Feb 13: India vs England, 2nd Test, Chennai

Our XI: Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Chesteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Dom Bess, Jack Leach

Substitutes: Rohit Sharma, Washington Sundar, Dom Sibley, Stuart Broad

Player availability: Axar Patel is likely to replace Shahbaz Nadeem. Jos Buttler is unavailable for the rest of the series and Ben Foakes should replace him. Stuart Broad may come in place of James Anderson.

We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so please finalise your team after the toss.

Captain: Joe Root
The England captain's first-innings scores of 228, 186, and 218 in his last three Tests make him a certain captaincy choice. His average of 60.44 against spin in Asia shows he is an extremely good player of spin.

Vice-captain: Virat Kohli
In his last two outings, he recorded 74 against Australia and 72 against England. A century, however, has eluded him since the start of 2020 and this could be the game he achieves it. He has scored three 200-plus scores in his last ten home Tests.

Hot Picks
R Ashwin: India's highest-ranked Test bowler and the only spinner in the top ten Test bowlers, Ashwin bowled splendidly in the last game, where he picked up nine wickets. At his home ground Chepauk, he has played 15 first-class matches, taking a staggering 90 wickets with nine five-fors.

Ben Stokes: The ICC 2019 Player of the Year and the current top-ranked Test all-rounder Ben Stokes is a must-have in your team. He kickstarted his last India Test tour with a century and had a memorable series where he scored 345 runs and picked up a five-wicket haul. Much like last time around, he started the 2021-22 tour with a brilliant 82 and dismissed Kohli in the second innings.

Rishabh Pant: For a wicketkeeper-batsman, he is the highest-ranked batter in Test cricket at the moment. Even though he missed a game, he is the leading run-scorer for India with 376 runs in four Tests after the resumption of cricket following the Covid-19 pandemic-enforced hiatus.

Differential Picks
Jack Leach: His debut game in India started on an underwhelming note after Pant went after him early in the first innings. However, he came back with gusto to end up with six wickets in the game. He might not be as effective in the first innings, but his second-innings figures of 5 for 122, 4 for 59 and 4 for 76 in his last three outings make him a strong contender.

Shubman Gill: Three half-centuries in his first four Tests make 21-year-old Gill a compelling pick. He is yet to go big and this could be the game to show that. He has done that in first-class cricket where he has recorded three 200-plus scores in the last three years (all with strike rates over 70)

Alternate Scenarios

• Sibley can replace Ollie Pope.
• Ashwin and Stokes are the alternate choices for captaincy.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Tennis fans will be locked out of the Australian Open from 11:59 p.m. local time Friday (7:59 a.m. ET) as the state of Victoria prepares for a five-day lockdown amid a growing COVID-19 cluster in the city's outer suburbs.

The state's outbreak began at the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport last week, and has now risen to 13 cases -- five of which were locally acquired on Thursday. All cases at the hotel are presumed to be the UK strain of the coronavirus, which is proving to be highly contagious and more difficult to contain than the original variant.

On Friday morning, with the state's active case tally standing at 19, the Victorian Cabinet met and decided the safest course of action was to return to Stage 4 restrictions and place the state back into lockdown, for a minimum of five days, meaning fans will be unable to attend the Australian Open until at least the quarterfinal stage in Week 2.

"The UK strain is moving at a velocity that has not been seen anywhere in our country, and this is the advice I have been given by our health experts," Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews said during a news conference on Friday. "In terms of how the tennis will comply, I will let them speak, [but] sporting events will function as a workplace but not for entertainment because there will be no crowds."

"I understand that many people will be concerned and anxious, but I am confident that if we stick together this short, sharp circuit breaker will be effective. I want to be here next Wednesday announcing that these restrictions are coming off."

The Stage 4 restrictions mean there are only four reasons for Victorians to leave their homes. They are to give or receive medical care, to shop for essential goods or services; to work or study (if you can't from home) and exercise, for a maximum of two hours per day. Crucially, professional athletes have been defined as "essential athletes," meaning the Australian Open, and other professional sporting leagues and events can continue.

Panic around the state had set in Thursday when Brunetti cafe at Melbourne Airport's Terminal 4 was added to the Tier 1 exposure-site list, after a newly confirmed positive case of the virus was present at the location for more than eight hours on Tuesday afternoon.

Melbourne Airport confirmed 29 domestic flights arrived and departed the terminal during the period, before a deep clean of the area was conducted overnight.

