The latest ICC Test rankings issued

Cheteshwar Pujara retained his sixth position to be the highest-placed Indian batsman, while Virat Kohli also maintained his 20th spot in the in the latest ICC Test rankings issued, on Monday.

Pujara and Kohli are the only two Indian batsmen to figure in the table, which is headed by South Africa's AB de Villiers.

England captain Alastair Cook made a comeback to the top 10 after he moved up a place to be at 10th.

Australia's David Warner, meanwhile, broke into the top 20 for the first time in his career as he has jumped 18 places to the 17th spot following his knock of 124 in the second innings of the Brisbane Test against England.

In the Test bowlers' rankings, Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha remained at fifth and ninth spots, respectively but Zaheer Khan has slipped two places to be at 20th position.

Dale Steyn of South Africa continues to rule the roost in the bowlers' list, followed by teammate Vernon Philander.

Mitchell Johnson, the star of Australia's 381-run win over England in the first Ashes Test at Brisbane, made a return to top 20.

Johnson finished with figures of four for 61 and five for 42 for which he has been rewarded with a jump of four places to be in the 19th position.

For England, the biggest mover was Stuart Broad, who gained four places to be at seventh.

In the all-rounders' chart, Ashwin continues to hold on to the top position.

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India Squad Test ODI tour of South Africa

Veteran pacer Zaheer Khan made a comeback to India's Test side after close to a year but opener Gautam Gambhir was ignored as the selectors today announced the squads for the Test and ODI tour of South Africa starting December 5.

The 35-year-old Zaheer, who had been battling fitness issues and was even dropped from the BCCI's list of contracted players, was chosen in the 17-member Test squad after taking 13 wickets in three Ranji Trophy matches at an average of 19.84 this season.

Gambhir, however, had no such luck as the opener, who has been downgraded to group B in the list of contracted players, failed to find a place despite a healthy average of 74 plus in the ongoing Ranji season.

"His name was discussed, in fact, we discussed a lot of things. Even skipper M S Dhoni was consulted and all the players were selected unanimously," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Patel said after a meeting of the selection committee here.

The month-long tour featuring three ODIs followed by two Tests is India's first international assignment after the retirement of iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

Baroda batsman Ambati Rayudu, a seasoned domestic player, has been named in both the Test and ODI squads, while veterans like Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh continued to remain on the sidelines.

The 28-year-old Rayudu, who is currently a part of the team in the ongoing ODI series against the West Indies, has played four one-dayers for India.

There were no major surprises in both the squads with the selectors opting to go in for a pace-heavy bowling attack considering the conditions in South Africa.

Pacer Ishant Sharma, who has been struggling for form, was retained in both the squads. The gangling speedster took a match-haul of nine wickets in Delhi's win over Haryana in a Ranji Trophy match yesterday.

Another fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who had been dropped due to poor form in the recent series against Australia and West Indies, has been recalled in both the Test and ODI squads largely becaue of his ability to bowl fast. More

Squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Chesteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami, Zaheer Khan, Ambati Rayudu, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja

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Jonathan Trott left the Ashes tour

Jonathan Trott left the Ashes tour with a stress-related illness only hours after England’s 381-run loss in the first test on Sunday, a day after he was targeted for criticism by Australian batsman David Warner.

The 32-year-old Trott had batting failures in both innings, out for 10 and 9, and exposed as being vulnerable to short-pitched bowling by Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson.

England collapsed in both innings in Brisbane, dismissed for 136 and 179 in a comprehensive defeat.

Warner used a news conference on Saturday evening to say the way Trott handled the fiery bowling was “weak” and that the England batsmen had “scared eyes.” The British press was also critical in post-match reports.

The England Cricket Board on Monday issued a statement saying Trott would take a break from cricket “for the foreseeable future.”

“I don’t feel its right playing knowing well that I’m not 100 percent and I cannot currently operate at the level I have done in the past,” Trott said in a statement. “My priority now is to take a break from cricket so that I can focus on my recovery.”

Trott, who was born and educated in South Africa, has been part of England’s three consecutive Ashes series wins. He made a century in his test debut against Australia in 2009, and scored two unbeaten centuries and a half century during England’s Ashes triumph in 2010-11 its first in Australia in 24 years.

England Cricket Board managing director Hugh Morris described Trott as “an incredibly talented cricketer who has proven himself time and again for England.”

England coach Andy Flower said in an interview with the BBC that Trott’s decision was not a result of Warner’s remarks, but condemned the way the Australian batsman commented about a rival player in a news conference.

“Players commenting about fellow professionals in media is disrespectful and on this occasion he’s got that horribly wrong,” Flower was quoted as saying.

Of the stress-related illness, Flower said “Jonathan has been struggling with this for quite a while. We have been on tour for about a month and he has had his ups and downs.”

“He’s been a brilliant international batsman for England and hopefully will continue to be.”

-AP

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Pakistan nail-biting one-run victory

Junaid Khan bowled an excellent last over as Pakistan pulled off a nail-biting one-run victory in the second ODI at Port Elizabeth on Wednesday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

Chasing Pakistan's 262 in 445 overs, South Africa came tantalisingly close to the target needing a six of the last bowl to win but just managed a four to lose by a run.

Earlier, opener Ahmed Shehzad scored a brilliant century to guide Pakistan for setting a rather difficult target of 263 for South Africa in the second One-day International here at the St George’s Park on Wednesday.

Shehzad was run out after making 102 off 112 balls with eight fours and two sixes. He also completed his 1000 runs in One-day International cricket just before completing his third ODI century.

He added 126 valuable runs for the third wicket partnership along with young Sohaib Maqsood who hit 42 from 59 balls with three boundaries.

Sent into bat by South Africa after the match was reduced by five overs a side due to rain, Pakistan made a poor start losing two early wickets for just 22 but then Shehzad and Maqsood rescued them to take the score to 146 before the latter batsman was out caught by Hashim Amla off Ryan McLaren.

Then, captain Misbah-ul-Haq and allrounder Shahid Afridi could not stay for long and were dismissed for 12 and 11, respectively as Pakistan were 214-6 in 40 overs.

However, it was Umar Akmal who along with young allrounder Bilawal Bhatti accelerated the pace of scoring as Bhatti smashed three boundaries in an over from Steyn. However, he was dismissed in the same over after making 21 off 14 balls.

Akmal made 42 from 30 balls, hitting two sixes and four boundaries.

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Fresh controversy after Sachins retirement

Even after Sachin's retirement, he still remains a hot topic. Fresh controversy regarding his Bharat Ratna Nomination has raised an ugly head.

 A local advocate from Muzaffarnagar has filed a petition challenging Centre’s decision to honor Sachin with the prestigious award ahead of Hockey legend Dhyan Chand.

 The petitionaer Sudhir Kumar Ojha accused the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Sports Minister and the Union Home Secretary and Sachin for selecting the star cricketer for the honour in such a conspirational manner after he retired from all the formats of the game.

 Charges against them were brought under sections 419( offences relating to cheating and dishonesty), 417( Punishment for teaching),504( intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 120( B)( punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

 Ojha alleged that the government cheated people and hurt their sentiments by considering only the cricketer after going back on its earlier decision to give the honour to both Dhyanchand and Sachin.

 The petition said none of the distinguished persons like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia or other cricketers who had brought glory to the country had been considered for the award.

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