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
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday paid tributes to Indian Army soldiers, who were killed during the face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

Extending condolences to the kin of bravehearts, Kohli said, "No one is more selfless and brave than a soldier."

"Salute and deepest respect to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect our country in the Galwan Valley. NO one is more selfless and brave than a soldier. Sincere condolences to the families. I hope they find peace through our prayers at this difficult time," he tweeted.

The violent face-off happened on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh's Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on Tuesday.

The Army confirmed that 20 soldiers were killed in the face-off, including 17 who were critically injured at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain.

Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area in Ladakh where they had earlier clashed on the night of June 15 and 16, Indian Army said.

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan tweeted, "We will always be indebted to our jawans of #IndianArmy who lost their lives in #GalwanValley #JaiHind."

Expressing similar sentiments, Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan wrote, "A sacrifice that will never be forgotten by the nation. Heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the Indian Army officer and the two soldiers. Saluting your bravery, Jai Hind! #GalwanValley."

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News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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