zealand, but did not play.