Indian Premier League 2015: Duminy set to lead Delhi in IPL 2015

March 27, 2015

Mar 27: South Africa’s explosive left-handed batsman JP Duminy has been chosen to lead the Delhi Daredevils in this year’s Indian Premier League. He succeeds Kevin Pietersen, who is also one of the 13 players not bought back by the franchise in February’s auction due to their rebuilding strategy, having finished at the bottom of the points table last year.

duminiHowever, Duminy is one of the few players who will be playing for the second consecutive season for Delhi and was preferred over World Cup winning Indian allrounder Yuvraj Singh and current Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews.

Like last year, Yuvraj was once again the most sought-after player in the world by all the franchise and managed to fetch Rs.16 crore. Delhi had the biggest purse than all the other teams, and used that to their advantage with the aim of finding the right balance for the team.

Yuvraj has had past experience in leading an IPL team, notably Kings XI Punjab in 2008 and 2009 and Pune Warriors India in 2011. Plus his match-winning ability and the aura he possesses in the minds of the younger Indian players can hardly be questioned.

Yet, the Daredevils management wasn’t entirely on board of handing the captaincy to him and instead found the reasons for selecting Duminy more apt. Hemant Dua, CEO of Delhi Daredevils, is of the opinion that Duminy is the "right choice" as he is a "composed individual and well respected by his teammates and peers."

In the past, Duminy had clearly harboured captaincy ambitions for South Africa and in fact did lead them in the three-match Twenty20 series against Australia in November 2014 as stand-in captain for Faf du Plessis.

The advantage Duminy gives to the side this year is the fact that he is in line with the vision that the franchise has, having already played for them last year and thoroughly understanding the set-up. Plus he has had a very solid professional bonding with head coach Gary Kirsten, as the two have worked together for South Africa as well was for the Cape Cobras in South African domestic cricket.

Their mutual respect has been very evident as Kirsten has been one of Duminy’s biggest backers over the years, believing that he has both, talent and attitude to be considered an X-factor for the Proteas.

Many who know a lot about South African cricket are aware that Duminy has been an integral part of South Africa’s leadership group for a while now, even if he hasn’t been declared leader officially. An immensely likeable guy, Duminy was also named the president of the influential South African Players' Association.

"JP is the right choice to lead the team for the upcoming season," Kirsten said in a media release. "He has the necessary experience and demeanour to take the team forward. I have seen him progress and mature as a player and leader through the years with the South African national team."

If all that wasn’t convincing enough, Duminy also has present form and past records on his side. He was the Daredevils' best batsman by far the previous season with 410 runs at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 134. The South African was honoured to be selected and believes that the Delhi could "turn around the fortunes".

For that, he would need strong backing from the seniors in the squad, that too Yuvraj who is a lot more accomplished than him. Dua said that Duminy’s leadership is likely to give Yuvraj the license to go out and focus on as well as enjoy his own game rather than pressurizing him to take decisions.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Sydney, Feb 21: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday.

Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.

Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs

"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.

Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.

The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.

The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.

India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.

"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.

Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.

However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.

Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.

Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.

Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.

Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.

India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.

However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.

Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.

For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers.

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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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News Network
July 25,2020

New Delhi, Jul 25: Former India spinner Anil Kumble said that he has never understood why people compared him with Australia's Shane Warne.

Kumble was doing an Instagram live session with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the spinner also talked about being the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.

"It feels really wonderful to finish with these many wickets. I never bothered about statistics or what my average should be, I wanted to bowl the whole day and be the one to take wickets. To finish as the third-highest wicket-taker in Tests alongside Murali and Warne is very special. All three of us played in the same era, there were a lot of comparisons, I do not know why people compared me with Warne. Warne was someone really different and he was on a different plane," Kumble told Mbangwa during the interaction.
"These two guys could spin the ball on any surface so it became really difficult for me when they started comparing me with Warne and Murali. I learnt a lot by watching them both bowl," he added.

The Indian spinner announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008. He finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

Kumble is the second bowler in the history of international cricket after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He had achieved the feat against Pakistan in 1999 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. Kumble had bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs in the second innings of the Test match.
Kumble will be coaching Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

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