Michael Clarke undaunted by India spinners' threat

February 20, 2013

Michael_Clarke

Chennai, Feb 20: Australian captain Michael Clarke Tuesday sought to dismiss talks of his side's vulnerability against spin bowling, saying they would not be intimidated by the home team's slow bowlers in the high-profile Test series starting here on Friday.

Addressing a press-conference after the team's training session, Clarke said he has got a side which can achieve success in India.

"We will not certainly be intimated by the player whom we are playing against. We need to have success from every single delivery that we face. We have got a good squad, we have got plenty of good choices in spin bowling, batting and fielding," Clarke said.

"I do not think that we can look too much into how India are going to play and what conditions will suit them best. In Indian conditions the ball spins as the pitch deteriorates and also has variations and bounces as well. I think the reverse swing is also very important. But, as I said we have the capability to do well in India," he said.

He refused the take the bait on Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh's remarks that the home side would win the series 4-0 nor dwell on the recent poor results of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men. "India is a fantastic cricket team, even better around their back yards. So, the focus of the Australian team is not on Indian team but completely on us to make sure that we are well prepared as we can be. Make sure that we do the right things to play the brand of cricket that we want to play," said Clarke when asked if India would be under pressure after their recent loss at home against England.

"We take a lot of confidence out of the Australian summer and we competed really well against South Africa, the number one Test team in world. We beat Sri Lanka in a most recent Test series. The guys are full of confidence and looking forward to the challenges," he said.

On Harbhajan's remarks, Clarke simply said, "It is nice to see him back in the squad. He is a wonderful player and a very competitive cricketer and loves challenge of playing against any opposition, especially Australia. I think he is a very good bowler and we have to play well to make sure he does not have too much of an effect on the series.

"In regard to result on the series, I am now focusing on the first Test and would like to take one match at a time," said the Australian captain.

Asked about his players' failure against spin in the practice games, Clarke said the slow bowlers got more wickets as they bowled more overs. "At the end of day you have to get out to somebody. The more overs that somebody bowls, he will take more wickets. The spinners' bowled a lot of overs and they got lot of wickets.

"Moreover, the conditions would be different in the Test match compared to what was there in the practice game," he said.

"But, it's again one of the areas we continue to improve as we are to face lot of spin bowling when we play against India in all four Test matches and certainly in the first Test in Chennai. Our boys have been training hard and preparations have been fantastic," he added.

He disagreed with the view that his side would struggle in the absence of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey in tough Indian conditions and said he would look forward to leading from the front. "No doubt, it's a challenge but I don't think it's any bigger as Ricky and Hussey are not here. It's an opportunity for a couple of senior members of the team to stand up. Our boys have been training as hard as possibly they can. That is my main focus to make sure for us to be well prepared as we can be. I am a hundred per cent fit and looking forward to the series, scoring runs and leading from the front.

Asked about the likely impact of Sachin Tendulkar, who struggled in the recent Test series against England, Clarke said, "Sachin got a hundred most recently. So, I think he is in really good form. He is a huge player for India and we have to just try and get him out as early as possible as he knows how to make lot of runs and big hundreds."

On the lessons learnt and positives got by his side from the two practice matches, Clarke said, "The real positives are playing in these conditions. Our guys have had some cricket under their belts ahead of the first Test is real positive.

"The fact that they faced lot of spin bowling and reverse swing bowling and playing in the game is better than batting in the nets and the preparation we got has been fantastic."

Clarke said he was confident that dashing opening batsman David Warner would play in the first Test in Chennai. "Warner has improved and continually improves every day.

"He faced bowlers at the net today. At this stage, I am very confident that he will be fielded in the first Test," he said.

On the slot for Shane Watson, Clarke said, "We have not picked our team at this stage and I do not have the batting order at this stage. But, Shane has been in good form these days. He played very well in both the innings in the three day practice game. He will come back into our team. I am not sure about what position he will be batting."

Clarke occasionally bowls left-arm spin and he said he would have to do it in India if the need arises. "Look, I think, it is part of your job and responsibility that you want to be the best you can be. You want to help the team win. This is what is most important to me. If I have to bowl, I look forward to that. I want to make sure that I am scoring runs and that is my first and main focus.

"Like I said everybody in the team have to score runs and contribute. It is going to take the full squad of players and support staff in the next six weeks to have success in India."

He also said that his side would play their brand of cricket and not what England had done recently. "I do not think anybody [any country] is invincible. It's always tough to beat the opposition in their own backyard. I think England played very well. I did see some footage of the recent England series against India. But that will have no bearing on us and we will try and play the Australian way. We will not be looking to play like England," Clarke said.

