The big news: Southee out of India tour

New Zealand’s Tim Southee suffered a ligament strain in his left ankle during a training session in Delhi and will miss the Test series against India, which is set to begin on September 22. Southee will now head back to New Zealand for rehabilitation and will look to make a return for the five-match One-Day International series against India on October 16. Matt Henry, who has played four Test matches, has been called in as Southee’s replacement.

"Tim has been working hard in preparation for this tour, so he's understandably very disappointed to be ruled out of all three Tests," said New Zealand coach Mike Hesson, as reported by ESPNcricinfo. "The focus now is for Tim to give his ankle 7-10 days rest, before slowly building his bowling loads back up ahead of the ODI series."

Other top stories

  1. New Zealand dominated proceedings on day one of the three-day practice match against Mumbai XI in Delhi by scoring 324 runs for the loss of seven wickets before declaring. Half-centuries by Kane Williamson and Tom Latham ensured that the Kiwis put the Mumbai bowlers to task. In reply, Mumbai ended the day at 29/1.
  2. West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has pulled out of the three-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE owing to attend to "a personal matter". Fast bowler Kesrick Williams has been called in to replace Russell. Russell was set to face a Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission on September 19 and 20 for missing three Tests. However, it is not yet clear if this is the reason behind his decision to pull out.
  3. Australia A continued to dominate the second Test against India A in Brisbane after half-centuries by Hilton Cartwright, Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster took the hosts to 435. India were bowled out for 169 in the first innings and are 134/4 in the second innings, trailing Australia by 132 runs on day three.
  4. Indian cricketers Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma were given the Arjuna Award in New Delhi on Friday. They were unable to receive their awards from President Pranab Mukherjee on August 29 because they were involved in the two-match series against the West Indies in the United States at the time.