ICC World Cup Qualifiers: Five things to look out for

Agencies
March 1, 2018

The qualifying tournament for the 2019 ICC World Cup gets underway in Zimbabwe on Sunday, with 10 teams battling it out for only two places at next year's tournament in England and Wales.

Two-time world champions West Indies and Afghanistan are favourites to claim the remaining spots for the reduced 10-team World Cup, while fellow Test sides Ireland and Zimbabwe will be hoping to cause an upset.

Here are five things to watch out for during the qualifiers from March 4 to 25.

Can Universe Boss revive Windies?

The West Indies are facing the ignominy of failing to qualify, despite being one of only three teams to have won the World Cup on multiple occasions. The Caribbean outfit have slipped out of the top eight in the ODI rankings after a poor run of form and the loss of several key players to T20 franchise leagues.

But star batsman and self-styled 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle is back and ready to try and add to his tally of 22 ODI hundreds. The big-hitting left-hander turned down the allure of the lucrative Pakistan Super League in order to play in Zimbabwe, and all eyes will be on the 38-year-old as he tries to reach his fifth World Cup.

The million-dollar legspinner

Afghanistan's incredible rise has continued to gain momentum over the last 12 months, led by teenage leg-spin sensation Rashid Khan. The 19-year-old will captain the team for the early part of qualifying in place of the injured Asghar Stanikzai and is closing in on becoming the fastest-ever bowler to reach 100 ODI wickets.

Khan, who was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for $1.41 million in last month's IPL auction, has taken 86 wickets in 37 ODIs. Mitchell Starc's record of taking only 52 matches to reach 100 wickets is in danger of falling over the next few weeks in a torrent of fizzing leg-breaks and googlies.

Floundering hosts

Host country Zimbabwe, who have played in every World Cup since 1983, have fallen from grace over the last 15 years and are seen as underdogs to qualify. They have only won three matches at the last three World Cups, against the UAE, Canada and Kenya, and were comprehensively beaten 4-1 in a one-day series by Afghanistan last month.

Their hopes will be pinned on the recently-returned Brendan Taylor, Kyle Jarvis and Sean Williams, but an embarrassing loss to one of the game's lesser lights is perhaps more likely than qualification.

Nepalese nail-biters

Nepal scraped into the qualifying tournament after a series of thrilling victories in the World Cricket League Division Two, culminating in a last-ball, one-wicket win over Canada to book their spot in Zimbabwe. They had also edged to an earlier triumph over Namibia with the last pair at the crease in the final over.

Led by 17-year-old leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, Nepal will be fun to watch in the qualifiers, but any victories will probably result in some frayed nerves back home for their cricket-mad supporters.

Battle for ODI status

The first group stage may seem to just be a precursor before the stronger sides battle it out for a World Cup place in the following Super Six round, but there are three slots as an ODI nation up for grabs. The top three Associate teams -- Ireland, Afghanistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe are full ICC members -- will join World Cricket League Championship winners the Netherlands in gaining ODI status until 2022.

As a result, outsiders Nepal, the UAE, Hong Kong, Scotland and Papua New Guinea have plenty on the line in the opening two weeks.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: Grappler Divya Kakran on Thursday became the second Indian woman to win a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship.

Divya, a bronze medallist at Asian Games 2018, earned her first gold by winning all her four bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Her final bout against Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was the closest one but she managed to outclass her opponent 6-4 to seal her name on the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only five wrestlers were in the fray.

India is likely to add some more medals to its tally when Nirmala Devi, Pinki, and Sarita go out to grapple for the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

Three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) first defeated Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.

In the semi-finals, Nirmala got the better of Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 and will play against 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan for the gold medal.

Pinki (55 kg) started her day on a winning note against Shokhida Akhmedova of Uzbekistan by 12-4 in round 3 and lost to Kana Higashikawa of Japan to enter the semis where she defeated Marina Zuyeva of Kazakistan by a score of 6-0.

Pinki will play in the gold medal bout against Dulguun Bolormaa of Mongolia.

Sarita (59 kg) will now face Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the gold medal bout after winning against her opponents in the qualifiers, quarterfinals and semi-final by a score of 10-0, 11-0 and 10-3, respectively.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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