Key thing was to keep Virat quiet, says Philander

Agencies
January 9, 2018

Cape Town, Jan 9: The plan was to keep Virat Kohli quiet and South Africa's wrecker-in-chief Vernon Philander said his team executed it to perfection during the 72-run win over India in the opening Test here.

"Virat is a good player and an aggressive player. The key thing is to obviously keep him quiet and to make sure you set him up for the other one. Initially it was for me to keep him quiet upfront, and I always knew I had the one coming back," said Philander, who took a career-best six for 42.

"It was probably two-and-a-half overs of away-swingers and then the one back at him (Kohli). It was definitely a plan to keep him quiet, and also to drag him across to make sure that when you do bowl the other one, he is on the other side of the off-stump.

"I was not worried about his DRS review. I knew it was stone dead," he added, referring to the review asked by Kohli after onfield umpire ruled him out.

Asked if he had told anything to Kohli after the dismissal, Philander said: "I never said anything to Virat. It was in the spur of the moment. I just tried to spur my boys on; that's what we tend to focus on.

"We knew Virat was a big wicket to get, and getting him there and then I was just trying to motivate my boys."

With 208 to defend against India, Philander said he knew he had to quickly take the responsibility of spearheading the pace battery and put his team in a good position.

"When you look at the type of score that you have to defend, 208, someone has to make the play. You can't wait for later in the game because there might not be a 'later on in the game'," he said.

"I knew that I had to bowl overs upfront and put us in a good position, and I just wanted to bowl and make a difference."

His 12th five-wicket haul in Test cricket also included the prized wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin, who had conjured up hopes of a revival for India with a fighting 37.

The 32-year-old seamer credited his skipper Faf du Plessis for the tactics of having Quinton de Kock standing up to the stumps to get rid of Ashwin.

"You have to be open to those suggestions, but I'll have to give this one to 'Faffie' (du Plessis)," he said.

"Ashwin, at the time, was batting quite far out of his crease, and the wicket was a touch on the slow side and the ball was a bit older. I also felt that by pushing him back we could get all three dismissals into play."

Ashwin shared a crucial 49-run eighth wicket stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to resurrect India's second innings after they were reduced to 82 for 7.

Philander said: "You just have to remain calm. We had it in out arsenal to get those last three wickets. The team with the calmer head was going to come out on top.

"Coming out after Tea I was a bit on the stiff side and I had to bowl two or three overs to get myself going. Just before that last over I bowled, 'Faffie' was going to bowl Morne, and I said to him, 'Listen, I'm actually warm now, so just give me one more'. Luckily it paid off."

Philander had to face criticism due to his lack of fitness during the four-match Test against England last year and he said he initially took it 'personally' before deciding to work on his fitness.

"I like people to be constructive and open and honest with us as players. There are two ways of taking it - you can take it personally and fade away, or you can take it on board and make a play," he said.

"I took it a bit personally up front, you are all obviously human, but you try to get over it as quickly as possible, get better, do some work behind the scenes and come back stronger."

With match-winning figures of 9-75 on his home ground, Philander gave South Africa a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series and he was all praise for the Newlands' pitch.

"Day one was a lot faster than we thought it was going to be. I walked out there and the spikes went straight in, and I said to Faf, I think it's going to be a touch on the slow side because of the moisture in the wicket," he said.

"But it surprised all of us and was a lot harder than what we thought it's supposed to be. But it was a good cricket wicket," he added.

Talking about the venue, Philander said: "It is a wonderful venue. The crowd is wonderful. Defending 208, there is no better place to play with crowd cheering us on and the momentum carrying you in.

"Bowling from the Kelvin Grove End is not unfamiliar but it's a bit out of my territory because I love the Wynberg End. But there was a little bit of pace from this end. It looked to be squatting a little bit. I had to use it to my advantage," he signed off.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Melbourne, Jan 23: Sania Mirza's return to her first Grand Slam after a two-year break was cut short on Thursday when the former world number one was forced to retire midway through her first round match in women's doubles at the Australian Open due to a calf injury.

India's Mirza, who won six Grand Slam doubles titles, took a break from the game after the China Open in October 2017 and gave birth to her son a year later.

The 33-year-old made a winning return to the WTA Tour at this month's Hobart International with Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok, picking up her 42nd WTA doubles title and the first since winning the women's doubles in Brisbane in 2017.

Mirza said she strained her calf muscle in her right leg during the Hobart final.

"It just got worse in the match. It was bit of a bad strain, but I had a few days off," she told reporters. "So I obviously had to try to do whatever I could to try to get on the court.

"It felt okay when I went on the court, but it was tough to move right. I just felt like I'm gonna tear it or something pretty bad."

Mirza won her first Grand Slam in mixed doubles at the Australian Open in 2009 and also bagged the women's doubles in 2016.

Mirza always believed there was tennis left in her which inspired her comeback, she told Reuters on Sunday.

She had already pulled out of the Australian Open mixed doubles, where she was to partner compatriot Rohan Bopanna.

Mirza and Kichenok were trailing the Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu 6-2 1-0 on Thursday when the Indian had to call it quits due to the injury.

"As a tennis player you want to compete, it is the Grand Slam. If it's any other tournament, you would probably take a call and be like 'I don't want to risk it'," she said.

Mirza, who is married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, said she would take two weeks to recover and was hoping to play at next month's Dubai championships.

"When you play a professional sport, injuries are really part of it. And it's something that you have to accept," she said. "Sometimes the timing is really not ideal, it's tough that it happened in a Grand Slam, or just before a Grand Slam."

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News Network
July 2,2020

Jul 2: Cricket Australia has decided to not use the Dukes ball from this summer's Sheffield Shield, having used it alongside Kookaburra for four seasons.

CA has confirmed that the Kookaburra ball will be used for the entire 2020-21 first-class season.

Australia has been using Dukes ball since the 2016-17 season in Shield matches with an aim to help its cricketers prepare for the hostile English conditions.

CA's Head of Cricket Operations, Peter Roach, said the decision to axe the Dukes was the right call. "The introduction of the Dukes ball has been a worthwhile exercise, particularly in the lead up to overseas Ashes series where the Dukes is used so well by our English opponents," Roach said.

"We have been happy with how the ball has performed when used in Australian conditions over the past four seasons. We do, however, feel that reverting to one ball for 2020-21 will provide the consistent examination of our players over a full season that CA and the states are presently seeking. The Kookaburra is the ball used for international cricket in Australia and many parts of the world and we see benefits this season of maximising our use of it," he added.

Roach said the ineffectiveness of spinners in first-class cricket in recent times played a role in CA's decision to do away with the Dukes. "We have noted that spin bowlers in the Sheffield Shield have been playing less of a role in recent seasons, most notably in games when the Dukes ball is in use. We need spinners bowling in first-class cricket and we need our batters facing spin. We hope that the change to one ball will have a positive benefit here," he said.

The CA official, however, didn't rule out the possibility of re-introducing it later.

"We see a definite opportunity to reintroduce the Dukes ball at some stage in the future."

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News Network
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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