Kohli will grow into captaincy role: Sourav Ganguly

January 11, 2015

Sourav Ganguly

Sydney, Jan 11: The comparisons will be inevitable but former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly today said it is unfair to equate the leadership skills of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and newly-appointed Test captain Virat Kohli, who will only become better with experience.

"There will be a strong urge compare Kohli and Dhoni. I don't think the two can be compared and it would be unfair to do so as well," Ganguly said.

"Kohli has got the job now and it is his for the near foreseeable future. He has got has got all the attributes for leadership and I think he will do well because he is aggressive and wants to win all the time. He will lead with passion and it will show on the field. And he will get better with experience and grow into this role."

Kohli took over the Test captaincy after Dhoni retired midway through the series against Australia which India eventually lost 0-2

Ganguly said Kohli was impressive in his short captaincy stint. Kohli led India in the first Test in Adelaide as Dhoni was out injured and then again in the fourth Test in Sydney after the latter took a shock retirement after the third Test in Melbourne.

India lost the series but they competed aggressively in three out of the four Tests and could have registered wins in at least two of them if they had latched on to pivotal moments.

Kohli himself shrugged off his failure in England and scored four hundreds during this series, accumulating 692 runs, a record for an Indian batsman against Australia in any one encounter.

The problem for India throughout the series was the simple fact that their bowling was too inconsistent.

"Length and line bowling is a basic at this international level and is very important. Look at what Josh Hazlewood did on the fifth day. He bowled 8 overs for just 3 runs. He kept bowling one line and length and that's just basic bowling," said Ganguly.

"Indian bowlers simply have to find a way to do it. The talent is there. They are consistently bowling at 140-plus and you cannot be ordinary bowlers if you keep bowling at that speed. But discipline in Test cricket is always important and a key factor. Hopefully someone will be around to tell them that and they will learn it from this tour," he added.

When asked if the Indian team is lacking in proper coaching staff, Ganguly replied, "It is important to have the right people around in terms of helping out these young boys because they are young and raw. They will have to work with them and it will not happen overnight. But it is not rocket science either so they will have to keep working on getting the consistency part right."

Perhaps R Ashwin was the only stand-out bowler during the last two Tests, bowling with control and discipline in both Melbourne and Sydney.

He picked up 12 wickets in three Tests played this series -- 10 of those in the last two Tests -- but missed support from the other end. Even so, Ganguly seemed unimpressed by the spinner's showing.

"Ashwin has got to bowl a lot better especially when it matters later in the Tests. He has been around for a while and now he is an experienced bowler. His lines have to get a lot better especially in overseas conditions. He has to keep bowling a lot outside the off stump and reduce variations even more," said the cricketer-turned-commentator.

With the Test series done, focus now turns towards the ODI leg of the tour with the Indian team playing a tri-series against Australia and England starting in Melbourne on January 16. Thereafter India will be defending their champions' crown in the World Cup starting February 14.

"It has been a long tour already. The players need to keep themselves fresh. The selectors have done a good job with the World Cup squad and it is quite balanced. Not to mention, Dhoni will be back and he is a terrific one-day player. I am sure he will prove to be a huge force in the coming months," Ganguly signed off.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: Grappler Divya Kakran on Thursday became the second Indian woman to win a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship.

Divya, a bronze medallist at Asian Games 2018, earned her first gold by winning all her four bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Her final bout against Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was the closest one but she managed to outclass her opponent 6-4 to seal her name on the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only five wrestlers were in the fray.

India is likely to add some more medals to its tally when Nirmala Devi, Pinki, and Sarita go out to grapple for the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

Three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) first defeated Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.

In the semi-finals, Nirmala got the better of Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 and will play against 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan for the gold medal.

Pinki (55 kg) started her day on a winning note against Shokhida Akhmedova of Uzbekistan by 12-4 in round 3 and lost to Kana Higashikawa of Japan to enter the semis where she defeated Marina Zuyeva of Kazakistan by a score of 6-0.

Pinki will play in the gold medal bout against Dulguun Bolormaa of Mongolia.

Sarita (59 kg) will now face Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the gold medal bout after winning against her opponents in the qualifiers, quarterfinals and semi-final by a score of 10-0, 11-0 and 10-3, respectively.

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