WI star pulls out of India tour, Former captain slams Indian team, and more - Cricket News Today, 17 October 2018

Welcome to Sportskeeda's Cricket News Today for October 17, 2018.

The second Test between Pakistan and Australia continued today in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan are in firm control of the Test, with a lead of 280 runs currently. Mohammed Abbas was the star for Pakistan with five wickets to his name as Australia were bowled out for a meagre total of 145.

The Pakistani batsmen began strongly in the second innings with Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali scoring half-centuries.

Back in India, the Vijay Hazare Trophy semifinals commenced today with Mumbai achieving an easy win over Hyderabad. Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer led the attack, scoring half-centuries.

The second semifinal between Delhi and Jharkhand will take place tomorrow.

Let's take a look at the trending news from today.

#1 Evin Lewis pulls out of India tour

Swashbuckling Windies opener Evin Lewis, citing personal reasons, has pulled out of the limited-overs tour against India, which will begin in a few days.

Lewis joins Chris Gayle and Andre Russell as the big players who will miss out. Kieron Powell has been named as Lewis' replacement for the rest of the tour.

Earlier this year, Lewis had rejected Cricket West Indies' central contract and chose to go the way many other players have, playing in the various T20 leagues around the world.

Here are the updated squads for the ODI and T20I series.

ODI squad: Jason Holder (C), Fabian Allen, Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Obed McCoy, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Oshane Thomas

T20I squad: Carlos Brathwaite (C), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Obed McCoy, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Oshane Thomas

#2 South Africa announce ODI squad for Australia tour

Dale Steyn

South Africa have announced a 15-member ODI squad for their Australia tour, which begins on October 31.

Veteran pacer Dale Steyn has been included in the squad alongside Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada. Chris Morris makes a comeback after recovering from a back injury.

However, they will have to do without the services Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, both of whom are injured.

Here is the squad:

Squad: Faf du Plessis (captain), Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn

#3 Mohammed Azharuddin slams SG ball complaints

Over the past year or so, a lot of complaints have been raised by the Indian team management regarding the use of SG balls in Test cricket.

According to reports, a lot of players, including Virat Kohli, want Duke balls to replace the SG balls in the longest format of the game.

However, former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin rubbished these complaints, saying that the Duke or Kookaburra balls would not work in Indian conditions and the bowlers will not be too successful using them.

"I remember the years – since 1984-85 – when the Dukes balls were used and how the seam would go rough. It was clear that in Indian conditions they wouldn't work. It was in 1993 when the SG was first introduced and India went on to dominate all cricket at home. Look at the overall country-wide average for bowlers bowling with different balls in different conditions. That will give you the answer.

So, what's this fuss about? When our spinners go to Australia, they find it tough to even grip the Kookaburra. In England, look at how Ashwin delivered and how Moeen Ali did with the Dukes. I really can't understand what their (Team India) grouse is," Azharuddin told the Times of India.

#4 Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer lead Mumbai to Vijay Hazare final

Strengthened by the presence of Rohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, and Ajinkya Rahane in their side, Mumbai achieved an easy victory over Hyderabad in the first semifinal of the Vijay Hazare Trophy held at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Batting first, Hyderabad managed to score 246 runs on the board, courtesy Rohit Rayudu's century. None of the other batsmen even managed to cross the 30 run mark.

In reply, Prithvi Shaw gave Mumbai the perfect start with a quickfire half-century. After both the openers were dismissed, Shreyas Iyer carried on and scored a half-century as well. Eventually, Mumbai won the match by 60 runs by the VJD method after rain stopped play.

Brief scores:

Hyderabad 246/8 in 50 overs (Rohit Rayudu 121*, B Sandeep 29; Tushar Deshpande 3-55, Royston Dias 2-43) lost to Mumbai 155/2 in 25 overs (Prithvi Shaw 61, Shreyas Iyer 55*; Mehdi Hasan 2-23) by 60 runs (VJD Method).