India vs Bangladesh: Dhoni returns, as focus switches to ODIs after rain-hit Test

June 18, 2015

Mirpur, Jun 18: It will be a fresh beginning for a full-strength India in limited overs cricket after the World Cup semifinal exit as they face a buoyant Bangladesh, who have more to gain then their famed neighbours, in the three-match ODI series starting on 18 June.

dhoni

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back at the helm, along with six other ODI specialists to take on a side that made the cricket world sit up and take notice by reaching the 2015 World Cup quarterfinals, where they were knocked out by an in-form Indian side.

The series is a platform for the hosts to exact revenge for the World Cup defeat, which had turned ugly after the then ICC President Mustafa Kamal of Bangladesh accused the umpires of favouring India.

As far as the Indian team is concerned, even a 3-0 result against the hosts will not be enough for the second-placed side to claim the number one spot in the ICC rankings, while a favourable outcome for the home team will boost its qualifying chances for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Besides an opportunity to erase the memories of the World quarterfinal debacle Down Under, the prospect of earning a Champions Trophy berth will be motivation enough for the Tigers to roar.

Arriving with their main team, India have given enough indication of, in Suresh Raina's words, "how important a series this is for us".

From the Indian squad's point of view, this series is a far cry from the one that played against the same opponents in June last year. Back then, eight first-choice players were rested for a three-ODI tour and seven of them are part of this one.

The seven players - Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar - were seen in the nets at the academy ground of the Shere Bangla National Stadium ahead of the first game.

Asked if the series holds significance, Raina said, "Yes definitely. You saw that after the IPL, the full Test team came and now the full ODI team has come.

"Bangladesh have done well in ODIs recently, and this shows how important a series this is for us. We have done well in ODIs recently, and we are looking forward to it."

The Uttar Pradesh left-hander will be one of the mainstays of Indian batting's middle-order alongside his captain Dhoni and Kohli.

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma automatically fill in the openers' slot with the consistent Ajinkya Rahane beefing up the top-order. The all-rounder's slot could go to Ravindra Jadeja while Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashwin and Mohit Sharma are expected to form the bowling attack.

The team management might also explore the options of trying out Stuart Binny or Dhawal Kulkarni in at least one of the games.

While the numero uno spot is beyond reach, Dhoni's side can reduce leader Australia's advantage to 10 points should it sweep the series three-nil. In that scenario, Bangladesh will slip to ninth position on 96 points. If India win the series 2-1, they will remain on 117 points, while a 2-1 loss will place them alongsgide New Zealand on 115 points.

Considering the improvements Bangladesh made in ODIs in recent times, India cannot afford to take their opponents for granted.

The Tigers have whitewashed Zimbabwe and Pakistan and appear a very settled unit in 50-over format.

Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, who celebrated his ODI debut by running through India's batting order with figures of five for 28, will be keep to produce a similar effort. He took three for 69 in that World Cup quarter-final defeat.

Besides, they have the likes of Mashrafe Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal, who have been consistent performers for the side, and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

Mushfiqur Rahim is Bangladesh's highest-ranked batsman in the ICC rankings at 18th position, and he will also look to shoulder some of the batting responsibility, provided he recovers from his finger injury. Otherwise, it will be the uncapped Litton Das, who will be asked to keep wickets.

The 25-year-old Rubel Hossain, who was the star performer in the team's famous World Cup win over England with a two-wicket burst, is also in the fray.

India: ODI squad: MS Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Rony Talukdar, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Das.

Match starts at 2.30 pm (IST).

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Mumbai, Mar 3: India on Tuesday retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings despite a dismal Test series against New Zealand.

India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points. The 0-2 result against New Zealand was India's first series loss in the World Test Championship.

Kohli remains in second position in the batting rankings despite a forgettable Test series in which he made 38 runs in four innings, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Blundell and his Indian counterpart Prithvi Shaw and debutant paceman Kyle Jamieson were among the biggest movers in the rankings, released on Tuesday.

Blundell had a successful series against India, scoring 117 runs in four innings, with one half-century, which put him among the top two run-scorers in the series.

The performance meant he was rewarded with a jump of 27 places to No. 46. Shaw, who returned for his first series since his Test debut against West Indies in 2018, and made a punchy 54 in the first innings of the Christchurch Test, rose 17 places to No.76.

Australia's Steve Smith retained his top spot, holding a 25-point advantage over Kohli. Smith's apprentice Marnus Labuschagne jumped one spot to round off the top three, taking the place of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India opener Mayank Agarwal moved a spot each and swapped places to break into and fall out of the top 10 respectively.

Among bowlers, Tim Southee's Player of the Series winning performance against India took him into the top five, with a jump of two places to No.4, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult returned to the top 10, gaining four places each to occupy the seventh and ninth positions respectively.

But the biggest gainer was Jamieson, who rose from No. 80 to 43.

There was only one change in the top ten among all-rounders, with Southee dropping a spot to No.10 and team-mate Neil Wagner falling out of the top 10 with a drop of four spots.

As with the bowling rankings, Jamieson, who frustrated India with handy lower order runs, gained big on the all-rounders' table, rising 26 places to No. 22.

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