Australia in control after taking 326-run lead

December 29, 2014

Melbourne, Dec 29: Australia put themselves in a comfortable position by taking an overall lead of 326 runs by the end of the fourth day as the third cricket Test headed for an exciting finish, with India needing to go for a all-out win to keep themselves afloat in the series.

Australia control

India's first innings folded for 465, adding just three runs to their overnight score, with Mitchell Johnson polishing off the tail without much fuss.

The hosts then rode on David Warner's pacy 40, Rogers' patient 69 and Shaun Marsh (62 not out) to reach 261-7 at close on a rain-hit fourth day at the MCG, taking an overall lead of 326 with three wickets in hand.

With one whole day left, Australia may add a few more runs before declaring the innings and set India a stiff target early tomorrow. India will have to play out of their skin to either win or save the match on a tricky fifth day track.

Interestingly, England is the only team to have successfully chased down a total of 300 plus on the fourth innings at MCG. They had made 332 for seven way back in 1929.

At stumps, Shaun Marsh and Ryan Harris were batting on 62 and 8 respectively.

Earlier, resuming at an overnight score of 462/8, India could survive just 15 deliveries as Johnson dismissed Mohammed Shami (12) and Umesh Yadav (0) within a space of eight balls to earn Australia a 65-run lead.

Australia then got off to a rousing start in their second innings with David Warner (40 runs, 42 balls, 6 fours) attacking the Indian bowlers, giving his team an early push as they look to set an imposing fourth-innings' target for India.

After he was dismissed by Ashwin, Rogers and Shane Watson (17) tried to extend the lead as Australia took lunch at 90 for one in 22 overs.

However, rain intervention after lunch, resulted in a loss of 85 minutes of play and when play resumed, regular wickets fell to leave the hosts at 174/4 in 43 overs at tea, which was taken after an extended second session.

In the final session of play, India took three more wickets, dismissing Joe Burns (9), Brad Haddin (13) and Johnson (15) but Australia had put themselves in a comfortable position by then.

India kept a tight leash on the Australian second innings after a lengthy rain delay in the afternoon with Ishant Sharma (2-49), R Ashwin (2-56) and Umesh Yadav (2-73) taking two wickets each, while Mohammad Shami (1-75) snapping one.

Bad weather resulted in a loss of 85 minutes of play but once play resumed at the MCG, India tried to fight back with their impressive bowling performance.

Rogers (69 runs, 123 balls, 8 fours) and Shane Watson (17) tried to increase their lead further and they were nearly helped by Shikhar Dhawan, who dropped a tough one-handed chance at second slip, diving in front of R Ashwin (2-21) at first slip.

Rogers, who was batting on 33 at that time, was the batsman to benefit against Ishant Sharma (1-38) in that 23rd over of the innings. The breakthrough came two overs later though as Ishant this time had Watson caught behind.

Steve Smith (14) came out to bat and took Australia past the 100-run mark in the 26th over, adding 33 runs for the third wicket. Meanwhile, Rogers went on to score his fourth successive half-century of the series, getting to the mark off 81 balls, in the 28th over.

Four overs later his partnership with Smith was broken by Umesh Yadav (1-55) when the young skipper was caught by Ajinkya Rahane as the leg slip finally came into play.

With just 20 minutes left in the session, Ashwin returned into the attack and dealt a big blow to Australia, cleaning up Rogers in the 41st over, the batsman looking solid until then.

Marsh and Burns then negotiated the rest of the session without damage as Australia took tea at 174-4.

After the break, Marsh and debutant Burns (9) looked to march on but were only able to add two runs when the latter was dismissed poking at a good length delivery from Ishant in the 46th over, snapped up by a diving MS Dhoni.

Brad Haddin (13) came out and threw his bat around to take Australia past the 200-run mark in the 55th over. But he didn't last too long, caught behind off Yadav in the 56th over, although it wasn't quite clear if he edged the ball.

Mitchell Johnson (15) then added 32 runs with Marsh for the 7th wicket before trying to pull a short ball from Shami and was caught at midwicket.

