Aiden Markram has been ruled out of the third Test against India after fracturing his right wrist as he lashed out at solid object in frustration following his second-innings' dismissal in the Pune Test.

Markram was given out lbw for a duck by the on-field umpire, and after a consultation with his opening partner Dean Elgar, he chose not to review the decision. However, replays showed the ball would have missed the leg stump.

"A CT scan of Aiden Markram's wrist showed a fracture involving the wrist bones," team doctor Hashendra Ramjee said in a press release. "The medical team has therefore ruled him out of the next Test match against India. Arrangements have been made for him to see a specialist on his return to South Africa for further management of the injury."

Markram has had a mixed tour of India. While he scored two hundreds in the practice games, he couldn't carry forward his form into the Test series. After scoring 5 and 39 in the first Test in Visakhapatnam, he was dismissed for a pair in Pune.

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The 25-year-old opener accepted he had let his team down with the manner he hurt himself.

"It's sad to be going home on this note and I completely understand what I've done wrong and take full accountability for it," Markram said via the press release. "It's unacceptable in a Proteas environment and to let the team down is what hurts me the most. I've learned a lot from this and the other players I'm sure, have learned from it as well.

"We understand in sport that emotions run high and sometimes the frustration gets the better of you as it did for me, but like I said, it's no excuse. I've taken full responsibility for it, I have apologised to the team and hopefully I can make it up to them and the people of South Africa soon."

Earlier this week, Mitchell Marsh too had fractured his right hand after punching the dressing room wall at the WACA following his dismissal in the Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.

Markram left for South Africa On Thursday morning. The team management hasn't called up any replacement. The third Test starts on October 19 in Ranchi.

LOS ANGELES -- Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green believes that poorly run organizations don't get nearly enough blame when top draft picks don't pan out.

Green, who has developed into one of the league's most respected players after being selected in the second round of the 2012 draft by the Warriors, went on a passionate defense Wednesday night of Marquese Chriss when the topic of his NBA viability was brought up. Chriss has bounced around the league since being the eighth pick in the 2016 draft.

"Yeah, I don't think there was ever a doubt that he was a legitimate NBA player," Green said after the Warriors' 126-93 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. "I think everyone was just kind of waiting on him to turn that corner. He seems like he's turning the corner. I think he's been in some pretty tough situations. No one ever blames the situation, though. It's always the kid. No one ever blames these s---ty franchises."

Chriss was selected by the Sacramento Kings before being dealt to the Phoenix Suns. He spent two seasons with the Suns before short stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets. Chriss signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Warriors just before training camp and has had a strong preseason and opened a lot of eyes within the organization. Although nothing is official yet, Chriss appears to have earned a spot on the Warriors' 14-man, hard-capped roster as they continue to deal with injuries to their big men.

"[People] always want to blame the kid," Green continued. "It's not always the kid's fault. He's getting older now, so he's not a kid anymore. But he came into this league as a kid, but it's never the organization's fault. It's always that guy. So I'm happy he's gotten the opportunity show what he can really do because it's a prime example. But no one will still blame any organizations. It'll always be the kid's fault, and it will be the next kid that comes in's fault and the next kid after that. So I'm happy he's gotten this opportunity."

Asked why organizations don't get blamed more, Green pointed to how the media covers the league.

"Because you're friends with them," Green said. "And you want all the access from them. So the way you guys will come out and bash players, you don't do that to organizations because it's all about access and protecting your future. No one really protects these younger guys' future because it's all about what can I do for myself. So no one talks about the organizations. It's always just the player, player, player because they can't do shit about it but be young and their name carries no weight and then be out of the league and onto the next thing. So that's what I think it is. No Phoenix writer is going to bash the Phoenix Suns. But let's be frank about it: When he was there, the organization was terrible. Everything was going wrong, but he get blamed like he's the problem. When he left, ain't nothing go right. So that's my take on it."

Warriors guard D'Angelo Russell, who was selected with the second pick in the 2015 draft and dealt with his own ups and downs with the Lakers before finding a better rhythm with the Brooklyn Nets the past two seasons, agreed with Green's assessment.

