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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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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday extended wishes to the "most prolific batsman of all time" Sachin Tendulkar on his 47th birthday.

ICC took to Twitter and wrote: "Happy birthday to Sachin Tendulkar, the most prolific batsman of all time! To celebrate, we will give you the opportunity to vote for his top ODI innings in a bracket challenge! Stay tuned to join the celebrations."

The Maharashtra-born player had an illustrious career in the game, creating several records.
Tendulkar made his debut in Test cricket on November 15, 1989. In the same year on December 18, he played his first ODI match.

The legendary cricketer has the most number of runs in the longest format of the game, amassing 15,921 runs. Along the way, Tendulkar scored 51 Test centuries, most by any player.

Things are no different in ODI cricket as Tendulkar atop the list of most runs in this format as well. He has accumulated 18,426 runs in ODI which includes 49 tons.

Tendulkar represented the country in six World Cups during his career that lasted for 24 years. He was the part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

This year, Master Blaster decided not to celebrate his birthday due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: Australia batsman David Warner on Tuesday decided to shave off his head to show support towards all those people who are working relentlessly on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.

After shaving off his head, Warner also challenged his Australian team-mate Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli to do the same.

Warner, shared a time-lapse video on Instagram, of him shaving his head, and captioned the post as: "Been nominated to shave my head in support of those working on the frontline #Covid-19 here is a time-lapse. I think my debut was the last time I recall I've done this. Like it or not".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's death toll stands at 19, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

As of 8 am today, 4460 people across Australia have tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a 'pandemic' on March 11.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine also confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh is unlikely due to the virus spread.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

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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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