Brilliant Virat Kohli Leads Visitors To 3-1 Series Win

Agencies
July 7, 2017

Kingston, Jul 7: Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with a fluent century as India on Thursday wrapped up the five-match series 3-1 with a convincing eight wicket win over West Indies. Asked to bowl, comeback man Mohammed Shami bagged four wickets as an under-fire India produced a disciplined bowling effort to restrict West Indies to a modest 205 for nine.

kohli

Playing only his second ODI after a long injury lay-off, Shami picked up four wickets giving 48 runs from his 10 overs to pull West Indies back.

Besides Shami, Umesh Yadav gave him ample support from the other end and returned with impressive figures of three for 53.

For West Indies, Shai Hope top-scored with a patient 51 off 98 balls during which he hit just five boundaries, while his brother Kyle made 46 off 50 deliveries with nine fours to his credit.

Later chasing the total, India hardly faced any trouble as Kohli (111 not out) and ever-consistent Ajinkya Rahane (39 off 51) shared 79 runs for the second wicket in 17.5 overs to set the platform for the comfortable win.

Thursday's match was a test of character for Kohli and his men after the unexpected 11 run loss against the hosts in the low-scoring fourth ODI in Antigua.

But Kohli meant business as he anchored India's chase with his 28th ODI century that came off 115 balls balls and was studded with 12 fours and two sixes

Besides the early dismissal of Shikhar Dhawan, the Indians were in complete control of the chase.

In the pursuit of the target, India lost Dhawan in the last delivery of the opening over, caught by Evin Lewis off Alzarri Joseph.

But thereafter, it was Kohli and Rahane's show as the duo dominated the proceedings with consummate ease.

While ever-consistent Rahane played the second fiddle, Kohli played with aggression from the onset.

But Rahane was unlucky to miss out on his fifth consecutive half-century of the series as he was dismissed Devendra Bishoo adjudged LBW in the 19th over. He struck five boundaries during his knock.

But Kohli played a chanceless knock and dictated the terms. He showed his class and brought up his 28th ODI century, a record 18th while chasing, with a boundary of Kesrick Williams.

Together with Dinesh Karthik (50 off 52 balls), Kohli stitched unbeaten 122 runs for the third wicket to take India home with 79 balls to spare.

Earlier opting to bat, West Indies made a decent start before the hosts lost their first wicket in the ninth over when Lewis (9) was caught by India skipper Kohli off the Hardik Pandya's (1/27) second delivery of the innings.

Hope brothers, Kyle and Shai then shared 37 runs off 45 balls for the second wicket before Umesh struck twin blows in consecutive balls to peg West Indies back.

Kyle, who was looking good, struck Umesh for two consecutive boundaries in the 16th over but in search of one too many he perished, picking out Dhawan at midwicket while trying to attempt for an ambitious pull.

Umesh then had Roston Chase LBW for a duck with a full and straight delivery in the next ball. The batsman went for the review but to no avail with West Indies slumping to 76 for three by the end of the 16th over.

Shai and Jason Mohammed (16) then stitched 39 for the fourth wicket before Kedar Jadhav (1/13) struck with his golden arm, dismissing the latter with a straight forward return catch.

Young Shai held one end up and and played with caution to notch up his second half-century of the series in the 38th over.

Together with skipper Jason Holder, Shai added 48 runs for the fifth wicket to keep West Indies' innings afloat.

While Shai played with caution, Holder was aggressive from the onset and piled up his 36 runs off just 34 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six.

But an irresponsible shot led to Holder's dismissal as he was holed out to Dhawan at long-on to hand Shami his first wicket.

An over later Shami struck again when he dismissed Shai with the set batsman attempting an ambitious shot and Ajinkya Rahane did the rest by latching on to an outstanding running catch at midwicket.

Shami again struck in his next over removing Ashley Nurse, who chipped one straight to Kuldeep Yadav at short midwicket.

Shami also accounted for Devendra Bishoo, caugh by Dhoni behind the stumps.

Rovman Powell (31 off 32 balls) played a good hand towards the end to get West Indies past the 200-run mark

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Agencies
August 3,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will be played on November 20, the sources within the BCCI confirmed on Sunday.

The IPL's governing council met earlier today, and it has also been decided that the evening matches will start at 7:30 pm, half an hour earlier than usual.

Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and Arun Dhumal, treasurer of BCCI did not attend the IPL's governing council meeting.

