The big story: Ashwin, Jadeja make it one-two for India on top of ICC bowlers’ rankings

For the first time in 42 years, India grabbed the top two places in the ICC bowlers’ rankings as left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja jumped to the second spot to join Ravichandran Ashwin, who occupies the number one position. The changes were announced by ICC on Wednesday. Jadeja jumped five places to move within eight points of the off-spinner.

The last time India had two representatives at the top of the pile was back in 1974, with Bishan Singh Bedi and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar taking the first and second spots respectively. Other heroes from the Chennai Test, Karun Nair and KL Rahul soared in the batting charts, and are now ranked 55th and 51st respectively.

Other top stories

Cricket

  1. BCCI chief Anurag Thakur denied claims of perjury after the apex court had threatened to press charges against him.
  2. Indian Test mainstays Ashwin and Murali Vijay have been ruled out of Tamil Nadu’s quarter-final clash, reported ESPNCricinfo. Vijay suffered a shoulder injury in the Chennai Test against England while Ashwin is suffering from hernia.
  3. Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has expressed regret over his Indian fan being detained in Assam by the local police after a case was filed by the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party. 
  4. South Africa’s Faf du Plessis lost his verdict against the ball-tampering verdict with the ICC, reported ESPNCricinfo.
  5. An aggregate 497 runs were scored in New Plymouth as Central Stags hosted Otago Volts in the Twenty20 Smash. This beats the record set by India and West Indies in Lauderhill earlier in the year. Otago clinched the game by 1 run in the thriller.
  6. The Big Bash League witnessed another nail-biting encounter, and it was Brisbane heat who prevailed, beating Adelaide Strikers by 10 runs.

Football

  1. Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig will face on Wednesday night in a top of the table clash in the German Bundesliga. Reigning champions Bayern, currently hold the top-spot on goal difference.
  2. Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy will be suspended for three games after making a nasty challenge during his side’s 2-2 draw against Stoke City.
  3. Jeje Lalpekhlua was adjudged All India Football Federation’s player of the year after a prolific season.
  4. Praful Patel was unanimously re-elected as All India Football Federation’s president in the Annual General Meeting earlier in the day.

Tennis

  1. Czech ace Petra Kvitova underwent a four-hour surgery after being injured through a knife attack by an intruder that severed tendons and nerves in her left hand. A spokesperson was quoted as saying that the two-time Wimbledon champion was focused on making a comeback. However, reports later suggested that she may be out of action for at least six months.
  2. The prize money for the Australian Open will see a significant boost for 2017. There will be a 14 percent hike in the overall cash prizes at 50 million Australian dollars.
  3. Argentine ace and former US Open champion, Juan Martin del Potro has stated that it his highly unlikely that he will play in the Australian Open. 
  4. Doubles World No.1 Sania Mirza announced that she has set her sights on a career slam in 2017.
  5. A PTI report stated that veteran Mahesh Bhupathi could replace Anand Amritraj as Davis Cup captain.

Hockey

  1. India’s junior women’s team went down 2-4 to Japan via shoot-out in the semi-final match at the 4th Women’s U-18 Asia Cup on Wednesday. The two teams were locked at 1-1 after full time.  

Boxing

  1. Mary Kom and Vikas Krishan were honoured with awards at the International Boxing Federation awards gala, marking the governing body’s 70th year. Mary Kom became the first ever recipient of the legends award. Krishan was awarded with the best Pro Boxing Boxer award.
  2. Boxers Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar have been given the chance to go professional after their employers, Haryana Police finally losened their grip on the pugilists.