Cricket News Today: Rohit Sharma ruled out of NZ tour, KL Rahul achieves career-best ranking and more - 3rd February 2020

Hello and welcome to the daily round-up of all the major stories happening in the cricketing world today.

First up is Rohit Sharma getting ruled out of NZ tour, followed by the Indians having a field day in the latest T20I ICC rankings. Kapil Dev talks about MS Dhoni's comeback chances and lastly, Karnataka have named an unchanged squad to face MP in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.

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Also see – IPL 2020 Teams

Here is a look at those stories in detail.

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#1 Rohit Sharma ruled out of NZ tour

Rohit Sharma retired hurt in the 5th T20I match

The Indian team have been dealt a huge blow as Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the remainder of the New Zealand tour owing to a calf injury. Sharma was seen limping in the fifth and final T20I match and had to retire hurt. He didn't take the field later on as KL Rahul took to field as the stand-in captain.

Either Shubman Gill or experienced campaigner Shikhar Dhawan are set to be named as a replacement for the two-match Test series. A BCCI source told PTI -

“Facing the new ball in any condition is not that easy. Of course, it’s lot tougher outside India. But then, we played three Test matches against South Africa and I have never seen the ball swing so much in India like it did in Pune (second Test)."

Full article: NZ vs IND 2020: Rohit Sharma ruled out New Zealand tour with calf injury - Report

#2 KL Rahul climbs up to a career-best ranking

KL Rahul reached his career-best second position in ICC T20I rankings among batsmen

In-form wicket-keeper and opener, KL Rahul has climbed to the No.2 rank in the updated ICC T20I batting rankings. KL Rahul amassed 224 runs in five T20Is that saw him move from sixth to second place in the rankings.

The rankings also saw Shreyas Iyer jump 63 places to claim the 55th position, while Manish Pandey moved up 12 spots to be ranked 58th in the rankings. Indian captain Virat Kohli maintained his ninth position while Jasprit Bumrah climbed up to 11th in the bowler's rankings.

India completed their first-ever T20I whitewash against NZ and will be looking to carry on the form into the ODI and Test series.

Full rankings release ⬇️https://t.co/FQiB5gafVG

— ICC (@ICC) February 3, 2020

Full article: ICC T20I Rankings: KL Rahul climbs up to career-best second position among batsmen

#3 Kapil Dev talks about MS Dhoni needing to prove his worth in IPL 2020

MS Dhoni hasn't played a match for India since the 2019 World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand

Legendary World Cup winning captain, Kapil Dev has expressed his concerns over MS Dhoni's long absence from the national side, signaling that poor performance in the upcoming IPL will certainly decide the former captain's fate.

MS Dhoni hasn't played a match since India's semi-final ouster from the CWC 2019 against New Zealand and Kapil Dev believes that Dhoni will be under tremendous pressure to prove his worth in the 2020 IPL beginning March 29.

“If you haven’t played cricket for so long then I don’t think you can come back from anywhere. But he still has IPL, his form there’ll be important and selectors should see what is best for the country. Dhoni has done a lot for the country but when you don’t play for 6-7 months, you leave a doubt in everyone’s mind. And then that creates a lot of discussions which shouldn’t happen.”

“It all depends on when he starts playing and how he is playing during the IPL. What are the other people doing with the wicket-keeping gloves or what is the form of those players as opposed to Dhoni’s form. The IPL becomes a massive tournament because that could be the last tournament after which more or less your 15 is decided."

Full article: Kapil Dev talks about how MS Dhoni's IPL performances can dictate his comeback chances

#4 Karnataka name unchanged 15-member squad to face MP

Karun Nair will captain the Karnataka side against Madhya Pradesh

Karnataka have named an unchanged 15-member squad to face Madhya Pradesh beginning February 4th in Shimoga. Former India batsman Karun Nair will lead the side, while Shreyas Gopal will continue to act as his deputy.

Karnataka are placed fourth in the points table and have only three outright wins in six games. With Manish Pandey, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal off for national duty, the onus will yet again be on Karun Nair to lead from the front with the bat. With a win, Karnataka will all but seal a spot in the knockout stages.

Full Squad

Karun Nair(C), Shreyas Gopal(VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravikumar Samarth, Rohan Kadam, KV Siddharth, Pavan Deshpande, Sharath Srinivas(WK), Sharath BR(WK), Abhimanyu Mithun, Vasuki Koushik, Prateek Jain, Ronit More, Krishnappa Gowtham, Praveen Dubey

Full article: Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Karnataka name unchanged 15-member squad for clash against Madhya Pradesh