India vs Pakistan: Dhoni happy despite loss in WT20 warm-up

September 18, 2012

Dhoni_HappyColombo, September 18: India captain Mahendra Singh was happy with the way his boys warmed-up for the World Twenty20 despite losing the practice game to arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets at the Premedasa Stadium on Monday.

"It was a good test for the main tournament and it was a good game. We could test which combination would be the best for the tournament," Dhoni said.

"We bowled well in the last few overs though I felt we gave too many runs with the new ball by our fast bowlers. But apart from that it was a good game for all of us," he added.

Dhoni said that India would prefer to play all the matches with seven-batsmen-four-bowler combination in the tournament.

"It's a difficult choice whether to pick an extra bowler (fifth bowler) and drop a batsman. I have batsmen who can be used as part-timers and we are a side that is comfortable playing seven batsmen," said Dhoni.

Dhoni was happy to see Rohit Sharma come back to form in the two warm-up matches.

"Rohit has been doing well. Lots of people think that T20 is very short game but I feel that at times you can use up some balls to settle down. Rohit did just that, he took some time to settle down and later went after the bowlers.

"He (Rohit) is a talented player. It's good for the team as he can also bowl a bit with his off-spin," he said.

Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said win has boosted the morale of his side.

"The way the boys approached the chase was very positive. We knew if India could post that total, we could get it if we worked hard. Kamran Akmal was exceptional," said Hafeez.

"We won the series against Australia in the UAE before coming here. Now we have beaten India in practice match, this will give us the momentum and boost in the tournament proper. The way the boys approached the chase was very positive," he said.

Hafeez also had words of praise for Shoaib Malik, who supported Akmal well during the chase.

"That is what experience is all about. The experience of Malik was also the key. He supported Kamran really well. The bowlers tried hard, but things didn't work out for them today."

It was Akmal (92) and Malik's (37) unbeaten 95-run stand for the sixth wicket that helped achieve the target of 186 with five balls to spare.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (4-23) gave India some hope after he had Pakistan reeling at 91/5 in 11.3 overs. But Akmal and Malik proved too good for India.


Earlier, valuable innings from Virat Kohli (75 not out off 47 balls) and Rohit Sharma (56 off 40 balls) helped India reach 185 for three in 20 overs.



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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Johannesburg, Jul 18: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Saturday mourned the demise of former spinner Ismail 'Baboo' Ebrahim who died in Durban at the age of 73.

"Baboo was one of the outstanding South African spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s who would undoubtedly have played as many Test matches for his country as the 48 first-class games to which he was limited," CSA said in a statement.

In those matches, he took 179 wickets at an average of 21.33 with an economy rate of 2.12 including 8 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls.

The left-arm spinner only had one opportunity on the international stage when he played for a SA Invitation XI against the International Wanderers at Kingsmead in 1976.

"At the age of 29, he was in his prime and took a match-winning 6/66 in the second innings, his victims including international captains, Greg Chappell of Australia and Mike Denness of England. It was a clear indication of what he could have achieved on grounds around the world at the highest level had he been given the opportunity. He was a master of flight and spin and had a good arm ball to back it up," the statement read.

His ability to perform at this level had become apparent much earlier when he went to watch the Australians at practice before their Test match against South Africa in 1970.

He persuaded the Australians to let him bowl to them and made an immediate impression, bowling experienced Test batsman Ian Redpath and impressing the likes of Ian Chappell and Ashley Mallett, the latter being Australia's leading spinner of the 1970s.

He had one season for Radcliffe in the Lancashire Central League when he took 62 wickets at 14.62 apiece.

Baboo finally got his chance to represent his country in Masters events in one of which he dismissed both Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge.

"Baboo Ebrahim was one of the countless number of outstanding cricketers who was denied the opportunity to display his talents to the world and live his cricketing dreams," said CSA Acting Chief Executive, Dr Jacques Faul.

"On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues," he added. 

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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