"We have spin bowling options. Australian strength now for a while has been fast bowling. We will assess conditions before selecting our squad for the first Test. I think we need to do what is best for Australian cricket team," he added.

Clarke said the exposure of many Australians cricketers playing in India in the IPL has made it a bit easier to adapt to the conditions here. "It is never easy to play in India. It is really tough conditions. Always it has been a hard place to win for the Australian teams. I think the IPL and the Champions League have played a huge part in regard to international players getting used to the country and the conditions and the culture.

"I think it certainly helped in regard to just about everybody in Australian squad had been to India for IPL or Champions League. But in saying that Test cricket is lot different to T20 cricket like I said it is always a tough tour to come here and have success. We have to be at our best to do that."

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Agencies
June 23,2020

Islamabad, Jun 23: Seven more Pakistan cricketers, including Muhammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, selected for the tour of England have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total to 10, the PCB revealed on Tuesday.

The seven who tested positive on Tuesday are Kashif Bhatti, Muhammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Rizwan, Imran Khan, Hafeez and Riaz. Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and Haris Rauf had returned positive tests on Monday.

“It is not a great situation to be in and what it shows is these are 10 fit and young athletes...if it can happen to players it can happen to anyone,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO, Wasim Khan told a media conference.

He said a support staff member, masseur Malang Ali, had also tested positive for COVID-19.

Khan said that the players and officials would now assemble in Lahore and another round of tests would be carried out on June 25 and a revised squad would be announced the next day.

The squad has to leave on June 28 for the series scheduled to be held next month, he said.

“It is a matter of concern but we shouldn’t panic at this time as we have time on our hands,” Khan said.

He said the players and officials would be retested on reaching England.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Chennai Super Kings have rejected the idea of an IPL with only Indian players in the near future, differing with Rajasthan Royals, the franchise which is keen on the option given the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IPL, which is indefinitely postponed, can be held in the September-October window if the scheduled T20 World Cup in Australia doesn't take place.

"CSK is not keen to do an IPL with only Indian players. That way it would be playing another Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (domestic T20 competition). The franchise has not been in touch with the BCCI of late as the situation is worsening," a CSK source said on conditions of anonymity.

"Let's hope we can have the IPL later this year," he added.

CSK are three-time IPL champions, making them the second most successful team in the event's history after Mumbai Indians, who have won the tournament four times.

The BCCI is also very keen to stage the IPL and if it doesn't happen, the world's richest board would be in financial trouble like Cricket Australia.

"The board will take a revenue hit of Rs 4000 crore if it doesn't happen. The board will be in a big problem," BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal said earlier this week.

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in India, the board and IPL team officials see little point in discussing when the event can be held.

"There has been no discussion with the BCCI ever since it postponed the IPL. There is no point in discussing also as things are unlikely to be okay anytime soon," the CSK source said.

"We expect the BCCI to take the best possible decision when the time comes," he added.

For the IPL to happen with foreign players, travel restrictions, which are currently in place, will have to be eased.

There is an option of conducting the IPL outside India and Sri Lanka Cricket has even offered to host the biggest T20 league in the world.

M S Dhoni was expected to make a much-awaited comeback with the IPL but that too has been postponed indefinitely.

Teammates like Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla have already spoken about how eager Dhoni was to return.

According to them, Dhoni had the determination of a youngster before the league was suspended due to the lockdown imposed to contain the pandemic.

"Dhoni is his own man but I see him playing the IPL for at least two three years. When it comes to playing for India, only he knows best," the source added.

Last month, Rajasthan Royals executive chairman Ranjit Barthakur had said the franchise was open to a shortened IPL with only Indian players.

"Earlier we could not think of an Indians-only IPL but now there is enough quality to choose from. It is better to have an Indians-only IPL than not have it at all," he had told news agency.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: India opening batsman KL Rahul will be available for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 29.

Rahul had asked to be rested from Karnataka's quarter-final match but is now available for the climactic stages of the Ranji Trophy. 

Karnataka had already been strengthened by the addition of Manish Pandey for the quarter-finals, with both Pandey and Rahul having returned from New Zealand after India completed the limited-overs leg of their tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Last year's finalists Saurashtra will take on Gujarat in the other semi-final at Rajkot. The other prominent players who will be part of the last four include Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Manoj Tiwary (Bengal).

Gujarat, Bengal, Karnataka, and Saurashtra had finished on top of the combined Groups A and B table, and all four progressed to the semi-finals after dominating their respective quarter-final matches.

Rahul has been phenomenal with the bat in the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand. He scored one century and four fifty-plus scores in his last ten innings in ODIs and T20Is combined

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