Gambhir's entry into politics, International cricketers appealing for Kerala and more - Cricket News of today, 18th August 2018

After a few days' break, international cricket has resumed in England with the hosts locking horns with India in the third match of Specsavers' Test series. Just a recap: England won the first game at Edgbaston by 31 runs, and repeated the result with a win by an innings and 159 runs at the Lord's, in the second game. With India needing to win all the remaining three games of the series to claim the trophy, it is highly necessary for them to bounce back in the ongoing game.

Based on live reports, India are playing out the best Test innings so far in the series, at 193 for 3 in 58 overs. After a 60-run opening stand, three wickets fell for 22 more runs, and it looked like India will repeat its mistakes from Birmingham and London. But Virat Kohli (52*) and Rahane (57*) have been batting sensibly, carrying India forward without damage since then. They have also notched up a century stand in the process.

As the match progresses, here we bring you the top cricketing news of today, from various parts of the world.

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#5. Kieron Pollard smashes his first-ever T20 hundred, St. Lucia posts win

On Friday night, St. Lucia Stars romped home to their first win of the 2018 season, in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2018, defeating the Barbados Tridents by 38 runs.

The highlight of the game was Pollard's first ever T20 hundred - which came in his 427th game in the format. The score was 57/3 in 4.4 overs when Pollard came into partner Andre Fletcher. The duo put up 148 runs in 13.5 overs until Fletcher (80 off 52, six fours, six sixes) finally fell prey to Riaz in the nineteenth over.

Pollard went further on, completing his first-ever T20 hundred with three balls left in the innings, with a six over long-on, as he also registered St.Lucia's best ever total in the CPL. The next ball saw his dismissal as well, but by then the damage was done, with Pollard himself at a 104 off 54, including 6 fours and 8 maximums. The hosts ended their run at 226 for 6 in 20 overs.

The Tridents could make just 188 for 6 in reply, which in turn gave St. Lucia its first win of the 2018 CPL season.

#4. Gambhir forays into national politics

Gambhir when he last played for India

Yet another cricketer has begun his baby-steps towards a possibly full-fledged political career, and it is none other than India's out-of-favour opener, Gautam Gambhir, who is reportedly all set to start his new innings outside the cricket field, by joining the nation's currently ruling political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Daily Jagaran, which is one of India's leading newspapers, reports that the BJP is eager to give Gautam Gambhir the green signal to contest as their representative, in the upcoming Delhi general elections. The party is looking to improve their relations with the Delhi people, by involving the likes of Gambhir in their setup.

Gambhir, in turn, joins a long list of Indian cricketers who have previously left the sport in favour of politics and legislative duties. Kirti Azad, Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mohammad Kaif, Praveen Kumar, Vinod Kambli and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi are the Indian cricket stars to have previously done the same.

Across the various parts of the world, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Imran Khan have also made their mark in politics in their respective nations - Imran now going on to become the Pak Prime Minister as well.

#3. Imran Khan swears in as Pakistan's latest Prime Minister

Footage released by Sky News, showing Imran at the ceremony

Former champion cricketer for Pakistan, Imran Khan, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was sworn in as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan earlier today. The ceremony was conducted in presence of several leaders and cricketers, at the President's House in Islamabad.

Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu was one of the distinguished guests invited for the event, and he duly marked his presence. He also spoke to the media, saying: "I did not come here as a politician”, after hugging Imran.

The Pak general elections were held on July 25 and results were declared the next day. Khan’s PTI emerged as the largest party securing 116 seats and hence in a position to rule the nation, which was secured on August 16th when he received 176 votes within the assembly as a green signal to become the new PM.

The presence of Khan at the helm of Pak administration is estimated to bring about peaceful changes in India-Pakistan relations.

#2. Wonderful outpouring of help and support from cricketers across the world, for relief efforts in a flooding Kerala

The state has not witnessed a similar catastrophy since 1924

The south-Indian state of Kerala has been going through one of the toughest times in the past century, with torrential downpour and subsequent floods ravaging most parts of it. 13 of 14 districts in Kerala are red-alert zones, with threats of more incoming damage, as the rains have not stopped yet.

Over 300 people have lost their lives so far, with the numbers set to climb. Transport operations have been suspended across various parts of the entire railway network in the state, as well as the Cochin International Airport, for at least until August 26. A few hundred thousands of people have ended up at the many hundreds of relief camps set across the entire state, and help has been incoming in the form of cash, food, clothes and other necessities, from all over the country and even several other parts of the world.

In the wake of the huge catastrophe, the world of cricket has collectively woken up and are contributing to relief efforts in a massive way. While national cricketer Sanju Samson who is based in the state chipped in with a fund of 15 Lakh INR, several others in the fraternity have also helped in garnering a lot of attention to the rain-ravaged state. Take a look at everything that the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sachin Tendulkar and so on have spoken on the issue, here.

Meanwhile, for the readers: do not forget to be a part of contributing to the cause by yourselves as well.

#1. Indian players wear black armbands on Game Day, as a mark of respect to Ajit Wadekar and AB Vajpayee

The black armbands can be spotted on Rahul's and Dhawan's left arms

As mentioned, the third Test match began at Trent Bridge today at 11 AM local time, and England won the toss, deciding to field first. As the Indian players took to the field, a black armband was spotted on each of their arms, and it was revealed by the BCCI that the entire squad was donning those, as a mark of respect to former Indian cricketer Ajit Wadekar and former Indian Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, both of who passed away earlier this week.

Ajit Wadekar was responsible for India's earliest wins on English and West Indies' soils, back in 1971 when he was the captain of the Test side that toured both countries. Wadekar was also the first Indian captain in ODIs, and he, later on, went on to become the national team's selector as well, post-retirement from the game.

AB Vajpayee was one of India's most efficient administrators and was also a fan of the sport of cricket. It was during his tenure that India and Pakistan played out some really popular bilateral series in either country, something which we have seen very very rarely since then.