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
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Los Angeles, Feb 14: Tributes to the late Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend who died last month in a helicopter crash, will play a major role in Sunday's 69th NBA All-Star Game.

This year's annual showcase of league talent will be played in Chicago and feature numerous nods to Bryant, a five-time NBA champion who also matched a league record with four NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player awards.

Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star, died at age 41 on January 26 in a crash near Los Angeles that also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

All-Star teams guided by LeBron James of the Lakers and Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will compete to win each of the first three quarters, which will all start 0-0 and last 12 minutes.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the clock will be turned off and a final target score will be established by taking the leading club's cumulative score through the first three quarters and adding 24 points -- the number representing the jersey number worn by Bryant for the final 10 seasons of his NBA career.

The first team to reach the cumulative target score will win the NBA All-Star Game.

All-Star Game jerseys will also honor Bryant and his daughter.

Team Giannis players will wear jersey number 24 in tribute to Kobe while Team LeBron players will wear jersey number two, the number his daughter wore when playing youth basketball.

Both teams will wear jersey patches displaying nine stars, representing the nine people who were killed in the crash.

Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native, will perform a special tribute to Bryant, his daughter and the others who were killed in the crash. Her performance will begin the night ahead of the player introductions.

James and Antetokounmpo each chose their squads from available starters and reserves voted and selected to the All-Star contest.

Team LeBron starters will include James, his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, NBA scoring leader James Harden of Houston, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Slovenian guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.

Team Giannis starters include the Greek big man, Cameroon stars Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and Pascal Siakam of Toronto and guards Kemba Walker of Boston and Trae Young of Atlanta.

A record eight All-Star Game players from outside the United States also include Frenchman Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz on Team Giannis and Team LeBron reserves Ben Simmons of Australia and the Philadelphia 76ers, Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis of Indiana and Serbian Nikola Jokic of Denver.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

London, May 31: "Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli," replied umpire Ian Gould when he was asked to name the three best batsmen he loved watching when he was officiating as an umpire.

The former ICC elite umpire said that he was unlucky to not watch Ponting bat as much as he would have liked to.

"Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And probably Virat. I was unlucky in some respects. I didn't see the best of Ricky Ponting. He was an outstanding character, outstanding captain, such a proud Australian," ESPNCricinfo quoted Gould as saying.

"But his career was just starting to wane as I came on the scene. But he was incredibly helpful, so I'm disappointed I have to leave him out. Jacques Kallis, I could sit and watch all day, Virat, the same. And Sachin, if you want someone to bat for your life, he was the man," he added.

Gould had retired from the ICC's panel of elite umpires in 2019, after standing in more than 250 international matches over a 13-year career.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

While, Kallis played 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20Is for South Africa and he is often viewed as the greatest all-rounder the game has seen.

Many pundits of the game find it hard to pick between him and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Across his career, Kallis scored 25,534 runs in his career and he also managed to take 577 wickets.

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