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Spotlight on Harbhajan, Sreesanth as selectors to bank on experience

February 10, 2013

Harbhajan-Sreesanth

New Delhi, Feb 10: As the selectors meet in Mumbai on Sunday to pick the team for the Australia series, they will be looking for experienced campaigners who can change the fortunes of the Test team. The likes of Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth and even Wasim Jaffer, therefore, are all in the fray.

According to sources in the Indian cricket board ( BCCI), the selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil is not too keen on tampering with the Sehwag-Gambhir opening combination, in spite of their recent indifferent run. To start with, the selectors are looking to field the best XI based on previous records against the Aussies.

The selectors will, however, discuss the possibility of including a replacement opener, just like they had in the England series. Murali Vijay is in the reckoning, and so is the prolific Wasim Jaffer, who has been in fine form for Mumbai during the domestic season.

Another Mumbai opener, Ajinkya Rahane, failed to capitalize on the chances he got in the ODIs against England and so may lose out on a berth.

Sehwag, who missed the Irani Cup match due to a stomach bug, may not be in the ODI scheme of things but the selectors are still backing him to open the innings in Tests. If he fails to hit form, he may not play the entire series.

The selectors may be tempted to pick Suresh Raina in the middle-order for his superb batting displays in the recently-concluded India-England ODI series and a dominant century in the ongoing Irani Cup.

Harbhajan, too, has a good chance of making a comeback into the Test team. As reported by TOI earlier, the selectors had spoken to Harbhajan before the Ranji Trophy semifinal matches, telling him he would be considered for the Australia series if he could hit form.

Harbhajan, on his part, has shown glimpses of his old wicket-taking. He took four wickets in the second innings while playing for Punjab against Saurashtra in the Ranji semis, and in the Irani Cup he looked good while taking three scalps in Mumbai's first innings. Most importantly, he has a good track record against the Aussies.

Harbhajan's immediate competitor R Ashwin is now being expected to play more of a bowling all-rounder's role, like Ravindra Jadeja, and both may be retained in the team.

Also in the running in the spin department are Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra. Incidentally, Mishra also has a decent bowling average against the Australians.

In the pace department, Sreesanth has made a good impression. Bhuvneshwar Kumar too may earn a Test berth. Ishant Sharma is also expected to be in the team in spite of all the talk about his ankle injury. Dhawal Kulkarni's name is also doing the rounds.

Ashok Dinda, who was in the Test squad during the England series, will have to consider himself lucky if he is retained.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Mumbai, Mar 3: India on Tuesday retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings despite a dismal Test series against New Zealand.

India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points. The 0-2 result against New Zealand was India's first series loss in the World Test Championship.

Kohli remains in second position in the batting rankings despite a forgettable Test series in which he made 38 runs in four innings, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Blundell and his Indian counterpart Prithvi Shaw and debutant paceman Kyle Jamieson were among the biggest movers in the rankings, released on Tuesday.

Blundell had a successful series against India, scoring 117 runs in four innings, with one half-century, which put him among the top two run-scorers in the series.

The performance meant he was rewarded with a jump of 27 places to No. 46. Shaw, who returned for his first series since his Test debut against West Indies in 2018, and made a punchy 54 in the first innings of the Christchurch Test, rose 17 places to No.76.

Australia's Steve Smith retained his top spot, holding a 25-point advantage over Kohli. Smith's apprentice Marnus Labuschagne jumped one spot to round off the top three, taking the place of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India opener Mayank Agarwal moved a spot each and swapped places to break into and fall out of the top 10 respectively.

Among bowlers, Tim Southee's Player of the Series winning performance against India took him into the top five, with a jump of two places to No.4, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult returned to the top 10, gaining four places each to occupy the seventh and ninth positions respectively.

But the biggest gainer was Jamieson, who rose from No. 80 to 43.

There was only one change in the top ten among all-rounders, with Southee dropping a spot to No.10 and team-mate Neil Wagner falling out of the top 10 with a drop of four spots.

As with the bowling rankings, Jamieson, who frustrated India with handy lower order runs, gained big on the all-rounders' table, rising 26 places to No. 22.

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: India's World Cup-winning former opener Gautam Gambhir performed the last rites of his deceased domestic help after her mortal remains could not be sent to her home in Odisha due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown.

Gambhir, also a BJP Lok Sabha MP, posted a tribute on his Twitter page for his employee Saraswati Patra, who was working at his residence for the past six years.

"Taking care of my little one can never be domestic help. She was family. Performing her last rites was my duty," he tweeted.

"Always believed in dignity irrespective of caste, creed, religion or social status. Only way to create a better society. That's my idea of India! Om Shanti," said the 38-year-old Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India between 2004 and 2016.

Media reports in Odisha said the 49-year-old Patra hailed from a village in Jajpur district.

She was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital a few days ago and was battling diabetes and high blood pressure for a long period. She breathed her last while undergoing treatment on April 21.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated Gambhir.

"Taking care of Saraswati throughout the course of her illness, he also ensured her dignity in death by performing her last rites himself since her mortal remains could not be sent to her family back home in Odisha," Pradhan, who also belongs to Odisha, tweeted.

"His act of compassion will enliven the faith in humanity for millions of poor, who are working far from their home for livelihood and will garner respect from all folds of the society."

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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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