India vs Australia: Hosts Aim To End ODI Series On A High

Agencies
September 30, 2017

Sept 30: Stopping a resurgent Australia would not be easy but a confident India would look to end the series on a high when they face each other in the fifth and final ODI match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur on Sunday.

The series already secured, India got the opportunity to test their bench strength in the fourth ODI but the team fell short by 21 runs, halting its nine-match winning run. All three bowlers, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Axar Patel, proved expensive in their first game of the series but it was not entirely their fault that India ended up on the losing side.

Virat Kohli defended the bowling performance that allowed Australia to post 334 for five but said the batsmen could have done better on a batsman-friendly pitch.

So, it won't be a surprise if Kohli gives his reserves bowlers another game on Sunday and more rest to Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav.

"We have won the series and you have to try out guys at some stage. You need to test your bench strength as well and you need to give those guys game time," said Kohli post the defeat in Bengaluru.

On the batting front, KL Rahul may get a game as he remains the only batsman in the squad to not have played in the series so far.

The team management will have to reassess their plans for the remaining game as both sides would want to end the series on a high and carry the momentum into the three T20s contest beginning in Ranchi on October 7.

India openers Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane had set up a perfect platform in Bengaluru with a second straight century partnership but the middle-order could not capitalise on that.

Hardik Pandya being promoted to four in the batting order worked brilliantly in Indore but did not yield a similar return on Thursday.

Pandya's promotion led to MS Dhoni being dropped to number six and the former captain hardly got time to get his eye-in before going ballistic, something he prefers doing nowadays with his big hitting power on the wane.

Coming to bat ahead of Dhoni, Pandya and Kedar Jadhav got enough time to close out the game but they were unable to do the finishing job.

Pressure is mounting on Manish Pandey, who is yet to score a half century in the series. He got out at the wrong time at his home ground and Dhoni was left to do all by himself towards the end of the chase.

Australia had their chances even in the earlier games but they could only grab them in Bengaluru.

It was a much needed all-round performance that saw bowlers complementing the good work done by the batsmen.

The pace trio of Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Kane Richardson bowled with pace and precision in the death overs to take the game away from the Indians.

The batting looks a lot more potent ever since the return of Aaron Finch, who came up with a fine 94 after a sublime 124 on his comeback game.

His opener partner David Warner too had a memorable game as he rose to the occasion to smash 124 in his 100th ODI.

It remains to be seen if Australia bring back the struggling Glenn Maxwell, who was dropped in the last game with wicketkeeper Matthew Wade taking his place.

The other wicket-keeper in the squad, Peter Handscomb, did rather well with a timely 43 off 30 balls, taking his team well beyond 300.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Kolkata, Jul 16: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday went into home quarantine after his elder brother and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Snehasish Ganguly tested positive for Covid-19.

Snehasish, a former Bengal first-class player, has been admitted to the Belle Vue hospital in Kolkata after his COVID report came positive.

"He was suffering from fever for the last few days and his test report came positive today. He's been admitted to Belle Vue Hospital," a CAB official said.

"The reports arrived late in the evening. As per health protocols, even Sourav will have to be in home quarantine for a stipulated period," a source close to the BCCI President added.

Snehasish had shifted to their ancestral house, where Sourav is based, in Behala after his wife and in-laws at his Mominpur residence tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The former India captain was, however, unavailable for a comment on the development.

Recently, during an interview to India Today, Sourav had spoken about how life around him has changed, making people more vulnerable.

"My brother visits our factories everyday and he is more at risk," the former batting star had said

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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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Agencies
June 23,2020

Islamabad, Jun 23: Seven more Pakistan cricketers, including Muhammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, selected for the tour of England have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total to 10, the PCB revealed on Tuesday.

The seven who tested positive on Tuesday are Kashif Bhatti, Muhammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Rizwan, Imran Khan, Hafeez and Riaz. Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and Haris Rauf had returned positive tests on Monday.

“It is not a great situation to be in and what it shows is these are 10 fit and young athletes...if it can happen to players it can happen to anyone,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO, Wasim Khan told a media conference.

He said a support staff member, masseur Malang Ali, had also tested positive for COVID-19.

Khan said that the players and officials would now assemble in Lahore and another round of tests would be carried out on June 25 and a revised squad would be announced the next day.

The squad has to leave on June 28 for the series scheduled to be held next month, he said.

“It is a matter of concern but we shouldn’t panic at this time as we have time on our hands,” Khan said.

He said the players and officials would be retested on reaching England.

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