The big news: A tough task for England

England began the fifth day of the last Test in Chennai on a positive note as both openers, Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings remained unbeaten on 47 and 46 respectively at the end of the first session in Chennai but India managed to get an opening soon after lunch, with Ravindra Jadeja dismissing Cook for 49.

With two more sessions to play out, England will hope that their batsmen play smart cricket and salvage a draw. For India, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja tried their best to give the host a breakthrough. Cook was dropped early on by wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel when he nicked a delivery by Ashwin. India will hope to get their act together after lunch and bowl England out and aim for a 4-0 win margin.

Other top stories:

  1. England’s limited overs captain Eoin Morgan remains comfortable with his decision not to take part in England’s tour of Bangladesh due to his concerns over the security situation, reported ESPNCricinfo. “I wasn’t comfortable travelling because of security concerns and I weighed up the question ‘would I be able to perform as a captain and as a player given the security concerns in Bangladesh?’” Morgan said. “I’m still comfortable with it. It is something I considered before confirming my decision to the ECB. I tried to imagine all the different circumstances and didn’t feel comfortable enough in my mind to go and be able to perform.”
  2. Robin Uthappa was dropped from Karnataka’s 16-man squad for the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Tamil Nadu, which starts on December 23 in Visakhapatnam. The team’s line-up has the likes of KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey, all of whom are currently with the India Test squad in Chennai. 
  3. Kevin Pietersen and Pawan Negi were among the high profile players released by the IPL franchises and will feature in the auction scheduled to take place on February 4 in Bengaluru. Englishmen Eoin Morgan and Chris Jordan have also been released by their respective teams. Fast bowlers Dale Steyn, Trent Boult and Mitchell Johnson will also enter the auction after being released.
  4. A document containing details of the England cricket team’s security were found to be available on a public computer, the England and Wales Cricket Board has claimed. The report stated that the ECB will take up the matter with the Board of Control for Cricket in India as well as the local authorities. 
  5. The quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy will get underway on December 23, five days after the scheduled date. Indore’s impressive debut as Test venue has earned the city the right to host the final of the tournament. The two semi-finals, which will kick off on January 1 will be played in Rajkot and Nagpur respectively. The final will get underway on January 10.