Huge blow for WI, Pakistan star announces ODI retirement and more - Cricket News Today, 1st November 2018

As India clinched the ODI series against West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram courtesy of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's record-breaking exploits, there was plenty of headlines both on and off the field. One of them came ahead of the fifth ODI as the visitors suffered an injury blow ahead of the T20I series.

Then came an announcement out of the blue from Pakistan as a former skipper announced that he will no longer take part in white ball cricket for Pakistan and wanted to focus on the longest format of the game. There was also a bold claim from former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar ahead of India's tour against Australia.

Here are all of today's important developments from the cricket world.

Sachin's bold prediction ahead of Australia tour

In the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, Sachin Tendulkar believes that India has a great opportunity to do something special. He believes that the balanced nature of the Indian squad gives them an opportunity to do something that they have never done before in their previous 11 trips to Australia.

Speaking to Cricketnext, Tendulkar said: "Possibly our best chance to go out there and beat them. If you see the Australia teams in the past and compare them to this one, yes we have a very good chance. I mean playing cricket at the highest level, I don't think it is at the highest level at this stage. I think they have had better sides in the past. They have had better players with more experience, this is considerably an inexperienced side."

While the former Indian batsman admitted that Australia are slowly getting back together and will be competitive, he believes that India have the ammunition to challenge them.

"To go out there and challenge them is also not going to be easy but we have the ammunition to go out there and challenge them. We have good fast bowlers, quality spinners. We have good batters. You win Test matches when you score a lot of runs on the board," he added.

Nurse ruled out of the remainder of India tour

West Indies off-spinner, Ashley Nurse, who was the star in their only win of the tour so far, has been ruled out of the T20I leg with a pectoral muscle injury. The off-spinner sustained an injury during the fourth ODI in Mumbai, which India won comprehensively to take a 2-1 lead in the series and didn't feature in the fifth ODI that saw India win to claim the series 3-1.

West Indies captain confirmed the news at the toss ahead of the fifth ODI in Thiruvananthapuram. "He (Nurse) is ruled out for the entire tour. I wish him well. Hopefully, he can recover quickly for the next tour," Holder said.

Before his injury, Nurse picked up five wickets and also walked away with the Man of the Match in Pune, which remains their only win on the tour so far. However, he injured his left shoulder early in the fourth ODI and was immediately taken off the field to receive treatment.

Azhar Ali announces ODI retirement

Azhar Ali is keen to focus on Tests

Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali announced his retirement from ODIs in a bid to prolong his career in the longest format of the game. The 33-year-old admitted that while he will continue to play all three formats in domestic cricket, he believes that the time is right for him to call time on his white ball career.

"I haven't made this decision abruptly. I've thought it through. I think this is the right time to make this decision. I want to focus on one format and invest my all energies in it," he said in a press conference.

"I have not taken this decision with any hard feelings. This is my personal decision and I have taken it for the betterment of my career. I have taken this decision to improve my record in Test cricket. My career in that format is my identity."

Although he made his ODI debut in 2011, he featured in only 53 ODIs, the last of which came against New Zealand earlier this year. He scored nearly 2,000 runs at an average of 36.90 and was part of Pakistan's successful Champions Trophy campaign in 2017.

"This is happening in a very good manner. My wish has been accommodated and everyone listened to me. Everybody's desire is to feature in World Cup. But, I think the time is right as the World Cup is around the corner. The team that is playing should have confidence and the players who are playing ODI cricket should be given a good run before the World Cup."