The big story: Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara crack hundreds

On day three of the first Test in Rajkot, England’s bowlers toiled after posting 537 in their first innings. The visitors snapped the wicket of Gautam Gambhir early in the day, but there was no respite for them post that as Murali Vijay and local boy Chetweshwar Pujara piled on the misery.

Vijay showed aggressive intent and used his feet well against the spinners, while Pujara displayed excellent temperament and rotated the strike well, playing low-risk cricket and kept the scoreboard ticking. Pujara got to his ninth Test hundred, while Vijay brought up his first three-figure score of 2016.

England ended the day on a good note, picking up the wickets of Pujara, Vijay and nightwatchman Amit Mishra in the final hour of the day’s play. India ended the day’s play at 319/4.

Other top stories

  1. In the Bangladesh Premier League, Rajshahi Kings cruised to a six-wicket win against Dhaka Dynamites with Samit Patel leading the way with the bat and teenage spin sensation Mehdi Hasan Miraz setting the tone with an excellent spell. Barisal Bulls beat Comilla Victorians by six wickets, with Thisara Perera leading the way in the chase.
  2. Mohit Sharma has blamed his loss of form and subsequently losing his place in the Indian team on his receding hairline, which he says, affected his confidence. The 28-year-old has been in good form during the Ranji Trophy for his state, Haryana, picking up 16 wickets in five games.
  3. Umesh Yadav’s controversial catch off Joe Root in the ongoing India-England Test was backed by former South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs. Yadav’s take evoked memories of Gibbs’s drop catch in the 1999 World Cup off Steve Waugh. Gibbs had hung on to the catch for a split-second before spooning it as he prematurely took off to celebrate. It was not given out back then.
  4. Cricket Ireland has revealed its plans to build a state-of-the-art outdoor facility in Blanchardstown, Dublin, which will feature 14 grass nets, five artificial pull-out bays besides seating arrangement. The grass nets are slated to be operational by 2018.