Ashwin set to return from injury, Pant babysits Paine's kids and more - Cricket News Today, 1st January 2019

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.

Today, the first day of 2018, saw the first cricket match of the year in which as Melbourne Renegades women, thanks to Sophie Molineux's 78, beat their cross-city rivals Melbourne Stars women quite easily by 48 runs in their Women's BBL game.

The Indian team started off the year by meeting the Australian Prime Minister at his residence in Sydney.

Apart from this, a lot of other things happened in the world of cricket over the last 24 hours. Let's take a look at the top news from today.

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Jasprit Bumrah likely be rested during 2019 IPL

Jasprit Bumrah

With the 2019 IPL taking place just before the start of 2019 ICC World Cup, most of the international sides have decided to call back their players midway through the T20 extravaganza to keep them fresh for the 50-over tournament.

But, so far, BCCI is yet to give its stand on the matches their World Cup players will play in the tournament in spite of skipper Virat Kohli expressing his desire to rest some of the players during the IPL. Though the suggestion didn't go well with his deputy Rohit Sharma and former captain MS Dhoni, it looks like skipper Kohli is set to get what he had asked for as the BCCI is considering to speak to the franchises about the participation of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL.

In a chat with PTI, a BCCI source revealed that the board will get all the ample data regarding the workload of Jasprit Bumrah before having a word with his IPL side so that he is used properly during the IPL and is fresh for the World Cup.

"For someone of Virat’s stature, he can take a call himself and discuss with his franchise about his workload. However, for Bumrah, the Indian team’s support staff will need to prepare all the relevant data so that we can have a discussion with MI if the situation arises. Obviously, if he is fit, he will play all important matches for MI but in between, with such a hectic travel schedule during IPL, it will be great if he is rested keeping the World Cup in mind," the official said.

Australian pacers likely to be rested for ODI series

The Aussie pace trio of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc

With an eye towards the 2019 ICC World Cup and the Ashes that follows the global event, the Australians are not willing to take risk with the fitness of their pacers as coach Justin Langer has hinted that the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins could be rested for the upcoming three-match ODI series against India that gets underway in Sydney on January 12.

“It’s the great conundrum for us, really, how we manage our bowlers. For example, we might not play them in the next three one-dayers so they’re ready for the next two (Tests) to keep them fresh," Langer was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

The Australia coach added, "He (Cummins) has been brilliant, he’s been outstanding but then – as soon as we do that they want to play and also then everyone else would be on our back saying: ‘Why aren’t they playing every single game?’ But if you play every game – we’ve also got a World Cup and Ashes next year – we want him fresh for those things.”

Ravichandran Ashwin set to return from injury

R Ashwin

The Indian team management might have got some welcome news on the New Year's day as off-spinner R Ashwin has resumed his training ahead of the fourth Test against Australia that gets underway at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.

While today was an off day for the Indians, Ashwin was seen sweating it out in the indoor nets at the SCG. He was accompanied by physio Patrick Farhart and trainer Shankar Basu to the SCG to check whether he is fine to go or not.

According to reports in ESPNcricinfo, the session on Tuesday saw the trio spent more than an hour in the nets but it is not yet clear whether it is the official fitness test or not. A final call on Ashwin's inclusion is expected to be made on the morning of the match.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh fail to get direct entry for 2020 T20 World Cup Super 12s

No direct entry for Lasith Malinga's Sri Lanka

On the very first day of a brand new year, the ICC have announced that eight teams have secured a direct entry to the Super 12s of the 2020 T20 World Cup which will be held in Australia next year.

Apart from hosts Australia, former champions Pakistan, India, England, two-time champions West Indies, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan have earned direct berths to the Super 12s of the 2020 T20 World Cup.

With only the top eight teams in the current ICC T20I rankings gaining direct entries for the Super 12 stage, former champions Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have missed out on a place in the tournament.

However, they can still qualify to the T20 global event by fighting it out six other teams in the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in 2019. As many as four teams from the qualifiers will join the eight teams that have already gained direct entry to the tournament.

Rishabh Pant babysits Tim Paine's kids

Classy act from Rishabh Pant

The on-field banter between Australian captain Tim Paine and Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has turned reality as Pant, who was asked to babysit Tim's kids by Tim himself so that he can take his wife out for a movie, met Tim's wife Bonne Paine and his kids ahead of the fourth and final Test match in Sydney.

On her Instagram story, Bonne shared a picture of Pant hold her kids and had a caption "Best babysitter with a laughing smiley and tagged the Indian international in it. Both Tim Paine and Pant exchanged banters and took a dig at each other during the third Test at MCG. It is good to see Pant keep the banter on the field and meet Paine's family and "babysit" his kids.