India vs South Africa: Parthiv Patel, KL Rahul Set To Play; Ishant Sharma May Replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Agencies
January 13, 2018

Jan 13: The Indian team management is all set to drop wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and opener Shikhar Dhawan from the playing XI for the second Test against South Africa but chances of Ajinkya Rahane's comeback look highly unlikely. It is learnt that the conditions in Centurion may not aid swing bowling and Ishant Sharma could be considered in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, despite his six-wicket match haul and a gritty 25 in the first Test. However, the Ishant-Bhuvneshwar swap is still not confirmed even though the other two changes are more or less certain.

Pint-sized Gujarat wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel, who is universally acknowledged as a far more accomplished batsman than Saha, is set to get a look-in along with Karnataka opener KL Rahul. Dhawan's susceptible technique in bouncy and seaming conditions has been under the scanner and Rahul, who had hit his maiden Test hundred in Australia, is considered to be more well equipped technically.

Parthiv last played against England and scored 195 runs in three Test matches, when Saha was injured. "The team management understands that they need to shore up the batting. Apart from his 878 Test runs in 23 Tests, his first-class average is phenomenal. He has more than 10,000 runs with 26 centuries. The team management couldn't have possibly avoided that," a senior BCCI official, who is privy to team management's decision, told news agency PTI on Friday.

Parthiv is known to be a better backfoot player compared to Saha and can hit horizontal bat shots well unlike the Bengal player, whose frontfoot trigger movement makes him a possible leg-before candidate. In the case of Dhawan, the team management at last seemed to have understood that he does not have the technique to play short-pitched stuff coming at a lively pace, as it was evident in both innings at Cape Town, where he was not in control of the pull shots. For the team management, Dhawan can be be a good choice in Mumbai, Delhi or Colombo but not in Brisbane, Headingley or Cape Town.

Rahul, on the other hand, has till now played 21 Tests, scoring 1428 runs at an average of 44.62 with four hundreds and 10 half-centuries. He is among the only three Indian batsmen in international cricket, who has got hundreds across all formats, apart from Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma. The logic behind bringing back Ishant is his ability to bowl long spells to the tune of 11-12 overs, and the team management is well aware that the kookaburra seam wears out easily.

Mohammed Shami, with his eternal dodgy knee and Jasprit Bumrah, with a stressful action, needs to be used judiciously. For Bhuvneshwar, the conditions become paramount and Ishant could be used more as a restrictive option rather than an attacking one.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Berlin, Feb 18: Sachin Tendulkar being lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after their World Cup triumph at home in 2011 has been voted the Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years.

With the backing of Indian cricket fans, Tendulkar got the maximum number of votes to emerge winner on Monday.

Tendulkar, competing in his sixth and last World Cup, finally realised his long-term dream when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smacked Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara out of the park for a winning six.

The charged-up Indian cricketers rushed to the ground and soon they lifted Tendulkar on their shoulders and made a lap of honour, a moment etched in the minds of the fans.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh handed the trophy to Tendulkar after tennis legend Boris Becker announced the winner at a glittering ceremony.

“It's incredible. The feeling of winning the world cup was beyond what words can express. How many times you get an event happening where there are no mixed opinions. Very rarely the entire country celebrates,” Tendulkar said after receiving the trophy.

“And this is a reminder of how powerful a sport is and what magic it does to our lives. Even now when I watch that it has stayed with me.”

Becker then asked Tendulkar to share the emotions he felt at that time and the Indian legend put in perspective how important it was for him to hold that trophy.

“My journey started in 1983 when I was 10 years old. India had won the World Cup. I did not understand the significance and just because everybody was celebrating, I also joined the party.

“But somewhere I knew something special has happened to the country and I wanted to experience it one day and that's how my journey began.”

“It was the proudest moment of my life, holding that trophy which I chased for 22 years but I never lost hope. I was merely lifting that trophy on behalf of my countrymen.”

The 46-year-old Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the cricket world, said holding the Laureus trophy has also given him great honour.

He also shared the impact the revolutionary South African leader Nelson Mandela had on him. He met him when he was just 19 years old.

“His hardship did not affect his leadership. Out of many messages he left, the most important I felt was that sport has got the power to unite everyone.

"Today, sitting in this room with so many athletes, some of them did not have everything but they made the best of everything they had. I thank them for inspiring youngsters to pick a sport of their choice and chase their dreams. This trophy belongs to all of us, it's not just about me.”

In a tweet on Tuesday, Tendulkar dedicated the award to his country, teammates and fans.

"Thank you all for the overwhelming love and support! I dedicate this @LaureusSport award to India, all my teammates, fans and well wishers in India and across the world who have always supported Indian cricket," he tweeted.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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News Network
July 2,2020

Jul 2: Cricket Australia has decided to not use the Dukes ball from this summer's Sheffield Shield, having used it alongside Kookaburra for four seasons.

CA has confirmed that the Kookaburra ball will be used for the entire 2020-21 first-class season.

Australia has been using Dukes ball since the 2016-17 season in Shield matches with an aim to help its cricketers prepare for the hostile English conditions.

CA's Head of Cricket Operations, Peter Roach, said the decision to axe the Dukes was the right call. "The introduction of the Dukes ball has been a worthwhile exercise, particularly in the lead up to overseas Ashes series where the Dukes is used so well by our English opponents," Roach said.

"We have been happy with how the ball has performed when used in Australian conditions over the past four seasons. We do, however, feel that reverting to one ball for 2020-21 will provide the consistent examination of our players over a full season that CA and the states are presently seeking. The Kookaburra is the ball used for international cricket in Australia and many parts of the world and we see benefits this season of maximising our use of it," he added.

Roach said the ineffectiveness of spinners in first-class cricket in recent times played a role in CA's decision to do away with the Dukes. "We have noted that spin bowlers in the Sheffield Shield have been playing less of a role in recent seasons, most notably in games when the Dukes ball is in use. We need spinners bowling in first-class cricket and we need our batters facing spin. We hope that the change to one ball will have a positive benefit here," he said.

The CA official, however, didn't rule out the possibility of re-introducing it later.

"We see a definite opportunity to reintroduce the Dukes ball at some stage in the future."

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