Selectors to pick Team India for ODI tour of Sri Lanka on Wednesday

July 4, 2012

sri_lankan_tourThe long holiday is over and it's time for the Indian cricket team to get back to work. The first assignment coming up is a short trip to Sri Lanka towards the end of July, five one-dayers and a Twenty20, for which the selectors will pick a squad in Mumbai on Wednesday.


Leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar is holidaying and senior pacer Zaheer Khan is back to full fitness. Tendulkar's availability for this series and whether or not to give Zaheer an opportunity to warm up on this quiet tour should figure in the discussions among the wise men. Regardless of what the selectors decide, Zaheer himself should be looking forward to the trip.


In the absence of extreme media attention, because of the ongoing Wimbledon and the upcoming Olympics, it will be a good opportunity for the bowler to get back to match fitness. That should mean selectors picking him without much debate alongside Nagpur pacer Umesh Yadav, who had missed out on the Asia Cup in March this year but was in good form during the IPL that followed.


If Tendulkar chooses to rest, Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane should certainly come on board. His performance this IPL season was extremely impressive and batting alongside Rahul Dravid for Rajasthan Royals did the youngster's confidence a world of good.


However, Rahane is unlikely to get his usual opener's slot. Gautam Gambhir, riding high on the IPL victory, will remain the first-choice opener along with Virender Sehwag who missed out on the Asia Cup and is most likely to make a return.


Both Sehwag and Gambhir were in extremely good form during the IPL which will mean Rahane having to settle for the No. 3 slot. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni make the middle order.


Manoj Tiwary may miss out because of Sehwag's return while his continuing lack of form is likely to keep Yusuf Pathan on the sidelines. Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja too has struggled but the option of a left-arm spinner that he brings to the table may coax selectors into picking him. If that happens, Jadeja will be the one responsible for keeping Irfan Pathan - also vying for the allrounder's slot - out of contention.


Among the other spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin - currently India's premier off-spinner, and Rahul Sharma whose leg-breaks can come in handy, fill the slots.


Two additional pacers - a choice between R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Ashok Dinda - should settle the final squad of 15. Considering that India head to an international assignment after a rare lengthy patch, it is important for the selectors to keep the crux of the squad - that will consistently figure in the months to come - together. Therefore, unnecessary experiments are likely to be avoided.



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News Network
March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Jan 15: Australia openers David Warner and Aaron Finch both struck superb centuries to complement their bowlers’ inspired display as the touring side handed out a 10-wicket thrashing to India in the opening one-day international in Mumbai.

India, world-ranked No 2 in ODIs, suffered a middle-order collapse on their way to being bundled out for 255 in the final over of their innings after Australia captain Finch won the toss and opted to field in the first of the three-match series.

Warner and Finch then smashed the Indian bowlers to all corners of the ground, picking up boundaries seemingly at will to chase down the target with 74 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.

Left-handed Warner successfully used the decision review system twice to overturn the umpire’s decision on his way to his 18th ODI century, hitting three sixes and 17 fours in his unbeaten knock of 128, from 112 balls. Finch completed his 16th century in the format, his unbeaten innings 110 from 114 features two sixes and 13 fours.

Earlier, Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who made his ODI debut in India 10 years ago, picked up three wickets to set up Australia’s victory. He struck the first blow with the new ball when he sent back Rohit Sharma for 10.

India managed to recover from that early loss through a second-wicket stand of 121 between opener Shikhar Dhawan, who top-scored for the hosts with 74, and KL Rahul. However left-arm spinner Ashton Agar broke the stand by dismissing Rahul for 47 before Agar caught Dhawan off Pat Cummins in the next over.

The hosts were hoping for a solid innings from captain Virat Kohli, who batted a position lower than his usual No 3 spot to accommodate Rahul, to get them out of trouble. However, he lasted only 14 balls, hitting leg-spinner Adam Zampa for a six before offering a return catch to the bowler on the very next delivery to be out for 16.

Starc then returned to the attack, removing Shreyas Iyer cheaply as India lost four wickets for 30 runs to be reduced to 164 for five. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja then fell just short of a half-century partnership, before the remaining four wickets falling for 42 runs, with Cummins and fast bowler Kane Richardson picking up two wickets apiece for Australia.

To compound India’s woes, wicketkeeper Pant suffered a concussion after being hit on his helmet by a short-pitched delivery from Cummins. The Indian cricket board said Pant, who did not come out to keep wicket and was replaced behind the stumps by Rahul, was under observation. The two sides will meet in Rajkot for the second ODI on Friday.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Bengaluru, April 7: India batsman Robin Uthappa has said that he reckons he still has a World Cup left in him, despite being out of the team for than four years.

Uthappa had last played a match for the Men in Blue in 2015 on the tour of Zimbabwe.

"Right now I want to be competitive. I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete and do well. I honestly believe I have a World Cup left in me, so I'm pursuing that, especially the shortest format. 

The blessings of lady luck or god or whatever you call it, plays a massive factor," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Uthappa as saying.

"Especially in India, it becomes so much more evident. I don't think it is as evident when you're playing cricket outside of India. But in the subcontinent and India especially, with the amount of talent that we do have in our country, all of those aspects become evident," he added.

The 34-year-old Uthappa has played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India and he was also a part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2007.

Uthappa has scored 934 runs in ODIs at an average of 25.94, while in T20Is his numbers are 249 runs at an average of 24.90.

"You can never write yourself off. You would be unfair to yourself if you write yourself off.

Especially if you believe you have the ability and you know that there is an outside chance. So I still believe in that outside chance," Uthappa said.

"I still believe that things can go my way and I probably can be a part of a World Cup-winning team and play an integral role in that as well.

Those dreams are still alive and I think I'll keep playing cricket till that is alive," he added.

Uthappa had enjoyed great success with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. He went on to become their leading run-scorer in the 2014 edition.

However, he was released by the side after a below-par 2019 season, and last November he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for the 2020 edition.

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