England Tests: Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari get maiden call-up

Agencies
August 23, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 23: Young Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw and Andhra middle-order batsman G Hanuma Vihari were today included in the Indian team for the final two Test matches against England.

Veteran opener Murali Vijay was axed after a disastrous show in the first two Tests while chinaman Kuldeep Yadav made way for an additional batsman as a third spinner is not required in the seamer-friendly English conditions.

Vijay bagged a 'pair' against England at the Lord's and scored 20 and 6 in Birmingham.

With Shikhar Dhawan and K L Rahul putting up a much-improved show, the axe was always looming large on the 34-year-old Tamil Nadu opener. Also, his form outside the sub-continent has been wretched for sometime now even though he has a decent average of 39.33 across 59 Test matches.

He has scored 3933 runs with 12 hundreds. There is a fair chance that Vijay has played his last Test at the Lord's.

The 18-year-old Prithvi, who had captained India U-19 to World Cup triumph earlier this year, is set to be rewarded for his consistent show in the first-class arena. Prithvi has scored 1418 runs in 14 first-class games with an average of 56.72 and seven centuries.

He was one of the star performers along with Vihari and Mayank Agarwal during India A team's recent tour of the UK. He scored 188 in a first-class game against West Indies A in Beckenham and recently scored 136 against South Africa A in Bengaluru.

Vihari, a member of the 2012 U-19 World Cup team, has been a consistent scorer in Ranji Trophy and has also done well for India A in recent times.

It is learnt that the Indian team management and the selectors feel that an extra batsman in these conditions won't be of any harm.

Vihari enjoys a phenomenal average of nearly 60 in 63 first-class games with 5142 runs and 15 hundreds to his credit. His game is cut out for the longest format with good defensive technique.

During the tour of UK, he scored 147 in a List A game against West Indies A. He also had a half century in a four-day 'Test' against the same opponents. Recently, he also scored 54 and 148 in the two 'Tests' against South Africa A side at home.

The fourth Test will be played at Southampton from August 30 while the fifth match will start at the Oval in London from September 7.

The Squad (for 4th and 5th Test): Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, K L Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohd.Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Hanuma Vihari.

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News Network
February 9,2020

New Delhi, Feb 9: The Indian Fed Cup team will travel to Dubai for this year's competition as the ITF has named the desert city as the new venue for the matches, to be held from March 3 to 7.

The ITF named the new venue after moving out the matches from then Chinese city of Dongguan due to Coronoavirus threat. The Asia/Oceania Group I matches were originally scheduled to be played from February 4-8.

"The event will be held in the week following the ATP Dubai tournament at the same venue, and will see six nations China P.R., Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Korea Rep. and Uzbekistan - compete for a place in the Fed Cup Play-offs in April," an ITF release said.

The six teams will vie for two spots in Fed Cup Play-offs.

"Being in Dubai makes no difference. But the dates give enough time to Sania for her recovery. Doubles is an important point. Ankita is playing well. The other team members will also get some tournament to play under their belt," India's Fed Cup captain Vishal Uppal told news agency.

Sania's participation was under doubt due to a calf injury she aggravated during the Australian Open, where she pulled out of the mixed doubles before retiring mid-way into her women's doubles opening round match.

"I think we have a good chance but we will have to be at our best and fight hard for every point, every game, every set, every match," Uppal added.

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Agencies
March 13,2020

New Delhi, Mar 13: The remaining ODI series between India and South Africa has been called-off amidst the rising concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

"The second and third ODI between India and South Africa in Lucknow and Kolkata respectively are called off," the BCCI source told media persons.

The first match of the series was abandoned due to rain and wet outfield without a toss at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium on Thursday.

The second and third ODI was scheduled to be played at Lucknow and Kolkata on March 15 and 18 respectively. Earlier on Thursday, the BCCI has decided to play the remaining two ODIs behind closed doors.

"After holding discussions with the MYAS and MOHFW, the BCCI on Thursday announced that the remaining two One-day Internationals (ODIs) of the three-match series of South Africa tour of India, 2020, will be played without any public gathering, including spectators," the BCCI had said in a statement.

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has advised all the federations to avoid large gatherings.

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday had declared the coronavirus outbreak a 'pandemic' and expressed deep concerns.

The coronavirus disease was first detected in Wuhan in China's Hubei province, in late December, and has since spread worldwide.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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