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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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and is one of the easiest guys to interact with.

Bravo was doing an Instagram live chat with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the all-rounder was asked to talk about his stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"I think a lot of credit for CSK's success has to be given to Dhoni and Fleming, obviously the owners, they trust both Fleming and Dhoni, so there is no outside interference when it comes to decision making, both are very big students of the game, players love MS and it's an environment and franchise that allows you to be you," Bravo told Mbangwa during the chat.

"MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team. He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans," he added.

Bravo has been with the CSK since 2011. He has played a total of 104 matches for the franchise, picking up 121 wickets.

The all-rounder has also managed to win the Purple Cap (most wickets in IPL) two times (2013 and 2015).

CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and all the titles have come under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the high-profile game.

This year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

The board had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

Dhoni is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He would have been leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29.

However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
January 19,2020

Rome, Jan 19: India's star wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya kicked off the Olympic year in style, winning a gold medal each in their respective weight categories at the Rome Ranking Series here.

The 25-year-old Bajrang staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 win against USA's Jordan Michael Oliver in the summit showdown of the 65kg freestyle category.

Ravi, who competed in the 61kg category instead of his regular 57kg, also bagged gold after getting the better of Kazakhstan's Nurbolat Abdualiyev 12-2 in his final bout late on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old from Sonepat had made the final round after securing impressive wins over Moldova's Alexaandru Chirtoaca and Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev.

Up against one of India's biggest medal prospects in the Tokyo Olympics, Oliver conceded that it was not his night against Bajrang.

The American lauded the competitive spirit of Bajrang.

"Wasn't my night… but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend," the American tweeted.

Bajrang had to sweat it out in the first round against Zain Allen Retherford of the USA before prevailing 5-4.

In the quarterfinal, the ace Indian wrestler went past another American Joseph Christopher Mc Kenna 4-2, before getting the better of Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine 6-4 in the semi-finals.

However, it was curtains for Jitender in the 74kg and world championship silver medallist Deepak Punia in the 86kg category.

Jitender won his first bout against Denys Pavlov of Ukraine 10-1 before going down in the quarterfinals against Turkey's Soner Demirtas 4-0.

Jitender got a chance to fight in the repechage after Demirtas entered the final, but the Indian wasted the opportunity, losing 2-9 to Daniyar Kaisanov of Kazakhstan.

In the 86kg category, Deepak crashed out in the opening round, losing 1-11 to Ethan Adrian Ramos of Puerto Rico.

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April 7,2020

Bengaluru, April 7: India batsman Robin Uthappa has said that he reckons he still has a World Cup left in him, despite being out of the team for than four years.

Uthappa had last played a match for the Men in Blue in 2015 on the tour of Zimbabwe.

"Right now I want to be competitive. I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete and do well. I honestly believe I have a World Cup left in me, so I'm pursuing that, especially the shortest format. 

The blessings of lady luck or god or whatever you call it, plays a massive factor," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Uthappa as saying.

"Especially in India, it becomes so much more evident. I don't think it is as evident when you're playing cricket outside of India. But in the subcontinent and India especially, with the amount of talent that we do have in our country, all of those aspects become evident," he added.

The 34-year-old Uthappa has played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India and he was also a part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2007.

Uthappa has scored 934 runs in ODIs at an average of 25.94, while in T20Is his numbers are 249 runs at an average of 24.90.

"You can never write yourself off. You would be unfair to yourself if you write yourself off.

Especially if you believe you have the ability and you know that there is an outside chance. So I still believe in that outside chance," Uthappa said.

"I still believe that things can go my way and I probably can be a part of a World Cup-winning team and play an integral role in that as well.

Those dreams are still alive and I think I'll keep playing cricket till that is alive," he added.

Uthappa had enjoyed great success with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. He went on to become their leading run-scorer in the 2014 edition.

However, he was released by the side after a below-par 2019 season, and last November he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for the 2020 edition.

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