India vs England: I have learnt a lot watching Anderson bowl, says Shami

Agencies
August 29, 2018

Southampton, Aug 29: India speedster Mohammed Shami is amazed at how Jimmy Anderson is able to deceive batsmen with his guile even when he is not as quick as his Indian counterparts.

On the eve of the fourth Test, the Indian pacer wished luck to Anderson, who at 557 scalps, is only seven short of becoming the highest ever wicket-taker among fast bowlers in international cricket surpassing Glenn McGrath (563 wickets).

"As far as learning goes, when you see a senior player (Anderson) performing before you like that, you observe him as much as you can. I am always looking at how he doesn't have as much pace as us but still takes wickets - what lengths does he bowl? You get to learn these things. He's a different bowler in different conditions," Shami told reporters at a media conference on Tuesday.

"No matter where a player comes from, the first thing you have to see is what he works on in home conditions. We have been able to learn a great deal from Anderson. We saw him on the last tour here as well and he bowled really well. So far, what I've learnt from Anderson is that more accurate you are, the better it is for you," he added.

With Indian pacers doing a star turn with 38 out of the 46 wickets in three Tests being taken by them, the Bengal speedster said that it is their duty to deliver in conducive conditions.

"The responsibility is on fast bowlers to deliver in these conditions. We try out best and we have been trying our best. In the last series (in South Africa), you have seen we have done our job well too (picking 60 wickets in three Tests).

"So the attempt is to not look at this entire series, but take it match by match. It is better for us to shorten it and look at it in that manner," said Shami.

While there has been criticism for Virat Kohli's chop and change policy in Test matches, Shami said that it has given them time to recover.

"We have such a bench strength that is so strong that we can change if we want to. Even if we don't change, we have such players that can bowl long spells in this format. But this chop and change policy is good (for the pace attack) because it allows us time to recover. So we have Test bowlers to play Test cricket and those who have ODI skills are playing shorter formats as well, to help raise the levels there," he added.

Ravi Shastri termed this attack as the best India has ever had by a mile and Shami is happy that compliments are flowing their way.

"We are seeing such an Indian bowling unit after a long time. When this is talked about, we also feel happy and enjoy our job. It is good for our country (Indian cricket) that we have got such an attack after a long time and if you compare one on one (with England or any other opponent), we have better bowlers. So when we hear this (praise), it feels very good and takes our confidence sky high."

The best part about the attack he feels is that each one is capable of bowling any delivery.

"The pace attack we have, we can bowl any delivery. You take Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav - whoever the bowler may be, we can do that (attack and contain).

"It is good for us that we have so many options and we can evaluate which bowler is feeling better (confident). So we can pick options (accordingly) that this bowler should open the bowling or another bowler should do it. It depends on the fast bowling unit who wants to start."

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin bowled at nets today and looked to be fit again, albeit the team management didn't officially confirm the same.

While Ravindra Jadeja is available, Shami was asked about the possibility of India fielding an all-pace attack.

"It's hard to decide to field five pacers in a Test match. According to me, you need spinner because on the fifth day, it will turn for sure. I can definitely say that there will be a result on this wicket, and a good result," he replied.

Shami said that he has got over the personal issues that troubled him a few month back.

"The last eight months have been tough for me with the family matter. It doesn't matter what happened or didn't, the period was very stressful for me. I was disturbed about it for some time.

"At some point, I had to decide that representing the country came first. So I practised with that in mind. The place where I felt disturbed, I just got out of there. Somewhere I felt that if the country needed me and if I stopped, it would be a loss for my country. I was struggling with that issue, but being here matters more to me. I left that issue be and went as far away from it as I could. I thought about the country," he added.

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News Network
February 19,2020

Feb 19: India captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday dropped enough hints to indicate that seniormost pacer Ishant Sharma and young opener Prithvi Shaw will be in the playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington. If India's net session on Wednesday is taken into consideration, Wriddhiman Saha is starting as the wicketkeeper ahead of Rishabh Pant for the series opener beginning on Friday. Hanuma Vihari, the team's designated No 6 batsman for away Tests, will be the fifth bowling option with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant being three specialist pacers.

Ravichandran Ashwin is in the mix for the lone specialist spinner's spot though Ravindra Jadeja's all-round skills can't be ignored either.

Ishant, who was out for three weeks with an ankle injury sustained during a Ranji Trophy game, bowled full tilt at the nets and even earned appreciation for troubling batsmen with his pace and bounce.

"He (Ishant) looked pretty normal and pretty similar to what he was bowling before the ankle injury. He is hitting good areas again and he has played (Test cricket) in New Zealand couple of times, so his experience will be useful to us. It was really good to see him bowling with pace and in good areas," Kohli said during his media interaction.

The skipper also said in as many words that the team wouldn't like to change Shaw's natural stroke-play which was a good enough hint that Shubman Gill will have to warm the benches for now.

"Prithvi is a talented player and he has his own game and we want him to follow his instincts and play the way he does. Look, these guys have no baggage and are not desperate to perform in any manner," the skipper said.

The skipper wants Shaw to take a leaf out of Mayank Agarwal's performance in Australia back in 2018-19 when he hit back to back half-centuries in Melbourne and Sydney.

"They don't have any nerves to do well overseas. Like a clear head with which Mayank played in Australia, Prithvi can do the same in New Zealand.

"A bunch of guys playing with fearlessness, something that can motivate the whole team, gives us start that the team wants and not get intimidated by the opposition in any way."

The skipper downplayed India's below-par show in the three-match ODI series, especially that of Agarwal.

"Prithvi, I think you can call him relatively inexperienced and Mayank, I wouldn't call him that inexperienced because he has scored a lot of runs last year. So he understands what his game is like in Test cricket.

"I think sometimes in white ball cricket we try to do too much but once you come into red ball cricket, you fall into that disciplined mode of batting, which obviously suits him much more at this stage."

While he didn't give an answer on the Saha-Pant debate, the burly Delhi keeper had precious little to do at the main nets and was seen spending more time doing his keeping drills and only got an opportunity to bat when the first team completed its routines.

New Zealand are likely to go with an all-pace attack but the Indian captain wants to stick to his team's strengths which is play with one spinner in the four-pronged bowling attack.

"If it had been a Johannesburg pitch, I could have said it's a possibility (to play four pacers) but our team has that skill that we can bowl out other teams with only three fast bowlers," he sounded confident.

"But you need one world class skillful spinner, who can take wickets on any pitch. We won't copy the home team. We would rather figure out what is the most lethal combination, which gives us balance," he added.

"As a bowling group it's better than the one that came to NZ last time and that is why we have got so many teams all out in last two and half years. We would like to repeat that here also," Kohli added.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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