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How Sarfaraz Khan with his cheeky strokeplay is beginning to impress

May 1, 2015

May 1: It's not easy to impress Virat Kohli. And it isn't easy to outshine AB de Villiers. Sarfaraz Khan did both on Wednesday night in Bangalore, first sending the capacity crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium into raptures and then getting the captain, Kohli, to walk up and fold his hands in a light-hearted salute.

Sarfaraz Khan

At 17, Sarfaraz is the youngest to play in the IPL. Against Rajasthan Royals, he walked in when de Villiers was run out off the penultimate ball of the 14th over after scoring a 45-ball 57. Sarfaraz's charge began with an upper-cut four off James Faulkner in the 16th over.

Then a back of the bat reverse sweep - where the risk seemed to outweigh the reward - with a close infield fetched just one. Sarfaraz wasn't too thrilled; he smacked Faulkner's next to the third-man boundary. In the next over, two fours came off Shane Watson, the Rajasthan captain, both in the direction of third man - an outside edge and a cheeky ramp shot - leaving the experienced Australian looking a bit out of ideas.

Despite losing Dinesh Karthik to a run out, Sarfaraz extended his reign on the night. It was Pravin Tambe's turn to be the target of his Mumbai colleague's cheekiness next.

The first four was a sweep over fine-leg. The next one had him storming out and launching the 43-year-old leg-spinner over the long-off fence. Then came an inside-out drive that went past the long-off boundary in an over that fetched 18 runs.

Sarfaraz, by then, had caught the attention of both the dugouts. He had also captured the imagination of the crowd, which chanted 'Sarfar-raaz, Sar-far-raaz'. Even the Twitter world went gaga over the new star on the block - Sensational Sarfaraz, they called him. From VVS Laxman to Michael Vaughan to Tom Moody, everyone raved about the short and slightly plump right-hander's fearless approach. David Lloyd even urged English county teams to rope him in as soon as possible. "I've always advised hi ..

"He wasn't nervous that he would be facing some of the best international bowlers in the IPL. He has always batted that way." Branded the next big thing from the Bombay School of Batsmanship, comparisons weren't restricted to jus t Sachin Tendulkar, some even saw a bit of Javed Miandad and Aravinda de Silva in him.

The IPL is a perfect potpourri of hunger, passion and, possibly, stardom, and Sarfaraz certainly went from anonymity to prominence with his unbeaten 21-ball 45. It must have helped that B Arun, Sarfaraz's Under-19 coach and Bangalore's assistant coach, has never been short of valuable advice. "Bharat sir was a lower-order batsman himself, he was aware of Sarfaraz's talent and got him to bat at No. 6," pointed out Naushad.

"It is one of main reasons for Sarfaraz's aggressive style of batting, he knows his role well as a finisher." Maybe there was a reason the rain decided to interrupt the proceedings soon after Bangalore had amassed 200 for 7 against Rajasthan.

Maybe Sarfaraz deserved to keep the spotlight on him, without the Rajasthan batsmen taking away a share. He certainly got it.

Maybe Sarfaraz deserved to keep the spotlight on him, without the Rajasthan batsmen taking away a share. He certainly got it.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Chennai Super Kings have rejected the idea of an IPL with only Indian players in the near future, differing with Rajasthan Royals, the franchise which is keen on the option given the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IPL, which is indefinitely postponed, can be held in the September-October window if the scheduled T20 World Cup in Australia doesn't take place.

"CSK is not keen to do an IPL with only Indian players. That way it would be playing another Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (domestic T20 competition). The franchise has not been in touch with the BCCI of late as the situation is worsening," a CSK source said on conditions of anonymity.

"Let's hope we can have the IPL later this year," he added.

CSK are three-time IPL champions, making them the second most successful team in the event's history after Mumbai Indians, who have won the tournament four times.

The BCCI is also very keen to stage the IPL and if it doesn't happen, the world's richest board would be in financial trouble like Cricket Australia.

"The board will take a revenue hit of Rs 4000 crore if it doesn't happen. The board will be in a big problem," BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal said earlier this week.

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in India, the board and IPL team officials see little point in discussing when the event can be held.

"There has been no discussion with the BCCI ever since it postponed the IPL. There is no point in discussing also as things are unlikely to be okay anytime soon," the CSK source said.

"We expect the BCCI to take the best possible decision when the time comes," he added.

For the IPL to happen with foreign players, travel restrictions, which are currently in place, will have to be eased.

There is an option of conducting the IPL outside India and Sri Lanka Cricket has even offered to host the biggest T20 league in the world.

M S Dhoni was expected to make a much-awaited comeback with the IPL but that too has been postponed indefinitely.

Teammates like Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla have already spoken about how eager Dhoni was to return.

According to them, Dhoni had the determination of a youngster before the league was suspended due to the lockdown imposed to contain the pandemic.

"Dhoni is his own man but I see him playing the IPL for at least two three years. When it comes to playing for India, only he knows best," the source added.

Last month, Rajasthan Royals executive chairman Ranjit Barthakur had said the franchise was open to a shortened IPL with only Indian players.

"Earlier we could not think of an Indians-only IPL but now there is enough quality to choose from. It is better to have an Indians-only IPL than not have it at all," he had told news agency.

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer on Sunday picked his all-time IPL team and appointed wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni as its captain.

Jaffer's team's feature opener Rohit Sharma, current Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, spinner R Ashwin, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah as seven domestic players.
While the foreign players spot have been occupied by West Indies' swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, all-rounder Andre Russell, Afghanistan's spinner Rashid Khan, and Sri Lanka's veteran pacer Lasith Malinga.
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been picked as 12th man by Jaffer.

Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to postpone the IPL to April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak.
The board also assured that it will work in unison with the Sports Ministry and will adhere to the guidelines issued.

The 13th edition of IPL was scheduled to commence from March 29. 

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