The lockdown announcement is a significant blow for Tennis Australia, which has already faced backlash over its "hard quarantine" of international player arrivals last month, in addition to having to deal with a daily attendance cap of 30,000 through the first week.

Victorian residents are familiar with life in lockdown. Between July and October last year, the state was placed into hard lockdown as it battled its second wave of COVID-19. The state's active cases peaked on Aug. 7 at 6,769, but the number dipped below triple figures on Oct. 17, allowing the Australian Open to take place, albeit a month later than originally scheduled.

Last September's US Open in New York was played behind closed doors while the following month's French Open permitted just 1,000 spectators per day.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Golden State Warriors rookie center James Wiseman will be out at least another week as he recovers from a sprained left wrist. Wiseman, who was initially injured in a win over the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 30, will be reevaluated in seven to 10 days, according to the team.

"He had imaging done [Wednesday] which came out fine, so he's healing," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said prior to Thursday's game against the Orlando Magic. "Unfortunately, he still has pain, so as long as there's pain in the wrist, we have to keep him back. So we have to just watch him over the next week and see how he does and hopefully the pain will subside."

The Warriors were hopeful Wiseman would miss only a week or two because of the injury, but the continued pain in the 19-year-old's wrist has changed the trajectory of his return.

"He's getting individual workouts right now," Kerr said. "He's been doing that the last couple of days, but without much contact with the ball in that hand. So he's sort of doing one-armed workouts, if you will. The good thing is he's able to get on the bike and run up and down the floor and keep his conditioning, but the concern would be that the pain, if he were to reinjure it, now you're lengthening the time that he has pain, which makes him more susceptible for a longer layoff. So the doctor just wants us to be careful with the pain, but he said that the wrist is healing well."

The latest news on Wiseman stings a little more given that veteran center Kevon Looney, who replaced Wiseman in the starting lineup on Jan. 25, has been out since spraining his left ankle on Feb. 2 in a loss to the Boston Celtics. The Warriors originally expected Looney to miss at least two weeks, but Kerr is happy with the way his rehab is coming along.

"Loon looks great," Kerr said. "We'll reevaluate at the two-week mark, but just from a physical standpoint, he looks lean. He's been doing everything possible to keep himself moving and in shape, but he looked really good today and it was good to see him. We missed Loon on the trip and hopefully we'll have good news next week, but we'll see how it goes."

Given that the Warriors have been playing without Marquese Chriss for almost the entire season after the backup center injured an ankle during practice in the first week of the season, Kerr was asked if the organization would consider adding another big man as it continues playing without Wiseman and Looney in the short-term future.

"We're not looking to do anything," he said.

Free-agent infielder Marwin Gonzalez has agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan on Thursday.

Gonzalez, 31, spent the past two seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He hit .211 with five home runs and 22 RBIs last year in a pandemic-shortened schedule.

Before his stint in Minnesota, he played seven seasons with the Houston Astros. His best season was in 2017, when he hit .303/.377/.530 with 23 homers and 90 RBIs and helped the team win the World Series.

A switch-hitter known for his defensive versatility, Gonzalez played first base, second base, third base and right field for the Twins last season.

Boston's agreement with Gonzalez, which was first reported by MLB.com, comes a day after the Red Sox traded Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals in a three-team deal that yielded outfielder Franchy Cordero and two players to be named later.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' landmark agreement with Trevor Bauer has been met with clear reservation, and in some instances disdain, by some of the team's fans, none of which involves his projected on-field performance. Bauer's boundless social media activity includes instances that have prompted accusations of online bullying, two of which involved women who became subject to harassment by Bauer's followers. He has made an anti-transgender joke -- something he subsequently denied doing consciously -- and has dismissed sensitivities around the Cleveland Indians' logo, prompting questions about his fit within a liberal market and inside a tight-knit clubhouse that has become increasingly socially conscious.

Bauer, signed to a three-year, $102 million contract with opt-outs throughout, said Thursday that he is evolving.

"All the conversations I've had with people across all walks of life over the last couple of years and all the things I've learned -- I can say that I have learned from those," Bauer said after being presented with his No. 27 jersey during a virtual news conference from Dodger Stadium. "I've spent a lot of time talking to other people to try to understand other perspectives, and I'm doing my best to be better, as I do in all walks of my life. I don't think that it makes any sense to dive into specific issues in this forum, but I am committed to being better on social media, being better on the field, being better in the clubhouse, being better in life in general."

