John Wright urges NZ to clear their heads

August 30, 2012
teamIndia-training-pti

John Wright, the former New Zealand captain and coach, has urged his countrymen to sort out their technical difficulties in their heads on the eve of the second Test against India in Bangalore.

New Zealand had a torrid time in Hyderabad, where they were bowled out for 159 and 164 to lose by an innings and 15 runs, with R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha accounting for 18 wickets. Wright, who stepped down as New Zealand’s coach after the West Indies tour, hoped the visitors' batsmen would sort themselves out mentally before applying themselves on the field.

"Yes, Ashwin and Ojha were formidable but unless you are thinking positively about how you are going to counter them both mentally and technically then you are starting on the back foot. The questions that should arise when faced by tough bowling are simple ones - what are my best scoring boundary options? Where do I get a one? What balls do I need to defend?" he wrote in the Asian Age.

"Above all, though, you have to reach a stage where mentally as well as with your stroke play in attack and defence, you can dominate them. Not the other way around by letting them dominate you. Can this be achieved by New Zealand in the time for Bengaluru? I hope so because the Kiwi batting lineup is far more capable than what it showed in the first Test.

"If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? I hope each individual in the Kiwi team is thinking along those lines. Any improvement between their two Tests versus India has to start with the mind."

Wright, who coached India for five years, was impressed with the youngsters in the Test line-up and singled out Ashwin and Ojha for their "amazing" bowling. "For India, the first Test ticked all the boxes. [Cheteshwar] Pujara came through as an absolute natural replacement for Rahul [Dravid]. Maybe they even look alike. Virat [Kohli] slots straight in for [VVS] Laxman, with some smart close in catching too. MS [Dhoni] steadied the ship with savvy captaincy," he wrote.

"It was not only the bowling of Ashwin but his batsmanship too that was vital. Never underestimate runs from number 8 and below in Tests. It is staggering to think that Ojha and Ashwin have taken 60 wickets together in only four Tests. Equate that in batting terms? In my mind, it is like two rookie openers reeling off four double-hundred partnerships in their first four Tests. It’s an amazing statistic."




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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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News Network
January 19,2020

Rome, Jan 19: India's star wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya kicked off the Olympic year in style, winning a gold medal each in their respective weight categories at the Rome Ranking Series here.

The 25-year-old Bajrang staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 win against USA's Jordan Michael Oliver in the summit showdown of the 65kg freestyle category.

Ravi, who competed in the 61kg category instead of his regular 57kg, also bagged gold after getting the better of Kazakhstan's Nurbolat Abdualiyev 12-2 in his final bout late on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old from Sonepat had made the final round after securing impressive wins over Moldova's Alexaandru Chirtoaca and Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev.

Up against one of India's biggest medal prospects in the Tokyo Olympics, Oliver conceded that it was not his night against Bajrang.

The American lauded the competitive spirit of Bajrang.

"Wasn't my night… but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend," the American tweeted.

Bajrang had to sweat it out in the first round against Zain Allen Retherford of the USA before prevailing 5-4.

In the quarterfinal, the ace Indian wrestler went past another American Joseph Christopher Mc Kenna 4-2, before getting the better of Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine 6-4 in the semi-finals.

However, it was curtains for Jitender in the 74kg and world championship silver medallist Deepak Punia in the 86kg category.

Jitender won his first bout against Denys Pavlov of Ukraine 10-1 before going down in the quarterfinals against Turkey's Soner Demirtas 4-0.

Jitender got a chance to fight in the repechage after Demirtas entered the final, but the Indian wasted the opportunity, losing 2-9 to Daniyar Kaisanov of Kazakhstan.

In the 86kg category, Deepak crashed out in the opening round, losing 1-11 to Ethan Adrian Ramos of Puerto Rico.

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News Network
July 5,2020

Colombo, Jul 5: Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis was on Sunday arrested for knocking down a pedestrian while driving, police said.

Mendis hit a 74-year-old man, killing him in the wee hours, in the Colombo suburb of Panadura.

He is to be produced before a magistrate later today, police said.

The 25-year-old wicket-keeper batsman has represented Sri Lanka in 44 Tests and 76 ODIs. Mendis was part of the national squad which had resumed training after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Sri Lanka's international assignments, including a tour by India, have been cancelled due to the pandemic.

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