Appointed KKR skipper, Karthik hopes to lead from front

Agencies
March 4, 2018

Mumbai, Mar 4: Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was today appointed captain of Kolkata Knight Riders and Robin Uthappa his deputy for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Karthik said he would like to emulate current India skipper Virat Kohli and lead from the front. "Virat is a captain who leads by his action.

 He is somebody who shows with his performance and that is something that I can try and emulate -- lead by example rather than speaking, go on the ground and show with the scores or the way I play etc," Karthik told reporters here. He also said that even if he does not look aggressive, there is aggression deep inside and he would not change that while leading the side. "In terms of being aggressive captain, I am not aggressive outwardly by nature, but that does not mean I am not aggressive inside.

 "While playing a game, I am one of those guys who don?t even speak to the opponents, before the game or in the lead up to the game, these are some of the qualities which I have and these are the ways I show aggression." Present on the occasion were KKR?s CEO, Venky Mysore, and Karthik himself. Karthik, who is a part of the India squad or the triangular T20 series in Sri Lanka, added, "When the situation is tough be there and do the best.

 "I look eye to eye, and do small things that matter, I may not show it from body language, but I know deep down I am thoroughly aggressive in the way I play cricket and I would like to take that forward." KKR have young pacers such as Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi, who have made a mark in the U-19 World Cup, which India won. Asked what advice he would give the two Karthik said, "Definitely not just concentrate on pace, thats just one aspect of fast bowling.

 At this stage in a situation like IPL you need variations and you need to be thinking ahead of the batsmen. "We had Heath Streak as bowling coach and he was very efficient and I know he has the potential to help these youngsters and they have lot to learn from him as a bowling coach and they are in safe hands, and with somebody like Jacques Kallis, who is an all-rounder, he would be giving right advice as well." The side also boasts of three wrist spinners in Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and West Indian Sunil Narine.

 Karthik said that other teams would be jealous of KKR as wrist spinners are the flavour of the season. "In terms of wrist spinners, Piyush (Chwla) have 10 years of experience in playing the IPL and in terms of number of wickets taken by an IPL bowler, he is in the top five.

Kuldeep (Yadav) of late, the performances he is producing for Indian team, so that augurs well for the team. "The flavour of the season is wrist spin because it is hard to pick them and they have the ability to pick wickets, it is good that we have those three bowlers. Most teams would be jealous that we have three wrist spinners." Karthik said he was looking forward to lead a side having a combination of youth and experience.

"We have a very balanced side and that is a great place to start from. And in terms of building the team, its a journey. We know that we are going to have this team for three years, so the important thing is to get best out of the players and then keep moving forward.

"The first thing would be to connect all the boys together. One of the most important thing is to get the whole group together and get the bonding going straightaway.

 "Its always difficult in IPL sort of environment because there is not much time. It is always a challenge and we are trying to address that." Mysore said, "It is indeed a start of a new phase for KKR, and we are delighted that someone as experienced as Dinesh Karthik will lead the side." Regarding the teams vice-captain, he said, "Robin has been an integral part of KKR since 2014 and played a crucial role in KKR winning the championship. We are fortunate to have both Dinesh & Robin in leadership roles for KKR." KKR play their opening game on April 8 at the Eden Gardens.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Jan 23: Quinton de Kock has been named as the new captain of the South Africa One-Day International side, taking over from Faf du Plessis, who is dropped altogether from the three-match series against England next month.

Du Plessis led South Africa in their disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign and has hinted at international retirement from all formats following the Twenty20 global finals in Australia later this year.

"We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become," CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Over the years we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicket-keeper batsmen in the world. He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart."

De Kock leads a 15-man squad with five uncapped players in seamers Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala, left-arm orthodox spinner all-rounder Bjorn Fortuin, opening batsman Janneman Malan and wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne.

Magala, leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, seamer Lungi Ngidi and hard-hitting opening batsman Jon Jon Smuts must pass fitness tests before they can join the squad.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will be rested for the series, while allrounders Chris Morris and Dwaine Pretorius have also not been able to force their way in.

"The road towards the 2023 Cricket World Cup starts now and we want players doing well in our domestic structures to see the rewards of the hard work that they have put in," CSA Independent Selector Linda Zondi added.

The first ODI will be staged in Cape Town on Feb.4th, with the second in Durban three days later and the final match of the series to be held in Johannesburg on Feb.9th.

Squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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Agencies
January 6,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 6: 'The Irishman,' and 'Two Popes' were shut out from the winners list despite getting multiple nominations, the movies didn't win a single award at the Golden Globes Award held on Sunday (local time). Other movies in the list include 'Bombshell,' 'Dolemite Is My Name,' 'Harriet,' 'Jojo Rabbit,' 'Knives Out' and 'Little Women.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Irishman' may have gone into the 2020 Golden Globes with the second-highest number of film nominations, tied with 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' with five nods, but Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated mob epic for Netflix was completely shut out at the award ceremony.

Netflix landed the most film nominations of any company with 17 mentions, but it won only one award which is the best-supporting actress for 'Marriage Story's' Laura Dern. Netflix's nominated films 'Dolemite Is My Name' and 'The Two Popes' was tied with 'Joker' with four mentions each and failed to grab any awards.

'Dolemite Is My Name' star Eddie Murphy was expected by a number of pundits to win for best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy.

'Bombshell', 'Harriet',' Frozen 2', 'Jojo Rabbit', 'Knives Out', 'The Lion King', 'Little Women' and 'Pain and Glory' are among the other films that received multiple nominations but didn't win a single award.

On the TV side, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' tied in the race to most small-screen nominations with 'Chernobyl' and 'The Crown' with four nominations, and 'The Crown' won only one award, for star Olivia Colman.

The three-time nominees 'Barry', 'Big Little Lies', 'The Kominsky Method' and 'The Morning Show' also didn't grab any award. 'Catch-22', 'Killing Eve', 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and 'The Politician' who were two-time nominees that were also iced out.

'Hustlers' star Jennifer Lopez failed to take home the best-supporting actress award as she was predicted to win the award by a number of pundits. Billy porter also failed to make history with the best drama actor win for his role on 'Pose,' if he would've won the award, he reportedly would have been the first openly gay African-American to win that award.

'Chernobyl' won two of its four nominations. Despite that, star Jared Harris didn't win the best actor in a limited series Globe which was predicted by many prognosticators. The award was bagged by Russell Crowe for his portrayal of Roger Ailes in 'The Loudest Voice.' But the star was absent from the ceremony.

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