Jadeja dazzles as India script emphatic win

January 16, 2013

Jadeja

Kochi: India’s wins these days have been as rare as Kochi hosting an international match but when the two coincided, it was bound to create a ripple that would have measured 7.0 on the Richter scale.

In front of an unbelievably noisy crowd, that were said to be around 70,000 with the top tier too opened up for the public, India discovered multiple heroes to find their way back into the five-match one-day series with a comprehensive 127-run win here at the Nehru International stadium on Tuesday. With this win India levelled the two-match old series 1-1, after their narrow nine-run loss in Rajkot.

After posting an impressive 285/6 upon electing to bat first, Indian bowlers came up with a stifling performance to dismiss England for 158 in 36 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/29), who bowled his entire 10-over spell in one go, gave an early initiative by claiming three crucial wickets – Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan – in a fine show of swing bowling. On a slowing wicket, off-spinner R Ashwin (3/39) and left-armer Ravindra Jadeja (2/12) decisively turned the match in home team’s favour.

The home side’s crushing win was first orchestrated by strong batting by skipper MS Dhoni (72, 66b, 7x4, 2x6) and Jadeja (61, 37b, 8x4, 2x6). When things were seemingly going England’s way after another top-order capitulation, though not quite abject this time, Dhoni and Jadeja combined to bail India out in astonishing fashion.

After the promise of Rajkot, where the hosts got a near-century start, India’s opening blues continued as both Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane were done in by similar deliveries but by different bowlers. Jade Dernbach got one to jag back at the poking Gambhir, the ball sneaking in the gap between bat and pad before hitting the top of the off stump. Steven Finn dismissed Rahane with an identical delivery which shaped in a shade late to crash through the right-hander’s defence.

It wasn’t the beginning India were hoping for on a supposedly batting beauty. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh began the rescue act in right earnest. Guilty of trying too hard in the last few matches, Kohli knuckled down after an inside-edged four at the start. The right-hander didn’t try anything outlandish though Yuvraj once again was in his zone, playing some audacious yet attractive strokes.

The southpaw had added 53 runs for the third wicket with Kohli by the time their association was nipped by umpire Steve Davis who failed to notice that Yuvraj had gloved James Tredwell’s delivery before declaring him lbw.

This was followed by another useful stand (48 off 66b) between Kohli and Suresh Raina before the former threw his wicket away after all the hard work. Dhoni and Raina, as they so often have, began to reconstruct the innings. Raina picked up his second half-century in as many matches but once again fell just when he was expected to kick-on. Despite a 55-run alliance between Raina and Dhoni, India entered their last 10-over stretch with some amount of trepidation, reeling at 177/5.

With Jadeja having tasted success sparingly, it was left to Dhoni again to take India to a fighting total. But Jadeja inflicted equal damage on the stunned English bowlers who leaked 108 runs in the final 10 overs and 82 in the last six alone.

Together, the two batsmen clobbered 96 in just 60 balls. It was, in fact, Jadeja who set the tone for a final flourish taking 14 runs off the 45th over by Tim Bresnan’s replacement Chris Woakes.

Dhoni, then on 38 off 48, brought his signature game to the fore that was marked by steely resolve and brute power. Dhoni afterwards raced to 38 off 18, repeatedly using his helicopter shot to great effect.

The right-hander fell with four balls to go in the innings but Jadeja dispatched Dernbach’s final three balls to the fence, collecting 14 runs and providing the hosts a genuine chance of victory.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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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
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he doesn't think Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for India again, adding to the guessing game over the future of the superstar former captain.

Dhoni, 38, has not appeared for club or country since last year's 50-over World Cup and India's coronavirus lockdown could threaten his chances of getting back into the national team.

The Indian Premier League, the main platform before this year's scheduled T20 World Cup, is likely to be truncated or cancelled because of the pandemic.

Harbhajan, who plays with Dhoni at IPL side Chennai Super Kings, said international retirement was on the cards for Dhoni and that he was increasingly being asked about his teammate.

"It's up to him. You need to know whether he wants to play for India again," Harbhajan said in an online forum.

"As far as I know him, he won't want to wear India's blue jersey again. IPL he will play, but for India I think he had decided the (2019) World Cup was his last."

Dhoni, who gave up Test cricket in 2014, started training for the Super Kings in March but has not commented on his international future.

Dhoni led India to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. He hit a six to seal the 2011 World Cup final victory and, along with it, his status as a national hero. He has amassed 10,773 runs from 350 ODIs.

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