"It's the business of the league," Russell said. "It's all I got to say."

The Warriors are hoping that Chriss, at 22 years old, can provide some stability as the rest of their injured big men get healthy. Both Kevon Looney (hamstring) and Willie Cauley-Stein (foot) have been sidelined with injuries throughout camp, giving Chriss more of an opportunity to shine. Warriors coach Steve Kerr is hopeful that Looney will be ready for next week's season opener against the LA Clippers, but Cauley-Stein is expected to miss several more weeks. Omari Spellman missed Wednesday's game after tweaking his back, but that injury isn't believed to be serious.

LOS ANGELES -- Anthony Davis scanned the halftime stats Wednesday night in his debut playing at Staples Center in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform and noticed an uneven equation: He had only six points on 2-for-4 shooting, yet the Lakers were up 26 points on the Golden State Warriors.

He told LeBron James it was the first time in a while that has happened for him.

"It takes a load off me," Davis said after the Lakers' 126-93 win -- their third in three tries against the Warriors this preseason. "It feels good knowing that you don't have to do much, everybody has a role, and when you have guys all over the board who can score the basketball, you don't need to do everything every possession."

He might not have needed to, but Davis did plenty just the same, finishing with 8 points, 8 assists, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks in his first game action since spraining his right thumb in the first quarter of a game against the Brooklyn Nets in China last weekend.

"He has seen multiple defenders for seven straight years in New Orleans. He is able to read the defense. He can create for himself any time," said James, who led L.A. with 18 points and 11 assists in 25 minutes. "There are not many guys in our league that can affect the game the way AD does. He can score, rebound and pass. He just does it at a high level."

L.A.'s offense was sharp all night, racking up 33 assists on 49 made field goals as it shot 59.8% from the field, including 50% from 3 (15-for-30).

Four other Lakers scored in double digits, led by Avery Bradley with 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting (4-for-5 from 3). Dwight Howard scored 13, JaVale McGee scored 12 and Quinn Cook scored 16 points in 15 minutes off the bench, playing for the first time this preseason because of a calf strain.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel says he believes that nights like Wednesday will continue for James and Davis during the season, with each of them leaning on the other to reduce their workloads.

"It doesn't always have to always go through LeBron like it has with teams past, and it doesn't always have to go through AD," Vogel said. "Quite frankly, even when those guys are out, I love the role players that we have and their ability to carry the load as well. Whether it's two lob threats, and playing the spread game. We've got a number of shooters out there that make you pay when force help, and there's a lot of experience on our club, so hopefully the usage and workload will be spread out."

James was asked how he felt about Davis easing his responsibilities as he enters his 17th season months away from his 35th birthday.

"My perspective, personally? It sounds good. It sounds good," James said. "I saw a stat earlier today where I have 7,000 miles more than Vince Carter or something like that. He's like seven years older than me."

Not that James is complaining.

"I'm born to have workload," he said. "It is who I am, both on and off the floor."

In less than a week, that workload will intensify, with the start of the regular season against the LA Clippers on Tuesday.

The Lakers are inviting what comes next.

"We are just playing together, playing for each other," Davis said. "It's going to be a fun year, the way we are moving the basketball, the way we are playing defensively, helping each other out. It is going to be fun. We know it takes all of us to win. We are trying to set a standard right now."

Trevor Bayliss' hunt for more trophies continues with the former World Cup-winning coach of England unveiled as the man in charge of the Abu Dhabi franchise in the T10 league. He will have a familiar face for company with allrounder Moeen Ali announced as the side's marquee player at the tournament draft held on Wednesday.

The T10 league is into its third season and is set to be played between November 15 to 24. Eight teams will take part in the competition including three that have been newly formed: Team Abu Dhabi, Qalandars, who signed former Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi as their icon player last month, and Bangla Tigers, who picked up 2015 World Cup-winner James Faulkner. He last played for Australia in October 2017.

