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India beat Windies by 9 wickets, Clinch Series 3-1

Agencies
November 2, 2018

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 2:  A ruthless India completed a nine-wicket demolition of the West Indies in the fifth and final ODI here Thursday for their sixth successive series win at home. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took four wickets to help India bundle out the West Indies for 104 in just 31.5 overs. Pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Jasprit Bumrah chipped in with two wickets each.

The home team took just 14.5 overs to reach the paltry target, courtesy an unbeaten 99-run stand between Rohit Sharma (62 off 54) and captain Virat Kohli (33 off 29), following another low score from Shikhar Dhawan.

It was a complete surrender from the West Indies, who let themselves down after competing hard in the first three ODIs. The previous game at Mumbai too was dominated by the hosts before they romped to a 3-1 series win here. India last a lost a series at home in 2015, when they went down 2-3 against South Africa.

The hosts wasted in no time completing the 105-run target after the bowlers laid the foundation of a massive victory. Rohit continued his fine form, notching up a half-century, in the process going past the 1,000-run mark for the calendar year 2018 and also hitting his 200th six in ODIs.

The India vice-captain had a lucky escape when he was caught behind by Shai Hope off Oshane Thomas’ bowling on 18. He made most of that reprieve as he hit five boundaries and struck five imperious sixes. Kohli too was solid at the other end and his innings comprised six fours.

Dhawan’s soft dismissal would probably be one of the lows for India as he chopped on a delivery from Thomas, who worked up good pace but was inconsistent with his line and length.

Earlier, the West Indies were in trouble right from the start after skipper Jason Holder chose to bat. Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had Kieran Powell caught behind by M S Dhoni for a duck off the fourth ball, giving India their first wicket.

Shai Hope, who has been one of the best West Indies batsmen on tour alongside Shimron Hetmyer, was castled by Bumrah off a beauty in the second over to leave the team at 2 for 2. The experienced Marlon Samuels, from whom a lot was expected, led a brief revival, hitting some crisp boundaries and the only six of the innings.

The Indian domination could be gauged from the fact that the first boundary came in the sixth over when Rovman Powell lofted one from Bumrah over the infield. Samuels’ resistance ended in the 12th over when he fell to a soft dismissal of Jadeja for 24, spooning a catch to skipper Virat Kohli.

As has often been the case in the series, Holder showed patience and skill to resist the rampant Indian bowlers but his dismissal hastened the end. The lanky Holder was taken by Kedar Jadhav, running in from the deep when he tried to go ariel against Khaleel Ahmed. He was the top-scorer with 25. The spinners took over and polished off the tail.

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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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News Network
April 13,2020

Apr 13: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir says if IPL is not played this year, it will be difficult for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to make a comeback to the Indian team.

Dhoni last played for India in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in July last year.

Since then he hasn't played any competitive cricket and legends such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have already said that it's getting increasingly difficult for the Jharkhand dasher to make an international return after such a prolonged sabbatical.

He was expected to be seen in action at this year's IPL but the chances of T20 league being played are remote due to the COVID-19.

"If the IPL does not happen this year, then it will become very difficult for MS Dhoni to make a comeback. On what basis can he (Dhoni) be selected since he’s not been playing for the last one or one and a half year," Gambhir said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

The 38-year-old Gambhir picked KL Rahul, who has been keeping in ODIs, as an "apt replacement" for Dhoni.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

"Obviously his (Rahul's) keeping is not as good as Dhoni’s, but if you are looking at T20 cricket, Rahul's a utility player, can keep and bat at No. 3 or 4. If the IPL does not happen, then Dhoni’s chances for a comeback look dim.

"Ultimately, you are representing India, so whoever dishes out the best performance and can win the match for India should play for the team," added Gambhir.

The southpaw also felt that retirement was Dhoni's personal decision.

"As far as his retirement plans go by, that's his personal choice," said Gambhir.

However, his former teammate and test specialist VVS Laxman feels that Dhoni can continue playing IPL.

"Not only this IPL, he (Dhoni) will probably play in the next couple of IPLs, and then we will take a call about his future as a cricketer," Laxman said on the same show.

However, Laxman, a veteran of 134 Tests, said that the new selection committee, chaired by former spinner Sunil Joshi, will have to discuss Dhoni's future with him.

"Dhoni will be very clear, as far as his plans are concerned, I'm sure he must have communicated that with (captain) Virat Kohli, (coach) Ravi Shastri immediately after the 2019 World Cup in England," said Laxman.

"The new selection committee will have to sit down with MS Dhoni and understand his future, as far as Indian cricket is concerned. But MS Dhoni will continue to play for CSK and do well for CSK," said Laxman, who amassed 8,781 Test runs.

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Agencies
February 4,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 4: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena guided India to a comfortable ten wickets win over Pakistan in the ICC U19 World Cup semifinal at Senwes Park on Tuesday and progressed to the final of the tournament.

Chasing 173, Indian openers Jaiswal and Saxena played cautiously and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 176 runs.

The duo built the highest opening partnership of the tournament's history. Jaiswal, the left-handed batsman, scored his maiden century of the tournament as he amassed unbeaten 105 runs studded with eight fours and four sixes.

Saxena scored 59* off 99 balls including six fours. India chased down the total in 35.2 overs. This is the first time in the history of the U19 World Cup that a team won a knockout match by ten wickets.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Opener Haider Ali and skipper Rohail Nazir's half-centuries guided the side to a respectable total of 172. Ali played a knock of 56 runs while Nazir accumulated 62 runs including six boundaries.

Pakistan did not have a good start as they lost Mohammad Hurair (4) in the second over. Fahad Munir, came to bat at number three, failed to score a single run and was departed by Ravi Bishnoi on a duck in ninth over.

Apart from Ali and Nazir, Mohammad Haris was the only batsman to score runs in double digits. He played an innings of 21 runs off 15 balls. Indian bowlers showed a spirited performance as they bowled out arch-rival in 43.1 overs.

Pacers Karthik Tyagi and Sushant Mishra bagged two and three wickets respectively. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi clinched two scalps and conceded 46 runs in his ten overs.

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