Varun Chakravarthy, Trisha in the running for ICC monthly awards
DUBAI, Feb 6: Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was on Thursday nominated for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for January following a stellar outing against England in the recent five-match T20I series.Chakravarthy bagged 14 wickets from five matches at an excellent average of 9.85 and at an economy rate of 7.66.His efforts contributed immensely to T20 world champions India clinching the home series 4-1. His bowling was lethal from the start, with English batters struggling to read his spin.West Indian spinner Jomel Warrican was another nominee, after helping his side draw the two-match away Test series against Pakistan.The left-arm spinner Warrican was named player of the series against Pakistan after emerging as the top wicket-taker, grabbing 19 wickets.His Pakistan counterpart Noman Ali, who took 16 wickets in that series, is also in contention for the award.
TRISHA IN CONTENTION
Indian opener Gongadi Trisha, who was the player of the tournament during the recent ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup, was nominated for the award in the women’s category.She was the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 309 runs. She also became the first-ever century-maker in the event.Her stellar run played a prominent role in India securing their second successive U19 T20 World Cup. (PTI)
Chennai Open : All-Indian doubles final in offing
CHENNAI, Feb 6: Defending champions Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni moved to the semifinals of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger event with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win over alternate pairing of Egor Agafonov and Evgenii Tiurnev in the quarterfinals, here on Thursday.Another Indian team moving to the last-four pairs stage was second seeded combine of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth, who sailed past Zimbabwe’s Courtney John Lock and Japan’s Rio Noguchi 6-2 6-2 in little over an hour.If the Indian teams win their semi-final matches on Friday, they will face off for the title on Saturday.Ramkumar and Myneni will meet top seeds Ray Ho and Matthew Christopher Romios, who battled past another all-Indian pairing of Siddhant Banthia and Parikshit Somani to win 7-6 (3) 7-6 (3) in a match that featured no breaks of serve.Nedunchezhiyan and Prashanth will take on the unseeded Japanese pairing of Shintaro Mochizuki and Kaito Uesugi, who upset fourth seeds Francis Casey Alcantara and Pruchya Isaro 7-5 6-4. (PTI)
Aussie Test cricketers to tour West Indies for the first time in a decade
SYDNEY, Feb 6: Australia will tour the Caribbean in June and July for a three-Test series and five Twenty20 internationals, the West Indies Cricket Board announced Wednesday.It will be Australia’s first Test tour of the West Indies since 2015 and the first three-Test series between the countries since the West Indies tour of Australia in 2015-16.The first Test in the Frank Worrell Trophy series is set to be played at Bridgetown, Barbados beginning June 25. The second Test is scheduled to start on July 3 in St. George’s, Grenada and the third on July 12 in Kingston, Jamaica.Sabina Park in Kingston will also be the venue for the first two T20s on July 20 and 22, with the remaining three T20s to be played at Basseterre, St. Kitts on July 25, 26 and 28.The West Indies series will start two weeks after Australia plays South Africa in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, beginning June 11. (PTI)