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India missing genuine pacer, says Wasim Akram

September 30, 2012

wasim_AkramFormer Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels India are missing a tearaway pacer in the ongoing World Twenty20 and should try Ashok Dinda in their remaining Super Eight matches given that spearhead Zaheer Khan is not in the best of form.

"India is definitely missing a genuine quick bowler," Akram wrote.

"Look how Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc made an impact even on the slow deck in Colombo. How about giving Ashok Dinda a chance? He is close to 140 kmph, runs in hard and bowls a good line with a clever slower ball. Zaheer Khan must be feeling the heat with a nothing-special spell against the Aussies," he said.

India were hammered by Australia in their opening Super Eight match and will be up against Pakistan tomorrow in a do-or-die game. Akram said the Indians will come out all guns blazing despite the setback against the Aussies.

"I am sure Dhoni will sort out his batting order quickly. The team may be short on confidence but the fact that it will be Pakistan on Sunday, India will be rejuvenated.

"That's the magic of an India versus Pakistan encounter. It will be the match of the tournament and both teams will start afresh in what should be a high intensity game of skills and mind," he said.

Analysing India's defeat last night, Akram felt the team made a mistake by leaving out opener Virender Sehwag. He also agreed with Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni that brief rain interruption did not help India's cause.

"Dhoni has blamed the rain just before the Australian innings started and according to me it's a valid excuse. Even a two-minute spell of rain can affect the pitch and the outfield," he said.

"Rain drops bind the top soil and the natural rough is negated to a great extent. Any spinner wants the ball to grip and turn. The rain made the wicket very placid and that helped Watson and Warner go through with their big strokes with impunity. It was just bad luck for India," he added.

"I was not surprised when Dhoni opted for three specialist spinners but leaving out Virender Sehwag was suicidal...I am sure the Australians were happy not to see Sehwag in the Playing XI."

Akram also criticised the move to send Irfan Pathan as an opener.

"I am not convinced about Irfan Pathan's ability to open the innings. He may have scored 31 off 30 balls, but one of the openers must play a longer innings if the middle-order has to come good...As it turned out, India groped for runs in the final overs and probably ended 20 runs too few."




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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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News Network
May 11,2020

Mumbai, May 11: The French Open, which was postponed to September from May due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, could be held without fans, the organisers of the claycourt Grand Slam have said.

Roland Garros had been scheduled for May 24 to June 7 before the French tennis federation (FFT) pushed it back to Sept. 20-Oct 4 in a bid to save the tournament from falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week the FFT said all tickets purchased for this year's French Open would be cancelled and reimbursed instead of being transferred.

"Organising it without fans would allow a part of the economy to keep turning, (like) television rights and partnerships. It's not to be overlooked," FFT President Bernard Giudicelli told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

"We're not ruling any option out."

The tennis season was suspended in early March due to the pandemic and the hiatus will continue at least until mid-July with many countries in lockdown.

Wimbledon has been cancelled while the status of the U.S. Open, scheduled to take place in late August, is still unclear.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

The FFT was widely criticised when they announced in mid-March that the French Open would be switched, with players bemoaning a lack of communication as the new dates clashed with the hardcourt season.

Organisers said last week they had been in talks with the sport's governing bodies to fine tune the calendar amid media reports that the Grand Slam tournament would be delayed further by a week and start on Sept. 27.

The delayed start would give players a two-week window between the end of the U.S. Open, played on the hardcourts of New York, and the Paris tournament.

"The 20th or the 27th, that does not change much," Giudicelli said.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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