Tim Paine praises Rishabh Pant, Sachin Tendulkar's great gesture and more - Cricket News Today, 3rd January 2019

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Cheteshwar Pujara

Welcome to Sportskeeda's Cricket News Today, a section that covers a summary of the trending news topics of the day in the world of cricket.

There were as many as three international matches today. First, it was the fourth Test between India and Australia in which the Indians are on top after opting to bat first as they ended day 1 at 303/4, thanks to an unbeaten century from Cheteshwar Pujara.

Also read: KL Rahul seen practising at the SCG nets minutes after he got out

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 45 runs in the first ODI, thanks to a 138 from Martin Guptill and an all-round show from Jimmy Neesham, who scored a 13-ball 47 and took three wickets with the ball. 

In the final match of the day, South Africa bundled out Pakistan for just 177 on day 1 of the second Test at Cape Town. Duanne Olivier picked up four wickets while Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada picked up three and two wickets each.

Apart from this, a lot of other things happened in the world of cricket over the last 24 hours. Let's take a look at the top news from today.

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Sachin Tendulkar's great gesture

Sudhir Gautam

In the first three matches of the ongoing India-Australia Test series, Indian fan Sudhir Gautam was not spotted cheering for the Indian team from the stands. However, he was seen at the Sydney Cricket Ground waving the Indian tri-colour and cheering for Virat Kohli's men.

It all wouldn't have been possible if not for former Indian cricket team legend Sachin Tendulkar as he financially helped his most loyal fan to fly down to Australia for the final Test and the upcoming three-match ODI series.

It is still unclear whether he will travel to New Zealand to watch the five-match ODI and three-match T20I series. He is banking on Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to arrange flight tickets to New Zealand.

"I had requested Sachin sir to bear my ticket fares and visa expenses for Australia tour. My friends in Australia have promised me to make my arrangements for internal travel and other expenses. I will also watch the three ODIs' in Australia before deciding to go to New Zealand also. My return ticket from Melbourne is booked for January 21 but will request Rohit Sharma or Shikhar Dhawan if they can arrange for my tickets to New Zealand", Sudhir Gautam said before flying to Sydney.

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