MS Dhoni again proves he is the master of one-day batting

January 17, 2013

dhoni-odimasterKochi, Jan 17: You cannot but marvel at MS Dhoni's resourcefulness and mind control. Despite being under immense pressure as captain, player and strategist of Team India, with his unit going through a horror run over the last one and a half years, Dhoni's batting in recent one-day Internationals has once again established his phenomenal prowess in this format.

One can question his leadership, his Test performance, his tactics and so on but the way he has almost single handedly battled for India in the series against Pakistan and the ongoing one against England can only draw admiration.

It didn't surprise anyone when England skipper Alastair Cook described Dhoni as "probably the best batsman in the world when it comes to batting in the end overs" after his knock in Kochi on Tuesday.

"He is probably the best player in the world in those situations, in these conditions. He does it time and time again. Dhoni is incredibly hard to bowl at and with that extra man in the circle, it's very hard to stop him on these flat wickets," Cook said.

The pressure has been mounting but Dhoni, back in his favourite format, has not let it affect his game. Pushed into a corner, the Indian skipper has come out with all guns blazing.

Dhoni stood tall amidst the ruins as India lost the series to Pakistan 1-2. His scores in the three-match series read 113*, 54* and 36 at an astounding average of 203.00. But he was waging a lone furrow as he got very little support from his fellow batsmen.

Dhoni has carried on the momentum against England. He followed a quickfire 32 in the first ODI in Rajkot with a brilliant 72 in Kochi on Tuesday.

But it's just not the runs but the manner in which he responded to the high-pressure situation that needs to be praised. Each time that Dhoni has walked out to bat on the last five occasions, he has seen his top-order perish cheaply.

Whether it is rebuilding the innings or going for the slog in the end overs, the Indian skipper has not missed a trick in the bag. Dhoni reads the game shrewdly when he has the bat in his hand.

He has made the new fielding regulations work to his advantage. Often in the past, when doing a resurrection job, Dhoni avoided taking risks till the very last overs.

But with that extra man in the circle now, Dhoni is now willing to go over the in-field much earlier. It has yielded handsome results. Often in the past, a slide in the fortunes of the team has led to a slump in individual form of captains leading India.

Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Kapil Dev have all experienced that. But Dhoni has avoided the fate, at least in ODIs. Despite being in the dock as the team has floundered, Dhoni has averaged 83.82 in is last 27 innings in ODIs after the 2011 World Cup win with a strike rate of 92.39.

Former chairman of selectors Kiran More, who first picked Dhoni for India, said pressure brings out the best in Dhoni. "He has been facing a lot of criticism off late. But I think Dhoni works criticism to his advantage.

Look at how well he has been performing. He is one the best wicketkeeper-batsmen India has produced. I think right now he is best man to lead the Indian side in all formats too.

I think the only place where he needs to abdicate his captaincy is IPL. That will give him a bit of relief," said the former India stumper.

Career highlights:

Only captain to manage average of fifty-plus amongst captains with 2,000 runs or more.

Only player to register average of 100-plus while chasing successfully (min qualification: 1000 runs).

One of the three wicketkeepers to have completed double of 7000 runs and 200 dismissals along with Kumar Sangakkara and Adam Gilchrist.

His average of 75.81 in wins is the highest amongst the batsmen with 3000 runs or more
(Compiled by Rajesh Kumar)

Dhoni's last six ODI innings

Runs

Balls

SR

Opp

Venue

Came at

Left at

Result

58

38

152.63

SL

Pallekele

197/5

290/7

Won

113*

125

90.40

Pak

Chennai

29/5

--

Lost

54*

89

60.67

Pak

Kolkata

70/4

--

Lost

36

55

65.45

Pak

Delhi

63/4

131/7

Won

32

25

128.00

Eng

Rajkot

198/4

271/6

Lost

72

66

109.09

Eng

Kochi

119/4

270/6

Won

Total 365, Ave 91.25, Hundred 1, Fifty 3, S/R 91.70, Fours 27, Sixes 14

Overall ODI batting record

M

I

NO

Runs

HS

Ave.

100

50

SR

6s

Home

80

72

21

2966

183*

58.15

5

17

91.37

79

Away

91

83

21

3017

101*

48.66

1

24

84.62

45

Neutral

45

38

13

1232

139*

49.28

2

7

90.52

28

Total

216

193

55

7215

183*

52.28

8

48

88.28

152

In wins

121

105

45

4549

183*

75.81

6

30

97.51

106

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News Network
June 10,2020

Jun 10: "It is never too late to fight for the right cause," said opening batsman Chris Gayle as he came out in support of former T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy. The debate around racism in sport has kickstarted once again after former Windies T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy alleged racism during his stint with SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2014 Indian Premier League. Taking note of Sammy's revelation, Gayle tweeted: "It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game".

Earlier, Gayle had also revealed that he too has been a victim of racism, and added that racism is something that has been bothering cricket as well.

On Tuesday, Sammy had released a video specifying that the racial slurs against him were used within the SunRisers camp.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn't know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

Ever since the demise of Floyd, protests erupted from the demonstrations in cities from San Francisco to Boston.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on 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 currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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