India vs England: Binny and Kumar lead to an inevitable draw

July 14, 2014

Nottingham, United Kingdom, Jul 14: India debutant Stuart Binny's maiden fifty made sure of a draw with England in the first Test at Trent Bridge on Sunday.stuart binny

On a docile pitch, a draw had always seemed the most likely outcome and so it proved as the first of this five-match series ended in stalemate ahead of Thursday's second Test at Lord's.

A draw had all but been assured after England's Joe Root (154 not out) and James Anderson (81) shared a Test record tenth-wicket stand of 198, eclipsing the 111 put on earlier in the match by India's last-wicket pair of Kumar and Mohammed Shami (51 not out).

This result extended England's winless run to nine Tests -- their worst sequence since they went 10 without victory from 1992 to 1993 -- and meant India had now gone 15 Tests without an away win.

The match was an all-round triumph for 24-year-old India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who posted three Test-best performances in making 58 and 63 not out separated by a return of five for 82.

"It was a good Test match for us, we managed to put pressure on them and then we held up well when we were under pressure," said India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"We haven't had a seaming all-rounder but Stuart Binny can be someone who can really contribute for us in the future."

Reflecting on England's extraordinary last-wicket stand, Dhoni added: "We tried a few things but the ball got soft and the bowlers got tired and I don't think there was much else we could have done."

England captain Alastair Cook said he hoped for pitches with more in them for the pace bowlers during the remainder of the series.

"We know we can put India under some pressure when we bat and we know we can put their top order under pressure. We just need a pitch with a bit of life in it."

After India resumed on 167 for three in overcast conditions on Sunday, they lost three wickets for 16 runs to give England a glimmer of hope.

Stuart Broad, on his Nottinghamshire home ground, sparked the slump by taking two for no runs in five balls.

Broad, who had been severely critical of the sluggish wicket, had Virat Kohli, aiming across the line, plumb lbw for his overnight eight.

The fast-medium bowler then induced Ajinkya Rahane (24) to edge straight to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Briefly unsettled

Broad then found Dhoni's outside edge only for Cook to drop the routine slip catch with his opposing skipper on five.

It was a miss that added to the woes of Cook, struggling for runs and under fire for his tactics.

Fortunately for England, however, it was not an expensive error as Dhoni had only made 11 when, aiming towards mid-on, he was bowled by Liam Plunkett's first delivery Sunday, with the ball reversing in and flicking the front pad before crashing into the stumps.

After lunch, England took the new ball as soon as they could, with India 244 for six off 80 overs.

Three overs later, Anderson -- man-of-the-match for his batting exploits at No 11 -- had Ravindra Jadeja (31) caught behind.

Binny was briefly unsettled by a couple of well pitched-up Anderson deliveries.

But having made just one in India's first innings, he quickly regained his composure and a single off Plunkett saw the 30-year-old all-rounder to an 86-ball fifty, including six boundaries.

An increasingly assured Binny, the son of 1983 India World Cup-winner Roger, went down the pitch to drive part-time off-spinner Moeen Ali over extra-cover for six.

Ali, though, had his revenge when Binny, on 78, was given out lbw but by then his eighth-wicket stand of 91 with Kumar had secured a draw.

With India more than 300 runs ahead at tea, Cook gave his frontline bowlers a rest in the final session, thereby easing Kumar's progress to a 114-ball fifty with eight fours.

Cook, in a sure sign the match was over as a contest, then brought himself on and, while performing impersonations of several ex-England bowlers, had Ishant Sharma caught down the legside by Prior to claim his first Test wicket.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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News Network
May 19,2020

Karachi, May 19: Babar Azam wants to take a leaf out of Imran Khan's aggressive captaincy and besides cricket, he is also brushing up his English to become a "complete leader" like the World Cup-winning all-rounder.

Last week, the star batsman took over the reins of Pakistan's white-ball cricket after being appointed as the ODI skipper.

Azam, who was one of the world's leading batsmen across formats last year and already the T20 skipper, replaced wicket-keeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed as the ODI captain for the 2020-21 season.

"Imran Khan was a very aggressive captain and I want to be like him. It is not an easy job captaining the Pakistan team but I am learning from my seniors and I have also had captaincy experience since my under-19 days," Azam said.

He said that to be a complete captain one must be able to interact comfortably with the media and express oneself properly in front of an audience.

"These days I am also taking English classes besides focussing on my batting," he said on Monday.

The 25-year-old Babar said he was not satisfied with Pakistan's current standing in international cricket.

"I am not happy with where we stand and I want to see this team go up in the rankings."

Babar said captaincy would be a challenge for him but it would not affect his batting.

"It is an honour to lead one's national team so it is not a burden for me at all. In fact, after becoming captain, I have to lead by example and be more responsible in my batting."

Babar hoped the T20 World Cup is held this year in Australia as he wanted to lead his team in the ICC event.

"It would be a disappointment if the event was not held or rescheduled because I am looking forward to playing in the World Cup and doing well in it," he said.

About plans for Pakistan to fly to England in July to play three Tests and three T20 internationals amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Babar said a lot of hard work and planning would be required to make the players feel comfortable and safe.

"Touring England won't be easy. Health and safety of players is of great importance and the tour will only be possible when proper arrangements are in place," he said.

"Both England and Pakistan team fans, along with the cricketers, are missing cricket because of the pandemic."

"We will still try to perform to the best of our ability despite no support from the fans in the stadium," he added.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

New Delhi, Jul 7: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is known for his finishing heroics and ending the match with a big shot to send a billion people in a frenzy.

For over a decade, Dhoni's swashbuckling batting style, especially the famed helicopter shot, gave international bowlers a headache. As the former Indian skipper celebrates his 39th birthday today, let's relive his first century in international cricket.

It was on April 5, 2005, when Dhoni had registered his first international century. The former skipper registered the feat against Pakistan in the second ODI of the six-match series. The match was played at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

Dhoni had made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004. However, he did not have a good outing as he scored just 19 runs in the three-match series. But the wicket-keeper truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005, as he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Visakhapatnam.

In the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. The side lost Sachin Tendulkar's wicket in the fourth over of the innings and it brought Dhoni to the middle.

Dhoni, along with Sehwag, took on the Pakistan bowlers and the duo formed a 96-run stand, which saw Sehwag going past the 50-run mark. Sehwag (74) was sent back to the pavilion in the 14th over, but Dhoni then found support in Rahul Dravid and the duo stitched a 149-run stand.

Dhoni smashed 15 fours and four sixes in his innings and scored 148 runs from 123 balls, taking India's total to 356/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then managed to defend the total as the side bundled out Pakistan for 298 as Ashish Nehra scalped four wickets.

Dhoni has so far played 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka. He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Also referred to as 'Captain Cool', Dhoni is known for his calmness and exquisite captaincy on the field.

Over the years, he has cemented his place as one of the finest wicket-keepers across the world. His agility behind the stumps has given India many breakthroughs as the Ranchi-based wicket-keeper has done successful stumpings in no time.

He is also known for his knack of opting for reviews and many have jokingly remarked to change the 'Decision-Review System's' name to 'Dhoni-Review System'.

In December 2014, he announced his retirement from Tests and gave a chance to the likes of Wriddhiman Saha. Dhoni called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, managing to score 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09.

Then in 2017, he handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format. However, the wicket-keeper enjoys a great camaraderie with the latter and the duo have been seen often taking decisions together on the field.

Under Dhoni's leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket. His Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has also won the tournament thrice under his leadership.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 during the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The 39-year-old has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup. 

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