England push India to brink

November 26, 2012

monty

Kevin Pietersen and Monty Panesar are entirely contrasting individuals, but they joined forces to put England on the verge of a famous victory on Sunday.

On the third day, both England and India have walked into the Wankhede stadium with equal chances of taking command over the second Test. After Kevin Pietersen (186) and Alastair Cook (122) had provided steam to the visitors’ march, Indian spinners hit back to restrict them to 413, also limiting their lead to 86.

The match still was on equal footing, but what followed in the last session was quite mindboggling. Indian top and middle order imploded in spectacular style against Panesar, who took five wickets to complete a wonderful 10-for in this Test, and Graeme Swann to return to their rooms with uneasy minds at 117 for seven.

The home side now leads by just 31 runs, and India will be hoping to rattle a few more runs through a solid-looking Gautam Gambhir (53 batting), and the tailenders. The images of defending a modest 106 against Australia at this venue in 2004 could be the ones offering crumbs of solace to them at the moment.

The reason for India slipping into this deadly, marshy situation is quite simple. Their much-vaunted line-up couldn’t find right solutions against England spinners, particularly Panesar, who bowled at a good pace to exploit the bite of the surface.

Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and R Ashwin were Panesar’s five victims of the day, and barring Ashwin the other four worthies fell to classic left-arm spin bowling. Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni paid the price of playing forward and feeling for the ball, while Tendulkar, who might have played his last Test innings in front of the home crowd, was trapped in front while trying to fend the ball off the back foot. It was a brilliant effort from a bowler who precisely knew what should be done to take advantage of a helpful surface.

But there was neither conviction nor confidence in the way Indian batsmen, touted as the finest set of players of turning ball, faced the English spinners. One batsman – Gambhir – showed them how the tweakers could be negated on a tough track, but there wasn’t much company for him on the day.

From a personal point of view, Gambhir has every reason to feel satisfied with his effort after a prolonged barren spell, and the knock also might have brushed away cobwebs of self-doubts from his mind.

But Gambhir was not the only batsman who eliminated a few demons of doubts from the mind. In the morning session Pietersen played one of the most memorable Test innings to hand England the advantage, though of slender nature at that moment.

Reintegrated into the England squad, Pietersen’s old failing against left-arm spin returned to haunt him, getting castled twice by Pragyan Ojha at Motera. However, Pietersen, overnight 62, blossomed in the company of his skipper Cook, who showed a Zen-monk-like patience to reach his 22nd Test hundred. It was the first instance that a skipper scored four hundreds in as many Tests.

But Pietersen was even more brilliant. The first session of the day was crucial for both India and England, the former in need to take early wickets and the latter in need to preserve them. Instead of getting baulked by the circumstances, Pietersen dictated the proceedings with archetypal arrogance. The Surrey right-hander amassed 36 runs in the first 30 minutes, and he never let the momentum slip away from him or England.

Pietersen reached his 22nd Test hundred with a reverse sweep of Harbhajan Singh, and the dismissal of Cook, caught behind by Dhoni off Ashwin, only spurred Pietersen to shoulder more responsibility.

He fell 14 runs short of what would have been a fantastic double hundred, and the importance of his innings was evident in the way the England late order collapsed against Indian spinners; Matt Prior’s run out triggering the procession.

That was not even remotely close the one Indians managed later in the day. Now, it will require a blunder of colossal proportions from England’s part for India to save this game. But, there’s no sign of such slip-up from them. At least for now!


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News Network
April 30,2020

New Delhi, Apr 30: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday mourned the demise of veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor, called his death 'unreal and unbelievable' loss.

"This is unreal and unbelievable. Yesterday Irrfan Khan and today Rishi Kapoor ji. It's hard to accept this as a legend passes away today. My condolences to the family and may his soul rest in peace," Kohli tweeted.

Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan also expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
"It's shocking to hear about the sudden demise of #RishiKapoor ji. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace," Dhawan tweeted.

Earlier today, actor Amitabh Bachchan confirmed the news of the demise of the 67-year-old Rishi Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor was admitted to the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday.

In September 2019, the veteran actor returned to Mumbai after staying in New York for almost a year for cancer treatment.

He was last seen in the 2019 film 'The Body' alongside Emraan Hashmi and Shobita Sobhita Dhulipala.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi Jul 30: After Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal's ban was reduced to 18 months, Danish Kaneria criticised Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) policies and said that the 'zero tolerance policy' applies only to him.

"Zero Tolerance policy only apply on Danish Kaneria not on others, can anybody answer the reason why I get life ban not others, Are policy applies only on cast, colour, and powerful background. I am Hindu and proud of it that's my background and my dharma," Kaneria tweeted.

Earlier on Wednesday, Akmal's three-year suspension was reduced to 18 months by an independent adjudicator, former Pakistan Supreme Court judge, Faqir Mohammad Khokhar.

On April 27, the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, had banned the wicketkeeper-batsman for three years after finding him guilty of breaching the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents.

Akmal, on May 19, filed an appeal against the three-year ban imposed on him, seeking a reduction in the duration of the sanction. He will remain suspended effectively from February 2020 till August 2021.

The batsman said he might appeal again to get the ban "reduced further".

"I am thankful to the judge for listening to my lawyers properly. I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further. For now I am not satisfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead," ESPNcricinfo had quoted Akmal as saying.

"There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got. So all I say right now is thank you very much," he had added.

On the other hand, Kaneria was found guilty of spot-fixing while playing for English club Essex and was banned from the sport.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's cricket governing body 'advised' Kaneria to approach England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) if he wants to play domestic cricket after the cricketer had appealed to the PCB, seeking permission to play domestic cricket. 

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli's natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith's mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game's biggest crowd-pullers right now.

"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that," de Villiers said during his interaction on 'Sports Hurricane'.

"In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

"I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

"Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone," de Villiers said.

"And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.

"But personally, in a chase, I'd say Virat is the best I've seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing."

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

"He's much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there's more to life than just cricket," de Villiers said.

"...Virat's always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what's to come, the different religions, we talk about everything."

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain's actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

"We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We're waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

"It's a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 per cent of the time we talk about other stuff. It's refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament," he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

"Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it's been more than friendship," De Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

"Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it's different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.

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