2nd Test, day 2: Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay double-ton stand gives India lead of 74

March 3, 2013

Cheteshwar_Pujara_Murali_Vijay_double-ton

Hyderabad, Mar 3: Murali Vijay (129*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (162*) wrote their names into the record books with an unbroken partnership of 294 for the second wicket which all but shoved Australia out of the second Test and drove India to a lead of 74 at stumps. While Australia's two frontline fast bowlers bowled fine spells in the morning, it was the spinners who let them down: Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell conceded 140 in 36 overs on a day on which just one wicket fell.

Sunday's play was broken into three distinct passages of play: Vijay and Pujara scratched around 22 overs for 37 runs in the morning session, moved up a gear to take 106 off the afternoon passage, before accelerating in the final two hours to crush a fatigued Australian bowling attack. The breakdown of each of their 50-run stands was proof of how well the pair paced their innings: the first 50 took 157 balls, the second 97, the third 80, the fourth just 65 and the fifth in just 50 balls.

Vijay and Pujara had been joined at the fall of Virender Sehwag for 6 in the third over of Peter Siddle's first spell (7-2-16-1) in which he tested the batsmen with short deliveries and didn't allow them to drive much. Siddle and James Pattinson worked up good pace, while from the other end Moises Henriques (7-4-3-0) plugged away diligently to keep India's scoring to a drip. With the odd ball keeping low, Australia's seamers were encouraged to vary their lengths and this meant Pujara and Vijay had to stay watchful.

The pair managed just 30 runs in 17 overs from the time Sehwag exited to when spin was introduced, in the 22nd over. Vijay opened up with a lofted shot over extra cover for four in Doherty's fourth over and India's 50 came up in the penultimate over before lunch as Vijay drove a full toss from Pattinson to the deep cover boundary. That shot set the tone for second session, in which Vijay and Pujara scored 106 runs.

The sluggishness of the morning session was followed by a busy afternoon that ended with India within 77 runs of drawing level with Australia, whose bowlers slacked in the second session. Vijay and Pujara went after Siddle and Pattinson and took 30 runs off the first eight overs. Vijay flicked and drove stylishly to collect boundaries off Siddle, while 12 runs came off the 35th over bowled by Pattinson as Pujara cut, drove and steered boundaries with purpose. Doherty's reappearance immediately resulted in Vijay hitting six down the ground to bring up his half-century in 141 deliveries.

Pujara too reached the landmark, off 114 deliveries, with a boundary off Maxwell. He had hurt his knee while diving earlier and struggled between the wickets and so relied on loose deliveries to put away. As Australia operated with spin from both ends, both men opened up. Vijay paddled and clipped Maxwell over midwicket for fours and when Doherty and Maxwell dragged the ball down, Pujara got back to punch boundaries. Michael Clarke grassed a tough catch at slip soon before tea, with Vijay on 71, and the session ended with Pujara pulling Siddle to midwicket for four.

Both batsmen resumed the final session on 73, and Pujara sped ahead with four boundaries. Vijay looked to catch up with six and four off the first two balls of Maxwell's tenth over, which cost 15 and saw Pujara dab past short third man to reach his fourth Test century. Pujara had jumped from 73 to 100 in 39 deliveries. Vijay duly followed his partner to three figures, lofting Doherty over the covers for four. It was his second in Tests and second against Australia, and Vijay celebrated by cutting the next ball for four more. David Warner's introduction brought out the ferocity in Pujara, who pasted a half-tracker and two full tosses to the midwicket boundary as India took 94 off the first hour after tea.

The second new ball proved in futility, with Pujara hitting Pattinson for four fours in the space of two overs, thus swelling the alliance with Vijay past 250. Pujara crossed 150 with a hooked six off Siddle, and that shot aptly summed up the way the day ended for both teams. This stand is now the best second-wicket partnership for India versus Australia in Tests, surpassing the 224 that Mohinder Amarnath and Sunil Gavaskar added at Sydney in 1986.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Sydney, Feb 7: "I received a message from Brett Lee," said former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Friday when asked as to who recruited him to take part in the Bushfire relief fundraiser match.

Tendulkar will be coaching the Ponting XI in the upcoming Bushfire Bash on Sunday, February 9 at the Junction Oval.

"I received a message from Brett Lee. Brett said that Kevin (Roberts, Cricket Australia's chief executive) would like to be in touch with you. It was a no-brainer. From the moment I was asked, I said, 'yes I'm more than happy to come here," cricket.com.au quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Bushfire Bash was originally slated to be played at Sydney on Saturday but weather forecast prompted Cricket Australia to reschedule the game to ensure the best possible pitch and outfield conditions for the final of Big Bash League.

The match will be played to raise funds and all match profits will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

"This is an alarming situation, it's catastrophic - that's an understatement. You see the number of lives it has affected, not only humans but also wildlife which sometimes people don't talk about. That is equally important. I'm so happy I'm here in whatever way to support the cause, to raise money," Tendulkar said.

Ponting XI: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (c), Elyse Villani, Brian Lara, Phoebe Litchfield, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Luke Hodge. Coach: Sachin Tendulkar

Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (c & wk), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed (one more to be announced). Coach: Tim Paine

The Bushfire Bash exhibition match will be a 10-overs-per-side contest, with a five-over Powerplay, no bowling restrictions, and batters unable to get out from the first ball they face.

Bowlers will not have over limits, fielders can sub on and off as it suits, while captains will have the ability to sub batters in and out during an innings.

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News Network
May 18,2020

Karachi, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes it is at least five years too early to compare Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as the Indian skipper has proven himself in "every kind of situation" and the latter has not.

"Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket and he is at the peak of his career," said Younis, Pakistan's leading run-getter in Tests.

"Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this are proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition."

Younis said said Babar still has a long way to go.

"Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day.

"You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career."

Besides amassing 70 international hundreds, 31-year-old Kohli averages more than 50 in all three formats. The India skipper has scored more than 20,000 runs while 25-year-old Babar has 6680 runs across formats though the Pakistan limited overs skipper has played significantly lesser number of games.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not allowing recreational cricket to resume.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had described the cricket ball as a 'natural vector of disease' and ruled out recreational cricket's return in the country.

Hearing Johnson's argument, Vaughan tweeted: "Hand sanitiser in every players pocket. Use every time you touch the ball ... SIMPLE ... Recreational Cricket should just play from July 4th ... utter nonsense it's not being allowed back ... #Cricket."

Johnson was responding to a question from Conservative MP Greg Clark in the House of Commons, and it was then that Johnson said that it is too soon to lift current restrictions to allow the return of recreational cricket.

"The problem with cricket as everybody understands is that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially at any rate. We've been around it many times with our scientific friends," ESPNCricinfo had quoted Johnson as saying.

"At the moment, we're still working on ways to make cricket more COVID-secure but we can't change the guidance yet," he added.

Johnson had announced various relaxations on Tuesday, but the return of recreational cricket was not a part of them.

However, this statement given by Johnson will have no impact on the Test series between England and West Indies, scheduled to begin from July 8.

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said that it is looking to resume recreational cricket in the country around July 4.

The board has also said that cricket is a low-risk sport as it is a non-contact sport.

"We believe that cricket is a non-contact sport, with very low risks of exposure, and that it can be played as safely as many other activities being currently permitted," the ECB said in an official statement.

"It is our strong desire to work with Government to see the return of recreational cricket on or around 4th July, as they continue to lift other restrictions more broadly across society," it added.

All international cricket has also been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it is set to resume to from July 8 as England and West Indies will lock horns in the three-Test series.

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