There is a strong English presence in the T10 league this season with Somerset's new sensation Tom Banton, often compared to Kevin Pietersen and mentored by Marcus Trescothick, picked up by the Qalandars. Eoin Morgan, who became the first England captain to win a 50-over World Cup, is an icon player with Delhi Bulls (a rebranding of the Bengal Tigers team which took part in the 2018 T10 league) and he will have the assistance of legspinner Adil Rashid, who played a key part of the revolution that culminated with an ICC trophy. Former England head coach Andy Flower is at the helm of the Maratha Arabians franchise, who chose Australia's T20 specialist Chris Lynn as their icon player.

Most short-form tournaments become a hub for West Indian players and this one is no different. Darren Sammy, the two-time T20 World Cup winner lines up for Northern Warriors. His team took the trophy home the T10 league last season. West Indies' current white-ball cricket captain, Kieron Pollard, was picked up by Deccan Gladiators (previously the team called Sindhis) while Marlon Samuels will partner former South Africa batsman Hashim Amla and Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane at Karnataka Tuskers.

Pakistan also had solid representation with fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who retired from Test cricket to focus on the white-ball formats, finding a place with the Arabians. Allrounders Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez are part of the Qalandars, who have close links with their Pakistan Super League (PSL) namesake Lahore Qalandars. Young fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain and the now retired (from internationals) allrounder Shoaib Malik were picked up by the Bulls.

There was no Indian picked up at the draft but the UAE-based publication, National, reported that the T10 league is in talks with a very big name. "Yuvraj Singh is almost there," tournament chairman Shaji Ul Mulk said. "We hope to make an announcement soon. We are in the final stages of negotiations with him.

"This season, we are limited by the BCCI's policy of having only retired India players in leagues outside India." Harbhajan Singh recently took his name out of consideration from the Hundred for the same reason.

The early seasons of the T10 league had issues with corruption. This year they have shifted base from Sharjah to Abu Dhabi and claim that the ICC will be involved in dealing with it.

"We have always had a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to corruption." Shaji Ul Mulk was quoted as saying by the National. "The whole monitoring of the tournament has been done by the ICC. We have outsourced anti-corruption and dope testing to the ICC. All key elements are outsourced to the ICC."

One of MS Dhoni's defining attributes is his ability to stay ice cool when the spotlight is on him.

We saw it early in his captaincy when he had to navigate past the noise that came with the retirement of senior players such as Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. Then came Chennai Super Kings' suspension due to misdemeanours outside the cricket field, and Dhoni - once again under the pressure of the public to react - offered pretty much nothing to the world while dealing with it. And now, at 38 and with his final years approaching, Dhoni has revealed the secret behind his mental strength, and it involves channelling one's emotions correctly.

"I am like everyone else but I control my emotions better than some of the other individuals," Dhoni, making an appearance at a commercial event, was quoted as saying by PTI. "I would say, I feel equally frustrated. I also feel angry at times, disappointed. But what is important is that none of these feelings are constructive.

"What needs to be done right now is more important than any of these emotions. What is the next thing I can plan? Who is the next individual whom I can use? Once I get into it, I am controlling my emotions in a much better way."

Dhoni was making his first commercial appearance since the loss at the World Cup semi-final in July. Under his captaincy, India won three ICC tournaments, but since their triumph at the 2013 Champions Trophy, the the team has been trophy-less. Ganguly, the BCCI president-elect, too brought up the issue of an empty cabinet even though the team had played in five ICC tournaments since then.

India did make it to the semi-final of each event and are currently preparing for the T20 World Cup in October 2020. Dhoni felt success there will depend on the team thinking like a team, throwing back to a moment from the 2007 T20 World Cup win when he made a crucial but unconventional call to use two part-timers in Robin Uthappa and Virender Sehwag in the group stage 'bowl-out' victory over Pakistan in the group stage.

"What you want to achieve as a team is to win the tournament but that's a long-term goal," he said. "Ultimately, what you do is to break it into smaller things. And It's not always about few of the individuals performing a lot better than the whole lot. What you want is for everybody to contribute. That one wicket at that right moment, that outstanding catch.

"Ultimately, winning or losing comes to each and every individual who is part of the team. In a team sport, everybody has a role and responsibility. Throughout the [2007] T20 World Cup, the roles and responsibilities given to individuals was fulfilled to the best manner possible. That was the reason we won the tournament.

