Kohli unreasonable target in Kumble controversy: Thakur

Agencies
June 25, 2017

Harimpur, Jun 25: Virat Kohli is being "unreasonably targetted" for Anil Kumble's resignation as India's chief cricket coach, feels former BCCI President Anurag Thakur, who said the current Board set-up should answer for the unsavoury episode.kohli6

Kumble stepped down at the end of the Champions Trophy earlier this month after acknowledging a rift with skipper Kohli, who has refused to divulge just what led to the fallout.

"Virat is being unreasonably targetted, I think this discussion should stop. Virat has the ability to take Indian cricket to new heights in the next 10 years. This is not the first time that a cricketer is being targetted. In the past too, captains and former captains have been targetted," Thakur said.

Thakur had to quit as Board President after being ordered by the Supreme Court. The Lok Sabha MP, now heading the Himachal Pradesh Olympic Committee, said BCCI under him would have handled the situation better than the current set-up.

"The previous BCCI set-up was more adept at handling such situations. People should give the Board credit that it honoured the Cricket Advisory Committee's recommendation but also gave Kumble only a one-year contract so that the Board was free to take a call if there were to be any problems," he explained.

Thakur said the BCCI top brass had a lot to answer for in the current controversy.

"We never allowed such things to be leaked. When Kumble was offered a one-year contract, nobody said that they had any objection to it," he said.

"In the 7-8 months of Kumble's contract when we were in charge, nobody spoke of any problem between them (Kumble and Kohli). Questions should be asked from those who are running the Board now as to how these circumstances have arisen," he added.

Comments

Suresh Kumar
 - 
Monday, 26 Jun 2017

Kohli had a bad dream that Kumble had locked him up in a room for bunking practice sessions for a month. Thats why he wanted a better coach, who could let him have Anushka for shopping in the next overseas tour. How could this be counted as Virat's fault. Kumble should have known this. It's his fault. Bangur bats for bunking. Making him Head Coach is in the interest of Virat India.

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News Network
May 14,2020

May 14: Veteran South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis has proposed a two-week isolation period for players before and after the T20 World Cup as a way to stage the event as per schedule later this year.

Like other sports, cricketing action too has come to a complete halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fate of the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October-November is shrouded in uncertainty.

Talking to Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal, du Plessis said travel was going to be an issue despite Australia being less affected by the deadly contagion.

"I am not sure... reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lot of countries and they are talking about December or January. Even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it's a health risk to them," du Plessis said.

"But you can go in before the tournament (for) two weeks isolation and then play the tournament and afterwards two weeks isolation," said the former captain.

Several countries across the globe, including South Africa, Australia and India, have travel restrictions in place and the veteran Proteas batsman joked travelling by boat is not an option.

"But I don't know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can't go there like old days on boats," du Plessis said.

In March, South Africa's ODI series against India was called off after the first match in view of the pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 44 lakh people worldwide while causing close to 3 lakh deaths.

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News Network
May 18,2020

Karachi, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes it is at least five years too early to compare Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as the Indian skipper has proven himself in "every kind of situation" and the latter has not.

"Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket and he is at the peak of his career," said Younis, Pakistan's leading run-getter in Tests.

"Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this are proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition."

Younis said said Babar still has a long way to go.

"Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day.

"You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career."

Besides amassing 70 international hundreds, 31-year-old Kohli averages more than 50 in all three formats. The India skipper has scored more than 20,000 runs while 25-year-old Babar has 6680 runs across formats though the Pakistan limited overs skipper has played significantly lesser number of games.

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News Network
January 28,2020

New Delhi, Jan 28: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is clear that while they have no problem with the Pakistan Cricket Board hosting the 2020 edition of the Asia Cup -- set to be a preparatory ground for the T20 World Cup in Australia -- the venue needs to be a neutral one as travelling to the neighbouring country isn't an option at present.

Speaking to news agency, a BCCI official said that the hosting rights is not an issue and it is just a case of picking a neutral venue as the Indian team wouldn't be travelling to Pakistan for the T20 tournament that will see the top Asian teams in action.

"The question isn't about the PCB hosting the tournament. It is about the venue and as things stand now, it is quite clear that we would need a neutral venue. There is no way that an Indian team can visit Pakistan to even participate in a multi-nation event like the Asia Cup. If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is ok with an Asia Cup minus India then it is a different ball game. But if India is to participate in the Asia Cup, then the venue cannot be Pakistan," the official said.

In fact, issues in obtaining visa for Pakistan players to come and play the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup in India was one of the major reasons why the tournament was shifted out of the country with BCCI hosting the event in UAE.

The official said that the PCB can do just the same and host the event in a neutral venue. "A neutral venue is always an option. BCCI did it in 2018," the official pointed.

Cricket returned to Pakistan after a decade when Sri Lanka toured the nation in 2019. While Sri Lanka was the first nation to play a full series in the country, Bangladesh is currently in the country as they just finished playing three T20Is. They will play a Test from February 7 to 11 and then play a one-off ODI before playing the second Test from April 5 to 9.

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