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
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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Agencies
July 8,2020

Kolkata, Jul 8: Legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar led the wishes for former India captain and current President of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) Sourav Ganguly who turned 48 on Wednesday.

Touted to be one of the best captains the country has ever produced, Ganguly is widely credited for making India an aggressive side and instilling belief in the team that they could win overseas conditions as well.

Happy birthday Dadi!
Hope our off-field partnership keeps going strong like our on-field ones. Wish you a blessed year ahead. pic.twitter.com/jOmq9XN07w

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 8, 2020
Tendulkar was among the first ones to extend birthday wishes to his former opening partner. "Happy birthday Dadi! Hope our off-field partnership keeps going strong like our on-field ones. Wish you a blessed year ahead," Tendulkar said on Twitter.

"Many more happy returns of the day Sourav Ganguly. May you taste ever more success and receive more and more love. Have a great day and year ahead #HappyBirthdayDada," said renowned Indian batsman VVS Laxman.

Many more happy returns of the day @SGanguly99 . May you taste ever more success and receive more and more love. Have a great day and year ahead #HappyBirthdayDada pic.twitter.com/j53UUDerJE

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) July 8, 2020
Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif wrote: "From a fine batsman to an outstanding captain & now leading Indian cricket on the whole—here's wishing my favourite captain & mentor Sourav Ganguly a very happy birthday. But FAULADI SEENA dikha ke aise kaun chadhta hai (who climbs up like this after showing a chest of steel), Dada #HappyBirthdayDada."

From a fine batsman to an outstanding captain & now leading Indian cricket on the whole—here’s wishing my favourite captain & mentor @SGanguly99 a very happy birthday. But FAULADI SEENA dikha ke aise kaun chadhta hai, Dada #HappyBirthdayDada pic.twitter.com/8PKZ3RwwtB

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 8, 2020
"Wishing a very happy birthday to the most dynamic and visionary captain of his time. It's a matter of immense pleasure to work with the man who took Indian cricket to new heights. Subho Janmodin Sourav Ganguly," tweeted BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.

"Leader of Men. God of off-side. Fighter. Happy Birthday, Dada. #HappyBirthdayDada," said commentator and former cricketer Aakash Chopra.

Leader of Men.
God of off-side.
Fighter.
Happy Birthday, Dada. #HappyBirthdayDada pic.twitter.com/PJcy0xwgyb

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 8, 2020
"Happy birthday dada! From a great captain to a brilliant administrator, you have donned them magnificently. Hope you continue your good work for the betterment of Indian cricket... Godspeed. Sourav Ganguly #HappyBirthdayDada," tweeted another former cricketer Pragyan Ojha.

Putting out various important achievements of Ganguly, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on their official Twitter handle wrote: "Third-fastest to 10,000 ODI runs. Holds the record for the highest individual score in CWC for India. 2003 ICC World Cup runner-up. Captained India to 11 wins in 28 overseas Tests. Happy birthday to one of India's most successful captains, Sourav Ganguly."

Ganguly played 113 Tests and 311 One Day Internationals in which he scored 7,212 and 11,363 runs respectively.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

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