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Fancied India wary of unpredictable Pakistan

Agencies
September 22, 2018

Dubai, Sept 22: Favourites India have no grounds for complacency as they wait to see 'which' Pakistan turns up in the Asia Cup here on Sunday, well aware of the unpredictable arch-rivals' penchant for surprising not just opponents but themselves, too.

India are eyeing a place in the final after three wins in as many matches, while Pakistan will look to step up their game in the Super Four match, after a scare against Afghanistan. India walloped Pakistan by eight wickets in the group game three days ago but if history is any indication, the Men in Blue will take their traditional rivals lightly at their own peril.

After being made to work hard by minnows Hong Kong in their tournament opener, India got their act together in the much-awaited group game against Pakistan and produced a clinical display to make short work of Sarfraz Ahmed's team. Chasing a small target, India were hardly tested as a half-century from skipper Rohit Sharma ensured that the team was home with as many as 21 overs to spare.

Even without their talismanic captain Virat Kohli, the Indian batting looked formidable and lived up to the billing by scoring freely on surfaces that are not really perfect for stroke-play. Opening the innings, Rohit was at his fluent best against Pakistan and followed that up with another fine knock of 83 in the seven-wicket win over Bangladesh, more than making up for the failure against Hong Kong. Rohit's opener partner, Shikhar Dhawan found himself amongst the runs after a torrid time in England's seaming conditions, scoring in all three matches, including a century against Hong Kong.

The middle-order duo of Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik will again look to grab the opportunity with both hands by making useful contributions in the big game. Rayudu missed out against Bangladesh after making an unbeaten 31 in the group game against Pakistan. Veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni managed to spend some time in the middle on Friday, remaining unbeaten on 33 off 37 balls. Then there is Kedar Jadhav, who has often proved his worth with the bat besides his bowling.

Coming back to the ODI side after more than a year, Ravindra Jadeja marked the occasion with a fine four-wicket haul against Bangladesh, and he seems hungry for more. Pakistan will be wary of the threat posed by the left-arm spinner, who is also a handy bat lower down the order. India will look to the pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah to make the initial breakthroughs and put Pakistan on the backfoot before the spinners are introduced. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are the two mainline spinners, but it was Kedar, who picked up the most number of wickets among the slow bowlers in the last game against Pakistan.

Pakistan will look up to their seasoned campaigner Shoaib Malik for inspiration. All-rounder Malik made 43 against India and saved his team the blushes with a crucial knock against a spirited Afghanistan on Friday night. Opener Fakhar Zaman, who made a name for himself with a match-winning hundred against India in the final of the Champions Trophy last year, flopped in their first game here and will look to make amends with the likes of Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, and Iman-ul-Haq eager to do as well. Another cause of concern is the form of their strike bowler Mohammad Aamir, who has not been amongst the wickets in recent times.

While the left-arm pacer failed to deliver against India in the group clash, he was dropped against Afghanistan. The likes of Hasan Ali and Usman Khan will have to step up their game if Pakistan is to do well.

Teams (From):

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sarfraz Ahmed(captain), Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

Mumbai, Jul 7: Australias second largest city Melbourne is set to go for another round of lockdown — for six weeks — from midnight Wednesday as the coronavirus has reared its ugly head in Victoria. And this has further confirmed that this years T20 World Cup in Australia is practically not possible. Even as the ICC keeps delaying the announcement, BCCI hopes that the official call will now be taken with this latest development.

Despite ICC's Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) chief Ehsan Mani as well as Cricket Australia making it clear time and again that hosting a T20 World Cup in the October-November window is practically impossible, the ICC hasn't made an official announcement and that hasn't impressed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to media persons, a BCCI official said that it is only the ICC which has kept speaking about delaying the inevitable — announcing a postponement — even as Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote to the international body that it looks highly unlikely that a T20 World Cup can be hosted in these trying times.

"As it is there were so many logistical difficulties and that is perfectly understandable. The Australian government has been addressing the public health issue efficiently and there are regulations in place which are crucial to address the challenges. In that background even Cricket Australia has been practical in their assessment of the situation.

"With this present situation where Melbourne is in lockdown, the ICC really must take the final call of closure on the issue if they have any concept of responsible decision making," the official said.

Not just CA chairman Eddings, but also Mani — who is also the PCB chief — recently told the media that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in a bio-secure environment.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023, so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event. God forbid if some player(s) falls ill or mishap occurs during the tournament, it will have a big impact and create panic in the cricket world and we can't take that risk. Having a bio-bubble environment is feasible for say a bilateral series like Pakistan in England, but it is very difficult when 16 teams are involved," he had said.

Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley echoed the sentiments when he said the biggest challenge was to get the players from so many teams into the country.

"Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country. If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise," he had said.

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News Network
May 18,2020

Karachi, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes it is at least five years too early to compare Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as the Indian skipper has proven himself in "every kind of situation" and the latter has not.

"Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket and he is at the peak of his career," said Younis, Pakistan's leading run-getter in Tests.

"Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this are proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition."

Younis said said Babar still has a long way to go.

"Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day.

"You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career."

Besides amassing 70 international hundreds, 31-year-old Kohli averages more than 50 in all three formats. The India skipper has scored more than 20,000 runs while 25-year-old Babar has 6680 runs across formats though the Pakistan limited overs skipper has played significantly lesser number of games.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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