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End of the road for Zaheer Khan?

December 10, 2012
Zaheer-KhanKolkata, December 10: It's never prudent to write off someone who has been a class act over some time, knowing that all it takes for such talent to bounce back is rediscover pride and belief.

But, then, Zaheer Khan's omission from the Nagpur Test squad has come at a time when recovery and resilience have a very different ring to it for him.

It's not just the skills that have deserted him, it is becoming increasingly evident that his injury-wracked body is not holding up anymore. It has left him looking lethargic and disinterested on the field, and probably has something to do with the loss of 'bite' in his bowling.

What's wrong with Zaheer? His skipper was more gracious than blunt when the obvious question came up, but not before he hinted at disappointment about his hit-man performing well below expectations.

"It would be of a great help if we can find the solution as everybody is asking the same question. Maybe the batsmen are playing him better. From behind (the wicket), it looks like he's bowling in the right areas. He's bowling the same way, swinging it both ways. Maybe this is just a phase where he's not getting wickets," Mahendra Singh Dhoni contended, but not after saying that he had expected a little more from his seamers.

"Their fast bowlers bowled well (read better). When we took the second new ball, we couldn't get the sort of 'reverse' they got. It was more about the bounce (they got) and the length they bowled," Dhoni added as a veiled reprimand of the reverse-swing expert in his team.

On the 34-year-old's fitness, or the lack of it, Dhoni indicated indulgence, a longer rope to someone whose skills had lent an air of 'indispensability' about him. "As far as his fitness is concerned, he has been that way for the last few years. He's definitely not unfit," the skipper said.

Hamstring, ankle, groin and shoulder with a nerve twitch thrown in... Zaheer has been dogged by injuries right through his career, missing many matches. He has made many a comeback, only to be let down by his body again.


This is a different crisis. Possibly the biggest test for the 'comeback man'.

ZAHEER IN TESTS

Matches

Wickets

Average

Best

5WI

10WM

Strike Rate

Economy

Home

38

104

35.87

5/72

3

-

70.2

3.06

Away

50

191

30.43

7/87

7

1

53.9

3.38

Total

88

295

32.35

7/87

10

1

59.7

32.5

Last 10 Tests

10

24

36.95

4/77

-

-

77.3

2.86

Home

5

7

56.00

2/59

-

-

127.5

2.63

Away

5

17

29.11

4/77

-

-

56.6

3.08

- In 2012, Zaheer has claimed 15 wickets in eight Tests at an average of 49.26.


- Zaheer failed to produce a single instance of four wickets in an innings in eight Tests in 2012.


- Zaheer's strike rate of 97.9 this year is his worst ever in a calendar year.


- Zaheer's last five-wicket haul in a Test innings was 5/94 in the Mohali Test against Australia in October 2010.


- Zaheer has failed to capture five wickets in an innings in the last 15 Tests that he has played.


- Zaheer's strike rate of 132.7 in three Tests against England is his worst in a Test series when he has played at least three Tests in a series.


- Zaheer's bowling average of 53.25 is his worst in a series (minimum 3 Tests).



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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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