MS Dhoni insists underperforming India primed for World Cup

January 31, 2015

Perth, Jan 31: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni insisted on Friday his team will be primed for their upcoming World Cup title defence, despite ending a miserable tour of Australia without a win.

MS Dhoni World Cup

India bowed out of the one-day international tri-series with another poor batting effort, which condemned them to defeat in their clash with England at the WACA Ground in Perth.

Sent in to bat, India were dismissed for 200 and although England stumbled early, they recovered to edge their way to 201 for seven and win with 19 balls to spare. That booked England a berth in Sunday's final against Australia at the same venue.

It ended a fruitless three-month tour for India ahead of next month's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in which they failed to notch a win in 10 matches, including four Tests and four one-day internationals.

Dhoni conceded their batting had been a concern. However, he expected his batsmen to regain their best form before the World Cup and said the focus would be on recharging their batteries in the coming weeks.

"From a confidence point of view we are quite good," he said.

"It has been a long tour so far but with this break now, it will really help us. The guys should be able to come back strong."

With the winner of the game advancing to Sunday's final, England looked in deep trouble when they slumped to 66 for five in their run chase. However, James Taylor and wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler rescued their cause.

The pair rode their luck to put on 125 for the sixth wicket and carry their side to within 10 runs of victory, before both fell in quick succession. Taylor made 82 (122 balls) before holing out to deep fine leg from the bowling of Mohit Sharma in the dying stages of the chase.

Buttler made the most of an early reprieve, when he should have been run out. He went on to make a match-winning 67 from 78 balls before falling just two runs after Taylor, caught on the boundary from the bowling of Mohammed Shami.

Taylor said England was looking forward to the final with a win handing them a psychological advantage ahead of their World Cup opener in Melbourne.

"It would make a massive statement, no doubt," he said.

"It is going to be a challenge, they are playing some great cricket at the moment, but we are all looking forward to it.

"We know if we string all three facets together and do them to the best of our ability, which we are getting close to doing, we know we are going to put in a real good performance on Sunday"

Poor batting:

Having been sent in to bat, India squandered the good platform provided by their openers. They lost six wickets for just 31 runs to slump to 165-9, before some late hitting from Mohammed Shami (25 from 18 balls) and Mohit Sharma boosted their total.

The Indians made an encouraging start to their innings through the previously out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan and opening partner Ajinkya Rahane.

The pair put on 83, but the innings started to unravel when Dhawan was caught behind by Buttler from the bowling of Chris Woakes for 38.

Virat Kohli's poor series then continued when he was caught by Joe Root from the bowling of spinner Moeen Ali (2-35) for just eight.

Kohli averaged 86.50 during the Test series against Australia, which India lost 2-0, but has been unable to continue that form into the limited overs format, making just 24 runs at 8.00.

From there, wickets fell steadily, with only Rahane offering serious resistance with 73.

Steven Finn's good series continued when he claimed 3-36 for England, with every English bowler tasting success.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mar 5: India reached a maiden women's Twenty20 World Cup final Thursday after their last four clash against England was washed out, sparking calls for the International Cricket Council to include reserve days in future events.

Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten side were due to face the 2009 champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the rain began pouring early in the day with barely any let-up.

With a minimum 10 overs per side needed for a result and no break in the weather, the umpires called it off without a ball being bowled.

Normally, five overs per side are needed to constitute a Twenty20 match, but the rules are different for ICC tournaments.

Four-time champions Australia are scheduled to take on South Africa later in the second semi-final, with that match also under threat.

With no reserve day, the highest-ranked teams from the two groups move into the final if play is not possible

That would pit India against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, where organisers are hoping to attract 90,000 plus fans, denying Australia a chance to defend their crown.

A reserve day is allowed for the final and the lack of one for the semis has been criticised by some players, with England captain Heather Knight among those calling for change.

"If both semi-finals are lost it would be a sad time for the tournament," she told reporters ahead of the match. "It's obviously going to be a shame if it does happen and I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure on the ICC to change that."

Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts said he sought clarification from the ICC about adding a reserve day with the Sydney weather looking ominous, but the request was denied.

"We've asked the question and it's not part of the playing conditions and we respect that," he told Melbourne's SEN radio.

"It gives you cause to reflect and think about how you might improve things in the future, but going into a tournament with a given set of playing conditions and rules, I don't think it's time to tinker with the rules."

It is not the way India would have wanted to make the final, but they are deserving of being there having gone through the group phase as the only unbeaten team.

After opening their campaign by upsetting Australia, they beat Bangladesh, New Zealand and then Sri Lanka.

While the entire team played well, teenage batting prodigy Shafali Verma excelled, which saw her elevated to the top of the ICC T20 batting rankings this week aged just 16.

She is only the second Indian after Mithali Raj to reach number one, pushing New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates down to second.

Ranked four in the world, India had made three semi-finals before this year and lost every time, including against England at the last World Cup.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Derbyshire, Jul 22: Ahead of the upcoming Test series against England, Pakistan pacer Sohail Khan has credited bowling coach Waqar Younis for teaching him how to swing the ball late.

On the third day of the practice match between Azhar Ali's Team Green and Babar Azam's Team White, the 36-year-old Khan returned figures of five for 50 in 20.1 overs which saw the former fold for 181 in the first innings before they staged a comeback on the final day to win the match by six wickets.

Prior to the practice match, Sohail had a conversation with bowling coach Waqar Younis on the art of late swing. The pacer shared how the presence of the bowling legend in the support staff helped him gear up for the four-day match.

"The conditions in England are swing conducive so every fast bowler gets the ball to move. I asked Waqar bhai to teach me how to swing the ball late. It took him only two minutes to explain it to me. It is because of his tips that I took five wickets in the first innings," Khan said in a release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

"I am eager to learn from Waqar Bhai. I follow him wherever he goes and speak to him about the art of bowling as he has an abundance of knowledge to share. A few days back I was struggling with something while bowling, I thought of reaching out to him and even before I spoke to him about it, he said he knew what I wanted to talk to him about and he explained it to me in a minute," he added.

During Pakistan's tour of England in 2016, Sohail played a crucial role in helping Pakistan secure a 2-2 Test series draw by returning two five-wicket hauls in as many matches.

In total, he picked up 13 wickets at 25 apiece and finished as the third-best wicket-taker.

"Definitely, it is an honour for me to return to the side. I had taken two fifers here against England in 2016 and now in the practice match, I have started off with five wickets so I am feeling very good. We had been at our homes for the past four months due to coronavirus so starting off on a high feels nice," Khan said.

Prior to Sohail's five wickets, 17-year-old Naseem Shah made a big impact when he took five wickets for Team Green. The strength of Pakistan's pace attack was further established as Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up three wickets each providing valuable support to Naseem and Sohail respectively.
Naseem and Shaheen finished the match with six and four wickets respectively.

Shedding light on the youngsters' performances, Sohail said: "It gives me immense pleasure to see Naseem Shah. He bowls consistently at 150kph. Just like him, Shaheen Shah Afridi is another good bowler. I like both of them."

"It gave me great happiness to see Naseem pick five wickets in the first innings. He is in rhythm and is looking great. What is astonishing is that he is playing in these conditions for the first time but still he is doing so well. Shaheen has also been phenomenal," he added.

Pakistan and England are slated to play three Tests and as many T20Is against each other. The first Test will be played at Manchester from August 5.

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