The big news: Shardul Thakur called in for Indore Test

Indian swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been ruled out of the third Test against New Zealand starting in Indore on Saturday because of a back injury. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Wednesday that Kumar was nursing a back strain he suffered during the second Test at Eden Gardens. Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur has been called up as his replacement.

Bhuvneshwar was the star in the second Test at Kolkata, which India won by 178 runs to go 2-0 up in the three-match series. Bhuvneshwar took five wickets in the first innings to give India the upper hand.

Umesh Yadav is most likely to return to the playing XI in the Indore Test in place of Bhuvneshwar, who is the third member of Team India to join the injury list after the loss of openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan.

Other top stories

  1. South Africa’s David Miller scored a brilliant century to help South Africa pull of the second-highest run chase in One-Day International cricket against Australia on Thursday. Centuries from David Warner and Steve Smith took Australia to 371, but Miller scored 118 in 79 balls to take the Proteas to a series win.
  2. Pakistan beat West Indies by 136 runs to win the third ODI in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Babar Azam scored his third ODI century on the trot to enable Pakistan to a 3-0 series win.
  3. England’s Moeen Ali said that the security scare that hampered England’s preparations ahead of their tour of Bangladesh never crossed his mind. "I'm pretty laid back about it. My theory's a bit different. I think you're probably not safe anywhere, if you're meant to go you're meant to go," he said. 
  4. The 2016-17 Ranji season kicks off today with 28 teams battling out for the coveted trophy. However, the ongoing feud between the BCCI and the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha panel has been making the headlines to push the tournament on the backburner. All the matches are being played at neutral venues this season.
  5. It is a big day for the officials of the BCCI as the Supreme Court will hear the Indian board’s response to the Lodha committee's status report.