India vs Australia: Steve Smith Bats For Peace Ahead Of ODIs

Agencies
September 15, 2017

Sept 15: Australia skipper Steve Smith is anxious to halt the acrimony that marked Test matches against India this year when the two powerhouses start a one-day international series on Sunday. Smith had a much-publicised war of words with India counterpart Virat Kohli when Australia lost the Test series 1-2 in March. The combative Australian skipper said ahead of the first one-day clash in Chennai that he hoped the five-match series would be played in "good spirit". During a Test in Bangalore this year, Kohli expressed displeasure after Smith looked up to his own dressing room -- where replays could be seen by teammates -- while deciding whether to challenge an lbw dismissal.

Players are not allowed to have outside input while challenging an umpire's decision.

While Smith later apologised for his self-admitted "brain fade" moment, Kohli slammed the Aussies at the last series press conference in Dharamsala.

"I think it will be played in good spirit. It is a hard-fought contest playing against India," Smith said of the upcoming series which also features three Twenty20 matches.

Keeping Kohli quiet

"I am not too concerned about the differences with Kohli. He is obviously a very good player and has a phenomenal ODI record.

"Hopefully, we can keep him quiet as much as possible in this series. If we do that then hopefully it can go a long way in us having success on this tour," he added.

Former captain Michael Clarke also saw a "carrot" for the Australians, who will topple South Africa from top spot in the ODI table if they can beat India 4-1. A reverse result will make India number one.

The tourists, coming out of a tough two-Test series in Bangladesh that ended 1-1, are confident of doing well against the in-form hosts.

Returning all-rounder James Faulkner, looking to resurrect his career after losing a central contract, believes stints by Smith and other Australians in the Indian Premier League will help.

"There's a lot of experience in that changing room playing in the subcontinent. Most of the boys have played enough here with the IPL and other series and the T20 World Cup," said Faulkner.

The right-hand batsman and left-arm bowler is set to bolster Australia's pace attack along with Nathan Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins.

Left-arm Ashton Agar took four wickets and batsman Marcus Stoinis hit a blazing half-century in the only warm-up game in Chennai on Tuesday to lay their claims for a starting place.

India are in rampaging form after having recently blanked Sri Lanka 9-0 in Tests, one-day games and T20.

They will again bank on rookie spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal to counter the Australian batting, with veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja still rested.

India's fast bowling line-up looks more experienced than their opponents' after the return of pace spearhead Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.

"We have some plans for each of their batsmen -- especially Smith and (David) Warner. The key is about executing it on the field," said Shami.

"Australia are a strong team. It's difficult to say that (a clean sweep) but we will try our best for a good show. The conditions will play a big role," he added.

Australia lost their ODI series in India 2-3 in 2013, but humbled India 4-1 at home in 2016.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Five centrally contracted Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been issued notices by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing to disclose their whereabouts as the BCCI cited "password glitch" as the reason for delay.

The other players to have received the notice include women stars Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, who are among the five cricketers in the 110 strong National Registered Testing Pool (NRTP). Speaking to PTI, NADA DG Navin Agarwal confirmed that BCCI has sent an official explanation for their five NRTP players' failure to submit whereabouts.

"There are two ways to fill up the whereabouts form in the ADAMS (Anti Doping Administration & Management Systems) software. Either athlete does it himself or association fills it up on his or her behalf," Agarwal said. "Now athletes in some discipline aren't educated enough or do not have access to internet and find themselves unable to handle the whereabouts clause of the ADAMS or upload the filled up

"They use assistance of their concerned federations. So federations have accepted responsibility of uploading their whereabouts," Agarwal said.

He said cricketers too at times find it tough to complete the process on their own. "Similarly in cricket also, although these people are well qualified and they can do it, perhaps they don't have the time for whatever reasons, so the federation concerned, the BCCI has taken upon itself the responsibility of uploading their whereabouts." So why didnt BCCI upload the the three-month whereabouts this time?

"Well they have given an explanation which appears to be reasonable but a decision will be taken. They have said that there has been a glitch with regards to password in ADAMS. Now they have said that issue has been resolved," Agarwal added. NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."

While country has been under lockdown, the rule to submit three months of whereabouts is mandatory. Three such failures to disclose leads to one Anti Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), which could lead up to two years of suspension upon hearing.

While BCCI has "officially gagged" its employees from talking to the media, it couldn't be ascertained that why as normal a glitch as a password error took days to resolve. A BCCI veteran, who has been privy to cricket operations, asked why the five cricketers were not told to upload the form themselves.

"This was lockdown period where they are not living out of suitcases. Some of the names have also engaged in multiple instagram chats and podcasts which their agents are managing," he said.

"If cricket operations team were having a glitch in fixing password, well the five cricketers could have been asked to do so and they would have done it individually with some guidance. "Probably NADA would be lenient this time but if it becomes an official warning, then who's responsible," he added.

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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
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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