India openers Dhawan and Rahul achieve career-best rankings

Agencies
August 15, 2017

Dubai, Aug 15: Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul today attained career-high positions in the ICC Test Player Rankings after figuring in an important partnership that helped India defeat Sri Lanka by an innings and 171 runs in the third Test to complete a 3-0 rout of the home side.

Left-hander Dhawan, who top-scored with 119 in the final Test in Pallekele, has moved up 10 places to 28th position after India won inside three days yesterday.

This was the Delhi batsman's second century in three Tests as he finished with 358 runs and was named player of the series.

Rahul has moved up two positions to equal his career-best ninth position after a contribution of 85 in the opening stand of 188 that came in under 40 overs.

Rahul thus equalled his career-best ninth rank attained in July this year but the present tally of 761 ratings points is his highest till date.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya's 96-ball knock of 108 has seen him gain 45 positions to reach a career-best 68th rank among batsmen, while pace bowlers Mohammad Shami (up one place to 19th position) and Umesh Yadav (up one place up to a career- best 21st position) have gained among bowlers.

There was good news for Chinaman bowlers too as India's Kuldeep Yadav and Sri Lanka's Lakshan Sandakan have made rapid strides.

Kuldeep, coming in for Ravindra Jadeja, has moved up 29 slots to 58th place after returning with figures of four for 40 and one for 56, while Sandakan's haul of five for 132 has helped him gain 16 places to reach 57th position.

Other Sri Lanka players to move up in the rankings include batsmen Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella. Chandimal has gained two slots to reach 33rd position while Dickwella has gained seven slots to reach a career-best 61st position.

In the list for all-rounders, Jadeja has lost the top slot to Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hassan after missing the Pallekele Test owing to a one-match suspension after accumulating six demerit points inside a 24-month period. Jadeja has slipped one point behind Shakib's tally of 431 points but remains at the top of the bowling rankings.

Top-ranked India and seventh-placed Sri Lanka have retained their positions in the team rankings with India gaining two points to reach 125 points, increasing its lead over South Africa to 15 points.

Meanwhile, England hosts the West Indies for a three-Test series starting Thursday, which it may have to win in order to remain in third position, depending on the results of a two- Test series between Bangladesh and Australia that starts later this month but ends earlier on 8 September. Australia will go up to 101 points if it wins the series 2-0.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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News Network
April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: The love and loyalty of the fans will never let him leave Royal Challengers Bangalore till the time he is playing IPL, skipper Virat Kohli said on Friday.

RCB have reached the IPL final thrice but have not gone on to win the trophy.

During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.

"It has been such an amazing journey. It is always going to be our dream, winning the IPL together. There is no scenario where I could think of leaving the team ever.

"You can feel emotional about the season not going well but till the time I am playing IPL, I am never leaving this team. The fans, their loyalty has been amazing," said the India skipper.

Responding to Kohli's feelings towards RCB, De Villiers too acknowledged the support of fans over the past nine years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been with RCB since 2008.

"Same for me. I never want to leave RCB but to do that I got to keep scoring runs. I am not the captain you see," said the South African in jest.

Both recalled their early days in international cricket and their growth as cricketers and friends.

Kohli said at times, the youngsters coming in have too much regard for the "system" and he wants to see them break the norm.

"I want to see youngsters coming in scoring 500-600 runs. I want people to break the norm. Sometimes I feel people have too much regard for the system in sport. When you break the shackles, you do something special."

Kohli also acknowledged contribution of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher early on in his international career.

"Gary always gave me positive feedback. Boucher told me in 2008 to improve my game against the short ball. He had the vision. Then Fletcher, he had a keen eye for the game. So many people who have contributed (to my growth)," said Kohli.

De Villiers picked the 119 at Wankhede in the 2015 series decider as his best knock against India. Kohli picked the 119 he scored in Johannesburg Test in 2013.

"I was always really motivated to win the series after 2-2 . I was incredibly motivated to do something special," de Villiers said.

They also picked their combined South Africa and India ODI team. It included Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, M S Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada.

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