Arjun Tendulkar bowls to Indian cricketers ahead of Lord's Test, Stokes in deep trouble and more - Cricket News Today, 08th August 2018

A day before the start of the second India-England Test, there has been intense debate over the Indian team composition, with talks of including Cheteshwar Pujara in the playing XI gaining ground. In the English cap, a 20-year-old is set to make his debut, but the actual line-up has still not been decided.

One of the English stars from the last game is embroiled in a court case, one of the biggest T20 stars is set to miss the upcoming CPL edition - there isn't a dearth of cricket news even when there isn't a match day.

Here are some of the trending headlines from the world of cricket today:

Ben Stokes named 'main aggressor' in Bristol case

England's Benjamin Stokes could be in deep trouble after the Bristol Crown Court heard that the all-rounder was the 'main aggressor' in the infamous Bristol Pub incident.

The court had previously heard that Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale were knocked unconscious by Stokes.

"The individual seemed to be the main aggressor or was progressing forward trying to get to another individual," the court heard.

"In my statement, I describe him as a gentleman with ginger or light brown hair. He had a green t-shirt on," Mark Spure, an off-duty police community support officer (PCSO) was quoted as saying.

He also said that Ryan Ali "seemed to be trying to back away or get away from the situation" before Stokes allegedly punched him.

Stokes, who was part of the first Test of the ongoing India-England series, was left out of the squad for the second game, scheduled to start on August 9.

Shahid Afridi out of CPL 2018

ICC World XI v West Indies - T20

Retired Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi won't be part of the Caribbean Premier League 2018 after he failed to recover from a knee injury that he had previously sustained.

The 37-year-old had sustained the injury during the Pakistan Super League while playing for the Karachi Kings, but went on to play for the Edmonton Royals in the Global Canada T20 League and also captained a World XI side against West Indies in July.

He expressed his disappointment at not being able to make it through a tweet, stating that he will be missing the "#BiggestPartyInTheWorld" for the Jamaica Tallawahs.

In 275 T20 games, Afridi has taken 301 wickets and has scored 3904 runs.

Arjun Tendulkar bowls to Team India

Arjun Tendulkar

Arjun Tendulkar has been in the news ever since getting selected to the Indian U-19 team and making his debut against Sri Lanka. While he played in the four-day games, he was not selected for the one-day matches.

He was also seen having lunch with England cricketer Danielle Wyatt.

Ahead of the second Test, he was seen practising with the Indian team in the nets a day before the Lord's game.

Tendulkar isn't new to practising with the Indian team, but the recent stint at the nets could be a ploy by the team to handle the searing pace of 20-year-old Sam Curran, who troubled the batsmen during the first Test.

Ollie Pope set to make debut against India

England & India Net Sessions

The Indian team will take on the Joe Root-led side for the second Test at Lord's. While there is a debate on the Indian team composition, even the English side has not made a clear fix on the playing XI. One thing is certain though - Root has confirmed that Ollie Pope will be making his debut.

"I'm not sure, having played quite a lot here if it will change a huge amount," said Root in his pre-match briefing. "We just want to make sure, be really clear, that going into the game we can be really confident we've got the best 11 players to take 20 wickets on that surface. So we'll turn up tomorrow, see if it looks any different, and then make that decision."

Pope, replacing Dawid Malan at No.4, will play for certain, but there is still a toss-up between Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali.