Ashes 2019 | Steve Smith With Only Don Bradman To Beat To Become Australia's Most Prolific ever Versus England

Hack:

• Steve Smith went on to score his 25th Test hundred after playing a mere total of 65 games in the longer format of the game
• Australia had a miserable start yet again as openers David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were dismissed for cheaply at the beginning of the innings
• England are chasing a total of 398 runs on the last day of the contest at Edgbaston, Birmingham

Steve Smith is marching towards becoming the greatest Test cricketer for Australia after scoring a second century in the opening match of the Ashes, a blistering 142-run knock that once again saw the visitors race ahead, extending their lead over the hosts to a whooping 397 runs before they declared. Smith's spectacular knock came in 207 balls, featuring 14 boundaries. 

Steve Smith only second to Don Bradman 

Steve Smith went on to score his 25th Test hundred after playing a mere total of 65 games in the longer format of the game. He is inching close to shattering a vintage record held by a legend and it is none other than Don Bradman. Steve Smith is now second-places with the most number of Test centuries for Australia against England (10), with the first being Don Bradman, with 19 centuries against rivals England. 

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Fighter Prithvi will come out of doping setback stronger: Childhood coach

Fighter Prithvi will come out of doping setback stronger: Childhood coach

prithvi Shaw is a "fighter" and will come out of his eight-month doping suspension stronger, says Santosh Pingutkar, who taught him the ABC of cricket long before he became his most famous ward.

The BCCI on Tuesday banned the talented 19-year-old opener from all forms of cricket for failing a dope test.

A release from the Board said Shaw had "inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups".

He childhood coach Pingutkar called it a setback.

"He (Prithvi) is a fighter and will definitely come out of it. He has worked hard (to reach the top)," said Pingutkar, who first imparted lessons to a young Shaw at Virar, a suburb around 60 kilometers from Mumbai.

It was under Pingutkar that Shaw, who had led India to U-19 World Cup victory in New Zealand and also made a hundred on Test debut against West Indies, learned the basics of the game.

Shaw's father Pankaj had taken him to the coach, who runs an academy.

"Definitely the setback is huge, but I have the confidence that he (Shaw) will come out of it," added Pingutkar.

Shaw's suspension is retrospective in nature, starting from March 16 and ending on November 15, which rules him out for India's home series against South Africa and Bangladesh.

Senior columnist Makranad Waingankar, who has played a formidable role in shaping Prithvi's career, said that there was nothing to worry and everyone makes mistakes in life.

"Cough syrups are dangerous. Prithvi Shaw should have known it because all players are given the list of Do's & Don'ts by BCCI's anti-doping committee. He will come out of it. Everyone makes a mistake. Nothing to worry," tweeted Waingankar, who was also a cricket administrator.

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"Disagree With Gavaskar Sir": Sanjay Manjrekar On Virat Kohli's Status As Captain

Sunil Gavaskar had questioned why Virat Kohli was an automatic selection for the post of India captain, saying that the Indian selection committee should have had a formal meeting to reappoint Virat Kohli as skipper of the Indian team. Calling the selection committee "lame ducks", cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar had said that while players like Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik "get dropped after below expectation performance, the captain continues despite much below par expectations". Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar took to Twitter to oppose Gavaskar's take on Virat Kohli's captaincy and his remarks on the Indian selectors.

Countering Sunil Gavaskar, Manjrekar said that India "did not put in a 'much below par WC performance' they won 7 lost two".

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If you are a great talent, you need time' - Shreyas Iyer

If you are a great talent, you need time' - Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Santosh Iyer is an Indian cricketer who presently captains Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. A right-handed top-order batsman, Iyer has played One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals for the India national cricket team. He played for the India Under-19 cricket team at the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket

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