Bauer, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, was by far the best free-agent starting pitcher this offseason. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman showed interest from the onset, knowing Bauer was one of few available pitchers -- and the only one who wouldn't cost prospects -- who could realistically improve a rotation that was already one of the league's best.

After three months of highs and lows, Friedman went to bed the night before Bauer made his decision believing the Dodgers were out of the running. It was last Thursday, and Bauer had narrowed his free agency to his hometown Dodgers and the free-spending New York Mets. Bauer woke up at 6 a.m. on Friday still uncertain and spent most of the next five hours on the phone with his agent, his financial adviser and his father debating the merits of both teams. The Dodgers, with the blessing of owner Mark Walter, upped their offer in the final hours, setting up Bauer to be the highest-paid baseball player ever in 2021 and 2022.

Six days later, while addressing the vetting process, Friedman said, "There's some stuff that's more public with Trevor that definitely was something that we wanted to dig into."

"The most important thing is every teammate we talked to, all the feedback we got from every organization he was with, was not only incredibly positive in terms of the type of teammate he is, but also in terms of the impact that he makes on each organization," Friedman said when asked whether he believes he might have alienated some of the team's fans by signing Bauer. "I think the talent is pretty obvious. But I also think that from a cultural standpoint, from continuing to strive to get better at everything we do, I actually think he is gonna be a tremendous asset in that. It's not for me to speak for Trevor, but in our conversations he's alluded to past mistakes he's made. And you know what, we're all gonna make mistakes. What's important for me is how people -- including myself, when I make mistakes -- is how we internalize it, and what our thoughts are about it going forward. From our standpoint, it was important to have that conversation. And we came away from it feeling good about it. Now, obviously, time will tell. But I feel like he is going to be a tremendous add, not just on the field but in the clubhouse, in the community, and that's obviously why we're sitting here."

Bauer has been lauded for his competitiveness and work ethic. His unconventional training methods were once denounced and now seem revolutionary. He is as passionate about engaging with fans as any player and has made sizable charitable donations.

But he also had public fallouts with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Indians, and has taken pointed shots at agent Scott Boras, commissioner Rob Manfred and the Houston Astros. More seriously, his responses to subtle jabs on Twitter have put people in the crosshairs of his followers and led to harassment. In January 2019, Bauer retaliated at a college student enough for her to say she felt harassed by Bauer and his followers and "cried daily." Eight months later, he got into another Twitter conflict with a New York-based media member who later wrote that she "had death threats and Holocaust jokes in my mentions for months after he went after me."

"Everyone makes mistakes in the past," Bauer said. "I try to learn from them. I try to learn as quickly as I possibly can, try to understand other people's viewpoints on things and be better in the future. I think if you look at my history as a baseball player, my history on social media, my history as a person, for those who know me well, they'll see that I apply that process to everything that I do. I'm committed to doing that moving forward, as well. And ultimately I'm here to be a positive impact on anyone that I can be, both in the community, in the clubhouse, on the field, at the stadium, whatever the case is."

Bauer, 30, attended high school 33 miles from Dodger Stadium and won the Golden Spikes Award at nearby UCLA, prompting him to go third overall among a loaded draft class in 2011. Outside of a breakout season in 2018, Bauer had performed mostly like a reliable mid-rotation starter through his first five full seasons in the major leagues, posting a 3.96 ERA while averaging 186 innings. But Bauer finished the shortened 2020 season with a 1.73 ERA that was topped only by Shane Bieber and landed within the top five in WHIP (0.79), strikeout percentage (36.0) and opponents' OPS (.522).

Bauer said joining the Dodgers was "a long time coming" and recalled how he used to sit in the left-field bleachers listening to Vin Scully on the radio.

Adding Bauer will push the Dodgers well past the 2021 luxury-tax threshold, but Friedman said it would not impact the team's ability to re-sign Justin Turner or add another right-handed hitter.

The move marks only the second time that a reigning Cy Young Award winner has joined the reigning World Series champions, the other being Roger Clemens with the New York Yankees in 1999. Bauer probably won't fulfill his desire to pitch every fourth day, but he'll join a rotation that is legitimately seven-deep, with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, David Price, Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin.

Baseball Prospectus' projections tool, PECOTA, has the Dodgers on track for a major-league-best 103 wins in 2021.

