Dhoni must play domestic cricket to make himself eligible for India selection: Amarnath

Agencies
December 13, 2018

New Delhi, Dec 13: Former India all-rounder and selector Mohinder Amarnath feels MS Dhoni and other senior players must play domestic cricket to be eligible for selection in the national team.

Having being dropped from the Twenty20 side recently and retired from Tests long ago, Dhoni now is a certainty in only ODI cricket.

Despite having the time, the former captain did not play the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy this year and will go into the three-match series in Australia next month without any match practice.

"Every individual is different but one thing I have always believed in is that if you want to play for India you have to play for your state as well. I think they (BCCI) should change this policy altogether. A lot of senior players don't play domestic cricket," Amarnath told PTI on sidelines of an event organised by Royal Stag in collaboration with the ICC.

Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar had suggested the same recently.

Shikhar Dhawan is another senior player who is not playing the ongoing Ranji Trophy despite being dropped from the Test team.

"The BCCI should make it an eligibility criteria. Not only a number of games, you should be playing regularly for your state if you are not playing for India and not only just before the India selection. Then only you can judge how good the guy is playing. Whatever you have achieved is all in the past. What is important is current form," said the hero of India's World Cup triumph in 1983.

"Even if you are playing one format, you should be playing all formats at least in domestic cricket to be considered for selection," the former selector said.

Talking about the ongoing Test series in Australia, Amarnath said India are a superior unit but the depleted hosts are capable of giving them a run for their money even in the absence of suspended Steve Smith and David Warner.

"Australian cricketers think differently. It is not the first time they are going through this kind of phase. At the time of Kerry Packer series, they lost their top players, they toured South Africa without their top players and now they don't have their top two players and some of the guys have retired.

"They are in the process of building a new team. But from what I watched in the first Test, some of the players are really good. You can't just rule Australia out of the series. Of course India are more superior but again they have to continue playing good cricket.

"First Test was a fantastic Test match from a cricketing point of view. The only difference was Cheteshwar Pujara. It shows we are here for a thrilling series with advantage India," said the 68-year-old, who played 69 Tests and 85 ODIs.

How will India do in the second Test starting Friday in Perth?

"It depends on nature of wicket. If the wicket is doing a bit, some of the batsmen struggle with their technique. It is not how aggressive you play, the key in Test cricket is that only when you leave good deliveries, you occupy the crease for a long time. It is not that they don't have that in them but they have to adapt."

Amarnath's longtime teammate Syed Kirmani had recently said the current selection panel headed by MSK Prasad was not experienced enough to challenge the decisions of captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri.

The five-member panel is low on international playing experience with chief Prasad having played six Tests and 17 ODIs. The other four -- Sarandeep Singh (2 Tests, 5 ODIs), Devang Gandhi (4 Tests, 3 ODIs), Jatin Paranjpe (4 ODIs) and Gagan Khoda (2 ODIs) -- too do not have enough experience in top-fight.

Amarnath said you have to be an 'achiever' to gain the respect of the players.

"It is not about experience (as a selector). You are selected to do a job because you are good enough for that. But definitely if you are an achiever you think differently, if you are a non-achiever, definitely you cannot take decisions at times."

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News Network
January 23,2020

Melbourne, Jan 23: Sania Mirza's return to her first Grand Slam after a two-year break was cut short on Thursday when the former world number one was forced to retire midway through her first round match in women's doubles at the Australian Open due to a calf injury.

India's Mirza, who won six Grand Slam doubles titles, took a break from the game after the China Open in October 2017 and gave birth to her son a year later.

The 33-year-old made a winning return to the WTA Tour at this month's Hobart International with Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok, picking up her 42nd WTA doubles title and the first since winning the women's doubles in Brisbane in 2017.

Mirza said she strained her calf muscle in her right leg during the Hobart final.

"It just got worse in the match. It was bit of a bad strain, but I had a few days off," she told reporters. "So I obviously had to try to do whatever I could to try to get on the court.

"It felt okay when I went on the court, but it was tough to move right. I just felt like I'm gonna tear it or something pretty bad."

Mirza won her first Grand Slam in mixed doubles at the Australian Open in 2009 and also bagged the women's doubles in 2016.

Mirza always believed there was tennis left in her which inspired her comeback, she told Reuters on Sunday.

She had already pulled out of the Australian Open mixed doubles, where she was to partner compatriot Rohan Bopanna.

Mirza and Kichenok were trailing the Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu 6-2 1-0 on Thursday when the Indian had to call it quits due to the injury.

"As a tennis player you want to compete, it is the Grand Slam. If it's any other tournament, you would probably take a call and be like 'I don't want to risk it'," she said.

Mirza, who is married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, said she would take two weeks to recover and was hoping to play at next month's Dubai championships.

"When you play a professional sport, injuries are really part of it. And it's something that you have to accept," she said. "Sometimes the timing is really not ideal, it's tough that it happened in a Grand Slam, or just before a Grand Slam."

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News Network
July 6,2020

New Delhi, Jul 6: India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly says improved fitness standards and a change in culture have led to the country developing one of the world's best pace attacks.

Spearheads Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are part of a battery of five formidable quick bowlers that have helped change India's traditional reliance on spin bowling.

"You know culture has changed in India that we can be good fast bowlers," Ganguly said in a chat hosted on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Twitter feed.

"Fitness regimes, fitness standards not only just among fast bowlers but also among the batters, that has changed enormously. That has made everyone understand and believe that we are fit, we are strong and we can also bowl fast like the others did."

The West Indies dominated world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s led by a fearsome pace attack that included all-time greats such as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.

Recently Indian quicks have risen to the top in world cricket with Shami, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a deadly arsenal.

"The West Indies in my generation were naturally strong," the former India captain said.

"We Indians were never such naturally strong... but we worked hard to get strong. But I think it is the change in culture as well that is very important."

Shami last month claimed that the current Indian pace attack may be the best in Test history.

"You and everyone else in the world will agree to this -- that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package," said Shami.

"Not just now, in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world."

Shami took 13 wickets during India's 3-0 home Test sweep over South Africa last year, while Bumrah has claimed 68 scalps in 14 Tests since his debut.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Reminiscing about his 'special knock' of 208 runs from 153 balls, Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma revealed why his wife Ritika had got emotional after he smashed his third double century in ODIs.

Rohit narrated the incident during his appearance in Episode 2 of the 'Open nets with Mayank'.

The batsman, who was accompanied by Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank on the show, said his wife thought that he had twisted his hand while diving for the 196th run during the innings.

"As you can see my wife got emotional there, this day was special as it was my anniversary. Probably the best gift I could give it to her while I am on the field, it was quite emotional though," said Rohit during the candid chat.

"When I came from the ground, I just asked her why did you (Ritika) cry? So she told me that she thought I (Rohit) twisted my hand when I dived for my 196th run and that was a little worrying factor for her, she got little emotional of because of that I guess," Rohit added.

In the match, the 32-year-old scored 208 runs with 13 fours and 12 sixes against Sri Lanka at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

This enabled India to post a score of 392/4 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then went on to win the match by 141 runs.

"To be honest I was going pretty slow, I never thought I will get to a double hundred but once you cross 125, I feel it gets easier for you because bowlers are under pressure. Unless you make a mistake I don't think you can get out," said Rohit.

Rohit has scored two double hundreds against Sri Lanka and one against Australia in ODIs. The right-handed batsman is the only cricketer to make three double hundreds in ODI history.

Rohit, Shikhar, and Mayank would have been in action for Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab respectively, had the Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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