Indo-Pak clash is never a dead rubber: Gavaskar

June 13, 2013
New Delhi, Jun 13: An India-Pakistan clash can never be called a dead rubber, stressed former skipper Sunil Gavaskar, as the arch-rivals gear up for their next Champions Trophy match, the outcome of which will have no bearing on their fortunes in the tournament.

India have already made it to the semifinals and Pakistan are certain to fly back, having lost their first two matches.Sunil-Gavaskar

"No such thing as dead rubber when India and Pakistan are playing. Results are important for followers of both the countries," Gavaskar said.

"India would certainly want to win as they would to continue with the winning rhythm. If you lose, you start to doubt yourself and India would want to avoid it," he told NDTV.

Gavaskar said it was all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja with his bowling, who set up India's thumping eight-wicket victory over West Indies yesterday.

"Jadeja turned the match in India's favour. West Indies were looking set for a score of 250+ and even 300. He turned the match with his bowling on a pitch that didn't have much help," he said of Jadeja who took his maiden five-wicket haul.

Praising the Delhi opener Shikhar Dhawan, Gavaskar said the heartening thing about him is he is making his good form count by scoring huge runs.

"He (Dhawan) was left out of the team which has helped him reorganise his cricket and get better. He is in very good form and the good thing is he is capitalising on it," he said.

India's opening pair have provided the team with century stands in the two matches of the tournament and Gavaskar felt there was no need to change the combination in the final group match, given they are already through to the semis.

"They (India) would certainly want to continue with their opening combination as they have given brisk starts so far. They have played orthodox cricketing shots. The thing that has stood out about them is their running between the wickets."

Gavaskar also praised India's fielding in the competition saying the team is at par with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand as there was no weak link.

On Rohit Sharma, Gavaskar felt that he needs to convert his half-centuries into big score if he wants to get into the Indian Test team.

"This could well the turning point for his (Rohit's) career. The way he is playing he is certainly knocking at the doors of the Test side. But he will have to start converting scores of 50s and 60s into 100s for that," he added.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Karachi, Apr 14: Disappointed with Kapil Dev's response, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has backed his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar's proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afridi told reporters in Kohat that he was surprised by the comments of Indian great Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who outrightly dismissed Akhtar's suggestion.

"The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don't help at all," Afridi said.

"I don't see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket.

"Kapil's reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times."

Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the "negative comments" Indian stars Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh's support for his charity foundation attracted.

"Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing."

Afridi also urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to order the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to restore departmental cricket in the country to save the livelihood of hundreds of domestic players.

"I myself played for the departments and witnessed how departments really salvaged domestic cricket in Pakistan and helped it thrive decade after decade.

"Departments take good care of the players and spend lots of money on the development of domestic cricket, so how can departmental cricket hurt Pakistan cricket," questioned Afridi.

He also questioned the PCB and the Pakistan team management for making a fitness of players a big issue.

"They are always talking about hard training and fitness tests. I have never seen fitness tests taken with such frequency and the result is that many players are getting injured and many of them are also unhappy with the situation."

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News Network
May 8,2020

Karachi, May 8: A cricket museum based in India has bought a bat auctioned by Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali to raise funds for the needy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azhar had put two of his precious belongings -- the bat he used to score 302 runs against the West Indies in a Test in 2016 and the jersey he wore during the 2017 Champions Trophy final win over India -- on an online auction to raise funds for the people affected by the deadly disease.

Both the bat and jersey were signed by members of the Pakistan team.

Azhar announced on social media that he had kept a base price of one million each for the bat and jersey and they had sold for 2.2 million.

He confirmed that Blades of Glory Cricket Museum based in Pune bought the bat by making a winning offer of Rs. 1 million for the bat.

Azhar said that the auction of the shirt also generated a lot of interest and Kash Villani, a Pakistani based in California, came up with the highest bid of Rs. 1.1 million for the shirt before the conclusion of the auction.

Another Pakistani based in New Jersey, Jamal Khan also donated Rs. 100,000 for the cause.

"I put two of my closest belongings on auction with base price of 1 million PKR each to support people suffering due to ongoing crisis. Auction starts now and will close on 11:59 PM 05 May, 2020," Azhar had tweeted.

Ali became the first international player to score a test triple century in Day/Night Test when he scored an unbeaten 302 against the West Indies team in UAE in 2016.

"The shirt is from 2017 Champions Trophy which we won, it has the signature of all the players which were present in the squad," Ali said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Both these things are close to my heart but if it can be used in the difficult times for the benefit of the people I will more than happy."

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News Network
January 28,2020

Columbo, Jan 28: The Sri Lanka Cricket Board on Monday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Women`s T20 World Cup, slated to commence from February 21. The board also announced five standby players for the ensuing tournament.

The squad members are -- Chamari Atapattu (captain), Harshitha Madavi (vice captain), Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Shashikala Siriwardene, Nilakshi De Silva, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Probodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Hasini Perera, Sathya Sandeepani, Umesha Thimashini, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara.

The standby players are -- Sachini Nisansala, Prasadani Weerakkody, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Tharika Sewwandi, Inoka Ranaweera.

Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand in their opening encounter on February 22.

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