"The tournament will run for 51 days, usually the IPL should go on for 49 days as per the constitution, however in the meeting it has been decided that we will go to Supreme Court for conducting the IPL in 51 days," sources within the BCCI said.

"As the tournament is running for 51 days, we will get the chance to play fewer doubleheaders, there would be just 10 double headers, evening matches will start at 7:30 and the afternoon matches will start at 3:30. 

The matches will be played across three venues at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah as travelling here by road is easier and bio-secure environment can be maintained," he added.

The IPL's governing council also confirmed that Women's IPL will also go on and four teams would be participating in it.

"When it comes to women's IPL, there would be four teams and the matches would be played at the time of playoffs for men's IPL," the source said.

The source within the BCCI also said that the governing council would be meeting again to discuss the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all the franchises that need to be followed in the IPL.

The governing council meeting discussed the quarantine measures along with the standard operating procedures (SOP), bio bubble training facilities, stay and travel of the players.

Issues related to the broadcaster, shifting, and scheduling of the tournament, and DXB app to be downloaded for players and other officials were also discussed as well.

A few days earlier, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had also confirmed receiving the official Letter of Intent from the BCCI to host the 2020 edition of the IPL.

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News Network
April 9,2020

New Delhi, Apr 9: The legendary Kapil Dev on Thursday slammed Shoaib Akhtar's idea of a made-for-television three-match ODI series between India and Pakistan to raise funds for the Covid19 pandemic, saying "India doesn't need the money" and it is not worth risking lives for a cricket match.

Speaking to news agency, Akhtar on Wednesday proposed a closed-door series to jointly raise funds to fight the deadly virus both in India and Pakistan. Dev said the proposal is not feasible.

"He is entitled to his opinion but we don't need to raise the money. We have enough. For us, what is important right now is how our authorities work together to deal with this crisis. I am still seeing a lot of blame game on television from the politicians and that needs to stop," Dev said.

"Anyway, the BCCI has donated a hefty amount (Rs 51 crore) for the cause and is in a position to donate much more if the need arises. It doesn't need to raise funds.

"The situation is unlikely to get normal anytime soon and organising a cricket game means putting our cricketers at risk which we don't need to," said the World Cup-winning former captain.

Dev said cricket should not even matter for at least the next six months.

"It is just not worth the risk. And how much money can you make from three games? In my view, you can't even think of cricket for the next five to six months," he said.

Dev said the focus, at the moment, should only be on saving lives and taking care of the poor who are struggling to make ends meet in a lockdown situation.

"Cricket will resume when things get normal. The game can't be bigger than the country. The pressing issue is to look after the poor, the hospital workers, the police and all other people who are on the frontline of this war," said the 61-year-old.

As an Indian, Dev feels proud that his country is in a position help other nations including the United States.

President Donald Trump has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping the United States with the supply of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug being touted as a potential cure for Covid19 patients.

"Helping others is in our culture and I feel proud about that. We should not seek credit after helping others. We should strive to become a nation which gives more and more rather than taking from others," he said.

Like everyone else, Dev is at home and practising social distancing.

Asked how he views the current situation, he said: "Nelson Mandela stayed in a tiny cell for 27 years. Compared to that, we are in a privileged position (that we just have to stay at home for sometime)."

"There is nothing bigger than life at the moment and that is what we need to save."

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: The Asian Football Confederation has awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup to India for the first time since 1979.

The decision was taken at the AFC Women's Football Committee meeting. In February, the AFC Women's Football Committee had recommended India to be hosts.

In a letter to the All India Football Federation, Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC wrote: "The Committee awarded the hosting rights of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 Finals to the All India Football Federation."

The tournament will likely be held in the second half of the year. In the 1979 edition, India had finished as runners-up.

"I need to thank the Asian Football Confederation for finding us suitable to host the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022," AIFF President, Praful Patel said.

"The tournament will galvanise the aspiring women players and bring in a holistic social revolution as far as women's football in the country is concerned," he added.

The tournament will feature 12 teams, expanded from the previous slot of eight teams.

India qualifies directly as hosts. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The tournament comes as the latest boost to AIFF as India is slated to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup next year.

India had also hosted the AFC U-16 Championships in 2016 and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017.

"The tournament will play a huge role in further popularising women's football in India. The Women’s Asian Cup 2022 comes on the back of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2020, and will help us sustain, and build on the momentum gained," AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das said.

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