"It wasn't about the money for me," Bauer said. "It's about being a part of something that's bigger than myself. Being part of an organization that can win. I want to win a World Series. I've come in second in both college and the big leagues. I'm tired of it, so I want to come in first."

CLEVELAND -- Speedy free-agent outfielder Billy Hamilton has agreed to a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Thursday night.

Hamilton, who spent last season with the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs, will also receive an invitation to big league training camp, the person said on condition of anonymity because the contract can't be finalized until medical tests are completed.

The 30-year-old Hamilton will be added to a congested outfield competition for the Indians, who are trying to upgrade a problem area over the past few seasons.

Cleveland signed former Minnesota slugger Eddie Rosario to an $8 million, one-year deal last week, but he appears to be the only player guaranteed a starting spot. Earlier on Thursday, the Indians and veteran Ben Gamel agreed to a minor league deal with a camp invitation.

Hamilton has a .241 career batting over eight seasons, six with the Cincinnati Reds. He has also played for Kansas City and Atlanta.

Hamilton would bring the Indians some speed. He stole at least 56 bases for the Reds each season from 2014 to 2017.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket parts retailer and the official auto parts retailer of NASCAR, and Team Penske have announced a unique activation around the No. 12 Ford Mustang driven by Ryan Blaney in the NASCAR Cup Series.

During the season, Advance will use its associate sponsorship of the No. 12 Ford to showcase NASCAR-sanctioned local short tracks across the United States and Canada that are part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.

Each week, up to two different Weekly Series tracks will be featured on Blaney’s car, alongside Advance’s iconic checkered-flag logo. The activation begins this week, as New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., will ride shotgun on Blaney’s No. 12 at the Daytona International Speedway.

Additionally, for every Ryan Blaney victory, the NASCAR Weekly Series track(s) featured on his car will each receive $1,200 to be used for track operations, local track driver winnings, or supporting a charity of the track’s choosing.

Advance will continue its sponsorship of Team Penske’s No. 12 Ford in four races this season: at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race on March 28, Darlington Raceway on May 9, Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 11 and the night race at Richmond on September 11. The company is entering the second season of a multi-year agreement with Team Penske.

“We are delighted to partner with Team Penske to advance local racing through this activation,” said Jason McDonell, Advance’s chief marketing officer. “We believe this program will create a sense of pride with each of NASCAR’s local tracks while drawing more attention to the vital role these tracks play in their communities. We proudly support Ryan and Team Penske and look forward to celebrating in victory lane with Ryan this season.”

“Every driver in the Cup Series garage got their start racing locally on short tracks, so it’s meaningful for me to carry the flag with Advance Auto Parts to represent NASCAR’s local tracks on my No. 12 Ford,” said Blaney. “I look forward to being part of this program, winning races and benefiting a lot of short tracks in the process.”

BROWNSBURG, Ind. – Don Schumacher Racing officials have announced that NAPA Auto Parts has extended its sponsorship agreement with the team.

Ron Capps will continue to pilot the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car during the upcoming NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

“Our relationship with NAPA is extremely important, and we’re thrilled to continue to fly the NAPA flag,” said team owner Don Schumacher. “They’ve been tremendous supporters of Ron and DSR, and we’re very proud to have partnered with them for so many years. We look forward to delivering more wins for NAPA in 2021.”

“NAPA is excited to be starting our 14th season as the primary sponsor for DSR and Ron Capps,” said Kevin Herron, president, US Automotive. “Having a team and a brand ambassador, like Ron Capps, who understands our business, our employees, and our customers, makes them a valuable resource in helping to build upon the 95 years of NAPA brand equity. Looking forward to great success on and off the track in 2021.”

Tuning Capps’ 11,000-horsepower NAPA Dodge throughout the 2021 season will be decorated co-crew chiefs and longtime DSR team members, Dean Antonelli and John Medlen, who have replaced former NAPA crew chief Rahn Tobler following his retirement announcement last month.

“I’m excited to team up with Guido and John,” explained Capps. “Guido and I go way back. In 1995 during my rookie season in Top Fuel, I was also a crew guy on that car and would drive the truck to each event. Guido was a crew guy on (John) Force’s team at the time and he was also a truck driver, so we would follow each other in the trucks from race to race, and ended up hanging out quite a bit away from the race track. As for John Medlen, there is little more that needs to be said. He is someone who is just so knowledgeable and so much fun to be around. And we have familiarity; this won’t be our first time working together. He was my crew chief for a bit back in 2010 and we won Sonoma together that year. It was a very emotional win given the Medlen family’s history with that track, and that win remains one of the highlights of my career.