Marsh though soldiered on and hit Ashwin for a six straight down the ground to bring up his 2nd Test fifty off 112 balls in the 69th over.

Two overs later, Marsh helped Australia past the 250-mark, adding 27 unbeaten runs for the 8th wicket with Harris until close of play.

Earlier, Warner have the hosts a flying start when he came out to bat despite a bruised right arm to go with his already hurting left thumb.

He took first strike and smacked Yadav for three fours in his first two overs, racing to 18 off just 12 balls. While he was at the crease, they were scoring at nearly six-per-over though things settled down a little after drinks break.

The Australian 50-mark came up in the 12th over, 38 off those coming off Warner's bat. He was finally removed by Ashwin in the 15th over, LBW as the delivery hit him on the backfoot. Watson and Rogers then negotiated the six-plus overs left until the lunch break.

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News Network
January 31,2020

New Delhi, Jan 31: Indian women's team captain Rani Rampal on Thursday became the first-ever hockey player to win the prestigious 'World Games Athlete of the Year' award.

The World Games announced the winner on Thursday after 20 days of polling by sports fans world-wide.

"Indian hockey superstar Rani is The World Games Athlete of the Year 2019! Huge congratulations!," the World Games said in a statement.

"With an impressive number of votes, 199,477, Rani is the clear winner of the Athlete of the Year race, where sports fans all over the world have voted for their favourite during 20 days of polling in January. All in all, over 705,610 votes were cast during the poll," it added.

Last year, India won the FIH Series Finals, and Rani was named Player of the Tournament. Under Rani's leadership, the Indian women's team qualified for just the third Olympic Games in its history.

"I dedicate this award to the entire hockey fraternity, my team and my country. This success has only become possible with the love and support from hockey lovers, fans, my team, coaches, Hockey India, my government, friends from Bollywood, fellow sportspersons and my countrymen who have continuously voted for me," said Rani, who was recently named among the Padma Shri awardees.

"Special thanks to FIH for nominating me for this prestigious award. Thank you to The World Games Federation for this recognition," she added.

Rani further said after a successful 2019, she is now looking forward to achieving greater heights with the national team in 2020, which also happens to be an Olympic year.

"It is my privilege and honour to win this award. It is always nice when your country recognises your effort. It is even better when the international sports community recognises it. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me," she said.

"2019 was a great year for our team because we qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. As a team we want to make 2020 a great year!"

Rani, who has been a member of the national team since she was a 15-years-old, currently has more than 240 caps for India.

"Rani is an inspirational athlete, and a role model for many in India. It was amazing to see the support the Indians, even as high up as Mr Rijiju, the Minister of State, Youth Affairs and Sports, gave to her in this vote together with the Hockey fans all around the world. This is what sport is about: uniting people from different backgrounds and different countries," said International World Games Association President Jose Perurena.

The International Hockey Federation also congratulated Rani on being named for the award.

"Congratulations @imranirampal for becoming the first ever Hockey athlete to win the prestigious @TheWorldGames Athlete of the Year award!" the FIH, who nominated Rani for the award, said in its twitter handle.

"On behalf of FIH and the global hockey community, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Rani for having been voted The World Games Athlete of the Year 2019. This is an acknowledgement of her outstanding performances - together with her team-mates - and her dedication to hockey and her leadership," FIH CEO Thierry Weil said.

"This prestigious Award is also a great recognition for hockey globally. Furthermore, we are working hard for and looking forward to having Hockey 5s as a demonstration sport at The World Games 2021."

Congratulating Rani, Hockey India President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said, "This is a very proud moment for all of us. She is the first Indian athlete to win this award and through her achievements Rani has been able to draw a lot of attention towards women's hockey. Many people are aware of the team's recent accomplishments and I am confident this team is capable of winning larger goals and I wish Rani and the team best of luck this Olympic Year."

There were initially 25 nominees, male and female nominated by their respective sports federations, which was later reduced to 10 in the final round of public voting.

The FIH has recommended Rani's name for her outstanding performances and her ability to lead by example.

Karate star Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine was second behind Rani with over 92,000 votes and Canadian powerlifting world champion Rhaea Stinn was third.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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