Disgraced Australia Steve Smith begins comeback in Global T20 Canada league

Agencies
June 30, 2018

King City, Jun 30: Steve Smith made his comeback from cricket exile on Thursday in front of a sparse crowd in a sleepy, rural town north of Toronto where the former Australia captain helped kick off the inaugural Global T20 Canada league.

Smith, playing for the Toronto Nationals, showed few signs of rust in his 41-ball innings of 61, which included eight fours and a six, before being stumped and leaving the field to a standing ovation.

"I didn`t feel as good as I would`ve liked but it`s nice to score runs when you`re not feeling good," Smith told reporters.

The match, played before a mostly docile crowd at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club about 50 km (31 miles) north of downtown Toronto, was far from the hallowed venues he was used to but Smith was just happy to be playing again.

It was Smith`s first match since he, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned by Cricket Australia in March for conspiring to scuff up the ball with sandpaper during the third test against South Africa. [nL8N1RA2WF]

Smith`s 12-month ban, however, does not extend to domestic tournaments outside Australia and so he was eligible to play in the six-team Canadian league.

The 29-year-old Australian, who apologised for the ball-tampering incident at a March news conference during which he broke down in tears, said the scandal was not on his mind during his first game back.

"Honestly when I am out in the middle everything else is a blur. Just concentrate on what I am doing and it`s almost like my haven I guess," said Smith.

"I`m not going to lie, its been a difficult time in my life, there`s no doubt about that.

"But I`ve accepted my punishment, I`ve accepted what I`ve gone through and I`m moving forward and part of my rehab is playing cricket as well and that`s what I love doing."

Clad in the two-tone blue of his Toronto team, Smith`s side won the toss and elected to bowl first.

He showed some early rust when he got under a ball hit by Vancouver`s Evin Lewis that was swirling away from him and was unable to take the catch.

Lewis top-scored with 96 for Vancouver in their 227 for four from 20 overs.

Smith, who was frequently practicing his batting strokes while in the field, came in at number three for Toronto and played and missed at his first ball before ultimately finding his groove.

When he was stumped by Vancouver wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton, Smith enjoyed a standing ovation from the crowd as he made his way back to the Toronto dressing room.

"It`s nice to hear people supporting you," said Smith.

"It`s great to have the support so I am thankful that everyone has been supportive since I`ve been here."

Toronto won the match by six wickets after former New Zealand international Anton Devcich anchored their chase to score 92 not out as they reached 231 for four in 19.2 overs.

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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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Agencies
May 22,2020

India's cricket board will not push for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia to be postponed but would consider staging the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October/November slot if it becomes available, a senior BCCI official has told Reuters.

This year's IPL, which is worth almost $530 million to the BCCI, has been indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic while the World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18, is also in jeopardy.

Reports in Australian media have suggested India's influential board may look to push for the World Cup to be postponed to open up a window for the IPL.

World Cup contingency plans are on the agenda at next week's International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting but BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal said India would not be recommending it be pushed back.

"Why should the BCCI suggest postponing the Twenty20 World Cup?" Dhumal told Reuters by telephone.

"We'll discuss it in the meeting and whatever is appropriate, (the ICC) will take a call.

"If the Australia government announces that the tournament will happen and Cricket Australia is confident they can handle it, it will be their call. BCCI would not suggest anything."

While Australia has seen new infections of the novel coronavirus slow to a trickle and is gradually easing travel curbs and social distancing restrictions, hosting a 16-team World Cup would be a Herculean task for Cricket Australia.

Dhumal questioned whether the tournament should go ahead if it had to be played without spectators and said the Australian government would play a key role in any decision.

"It all depends on what the Australian government says on this - whether they'd allow so may teams to come and play the tournament," he added.

"Will it make sense to play games without spectators? Will it make sense for CA to stage such a tournament like that? It's their call."

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts was guarded about the prospects of staging the tournament as scheduled on Friday.

"We don't have clarity on that one, yet. But as the situation continues to improve, you never know what might be possible," he said.

"It's ultimately a decision for the ICC."

The ICC has said it was unlikely to make a final call on the fate of the World Cup until August but some boards are in the process of making contingency plans in the event of a postponement.

While the BCCI recognised an open October-November window would suit the IPL, Dhumal said there was no point in making plans until there was some certainty about the World Cup.

"If we have the window available, and depending on what all can be organised, we'll decide accordingly," he added. "We can't presume that it's not happening and go on planning."

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News Network
February 11,2020

Mt. Maunganui (New Zealand), Feb 11: KL Rahul struck a combative 112 but New Zealand completed a 3-0 whitewash of India by winning the third ODI by five wickets, here on Tuesday.

Rahul helped India recover from a shaky start to post a challenging 296 for 7 but the Kiwis overhauled the target with 17 balls to spare.

This is the first whitewash that India has suffered in an ODI series in more than a decade.

Sent in to bat, India were down 62 for 3 in the 13th over after the dismissals of Mayank Agarwal (1), captain Virat Kohli (9) and Prithvi Shaw (40) but Rahul got a useful ally in in-form Shreyas Iyer (62) to take India to a competitive total.

Rahul, who hit nine fours and two sixes during his 113-ball innings, and Iyer stitched exactly 100 runs from 18.2 overs for the fourth wicket to revive the Indian innings.

After the end of the promising innings of Iyer, Rahul shared another 107 runs for the fifth wicket with Manish Pandey (42).

The Kiwis were off to a confident start in their chase with Martin Guptill (66) and Henry Nicholls (80) and putting on a 106-run stand. However, wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took three wickets to bring India back in the game.

Colin de Grandhomme (58) and Tom Latham (32), though, took their side past the finish line with an unbeaten 80-run partnership.

Brief Scores:

India: 296 for 7 in 50 overs (KL Rahul 112, Shreyas Iyer 62; Hamish Bennett 4/64).

New Zealand: 300 for 5 in 47.1 overs. (H Nicholls 80, M Guptill 66; Y Chahal 3/47).

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