“I am extremely confident that the NAPA Dodge will be parked in the winner’s circle very early in the season. As we’ve seen over the past few years, they have a very, very good race car,” added Capps of Antonelli and Medlen’s nine triumphs since joining forces as co-crew chiefs in 2017.

“Ron has been both a fierce opponent and great teammate, and now we have the privilege of having him wheel our hot rod,” explained Antonelli. “It means the world to John and myself to have been selected to be a part of the NAPA family. We had a pretty good car last year with Jack (Beckman), but left a little on the table. We have made a few changes in the off-season to get that ‘last little bit’ so we can make sure we’re running for the championship this year.”

Capps’ 330-mph Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat will continue to sport the familiar blue and yellow branding of NAPA, but this year’s livery is extra special because certain design details were chosen by Capps’ fans via social media.

“One of the coolest things was having NAPA ask me to help design our paint scheme back in 2019. It’s not very often a driver gets to be involved in the design process, and we had a lot of fun with it. Well, they asked me to do it again this year, and I actually took it one step further and posted some of the design options on social media and asked the fans to help me choose our paint scheme. The response was overwhelming, and I’m excited for the fans to see our car for the first time since they had a hand in designing it. I think it looks awesome.”

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – There has been a change in the opening venue of the season for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.

Originally slated to begin in Arizona, management changes at Canyon Speedway Park have caused the cancellation of events on Feb. 26-27. Local event restrictions at other facilities kept the tour from moving the event to another location.

The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif., will be the site of the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network opener on March 5-6. A new stop for the National Tour, the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park, will be the seventh California oval to host the series.

Four overall events are scheduled on the California swing with the series returning to Stone Chevrolet, Buick, GMC Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare for the first time since 2011 on Friday, March 12 and Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford on Saturday, March 13; a track that has been absent from National Tour competition since 2012.

Nine overall events in the month of March, rounds five and six will be the Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals in Mesquite, Texas on Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20, with the series making a first-time visit to Superbowl Speedway in Greenville, Texas for Round 7 on Thursday, March 25 with the month closing out on Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27 at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chandler Smith got his full-time association with Kyle Busch Motorsports off to a flying start by leading the way during NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice Thursday evening.

Smith topped the charts during the lone 50-minute session with a time of 47.458 seconds (189.641 mph) on his first of 11 laps around the 2.5-mile Daytona Int’l Speedway.

The Jasper, Ga., teenager will chase the Truck Series title this season in the No. 18 Toyota Tundra, as well as his first victory during Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250.

Toyota dominated the day in the Truck Series’ return to the race track, as the manufacturer occupied nine of the top 10 positions at the end of practice Thursday, including a sweep of the top-eight spots.

Smith was trailed on the speed charts by a pair of former Truck Series winners at Daytona.

Austin Hill, driving the No. 16 Toyota Tundra for Hattori Racing Enterprises, was second-quick at 47.465 seconds (189.613 mph). He won the Daytona Truck Series opener two years ago.

Johnny Sauter landed third-fastest (47.477/189.565) in the No. 13 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing, which returned to Toyota this season after three years of fielding Ford F-150s in the Truck Series.

Young guns Drew Dollar and John Hunter Nemechek were fourth and fifth, respectively, for KBM.

Three-time series champion Matt Crafton finished the evening sixth on the board, just ahead of Stewart Friesen and his ThorSport teammate, Grant Enfinger.

Ninth-ranked David Gilliland, driving a Ford F-150, was the first non-Toyota driver in the order, while Ben Rhodes placed 10th to put all four ThorSport Racing entries inside the top 10 for the day.

Ryan Truex was the highest Chevrolet driver in Truck Series practice, sitting 11th on the scoring pylon in the No. 40 Niece Motorsports Silverado.

Notables deeper in the order included 2018 series champion Brett Moffitt (12th), 2012 champion James Buescher (14th), reigning championship runner-up Zane Smith (16th) and defending titlist Sheldon Creed (25th).

Hailie Deegan, making her first Truck Series appearance at Daytona, was 28th quickest.

Qualifying for the NextEra Energy Resources 250 takes place at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon, live on FS1.