"There was something particular about that World Cup. The 'bowl-out' was one of the things. I remember we would go for practice. Before every practice session, we would practice 'Bowl Out' before or after the warm-up. We said it very clear, it is for fun but at the same time, whoever hits the wicket most number of times, we will use him if the situation arises.

"It has got nothing to do with I am a bowler, this is my job. It's like a performance thing and we will keep doing it everyday and whoever has the best hit-ratio are the ones who will be used."

Dhoni has not been picked in any of India's squads since they were knocked out of the World Cup and is unlikely to play in the upcoming T20Is against Bangladesh and West Indies either as the side looks to build towards their squad for the 2020 T20 World Cup. India are set to play an ODI series against West Indies starting December 15, but whether Dhoni will feature there, is yet to be known.

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NEW YORK -- Being the first NBA player to play in four different decades is not a lofty enough goal for Atlanta Hawks veteran Vince Carter.

After dropping 17 points in the Hawks' 100-96 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, Carter said he aims to appear in all 82 games this season.

"I want to make sure I am available for every game," Carter told ESPN. "Obviously, it is Coach's decision, but I want to keep my body right so I can do that."

Carter is already on his way, having played at least 13 minutes in all four of Atlanta's preseason games. On Wednesday, Carter was 6-of-11 from the field, and his 27-foot jumper with 1 minute, 31 seconds to play gave the Hawks the lead for good.

Carter made five 3-pointers against the Knicks, while the rest of Atlanta's players combined for five 3-pointers.

Carter, 42, hasn't played in all 82 games of a season since 2006-07. The only player age 40 or older to do so is John Stockton.

For Carter to achieve his goal, he must take meticulous care of his body. Saying "we don't have time" to cover all of his treatment regiments, Carter noted he will have to work out religiously, rest diligently, ice and stretch.

"You name it," Carter said. "Whatever it is, I am willing to do it."

Carter, entering his second season with the Hawks, played under Knicks coach David Fizdale in Memphis in 2016-17.

"Will he retire already?" Fizdale said jokingly. "I am so tired of him! But I think it is phenomenal. It is awesome to see. He gives us 40-pluses a lot of hope."

As disappointed Knicks fans streamed out of the Garden, several could be overheard murmuring, "At least we got to see Vince go off."

"It's a shooter's gym," Carter said. "If you hit a few, it's gold."

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.

Gus Logie, the former West Indies batsman, has been named the head coach of West Indies Women on an interim basis as Cricket West Indies begins their recruitment process for a full-time head coach.

Logie takes over the role from former Barbados batsman Henderson Springer, who will continue to assist CWI's coaching education programs.

Logie, who has been the assistant coach of the women's team since 2017, will guide the side's preparations for India Women's tour of the West Indies next month. India are scheduled to play three ODIs and five T20Is from November 1 to November 20, with matches to be played in Antigua, St Lucia and Guyana.

"Gus has a long history with West Indies cricket, both as a player and as a coach," Jimmy Adams, the CWI director of cricket said via a press release. "He has been a part of the women's team for the last two years and knows the players' techniques and skillsets. I have no doubt he will continue his hard work in preparing the team for India Women and then the T20 World Cup next year.

"We are extremely grateful to Hendy for his contribution to the women's program over the last two years and we will continue to exploit his prior experience within coaching education."

Apart from that, Evril Betty Lewis was named the new team manager of women and girls' cricket after interim manager Anne Browne-John was appointed the lead selector for the outfits.

WASHINGTON -- All season, we talked about the three super-mega-amazing teams that dominated the regular season. The Astros won 107 games. The Dodgers won 106 games. The Yankees won 103.

The Washington Nationals? They didn't even win their division.

They stumbled out of the gate to a 19-31 record. After going 82-80 in 2018 in Bryce Harper's final year with the club, it looked like another disappointing season was in the works. What good was this supposed stellar rotation if it was backed up by the world's worst bullpen?

