Lionel Messi Returns to Argentina Fold, Sinks Uruguay

September 2, 2016

Mendoza, Sep 2: Lionel Messi marked his return from short-lived international retirement with the only goal as 10-man Argentina defeated Uruguay 1-0 to score a crucial 2018 World Cup qualifying victory on Thursday.

messi

Messi, who had dramatically announced the end of his international career in June following Argentina's Copa America Centenario final defeat to Chile, scored via a deflected shot in the 42nd minute to spark wild celebrations in Mendoza's Estadio Malvinas.

The victory -- the first under the reign of new coach Edgardo Bauza -- catapulted Argentina into first place in South America's marathon round-robin qualifying campaign with 14 points after seven games.

But Argentina was made to work hard for the victory, playing the second half with only 10 men after young Juventus striker Paulo Dybala was sent off just before half-time after a second yellow card. Dybala was led off the field in tears following the dismissal.

Uruguay had named a powerful looking starting line-up, with Messi's Barcelona teammate Luis Suarezspearheading the visitors' attack alongside Edinson Cavani. Captain Diego Godin was also back in the heart of the Uruguayan defence to give the two-time World Cup winners a reassuring solidity.

Yet with the talismanic Messi back in the fold, it was Argentina who enjoyed the better of the opening half.

Angel Di Maria created the first chance after 32 minutes, winning the ball brilliantly in midfield before laying off to Dybala who advanced on goal.

The 22-year-old let fly with a vicious low shot which crashed off the bottom of the post and cannoned into the back of diving Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera for a corner.

At the other end, Uruguay's only chance of note came in the 34th minute when Suarez's long-range free kick beat the Argentine wall only to be gathered safely by Sergio Romero.

With half-time approaching Messi, pounced. A sublime piece of control took him towards the edge of the area, and his firm low shot deflected off of Jose Gimenez to deceive Muslera at the near post.

But Argentina's celebrations were cut short when Dybala saw red for a clumsy challenge on Mathias Corujo that drew a second yellow from Chilean referee Julio Bascunan.

That left Argentina needing to dig deep during a physical second half.

But despite relentless Uruguay pressure in the closing stages, a determined Argentina defensive effort, led byJavier Mascherano, saw the hosts hold on.

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Mumbai, Mar 8: Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned to India's ODI squad as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the team for the upcoming South Africa series.

South Africa are scheduled to tour India for a three-match ODI series, starting from March 12.

India's ODI squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (C ), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) have already announced their squad for the series and spinner George Linde was given maiden ODI call-up.

South Africa squad: Quinton de Kock (c, wk), Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan.

The first ODI will be played in Dharamsala while the other two matches will be played in Lucknow and Kolkata on March 15 and 18, respectively.

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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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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