Indian fans boo MS Dhoni after 2nd ODI vs England, Kohli lashes out

Agencies
July 16, 2018

London, Jul 16: Skipper Virat Kohli had to once again come to the rescue of under-fire former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose painstaking 37 off 58 balls, came in for sharp criticism after England beat India by 86 runs in the second ODI at the Lord's.

Hailed as one of the best ever finishers in limited overs, Dhoni in the past couple of years have struggled to finish a lot of high-pressure games unless there has been top-order support from the other end.

India were chasing a competitive target of 323 on a Lord's track that slowed down and for once the top order failed with a lot of responsibility on Dhoni. However Dhoni failed to force the pace with India managing only 236 in 50 overs.

When former England skipper Nasser Hussain asked the question about Dhoni's approach, Kohli didn't look amused.

"This thing comes up again and again when he's not able to play the way he does," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"It's unfortunate that people jump to conclusions quickly. When he does well, people call him the best finisher ever, and when things do not go well, people pounce on him," the Indian captain seemed trifle irritated with knee jerk reactions from fans and critics alike.

As he has done umpteen times, Kohli defended Dhoni.

"The idea was to take the innings deep. He has the experience but sometimes it doesn't come off. We totally believe in him and the ability of all the players," the skipper said.

With less than a year to go for the World Cup, Dhoni is very much in the scheme of things of the Indian team management for his vast experience and ability to read any match situations.

However his waning abilities to carry the team alone in pressure situations at times has come under scanner.

Since the home ODI series against Australia last September, Dhoni has batted 13 times scoring 267 runs with four not outs. The average has been 29.66 which can be put in perspective considering at what time of the innings, he comes into bat.

However the most telling statistic is a strike-rate of 78.07 which is an indication that he is not able to force the pace down the order right at the onset.

With Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul batting in the first four positions, the latest that the former skipper can come into bat is No 5 but Suresh Raina is being seen as an enforcer in that position.

It leaves Dhoni with either No 6 or 7 depending on where Kohli wants the big-hitting Hardik Pandya.

"Had it been 80 in 7 overs and if Hardik would have been around, Dhoni would have still gone for it. But with 120 odd runs and Hardik being dismissed, he knew that chase was out of bounds. We shouldn't judge a player on the basis of one match," former India pacer Ashish Nehra said at the post-match TV show.

Kohli on his part felt that it was one bad day and also the fact that England brought forth their A game.

"We started pretty well with the bat. It was a good wicket but got slower. When we lost three wickets in three overs that hurt us. I thought that's where we fell behind. Credit to the bowlers, they stuck to their guns. Today was a day when we couldn't get going.

"Moeen and Rashid are both quality bowlers in this format and sensed we couldn't take risks. They created pressure in the middle overs. If it was one down we could have attacked a bit more," Kohli said.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: Australia batsman David Warner on Tuesday decided to shave off his head to show support towards all those people who are working relentlessly on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.

After shaving off his head, Warner also challenged his Australian team-mate Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli to do the same.

Warner, shared a time-lapse video on Instagram, of him shaving his head, and captioned the post as: "Been nominated to shave my head in support of those working on the frontline #Covid-19 here is a time-lapse. I think my debut was the last time I recall I've done this. Like it or not".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's death toll stands at 19, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

As of 8 am today, 4460 people across Australia have tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a 'pandemic' on March 11.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine also confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh is unlikely due to the virus spread.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

London, May 31: "Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli," replied umpire Ian Gould when he was asked to name the three best batsmen he loved watching when he was officiating as an umpire.

The former ICC elite umpire said that he was unlucky to not watch Ponting bat as much as he would have liked to.

"Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And probably Virat. I was unlucky in some respects. I didn't see the best of Ricky Ponting. He was an outstanding character, outstanding captain, such a proud Australian," ESPNCricinfo quoted Gould as saying.

"But his career was just starting to wane as I came on the scene. But he was incredibly helpful, so I'm disappointed I have to leave him out. Jacques Kallis, I could sit and watch all day, Virat, the same. And Sachin, if you want someone to bat for your life, he was the man," he added.

Gould had retired from the ICC's panel of elite umpires in 2019, after standing in more than 250 international matches over a 13-year career.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been 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 has 70 centuries across all formats.

While, Kallis played 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20Is for South Africa and he is often viewed as the greatest all-rounder the game has seen.

Many pundits of the game find it hard to pick between him and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Across his career, Kallis scored 25,534 runs in his career and he also managed to take 577 wickets.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

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