Kohli first captain to smash 10 tons in a calendar year

News Network
November 26, 2017

India captain Virat Kohli on Sunday notched up his 19th century as India continued to dominate the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. The stylish right-hander is the first captain to score 10 tons (across formats) in a calendar year. The 29-year-old also has the most centuries by an Indian skipper (12), moving ahead of the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.

Kohli reached his fourth Test hundred in 2017 in just 130 balls when he took a single off Lakmal. He struck ten boundaries in his innings to take the attack to the opposition.

He scored his 51st career hundred in international cricket. He had equaled Sunil Gavaskar's record for most hundreds (11) as an India Test captain in the last Test in Kolkata. He has now has now score four centuries in Tests in 2017. He has managed to score 10 international hundreds (six in ODIs and four in Tests) in the calendar year of 2017. 

The previous best was Ricky Ponting and who Graeme Smith with nine hundreds. The former Australian captain had managed the feat on two occasions in consecutive years, in 2005 and 2006. Graeme Smith did I tin 2005. The Indian captain on th wother hand has scored more hundreds than fifties as captain. He has 22 hundreds as compared to his 16 fifties.

The Indian captain has been on a rampaging run, decimating opposition bowling attacks for fun. He had scored four consecutive double centuries in four successive Test series. He started with a 200 against West Indies and then scored 211 against New Zealand back in  October last year.

But that was just the start of his dominance at home as he continued his form  against England with a 235 against England and then took Bangladesh bowlers to the cleaners for a relatively quick-fire 204.

He stumbled somewhat against Australia in the following Border-Gavaskar Trophy, finishing the series with only 46 runs from three matches. He bounced back again with an unbeaten 103 against Sri Lanka in their back yard.

In the reverse tour from Sri Lanka, the hosts were under the weather in Kolkata. Kohli was dismissed for a duck (his fifth in Test cricket) in the first innings but roared back in the second with a scintillating 104 not out.

The Indian captain, who is the leading run-getter in the ODIs this year, also has six hundreds in the 50-overs format. The 29-year-old also has nine fifties across formats.

In ODI, as Kohli reached his 32nd hundred in the 50-overs format in the first match against New Zealand, surpassing Ricky Ponting in the list of most hundreds. He is only behind the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who has 49.

Kohli has also equalled Rahul Dravid's record for most 50-plus scores in a calendar year during the ongoing second Test. Dravid, who had 19 scores of 50 or more, achieved the feat 2006.

Dravid had accumulated 2014 runs from 39 matches (12 Tests and 27 ODIs) across all formats 11 years ago. The Wall hit one hundred and eight fifties in ODIs and three tons and seven half-centuries in Tests that year.

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there are a lot of similarities between the Virat Kohli-led Team India and the Pakistan team when Imran Khan had led it as both captains instill strong self-belief in their respective teams.

Manjrekar also said that Pakistan under Imran had found different ways of winning matches even when it seemed all was lost.

"India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong," Manjrekar tweeted.

The cricketer turned commentator expressed his opinion after India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash with a seven-run victory over New Zealand in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Manjrekar also lauded KL Rahul, now also shouldering wicket-keeping duty, for his impressive showing in recent times.

"Samson & Pant... the next batting brigade of India obviously have the skill & the power game they just need to infuse a small dose of Virat's batting 'smarts' (mind) into their game," Manjrekar wrote.

The victory at the Bay Oval saw India stretch their record for most successive T20I wins.

This was their eighth win in a row, bettering the previous three instances when they won seven successive matches.

Kohli is the most successful Test captain in Indian cricket history, winning 11 consecutive series at home and are on top of the ICC rankings.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: India opening batsman KL Rahul will be available for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 29.

Rahul had asked to be rested from Karnataka's quarter-final match but is now available for the climactic stages of the Ranji Trophy. 

Karnataka had already been strengthened by the addition of Manish Pandey for the quarter-finals, with both Pandey and Rahul having returned from New Zealand after India completed the limited-overs leg of their tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Last year's finalists Saurashtra will take on Gujarat in the other semi-final at Rajkot. The other prominent players who will be part of the last four include Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Manoj Tiwary (Bengal).

Gujarat, Bengal, Karnataka, and Saurashtra had finished on top of the combined Groups A and B table, and all four progressed to the semi-finals after dominating their respective quarter-final matches.

Rahul has been phenomenal with the bat in the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand. He scored one century and four fifty-plus scores in his last ten innings in ODIs and T20Is combined

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