India vs West Indies: Virat Kohli badly wanted a century, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Agencies
August 12, 2019

Port Of Spain, Aug 12: Virat Kohli brought up his 42nd ODI ton in brilliant fashion while guiding India to a win against West Indies and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said the Indian skipper was eager to end his 11-innings century drought.

On Sunday, Kohli, who is coming off a relatively quiet World Cup, scored 120 off 125 balls to help India to 279 for 7 before Bhuvneshwar starred with the ball to hand the visitors a 59-win in the rain curtailed match.

Kohli's last hundred had come against Australia in March. Since then the Indian skipper has been among the runs, scoring five half centuries, but has failed to reach a ton.

After scoring the century, Kohli celebrated in a characteristically passionate manner.

"From Virat's expression you could see that he badly wanted to score a hundred not because he was out form but because he was getting out in the 70's and 80's and he's always known for scoring big runs," Bhuvneshwar said at the post match conference.

"The wicket wasn't easy, when Virat came back to the dressing room he said after the ball gets old it's not easy to score runs," he added.

Like Kohli, Bhuvneshwar also played a decisive role in India's victory. The 29-year-old snared four wickets for 31 runs.

"When I came to bowl I was just thinking I have to bowl economically, get more dot balls. I feel getting wickets is a byproduct of bowling tightly. I wasn't thinking much about the result because we knew if we get one or two wickets we will be back in the game."

West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals but looked well within sight of the target with Nicholas Pooran (42) and Rostan Chase (18) in the middle. However, Bhuvneshwar changed the complexion of the game in a matter of an over.

In the 35th over he first dismissed Pooran and then leapt to pull off a stunning catch to see the back of Chase.

"I just caught it. I wasn't expecting it. Pooran's wicket was the main wicket for us because we all know how he plays and he can change the game. So his wicket was the key for us. Roston Chase also the moment he came he started taking singles. So those two wickets were crucial for us."

Now the Indian pace spearhead has set his sight on a precious away series win. India lead the three-match ODI series 1-0.

"We are up in the series we want to win the series. whenever you are playing away from home you just want to win the series," Bhuvneshwar said.

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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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Agencies
February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: India opening batsman KL Rahul will be available for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 29.

Rahul had asked to be rested from Karnataka's quarter-final match but is now available for the climactic stages of the Ranji Trophy. 

Karnataka had already been strengthened by the addition of Manish Pandey for the quarter-finals, with both Pandey and Rahul having returned from New Zealand after India completed the limited-overs leg of their tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Last year's finalists Saurashtra will take on Gujarat in the other semi-final at Rajkot. The other prominent players who will be part of the last four include Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Manoj Tiwary (Bengal).

Gujarat, Bengal, Karnataka, and Saurashtra had finished on top of the combined Groups A and B table, and all four progressed to the semi-finals after dominating their respective quarter-final matches.

Rahul has been phenomenal with the bat in the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand. He scored one century and four fifty-plus scores in his last ten innings in ODIs and T20Is combined

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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