'It happens', exasperated MS Dhoni says on countless queries on Yuvraj Singh

April 7, 2014

Mirpur, Apr 7: An exhausted and disappointed Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni found it tough to explain Yuvraj Singh's painstakingly slow batting in the lost World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka but insisted that the under-fire player tried his best.

Yuvraj's 21-ball 11 was a major factor in India totalling a mere 130 after being put in to bat on Sunday. Sri Lanka overhauled the target in 17.5 overs after losing just four wickets

"It was an off day for Yuvraj. He tried his best but it's not easy to come in and start slogging from ball one," Dhoni said at the post-match press conference where most of the questions centred on Yuvraj's performance.

MS_DhoniThere were a few which Dhoni completely deflected during his shortest media interaction in the whole tournament.

Was there a message for Yuvraj when he got stuck in the middle, Dhoni said, "No he was just trying his best. That's the most you can do."

Dhoni was specifically asked about Yuvraj's future in the team considering others have more or less performed their duties or at least have age on their side.

The smiling skipper gave an open-ended reply. "Indian cricket season is over, and now we have all domestic tournaments including the Indian Premier League. The next selection is far away so let's not talk about it."

There had been angry reactions from the fans and Dhoni got a bit serious while answering a query.

"Look, you need to understand that fans can be angry but they can't be more disappointed than the individual who is out there in the middle. As a player you don't want to do badly in front of 40000 people. You don't want to drop catches. But off days happen. And it can happen with any athlete. May be it was an off day for him (Yuvraj).

"Fans will be disappointed but it is the player who is always more disappointed than the fans," he explained.

When asked if Yuvraj's innings "robbed the team" of momentum, Dhoni seemed like wanting to put an end to the endless queries.

"It's a team thing. So let us not talk about individuals."

Dhoni also tried hard to explain the reason for sending Yuvraj ahead of Suresh Raina at No. 4.

"Most of our batsmen take time to hit the big shots and it is only Raina, who can start hitting big from the onset. That was the reason that we sent Yuvi up the order at No. 4."

Dhoni was all praise for the Sri Lankan team, especially the manner they bowled "wide yorkers" at the death.

"We wanted to score as many runs as possible in last four overs but credit to Lankan bowlers. They bowled perfect wide yorkers. I for one, know that Malinga bowls these superb wide yorkers. They got only one wide during that phase. They executed their plans brilliantly.

"We were a bit disappointed at the break for not having scored more than 130 but then we were thinking about Champions Trophy. It was also a 20-over match but here we had one fielder more outside the circle," the skipper said.

As for why he didn't start with his best bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, Dhoni defended the move saying, "We wanted to use Ashwin in middle overs against left-handers. So we couldn't start with him. But the pacers went for runs and I had to bring him early and he also got a wicket."

"Also the wicket changed a bit under lights as the ball started coming onto the bat," he added.

Dhoni tried to count the positives from the tournament, having been consistent right from the practice match against England.

"The spinners have bowled well as they got a bit of help and turn from the track. Virat (Kohli) has been brilliant for us as he has been in the last one and half years and even more. We were consistent from start and hence there weren't too many changes in the playing XI."

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February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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February 2,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 2: India registered a rare 5-0 whitewash against New Zealand after notching up a seven-run win in the fifth and final T20 International at Bay Oval here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, India posted 163 for three, riding on Rohit Sharma's 60 off 41 balls and a 33-ball 45 from K L Rahul.

The visitors then restricted the hosts to 156 for nine with Jasprit Bumrah claiming three wickets for 12 runs.

Chasing the target, the Black Caps were tottering at 17 for three in 3.2 overs.

Tim Seifert (50) and Ross Taylor (53) then added 99 runs for the fourth wicket as New Zealand recovered to 116.

Seifert clobbered a 30-ball 50 studded with five fours and three sixes, while Ross Taylor hit two sixes and five fours in his 47-ball 53-run innings.

However, once Seifert was dismissed in the 13th over, the hosts suffered a collapse, losing five wickets, including Taylor, for 25 runs to loss the plot in the end.

Brief Score:

India: 163 for 3 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 60; S Kuggeleijn 2/25)    

New Zealand: 156 for 9 in 20 overs (Ross Taylor 53, Tim Seifert 50; Jasprit Bumrah 3/12).

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