Now that we've seen Washington's rotation in full-throttle October mode, maybe it's time to view this Nationals team through a different lens. Maybe they are a super team as well, one that has played every bit as well as the Astros and Yankees since late May. The Nationals eliminated the Dodgers in stirring fashion in the NL Division Series and crushed the Cardinals in the NL Championship Series, holding the Cardinals to a .130 batting average in the series. St. Louis never led in any game.

The four Washington starters -- Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez -- each started one game in the series. Sanchez and Scherzer flirted with no-hit bids. The combined pitching line of the four: 26⅓ IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 40 SO, 1 HR, 1.35 ERA. Including only their results as starters, in 10 playoff games, the Fantastic Four is 8-2 with a 2.04 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 61⅔ innings.

Cardinals manager Mike Shildt offered the easiest explanation for what beat his team: "The pitching. The pitching by far. ... You average 12 strikeouts a game, but you're also talking about -- it's just a blend, right? It's just a blend of their ability. I was just talking to a couple of the guys and just an honest evaluation of it. We could have always done better. [But you're] talking about three elite strikeout guys in this league. So it's a combination of things."

So, yes, the Nationals destroyed the Cardinals. But does that tell us anything? The Cardinals' offense is not the Astros' offense or the Yankees' offense or the Dodgers' offense. Twenty-one teams have swept an LCS. Only eight went on to win the World Series. The previous five teams -- and seven of the past eight -- to sweep an LCS went on to lose the World Series. Digging deeper, since 2006, the team that clinched its pennant first has won the World Series just twice -- the 2008 Phillies and 2018 Red Sox -- making the early clincher 2-11 in that span.

Those results have spawned the "too much time off" theory, the idea that a long layoff leads to too much dead time while your opponent is still playing baseball. That mostly sounds like an argument borne of data and drawing a conclusion, regardless of whether that conclusion actually means anything. It could. But the next five teams that sweep an LCS might go on to win the World Series. We'll find out. And if the Nationals do lose the World Series, it will probably have a lot more to do with the Astros or Yankees than Washington's six days of rest.

One thing is for sure: The Nationals are clicking right now. Even that once-maligned bullpen allowed just three hits and one run in 9⅓ innings against the Cardinals. Tanner Rainey, throwing 100 mph heat, suddenly looks like a viable third reliever in front of Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson.

"It was awesome to watch those guys do what they did last few innings," manager Dave Martinez said after the clincher. "I was so proud of those guys, and I've said this all along: I've asked these guys to do things that they probably didn't think they could do. Doolittle going out there and getting five outs today. Huddy doing the same thing. Rainey, putting him in in big moments -- when everybody thought this guy's wild, he walks everybody -- and giving him the ball. He's matured so much this year that he's one of the guys. I mean, he's got electric stuff. I'm very confident in putting him in the game."

The fact that the Nationals have four quality starters, all of whom are capable of going seven innings if they're pitching well, also means they don't have to rely on their bullpen to do too much. It's an old-school approach to winning in the playoffs: Build around a dominant rotation. (Note that both the Astros and Yankees plan to go with a bullpen game instead of using a fourth starter in the ALCS.)

Then again, if the Astros end up advancing, we know they have Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke, so they can go toe-to-toe with the Nationals' top three. You can also think back to the Braves' run in the 1990s and early 2000s, when they made the playoffs 14 consecutive times with a team built around the Hall of Fame pitching trio of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz but won just one World Series. A great rotation doesn't guarantee anything.

Indeed, the extra rest for the pitchers could be a benefit. Just to get here, Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin have each pitched in relief at various times in the postseason. Yes, the Nationals have won 16 of their past 18 games going back to the regular season, but none of that guarantees anything, either.

"People think it's easy to win in the playoffs," Ryan Zimmerman said after Tuesday's win. "First of all, it's really hard to get to the playoffs, and second of all, you're playing against the elite teams of the elite league. You've got to catch some breaks. I think in the years past, maybe we didn't catch those breaks. I think we caught some breaks this year, but I think more importantly, we took advantage of those breaks. So kind of made our own luck, I guess, if that's how you want to put it."

I love that quote: Make your own luck.

Good luck at that, Nats.