Melbourne Test: Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara power India to 215/2 on opening day

Agencies
December 26, 2018

Melbourne, Dec 26: Riding on debutant Mayank Agarwal's 76 and Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 68 runs innings, India scored 215 runs for the loss of two wickets in 89 overs on the opening day of the third Test of four-match series here at MCG on Wednesday.

At the time of stumps, Virat Kohli (47) and Pujara were at the crease. So far, they added 92 runs for the third wicket partnership.

Earlier, Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first.

Agarwal and Hanuman Vihari scored 40 runs for the opening wicket partnership. For Australia, Pat Cummins was the only successful bowler as he bagged all two wickets in Indian innings. Cummins dismissed Vihari for eight runs in the 19th over.

Then, Pujara and Agarwal stitched together a crucial 83 runs partnership for the second wicket, helping India to get past 100 runs mark.

Agarwal, who scored first fifty as an opener for the visiting team in the Test series, was caught by Tim Paine off Pat Cummins for well made 76 off 161 balls. Indian lost Agarwal in the form of the second wicket just before the Tea break.

Captain Virat Kohli replaced the right-hander Agarwal and took Indian tally to 215 runs.

India might have scored runs at 2.42 runs per over, but they managed to keep the Aussies bowlers at bay.

The visitors have made three changes in their playing eleven. They dropped openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay to give youngsters Hanuma Vihari and Agarwal a chance to open the innings. Rohit Sharma replaced Umesh Yadav, giving the cushion of an extra batsman.

The four-match series is tied at 1-1. India have played seven Boxing Day Tests in Australia and have lost five of them.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: Thrilled after getting to know about Hardik Pandya and Natasa Stankovic's engagement, skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday called it a "pleasant surprise".

Extending his best wishes to the newly-engaged couple, Kohli posted a comment on Pandya's Instagram post which read, "Congratulations H. What a pleasant surprise. Wish you guys great times ahead. God bless".

On the first day of the New Year 2020, Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share the photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On the work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from the Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show Bigg Boss 8.

In 2019, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had confirmed that Pandya had had lower-back surgery in London.

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