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Irani Cup: Gopal, Vinay seal title for Karnataka

February 12, 2014

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Bangalore, Feb 12: Karnataka ended their golden first-class season with their eighth outright win in nine matches with Vinay Kumar registering his fourth first-class 10-wicket haul on his 30th birthday, and legspinner Shreyas Gopal delivering Karnataka's eighth first-class hat-trick to run through the tail. In the process, Karnataka became the first Ranji champion side to win the Irani Cup in the last nine seasons.

The win for Karnataka was imminent with a huge first-innings lead to their credit and only seven wickets left to take, but they will be pleased with the hurry it came with. Vinay and Abhimanyu Mithun began the morning with long spells. Vinay bowled nine overs on the trot for 43 runs and picked up the crucial wickets of overnight batsman Dinesh Karthik and then Mandeep Singh. Both batsmen fell to what looked like outswingers, but seamed and skidded after pitching. Karthik was bowled while Mandeep caught in front. Amit Mishra, whom CM Gautam dropped on nought, soon ran himself out, and it was all Gopal after that.

Harbhajan Singh holed out to mid-on, half-centurion Baba Aparajith ran out of partners and found long-off looking for quick runs. The next two balls were wrong'uns that went through the big bat-pad gap provided by Ashok Dinda and Pankaj Singh. Pankaj's wicket also marked the end of the match, and loud cheering among the 50 or so spectators that turned up.

Vinay, who became the third Karnataka captain to have won both Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup as a Karnataka captain, said the win was a great birthday gift from his team to him. "It's a great feeling," he said, "We have been waiting for 15 years as a team, and I have been waiting for 10 years as a player to play for Karnataka in the Irani Cup. It's been a great performance by the team. Everyone who got a chance to play has performed well, and it's been a great experience to lead such wonderful bunch of players."

Vinay was also full of praise for J Arun Kumar and Mansoor Ali Khan, the batting and bowling coaches of the side. "They have been both part of Ranji- and Irani-winning squads, and they used to tell us about the feeling of being double champions. They instilled the feeling of togetherness, and they were more of friends than coaches. It was a pleasure to have them around and work with them."

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News Network
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: Premier Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has described Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a "massive influence" on his career, revealing that at the beginning of his IPL stint, he was driven by an intense desire to get the former captain's attention.

Ashwin got his contract with CSK, one of the most successful IPL sides, in 2008 and said the stint with CSK shaped his career.

"IPL and CSK is a stage that everyone wants. For me it was more about recognition. MSD did not know who Ashwin is, (Matthew) Hayden and (Muttiah) Muralithan did not know who Ashwin is. The first thing that came to my mind was that 'I will show these people that Ashwin is here'," Ashwin told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"I don't know it was being foolish or arrogance but that was how I was made. Nobody was giving me a chance that Ashwin will play alongside Muralitharan or ahead of Muralitharan. I thought, I will get there ahead of him one day," he added.

Ashwin said Dhoni, who led CSK, had "massive influence" on him and the only way to impress him was by troubling him in the nets.

"I got the eye of Hayden, Jacob Oram, and Stephen Fleming while bowling to them at the nets. They were finding it difficult to face me in the first year (2008) but I had not caught the eye of MSD," he said.

"I never had massive interactions with him. It was going to the nets and getting MSD...he was hitting Muralitharan out of the park and I thought, if I bowl better than him, I met get to play ahead of Murali.

" I got his attention when I got him during a Challenger trophy and celebrated like a crazy kid," he recalled.

After that, Ashwin said during CSK's match against Victoria Bushrangers in the now defunct Champions League, he volunteered to bowl the Super Over and Dhoni gave him the ball without hesitation.

Ashwin did not fare well and ended up conceding 23 runs. The off-spinner said when Dhoni walked past him after the match, he only said that, "you should have bowled the carrom ball."

"MS always maintained that you are exceptionally skilful and you should keep doing what you do."

Ashwin has been very successful against the left-handers as 189 of his 365 wickets are of southpaws. Ashwin credited his engineering background and advice from Duncan Fletcher for the success.

"He made a statement that changed cricket. He said it's all about geometry and left it at that. Understanding angles (engineering background) has given me edge over others," he said.

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July 19,2020

Manchester, Jul 19: Former England pacer Dominic Cork reckons star all-rounder Ben Stokes will go on to become one of his country's greatest cricketers ever.

Stokes, the hero of England's World Cup triumph last year, sparkled with a fine 176 and powered his side to a strong first-inning total of 469/9 declared in the ongoing second Test against the West Indies here.

"I genuinely think he can get better because of his work ethic. He wants to bat, he wants to bowl, he wants to work on his game, wants to get better," Cork said on Sky Sports show The Cricket Debate.

"I know he works a hell of a lot on his bowling as well. I just see this man not becoming only the best in the world but one of the best we have had ever. That's how highly I rate him."

The former seamer thought things changed for better for the World Cup hero after the Bristol bar brawl three years ago.

Last year, Stokes himself had said that the unsavoury incident and the ensuing chain of events, which dogged his career for 15 months, may be the best thing that could have happened to him.

Following the incident in September 2017, Stokes was acquitted of affray by a Bristol court in August 2018, before the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ended his 15-month exile after a hearing in December 2018.

Former England batsman Ravi Bopara also spoke about the remarkable change in Stokes' approach.

"I think there has definitely been a change with Ben. He has made his mistakes and learnt from them. He looks a formidable cricketer," he said.

"He is a fiery character and always has been - even if you are playing PlayStation in hotel rooms.

"But as he has had a more important role in the side as an all-rounder, making an impact with bat and ball, winning games for England, and since England have started looking at him as the main guy, his attitude has changed with it."

West Indies lead the three-match series 1-0 after their win in the opener at Southamton.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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