Bailey not surprised at India's ouster

January 31, 2015

Jan 31: Not surprised at India's inability to qualify for the tri-series final, Australia captain George Bailey said that concentrating on Test cricket before heading into the ODI event might have been the reason for their below-par showing.

India failed to win even a single match in the series, finally going down to the England by three wickets on Friday in a virtual semifinal to get knocked out. However, Bailey believes that all not lost for the the defending champions before the World Cup.

"India would have been concentrating on Test cricket for a long time whereas the English team have had a longer one-day build-up," Bailey said. "India know they have another couple of weeks in Australia before the World Cup and they will just be building up their preparations."

George Bailey

The hosts will take on England in the summit clash Sunday and Bailey said that the outcome of the match will not have any bearing on how his team take on their arch-rivals in their World Cup opener on February 14.

"The conditions are so different from here to Melbourne that that won't have any real bearing," said Bailey Saturday. "It'd be nice to win though, absolutely. We play every game to win. We spoke as a group before the Hobart game about winning 13 games straight as a goal. So it'll be great to win.

"England are a very dangerous side because they don't rely too heavily on any one player. They look pretty much balanced. They look like they have clear game plans, a good pace attack and they bat deep. I guess we've seen that in their previous matches where even after losing early wickets, they were able to post a good total. They have got a really good mix at the moment," he added.

Meanwhile, England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler is pleased with the way his team has shaped up for the World Cup after beating India twice and said they are desperate to test their skills against a much-fancied Australia in the final.

"It's gone pretty well. I think we've developed a lot in the last few months, throughout the Sri Lanka series and now under Eoin Morgan's captaincy in Australia. I think we can be pleased in the direction we're going," Buttler said Saturday.

"We seem to have a settled side for Australian conditions and a couple of wins against a strong India side can give us a lot of confidence going into the World Cup.

"I think the performances we put in have been good. In Hobart we got close, we should have got more runs and put pressure on Australia, but they bowled pretty well at the end. It was a tight game so we've been getting closer and hopefully tomorrow, be third time lucky."

This clash will be a proper dress-rehearsal for England and Australia as the two sides will clash again in their opening World Cup encounter in Melbourne. "Things change very quickly. If we win, people will say we're going in the right direction and maybe we can cause a few upsets. If we lose we'll be the same old England. That's always the way it is. Looking ahead, if we lost tomorrow and won on February 14 at the MCG we'd take that as well," said Buttler.

"Tomorrow's a big game for us and we're desperate to put in a big performance against the Australia side. It'll be another good marker of where we're at as a team and how far we've come," he added.

Asked if England are going into the World Cup as underdogs, Buttler said: "It's never the worst place to be and our recent form over the last 12 months wouldn't suggest we'd be anything else either. But we've got into a pattern where we're starting to build confidence as a side and we've started to put in performances where we feel they're good enough to win games of cricket going into a World Cup."

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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News Network
July 5,2020

Colombo, Jul 5: Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis was on Sunday arrested for knocking down a pedestrian while driving, police said.

Mendis hit a 74-year-old man, killing him in the wee hours, in the Colombo suburb of Panadura.

He is to be produced before a magistrate later today, police said.

The 25-year-old wicket-keeper batsman has represented Sri Lanka in 44 Tests and 76 ODIs. Mendis was part of the national squad which had resumed training after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Sri Lanka's international assignments, including a tour by India, have been cancelled due to the pandemic.

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April 27,2020

Mumbai, Apr 27: The pressure to replace iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps was "immense" due to high expectations from fans says K L Rahul, who has been doing the wicket-keeping duty for India in the limited overs format for some time now.

Dhoni quit Test cricket in 2014 and has not played for India in the limited overs format since last year's ODI World Cup in England.

Rahul kept the wickets in the limited overs series against Australia in January this year and also during the team's tour to New Zealand.

"I was nervous when I was doing it for India because of the crowd pressure. If you fumble, people feel that you cannot replace MS Dhoni. The pressure of replacing a legendary wicket-keeper like MSD was immense as it involved people accepting someone else behind the stumps," Rahul told Star Sports on its show 'Cricket Connected'.

Rahul, who has played 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is, said keeping the wickets is not alien to him since he dons the gloves during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also when he plays for his Ranji side Karnataka.

"People who follow cricket know that I haven't been away from wicket-keeping for too long as I donned the gloves in the IPL and every time I played for Karnataka," the 28-year-old said.

"I am always in touch with wicket-keeping but am also somebody who is more than willing to take up the role if the team needs me to," he stressed.

Dhoni's career is a matter of intense speculation. Many former players feel that it won't be easy for Dhoni to make it to the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Australia. 

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