Boult demolishes India, Australia name playing XI and more - Cricket News Today, 31st January 2019
Today was an action-packed day in the cricket world as India took on New Zealand and India 'A' squared off against England Lions. However, the Indians suffered fatal batting collapses in both matches and consequently suffered contrasting defeats.
In other news, Australia have named their playing eleven for the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. On the other hand, the visitors are reeling due to quite a few injuries and premier pacer Suranga Lakmal's stiff back has added to their woes.
In our popular Cricket News Today segment, let us take a look at all of today's top developments from the sport.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar terms Hamilton defeat as 'reality check'
Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has termed the heavy defeat in the fourth ODI as a 'reality check'. Attributing India's poor batting performance to the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, the 28-year-old gave credit to the New Zealand pacers for their stellar show at Hamilton.
Speaking to reporters in the post-match press conference, Bhuvneshwar affirmed, "If you look at the cricket we have been playing in the last few months, we have played good cricket and such matches come after some time. So it is a kind of reality check what we can do and improve in the next matches."
He added, "See you always miss him (Kohli) in such kind of wickets but at the same time it was an opportunity for Shubman Gill who came in his place. What he (Kohli) has done is amazing but we always don’t want to depend on him."