England selectors can take a leaf out of Dhoni's book

September 9, 2014

Sep 9: MS Dhoni won a game in the Caribbean on his own but the strategy was understandable as he had Ishant Sharma at the other end.

Dhonis bookAt Edgbaston, after hitting a six off the first ball, he should have backed Ambati Rayudu, who was in good form in the series and has won pressure games for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. This allowed the bowler to bowl at just one batsman and not alter the line. Nonetheless, it was an exciting T20 game.

Although India won the one-day series, their Test performance requires introspection and the selectors need to take a hard look at a lot of things before they embark on the tough tour of Australia.

They have lost 13 Test matches in the last five overseas tours since 2011, and that is not acceptable from a top cricket-playing nation.

For me, Ajinkya Rahane has been the best player for India in the last two months. He is a quiet, old-fashioned cricketer, different from today's generation, which is flamboyant and expressive.

Virat Kohli struggled throughout the series and will be disappointed with his form. He is a class act and this would be a blip in his career. What is important is that he should learn from this tour and come back a better player. His weakness outside the off-stump would have been noticed by all in world cricket and he has to be a lot tighter there in the future.

India's bowling did well in patches. They are a young and inexperienced side and will need guidance to get better. Mohd Shami bowled superbly in the one-dayers, especially in the death overs, but he has to mould himself into a Test bowler as well.

He has the talent to do well in the longer format and shoulder the responsibility in overseas conditions. What he needs to work on is his fitness and ability to run in for 20 overs in a day. His run-up in limited-overs cricket was a lot aggressive but he must work towards becoming a good Test bowler because that's what people will remember in the long run.

England would be happy to finish the series with a win, and it was a much-improved performance since the start of the one-day series. They were outplayed in the first three games but showed lot of character to come back in the last two matches. They are a young one-day side and still trying to find a combination to take them forward.

The likes of Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jos Buttler will go on to become good shorter format players if persisted with and the England selectors should take a leaf out of Dhoni's book and in the way he has persisted with Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.

They must remember that there is no substitute for experience and with time Root & Co will learn how to play one-day cricket, pace their innings well and take the team to better positions.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Karachi, Jan 10: Former Pakistan batsman and current U-19 head coach Ejaz Ahmed feels that his side can beat defending champions and arch-rivals India in the forthcoming ICC Youth World Cup beginning in South Africa on January 17.

"India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup," Ejaz said.

Ejaz, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, was head coach of the Pakistan Emerging side which beat India before eventually winning the title in Bangladesh last year.

"Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit," he added.

The 51-year-old Ejaz, however, said at the end of the day it would be all about how a team plays on that particular day.

"It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced," he said.

Ejaz did not believe that India would get advantage of having played a four-nation tournament with South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe in South Africa before the World Cup.

"Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament," he said.

The former batsman also said the absence of fast bowler Naseem Shah will not impact much on the team's performance. Naseem was withdrawn from the Pakistan U-19 squad after he played for the senior team in three Test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka.

"Look there was no controversy at all. The way we now see things is that you can't expect a MBA to go and take BA exams. That is how we look at Naseem Shah, he has made the grade for Pakistan and now he should be performing for the senior team," said the head coach.

"We have a couple of exciting young talent in the ranks. I expect Rohail and Haider to play for the senior team in two to three year's time, they are that good."

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News Network
March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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News Network
March 26,2020

New Delhi, Mar 26: As India continues its fight against coronavirus, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly pledged to donate rice worth Rs 50 Lakhs to the needy people.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), in its statement, said Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice will provide rice to people who have been put in government schools for safety and security.
"#Sourav to provide Free Rice to the Needy It is heartening to note that Sourav Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice has come forward to provide free rice worth Rs 50 lacs to the needy people who have been put in government schools for safety and security. Hope this initiative of Ganguly would encourage other citizens of the state to take up similar initiatives to serve the people of our state. #CAB," CAB said in a statement.
CAB President Avishek Dalmiya has also lent support to the needy people as he donated Rs 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund.
"CAB President donates 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund to fight against #CoronaVirus/#Covid19," CAB said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day nation-wide lockdown to contain coronavirus.

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