Spinners have a field day

August 25, 2012

spin

Hyderabad, August 25: MS Dhoni’s impassioned appeal for spinner-friendly pitches at home appears to have been granted.

After overnight centurion Cheteshwar Pujara (159, 306b, 19x4, 1x6) and his companion Dhoni (73, 147b, 6x4, 1x6) guided India to the shores of safety in the first innings, the Indian spinners lit up a largely dreary day, extracting plenty of turn, a fair amount of bounce and a clutch of wickets as New Zealand’s wretched run continued unabated.

On Friday’s second day here at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, India, overnight 307/5, posted an impressive 438 before getting bowled out at the stroke of tea after the day’s play had begun 26 minutes behind schedule. Strangely, there was not a drop of rain but the heavy downpour in the neighbouring areas drove the ground staff into extra-alert mode. The covers came on in a jiffy as a thick cover of cloud formed overhead but the rain never came. The play eventually began after close to half an hour’s delay but the way the Kiwi innings is progressing, even a longer break would have made little difference so far as India’s chances are concerned.

When the stumps were drawn for the day, the visitors had limped to 106/5 after R Ashwin (3/30) wreaked havoc on a surface that was a willing ally of intelligent bowling. India now lead by 332 runs while New Zealand still need 133 runs to avoid the follow-on and their chances of doing it are as fat as an hourglass figure.

The Indian batsmen continued the good work in the morning session, denying the visiting attack the early success they desired. Pujara, who brought up his 150, threw away an opportunity to score a double, miscuing a pull off Jeetan Patel but his 127-run association with Dhoni had given enough reasons for comfort in the home camp. Dhoni didn’t last too long either as India lost their next four wickets for 54 runs, helping Patel fetch figures of 4/100.

It was a good effort by the Kiwi bowlers but their batsmen may just have let them down.

As much as the Indian spinners were imaginative, giving flight to the ball and pitching it in the right areas to make the most of favourable conditions, the Kiwi batsmen showed remarkable lack of application against the turning ball – playing on the back foot and trying to sweep out of trouble.

After left-armer Pragyan Ojha (2/35) provided the breakthrough in his opening over by luring an aggressive Brendon McCullum into a false stroke which was snapped up by Virat Kohli at covers, Ashwin got into the act to grab three wickets in his first 25 deliveries. The off-spinner went one better than Ojha, dismissing Martin Guptill off the first ball he bowled. The right-hander’s attempted flick ended up in the safe hands of Kohli, this time at leg slip. Kohli seemed to be omnipresent as he held on to another catch, and easily the most difficult of all, just moments before it died in front of him.

Ashwin was the beneficiary again and Kiwi skipper Ross Taylor the victim who was declared out after consultation with TV umpire VA Kulkarni. Left-hander Daniel Flynn showed some promise but his repeated sweeps spelt his doom, Ashwin catching him in front on one such attempt.

At 55 for four, New Zealand were in deep trouble when Kane Williamson and James Franklin showed some stomach for fight to stem the free fall. The left-right combination denied India further inroads for over 21 overs but the reintroduction of Ojha did the trick for the hosts. After spending some quality time in the middle, Williamson cut one that was too close to his body only for Virender Sehwag to take a sharp catch at first slip.

With half the side back in the hut, New Zealand can only bank on rains that are predicted for the next two days. But we know that weather forecasts in this part of the world are as reliable as the Kiwi batting.

Score Board

INDIA (I Innings; O/n: 307/5):

Gambhir c van Wyk b Boult 22

(47m, 36b, 4x4)

Sehwag c Guptill b Bracewell 47

(74m, 41b, 9x4)

Pujara c Franklin b Patel 159

(458m, 306b, 19x4, 1x6)

Tendulkar b Boult 19

(86m, 62b, 2x4)

Kohli c Guptill b Martin 58

(145m, 107b, 8x4)

Raina c van Wyk b Patel 3

(25m, 13b)

Dhoni c Bracewell b Patel 73

(210m, 147b, 6x4, 1x6)

Ashwin st van Wyk b Patel 37

(78m, 54b, 5x4)

Zaheer c van Wyk b Boult 0

(16m, 8b)

Ojha (not out) 4

(42m, 28b, 1x4)

Yadav (run out) 4

(6m, 5b, 1x4)

Extras (B-6, LB-4, W-2) 12

Total (all out, 144.2 overs) 438

Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Gambhir), 2-77 (Sehwag), 3-125 (Tendulkar), 4-250 (Kohli), 5-260 (Raina), 6-387 (Pujara), 7-411 (Dhoni), 8-414 (Zaheer), 9-430 (Yadav).

Bowling: Martin 27-4-76-1 (w-1), Boult 27-4-93-3, Bracewell 19.1-1-88-1, Franklin 13.2-0-40-0 (w-1), Patel 41-9-100-4, Williamson 7-0-31-0.

NEW ZEALAND (I Innings):

McCullum c Kohli b Ojha 22

(31m, 27b, 3x4)

Guptill c Kohli b Ashwin 2

(42m, 25b)

Williamson c Sehwag b Ojha 32

(114m, 92b, 3x4)

Taylor c Kohli b Ashwin 2

(9m, 14b)

Flynn lbw Ashwin 16

(24m, 15b, 2x4)

Franklin (batting) 31

(78m, 75b, 1x4, 1x6)

Van Wyk (batting) 0

(9m, 6b)

Extras (LB-1) 1

Total (for 5 wkts, 42 overs) 106

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (McCullum), 2-29 (Guptill), 3-35 (Taylor), 4-55 (Flynn), 5-99 (Williamson).

