December 4 was an eventful day in the cricketing world, with news coming in from different quarters of the globe. Round 5 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy saw stars like Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson deliver some standout performances while old guns like Abhimanyu Easwaran proved he’s still got it. joe Root slammed a century in Australia, saving England of the blushes in the 2nd Ashes Test. On that note, let’s take a look at top headlines of the day from December 4 (Thursday).
Hardik Pandya to join Team India
Hardik Pandya has passed his domestic test with flying colours. And after just two matches for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, BCCI has recalled him. Initially, Pandya was slated to play three matches for Baroda, with the last match against Haryana on December 6. However, instead, BCCI has asked him to report to Cuttack on the same day for the IND vs SA T20 series. Read more here.
Root slams maiden 100 in Australia
Joe Root did score his maiden Ashes ton in Australia, as he raised his bat in front on the Gabba crowd, on the first day of the 2nd Test. Apart from being his first in the country, this also happens to be his 40th in Tests, and 59th overall. In addition to that, this is his fourth in 2025, which just goes on to show, the kind of year he has had. Read more here.
SMAT round 5
So, yet another round of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy finished on Thursday, and largely the results remained on the expected lines. But that said, one of the biggest surprises of the day was, Kerala beating Mumbai in the 6th round. Take a look at the round-up here.
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Starc surpasses Wasim Akram
Australia pacer Mitchell Starc is the most successful pacer in Test history, albeit, when it comes to the left-handers. On Thursday, during the first day of the 2nd Ashes Test, the 35-year-old became the most prolific, one-in-a-kind pacer, when he surpassed Wasim Akram’s tally of 412 Test wickets, after getting the wicket of England’s Harry Brook. Read more here.
Lyon’s explosive rant
Why would you drop a player of Nathan Lyon‘s caliber, who has 562 wickets in 140 Tests, and this year has 24 in 7 matches in 2025. Even the bowler does not have this answer. And it seems, due to the same reason, all is not well between Lyon and selector George Bailey. Lyon revealed, that he did not know about the exclusion from the playing XI until half an hour before the match. Read more here.
Inglis to be available for IPL 2026
After a last-minute release from PBKS squad, Josh Inglis has entered the IPL 2026 Auction, which is set to take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16. PBKS released Inglis after head coach Ricky Ponting confirmed that he would not be available for most parts of IPL 2026 in March-May. However, despite that, Inglis has registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore. But he will be available for only 4 matches or about two weeks. Read more here.
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