Familiar problem surfaces with Virat Kohli closest of fading Fab Four to the end | Geoff Lemon

The once dominant batter is experiencing a Groundhog Day which suggests a mind that is tired of finding solutions

A little over a decade ago, cricket writing became all about the Fab Four. Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, each starting to flourish as Test batters, each clearly the future for their respective national teams. We said they would all go on to captain their countries, and they did, as they kept racking up the hundreds, piling up runs, a kind of transnational pact in relentless quality. Always playing against one another, they were nevertheless joined in their own smaller team, urging one another on, opponents to mediocrity.

These days none is captain any more, with a range of endings to their tenures that span civility to acrimony to scandal. They are all still playing though, elder statesmen in teams that enjoy their presence. Each of them is still the biggest name, the one greeted by most applause when walking to the middle and prompting most excitement from opponents sending them back. None is the team’s best player any longer, but their reputations make it feel as though they are.

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Spoty 2024 is Murray and Anderson’s final farewell and I may sue for severe distress | Emma John

Do you have the Kleenex at the ready? Because the retirement of two British sporting greats is a powerful memento mori

It’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday, so ask yourself: are you prepared for montage season? It’s dangerous to go into these things cold. You never know which clips are going to hijack your limbic system and leave you a gulping, snot-strewn mess. It could be Keely Hodgkinson crossing the line, or Ollie Watkins’ goal in the Euros semi-final, but it may equally be pommel horse guy hugging a Kazakh you’ve never heard of, or Luke Littler eating a squashie. Either way, it’s worth quietly sliding the box of Kleenex within reach of the sofa.

Having spent the last six months therapeutically processing the retirements of Andy Murray and Jimmy Anderson, I know exactly what my triggers are going to be, and if the BBC replay that “Thank you, Andy” video from Wimbledon, I may sue for emotional distress. It’s pretty rare for anyone’s two favourite sportspeople to make their final exits within weeks of each other, but no one consulted me about the scheduling and, as a result, July was a pretty rocky month, thanks for asking.

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Rain delays slow rampant Australia after India lose four early wickets in third Test

Brisbane’s big wet looms as India’s best chance of saving the third Test against Australia, after the tourists slumped to 51-4 after a miserable day three for them at the Gabba.

In between seven rain delays, one aborted start and an early finish due to bad light, Australia were all out for 445 before Mitchell Starc stamped his authority with the ball.

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Cricket commentator Isa Guha apologises for Jasprit Bumrah ‘primate’ comment

  • Guha ‘deeply sorry’ for choosing wrong word to describe India quick
  • ‘Let’s move on,’ Indian cricket great Ravi Shastri says

The respected cricket commentator Isa Guha has issued an apology after she referred to the Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah as a “primate” during the third Test against Australia.

Guha was commentating for Fox Sports during the first session of play on day two of the match in Brisbane when she made the remark.

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Smith steadies Australia and Head puts India to sword on day of two centuries

Steve Smith, Gabba, century. Not a surprising combination of words, for a player with a 10th of his career runs at the venue, one decent innings away from taking that number past 1,000. More surprising given the way that contemporary Smith has been grinding away for a long while without notable success, an engine revving that won’t turn over.

His hundred on day two of the third Test against India on Sunday was his fourth in Brisbane, and could not have been more different to the other three. India in 2014 and Pakistan in 2016 were breezy, boundaries flying, Smith in purple pomp. England in 2017 was a masterpiece of concentration, 326 balls faced, striking at barely 40, batting eight and a half hours to hold together an innings that was slipping away. Never had he worked harder, yet even at its toughest, it still never seemed that he would actually get out. He was so good that success seemed preordained.

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