India in England: Eoin Morgan Glad to Bring Smiles Back After T20 Win

September 8, 2014

Birmingham, Sep 8: Stand-in skipper Eoin Morgan said he hoped England's thrilling three-run Twenty20 win over India in their final home international match of the season would spur the team on to greater heights ahead of the World Cup.

Eoin-MorganMorgan, leading the side in the absence of injured all-rounder Stuart Broad, produced a stunning captain's innings of 71 in just 31 balls, including seven sixes, as England made 180 for seven at Birmingham's Edgbaston on Sunday.

He then saw his 'death' bowlers, put paid to what threatened to be yet another victorious rescue act by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who narrowly fell short in trying to score the 17 his side needed off the last over, delivered by paceman Chris Woakes on his Warwickshire home ground.

Having lost series in all formats to Sri Lanka earlier in the season, England -- after a poor start -- recovered to beat India 3-1 in a five-Test campaign.

However, doubts about their viability as contenders to win next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand resurfaced during a 3-1 one-day international series defeat by reigning champions India.

Morgan, tipped in some quarters as an alternative England ODI skipper to incumbent Alastair Cook, struggled for runs in the one-dayers but found his form on Sunday.

- Lead from the front -

"There's smiles in the changing-room after a very tough summer," Morgan said.

"We've worked really hard and to finish it on such a high against such a very strong T20 team -- is a great achievement.

"It is hugely important. In the one-day series our senior players including myself didn't stand up, which made things really difficult.

"To lead from the front myself was the way it should be done."

After England were again stifled by spin, Morgan's late assault saw 81 runs scored off the final five overs as India's 'death' bowling once more proved fallible.

India regained control with the bat while Virat Kohli was making 66 -- his only international fifty of a disappointing tour.

When he holed out off a bouncer from fast bowler Steven Finn, India needed 46 off the final 30 balls.

It looked a gettable target but when left-arm seamer Harry Gurney bowled Suresh Rains with a yorker, England sensed a chance of victory.

Woakes then held his nerve despite the pressure of bowling to dangerman Dhoni in front of a capacity crowd, most of whom were cheering for India.

"The guys at the end; Woakesy and Harry Gurney and Steven Finn were outstanding," said Morgan.

Dhoni turned down singles late on, including in the final over, but Morgan defended his opposing skipper's approach.

"He's a guy capable of anything. That first ball (of the last over) Woakesy bowled, he probably missed his length but not by much at all -- he inside edged it for six.

"If Woakesy half executes the rest of the deliveries he faces in that over they could have gone for six as well."

One sour note was that England's Moeen Ali, Birmingham-born but of Pakistani descent and a practising Muslim, was repeatedly booed by large sections of the crowd.

The jeers appeared to be aimed at Ali for who he was rather than anything the off-spinning all-rounder had done.

Morgan insisted he was unaware that Ali, who came through Warwickshire's youth system but now plays for Worcestershire, had been targeted specifically: "I didn't know he (Ali) got booed. We all got booed today (Sunday)."

Meanwhile Dhoni, recalling how India's Ravindra Jadeja had been subjected to crowd taunts as a result of his dust-up with England paceman James Anderson during the first Test at Trent Bridge, also refused to be drawn on the issue.

"Did you ever ask about Jadeja getting booed?," Dhoni told a reporter at a post-match news conference.

"The last day of the tour, I don't want to start another controversy."

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February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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February 11,2020

Dubai, Feb 11: Two Indian players-- Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi -- and three Bangladeshis have been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for involvement in the quarrel just after the U-19 cricket World Cup summit clash in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Sunday.

Akash and Bishnoi and three Bangladeshi players -- Md. Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan -- were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after a few players from both sides nearly came to blows after Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win their maiden U-19 World Cup title.

"Five players have been found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Support Personnel ... (they) were charged with violating Article 2.21 of the code, whilst Bishnoi received a further charge of breaching Article 2.5," the ICC said in a statement.

"All five players have accepted the sanctions proposed by ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Match Referee Graeme Labrooy," it added.

A near brawl broke out after Bangladesh’s historic win over India in the final. The Bangladesh players were aggressive during the Indian innings with lead pacer Shoriful Islam frequently sledging the Indian batsmen.

As soon as the match ended, Bangladeshi players rushed into the playing area.

"India's Akash accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years," the ICC said.

Compatriot Bishnoi accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of five suspension points, which equates to five demerit points.

"Bishnoi also accepted a level 1 charge of breaching Article 2.5 for a separate incident during the match, where he used language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter following the dismissal of Avishek Das in the 23rd over," said the ICC.

"For this he received a further two demerit points meaning seven demerit points will remain on his record for the next two years."

Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of ten suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Shamim Hossain accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Rakibul Hasan accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of four suspension points, which equates to five demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

All charges were levelled by on-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Ravindra Wimalasiri as well as fourth umpire Patrick Bongni Jele. Level 3 breaches carry a minimum penalty of four suspension points and a maximum penalty of 12 suspension points.

The suspension points will be applied to the forthcoming international matches the players are most likely to participate in at either senior or U-19 level. One suspension point equals a player being ineligible for one ODI or T20I, U-19 or A team international match.

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