India women rout Bangladesh by 72 runs in World T20 opener

March 16, 2016

Bengaluru, Mar 16: Indian women's cricket team produced a clinical performance as they thrashed their Bangladeshi counterparts by 72 runs in the opening group league fixture of the ICC World T20 on Tuesday.

T20Batting first, India scored a healthy 163 for five with skipper Mithali Raj scoring 42 off 35 balls and the hard-hitting Harmanpreet Kaur smashing 40 off 29 balls with three fours and two huge sixes.

In reply, Bangladesh could only manage 91 for five in 20 overs as they never looked like posing any challenge for the 'Women in Blue'.

Put into bat, skipper Raj and her opening partner VR Vanitha (38, 24 balls, 7x4) added 62 runs for the opening wicket.

Brimming with confidence of being in good nick, the Indian captain started her innings by cracking back-to-back boundaries of Salma Khatun in the second over of the match. Mithali was lucky on 28 as Khadija Tul Kubra spilled a return catch after she plopped a catch at a height.

She was picked up by leg-spinner Rumana Ahmed, who foxed the batswoman, who ended up giving a dolly to Jahanara Alam.

With scoreboard reading 95 for 2 in 15th over, Harmanpreet upped the tempo with two sixes ---- one off Khadija's bowling, hit over long-off and the other one was over deep mid-wicket off leg-break bowler Rumana.

Then in 18th over, Harmanpreet clobbered two consecutive boundaries of Rumana. The shots were treat to watch as she hammered one over midwicket and followed it up by whipping the between deep midwicket and long-on.

Harmanpreet, however lost her patience and was holed out to deep midwicket after she pulled Rumana into the hands of Nahida.

Opener Vanitha also was severe against Salma as she punished the spinner for two boundaries in her second over.

Vanitha then changed gears, played some aerial shots to up the ante. First she lifted Lata Mondal straight through the line over mid-off by planting the foot forward.

Vanitha executed a classy lofted shot straight down the ground off Fahima for a boundary before she fell to Nahida after putting up 62 runs for first wicket in 7.4 overs.

The Indian opener was castled after she missed a wild swipe at the ball.

Veda Krishnamurthy, who remained not out on 36 off 24 balls, walked in at 95 for three in 13.3 overs and stitched a useful 45 runs partnership for fourth wicket in the company of Harmanpreet. In the 19th over, Krishnamurthy hammered two sixes of Fahima Khatun to post the India's total past 150 runs.

In a thoroughly dominating performance right from start to finish, India pushed the vistors into a hole early on by reducing them to 35 for three in 10 overs. None of the Bangladesh batswomen could stitch a worthy partnership which could have steadied the ship.

To their credit, Indian bowlers, especially spinners Anuja Patil and Poonam Yadav, who bagged two wickets each, ensured that the visiting team could never get easy runs.

India: 163/5 (Mithali raj 42, Harmanpreet Kaur 40, Veda Krishnamurthy 36 no, VR Vanitha 38)

Bangladesh: 91/5 in 20 overs (Anuja Patil 2/16, Poonam Yadav 2/17).

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli's natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith's mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game's biggest crowd-pullers right now.

"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that," de Villiers said during his interaction on 'Sports Hurricane'.

"In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

"I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

"Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone," de Villiers said.

"And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.

"But personally, in a chase, I'd say Virat is the best I've seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing."

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

"He's much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there's more to life than just cricket," de Villiers said.

"...Virat's always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what's to come, the different religions, we talk about everything."

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain's actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

"We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We're waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

"It's a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 per cent of the time we talk about other stuff. It's refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament," he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

"Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it's been more than friendship," De Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

"Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it's different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
May 28,2020

May 28: Former India captain and Kings XI Punjab head coach Anil Kumble is hopeful of the IPL happening this year and is not averse to the idea of conducting the cash-rich event without spectators due to the COVID-19 threat.

It is not official yet but there is speculation that the BCCI wants to hold the IPL in the October window after the tournament was postponed indefinitely earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes we are hopeful and optimistic that there is still a possibility (to hold IPL this year) if we can cram in the schedule," Kumble was quoted as saying by Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

"If we are going to have a stadium without spectators, then probably have 3 or 4 venues; there's still a possibility, we are all optimistic," said the former spinner, who is also the chairman of ICC's Cricket Committee.

Former India batsman VVS Laxman said the stakeholders can stage the league in cities which have multiple stadia to reduce travelling by players.

"Absolutely (there is chance to hold IPL this year), and also make sure that all the stakeholders have a say," he said.

"...you should identify one venue, which probably has 3 or 4 grounds; if at all you find that kind of a venue because travel is again going to be quite challenging," said the former stylish batsman.

"You don't know who's going to be where at the airports, so that I'm sure the franchises and the BCCI will be looking into."

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