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
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Feb 18: Spinner Poonam Yadav claimed three wickets as India geared up for the ICC women's T20 World Cup with a thrilling two-run win over the West Indies in a low-scoring warm-up match in Brisbane on Tuesday. Electing to bat, India posted a lowly 107/8 in their stipulated 20 overs before returning to restrict the West Indies to 105/7. Chasing 108 to win, West Indies were comfortably placed at 57 for one in 13 overs when Deepti Sharma struck, cleaning up opener Lee-Ann Kirby (42) to trigger a collapse. Soon skipper Stafanie Taylor (16), Chedean Nation (0) and Deandra Dottin (1) were back in the hut as West Indies slipped to 67 for five in the 17th over.

Hayley Matthews (25) and Chinelle Henry (17) blasted three fours and a six in the 19th over to leave them with 11 to get off the last six balls.

Henry blasted Poonam for a four but the Indian dismissed Matthews in the fourth ball.

West Indies needed three runs off the last ball but Henry was caught by Veda Krishnamurthy.

Earlier, India's top-three failed to fire as they were reduced to 17 for three in 3.1 overs.

Opener Smriti Mandhana (4) lasted just six balls, while Jemimah Rodrigues (0) failed to open her account.

Young Shafali Verma blasted a couple of fours before being caught by Britney Cooper off Shamilia Connell (2/20).

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11), too, didn't stay long, while Krishnamurthy was cleaned up by Afy Fletcher (1/26), as India slumped to 52 for five in 11.2 overs.

Deepti Sharma made a 32-ball 21 before becoming a victim of Anisa Mohammed (2/16), while Pooja Vastrakar (13) was removed by Aaliyah Alleyne (1/9).

Stafanie taylor then got rid of Taniya Bhatia for 10. Shikha Pandey finally smashed a 16-ball 24 to give some respectability to the total.

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