King Kohli turns 30, Gambhir steps down and more - Cricket News Today, 5th November 2018

Welcome to Sportskeeda's Cricket News Today, a section that covers a summary of the trending news topics of the day in the world of cricket.

The highly unpredictable India-West Indies T20I series is underway, and the highly anticipated tour of Australia follows next. For fans, however, even on non-match days, there's loads to catch up on the cricketing front with updates from around the world.

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

#1 King Kohli turns 30

The blazing hero of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli turned 30 today (one marvels at what he achieved in his 20s!). Born in Delhi in 1988, Kohli's has been a tremendous tale of hard work and sacrifice, mixed with the highs and lows of fame and fortune.

As he turned a year older, carrying his tremendous form into his 30s, Twitter was buzzing with wishes and celebratory notes about him, from former and current cricketers to experts, friends and the common man.

Here are some of the wishes:

KL Rahul

Umesh Yadav

Irfan Pathan

AB de Villiers

Sachin Tendulkar

Ajinkya Rahane

Harbhajan Singh

Cheteshwar Pujara

Keep flying, King Kohli!

#2 Dhawan departs for Delhi

Shikhar Dhawan has been confirmed to leave the Sunrisers Hyderabad and return to Delhi Daredevils, his first IPL team after 11 years. The left-hander's move was attested by tweets from the Sunrisers and the Daredevils separately, with the statement from the Hyderabad franchise indicating that the 32-year-old was 'unsettled' with the auction money.

"Unfortunately, it has become apparent that the player has been unsettled ever since with the amount he was bought for in the auction, which we cannot rectify due to IPL rules. We value the great contribution that Shikhar has made over the years and saddened that due to financial reasons, he feels it's time to move on," the statement said.

The swap deal will see the trio of Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem switch boats from the Daredevils to the Sunrisers.

#3 Gambhir steps down as Delhi captain

Veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir decided to step down as captain of the Delhi side, ahead of their Ranji Trophy 2018-19 opener. The 37-year-old, in a statement, said that he has decided to hand over the mantle to the younger lot.

Reports state that Nitish Rana will replace him as skipper, starting with the side's first game against Himachal Pradesh.

"Time to pass the captaincy baton to youngsters, hence have requested the DDCA selectors not to consider me for that role. I will be in the background helping the new leader to win games," Gambhir tweeted.

In IPL 2018, he had quit captaincy midway through the season, handing it to Shreyas Iyer the year Gambhir returned to the Delhi setup.

#4 Kings XI Punjab announce new bowling coach

Sridharan Sriram

The Kings XI Punjab seem to be actively rejigging their coaching staff ahead of the IPL 2019 auctions. Days after mentor Virender Sehwag ended his association with the franchise, their bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad has made way for Sridharan Sriram.

The side had earlier replaced Brad Hodge with Mike Hesson as their head coach.

The former Indian spinner Sriram has previously worked with the Delhi Daredevils, and was the assistant coach of the side under Ricky Ponting last season. He has also worked with the Australian team on their tours to India and UAE as a spin consultant.

As a player, he represented the Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore.