KL Rahul defends playing slow initially

Agencies
April 30, 2019

Hyderabad, Apr 30: Kings XI Punjab opener KL Rahul defended his strategy of playing slow initially while chasing a mammoth 213 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, saying one between him and Chris Gayle was supposed to go all out upfront while the other tried to take the game deep.

Chasing a huge total, Rahul (79 off 56; 4x4, 5x6) made a valiant effort with the bat but lacked support from the other end as Kings XI were restricted to 167 for eight.

"That's been the team plan. One of me or Chris Gayle look to bat 15-16 overs as deep as possible so the others can play around," said Rahul at the post-match press conference.

"That doesn't mean that you don't play your shots. I tried my shots a few times, it didn't come off, few went for boundaries, few hit the fielders." 

Rahul though finished with a strike-rate of 141.07 but at one stage he had just made 39 off 36 deliveries when the required rate was well above 15 runs per over.

The 27-year-old explained that he knew he could make up for it in the back end had he stayed at the crease in the middle overs.

"Not always as a batsman you will get off to an amazing start, you don't get a 20-ball 50 each time. Sometimes when you get off to a start like that you have got to make it count but sometimes when you are not finding your touch you have to hang in there. I know that if I am set I can make up for it," said Rahul.

He rued that lack of partnerships hampered his team.

"We couldn't get enough batting partnerships. We were batting well, unfortunate that each time we tried to take a chance we found a fielder." 

Rahul also backed Mujeeb ur Rahman, who conceded 66 runs in his four overs, highest in this year's IPL.

"Obviously, anybody who goes for that many runs will be disappointed. Sometimes it is not your day. In T20 cricket that happens. Everyday one of the bowlers will get targeted and go for runs.

"He is a young guy, he has a lot of skill. This is the first time he has gone for so many runs. Before this he has done really really well for Kings XI and yeah one-off game this happens to every bowler. The best of bowlers will get hit for 50-60 runs, you just have to look to bounce back," said Rahul.

KXIP used only five bowlers despite going for runs and Rahul said that injuries to a lot of their key players prevented them from going for the sixth bowling option.

"It is not an excuse but there are a few injuries in the team which doesn't allow us to go with a sixth bowling option or play an all-rounder," Rahul clarified.

"When you are going in with five bowlers, all of them have to bowl four overs each. There is not really a choice. When you have gone with five full-time bowlers, you have to trust them. You expect them to deliver most times but some times it does not happen," he added.

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News Network
July 12,2020

New Delhi, Jul 12: Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do away with 'umpire's call' whenever a team opts for a review regarding a leg-before wicket (LBW) decision.

The Master Blaster has also said that a batsman should be given out if the ball is hitting the stumps.

Whether more than 50 per cent of the ball is hitting the stumps or not should not be matter, he further stated.

"What per cent of the ball hits the stumps doesn't matter, if DRS shows us that the ball is hitting the stumps, it should be given out, regardless of the on-field call," Tendulkar tweeted.

With this tweet, the former India batsman also shared a video, in which he has a discussion with Brian Lara regarding the working of DRS.
"One thing I don't agree with, with the ICC, is the DRS they have been using for quite some time. It is the LBW decision where more than 50 per cent of the ball must be hitting the stumps for the on-field decision to be overturned," Tendulkar said in the video.

"The only reason they (the batsman or the bowler) have gone upstairs is that they are unhappy with the on-field decision, so when the decision goes to the third umpire, let the technology take over, just like in tennis, it's either in or out, there's nothing in between," he added.

This call for doing away with umpire's call has been recommended by many former players.
Whenever a verdict pops up as 'umpire's call, the decision of the on-field umpire is not changed, but the teams do not lose their review as well.

ICC recently introduced some changes to the game of cricket, and they gave all teams liberty of extra review as non-neutral umpires will be employed in Test matches due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, all teams will now have three reviews in every innings of a Test match. 

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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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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