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 5-1-20-0, Umesh Yadav 3-0-4-0, Pragyan Ojha 15-4-35-2, Ashwin 14-3-30-3, Virender Sehwag 2-0-4-0, Suresh Raina 2-0-6-0, Sachin Tendulkar 1-0-6-0.

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News Network
February 12,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 12: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday berated his bowlers for their mediocre performance as he tried to explain the team's first ODI series whitewash in over three decades, saying that the visitors lacked composure all through.

The five-wicket defeat here meant that India lost the series 0-3 to an injury-plagued New Zealand that had been deflated by a 0-5 whitewash of its own in the T20 format just last week. It was India's first whitewash in 31 years in an ODI series in which all matches have been played.

"The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. It boils down to those chances that we didn't grab. I don't think it was not enough to win games in international cricket," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

"With the ball, we were not able to make breakthroughs, we were not at all good on the field. We haven't played so badly but when you don't grab those chances, you don't deserve to win," he added.

"Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us, but the way we fielded and bowled, the composure wasn't enough to win games," he asserted.

The ineffectiveness of Indian bowlers can be gauged from the fact that the team's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finished the series without a wicket and the attack couldn't dismiss the complete rival line-up even once.

Kohli lauded New Zealand for bouncing back after the T20 hammering.

"New Zealand played with lot more intensity. We didn't deserve to win because we did not show enough composure," he said.

The batting mainstay is looking forward to the Test series, which begins on February 21, to make amends for the disappointment.

"I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said.

His opposite number Kane Williamson, who missed the first two games due to injury, was lavish in his praise for the home team's grit.

"An outstanding performance, very clinical. India put us under pressure, but the way the guys fought back with the ball and kept them to a par total. The cricket in the second half was outstanding to see," he said referring to the side's effortless chase of a 297-run target.

"We know how good they (India) are at all formats but for us the clarity about the roles the guys had was the most important thing. Outstanding effort against a brilliant India side," he added.

Player of the Match Henry Nicholls, who scored 80 on Tuesday, said his team benefitted from good batting starts during the series.

"To come back and win 3-0 after the T20Is is nice. The way (Martin) Guptill played today allowed us to get ahead. We got a 100-run stand, but we were fortunate enough to get good starts this series," he said.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

New Delhi, Jul 7: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is known for his finishing heroics and ending the match with a big shot to send a billion people in a frenzy.

For over a decade, Dhoni's swashbuckling batting style, especially the famed helicopter shot, gave international bowlers a headache. As the former Indian skipper celebrates his 39th birthday today, let's relive his first century in international cricket.

It was on April 5, 2005, when Dhoni had registered his first international century. The former skipper registered the feat against Pakistan in the second ODI of the six-match series. The match was played at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

Dhoni had made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004. However, he did not have a good outing as he scored just 19 runs in the three-match series. But the wicket-keeper truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005, as he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Visakhapatnam.

In the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. The side lost Sachin Tendulkar's wicket in the fourth over of the innings and it brought Dhoni to the middle.

Dhoni, along with Sehwag, took on the Pakistan bowlers and the duo formed a 96-run stand, which saw Sehwag going past the 50-run mark. Sehwag (74) was sent back to the pavilion in the 14th over, but Dhoni then found support in Rahul Dravid and the duo stitched a 149-run stand.

Dhoni smashed 15 fours and four sixes in his innings and scored 148 runs from 123 balls, taking India's total to 356/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then managed to defend the total as the side bundled out Pakistan for 298 as Ashish Nehra scalped four wickets.

Dhoni has so far played 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka. He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Also referred to as 'Captain Cool', Dhoni is known for his calmness and exquisite captaincy on the field.

Over the years, he has cemented his place as one of the finest wicket-keepers across the world. His agility behind the stumps has given India many breakthroughs as the Ranchi-based wicket-keeper has done successful stumpings in no time.

He is also known for his knack of opting for reviews and many have jokingly remarked to change the 'Decision-Review System's' name to 'Dhoni-Review System'.

In December 2014, he announced his retirement from Tests and gave a chance to the likes of Wriddhiman Saha. Dhoni called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, managing to score 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09.

Then in 2017, he handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format. However, the wicket-keeper enjoys a great camaraderie with the latter and the duo have been seen often taking decisions together on the field.

Under Dhoni's leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket. His Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has also won the tournament thrice under his leadership.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 during the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The 39-year-old has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup. 

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer on Sunday picked his all-time IPL team and appointed wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni as its captain.

Jaffer's team's feature opener Rohit Sharma, current Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, spinner R Ashwin, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah as seven domestic players.
While the foreign players spot have been occupied by West Indies' swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, all-rounder Andre Russell, Afghanistan's spinner Rashid Khan, and Sri Lanka's veteran pacer Lasith Malinga.
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been picked as 12th man by Jaffer.

Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to postpone the IPL to April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak.
The board also assured that it will work in unison with the Sports Ministry and will adhere to the guidelines issued.

The 13th edition of IPL was scheduled to commence from March 29. 

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