Indo-Pak series will get us into groove: Dhoni

December 25, 2012

dhoni

Bangalore, December 25: Playing two T20s and three one-day international (ODIs) against arch-rival Pakistan over the next two weeks would help India to get into groove for the five ODIs with England from Jan 11-27, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Monday.

"The good thing about these two series (Pakistan following England) is that the five matches (two T20s & three ODIs) in between will give time to get into the groove, as they are very different from the longer format (Tests)," Dhoni told reporters here ahead of the first T20 against Pakistan Tuesday night at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

Though teams use one-off T20 matches as a warm-up game going into a long series or as an entertainment to fans at the end of it (Test series), Dhoni said they have to be a bit unorthodox and try a few different things as T20 was a specialists’ game.

“There are a few sides that have different teams for each format of the game (T20s, ODIs & Tests). There are specialists who play only T20 matches.

"But if it’s a one-off game, they might not fly down those specialists. At least two games give some time to adjust to the format,” Dhoni said.

Allaying fears over the impact of playing constantly on the players’ health, he said it was difficult to think of breaks in the midst of big series while representing the country.

“What is important is to be at your best. Sometimes the body does protest and you will know that if you don’t rest then, you might get injured.

"At the same time, you may want to take a break and miss a series. I don’t mind playing matches (in between) because they give us certain momentum,” Dhoni asserted.

Commenting on the Indo-Pak series in the shorter version being sandwiched between the English series, the captain said the players don’t think too much about such things as they were used to of playing all the time irrespective of the format.

“For us what is vital is what’s there and what will happen rather than thinking we should have been playing a T20 series, or an ODI series or a Test series.

"We don’t have time for these things. We are right now concentrating on the T20s and the ODIs against Pakistan,” the skipper said.

Playing down Pakistan’s pace-cum-spin bowling strength, Dhoni said the teams were evenly placed. The side that played better would win the series.

“It’s not about how good you look on paper. It’s always about how an individual reacts to the situation he faces - whether a bowler or batsman. I think the teams are evenly placed right now.

Asked for his advice to the new or young crop of players in the team, especially fast bowlers, the captain said it was important to realise their talent and not force anything on them with which they won’t be comfortable.

“Playing in the domestic format is completely different from the international format as the requirements are different. That’s why we talk a lot about experience, but youngsters can only gain experience when they play a lot of games.

"We tell them to keep improving in every practice session. The good thing is they can bowl quick. With exposure and guidance, they can be really good for the team,” Dhoni said.

Asked whom he would turn to in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar who retired from ODIs, Dhoni said: “Well, Sachin has guided us enough, so now we should be able to make out which bowler to target,” Dhoni added.




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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Talented Shreyas Iyer hit his maiden century while KL Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli carried on their fine form as India dished out a clinical batting effort to post 347 for four against New Zealand in the first ODI here on Wednesday.

Iyer showed why he is considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket, scoring 103 off 107 balls, his first ODI ton. Besides, Rahul continued his purple patch, smashing unbeaten 88 off 64 balls while Kohli made 51 off 63 deliveries.

Iyer's knock was laced with 11 fours and a six and together with Rahul shared 136 runs for the fourth wicket as India scored 96 runs in the last 10 overs after being sent into bat.

This was after Tom Blundell featured his maiden ODI for the Black Caps, while India gave debuts to two openers -- Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.

It was the fourth such instance in Indian history with Rahul-Karun Nair being the last such pair in 2016 against Zimbabwe.

Shaw and Agarwal got the innings off to quick start, adding 50 off 48 balls for the opening stand.

But both Shaw and Agarwal fell in the space of five balls as India were reduced to 54 for 2.

Shaw was the first to go, nicking behind a Colin de Grandhomme (1/41) delivery, while Agarwal was caught at point by Blundell off Southee (2/85).

It brought Kohli and Iyer together, and they dominated the middle overs with a 102-run stand for the third wicket. They manoeuvred the field well and kept the scorecard ticking as India crossed 150 in the 28th over.

Kohli fell against the run of play as a wrong one from Ish Sodhi (1/27) got through his defence to clip the leg stump.

Rahul though didn't let the innings lose any momentum as he smacked six sixes along with three fours.

But the day belonged to Iyer, who, despite a scratchy start, had crossed 50 off 66 balls. Once he passed the 50-run mark, the stylish right-hander batted fluently to notch up his first century in 16 ODIs.

The centurion fell shortly afterwards, caught off Southee even as Rahul took control.

He reached his half-century off 41 balls as India eased past 300 in the 47th over.

Rahul's carnage meant that New Zealand conceded 191 runs in the last 20 overs. Kedar Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26 off 15 balls, stitching 55 off 27 balls with Rahul.

Brief Scores:

India: 347 for 4 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88 not out, Virat Kohli 51; Tim Southee 2/85).

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News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

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