Ind vs Aus: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay frustrate Australia

March 16, 2013

Shikhar_Dhawan

New Delhi, Mar 16: Debutant Shikhar Dhawan was close to his double ton while Murali Vijay was approaching his second century of the series before the close of the third day play of the third Test with Indian scorecard reading 283/0 against Australia's first innings total of 408 at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Saturday.

Earlier, Dhawan hit a 85-ball hundred, fastest by any cricketer on debut in Test history to give strong reply to the visitors.

Dhawan broke the record of West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith who reached his 100 off 93 balls against South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town in January 2004.

Interestingly, Dhawan raced into the 90s without hitting a single ball in the air. What makes his effort even more praiseworthy is that he maintained a strike-rate of over hundred almost all through his innings. It was a staggering 117.64 when Dhawan got to the three-figure mark.

Earlier, one run was all that separated Starc from becoming the first number nine Australian batsman to notch up a century, as the visitors posted a competitive total.

Ray Lindwall had scored exactly 100 against England at the MCG in 1947 while coming out at number nine.

Though he missed out on the hundred by a whisker, Starc, along with Steven Smith (92), frustrated the Indians for a while, helping Australia add 135 runs in the first session of play before Ravichandran Ashwin trapped last-man Xavier Doherty.

The Indians made three runs in the one over they played before lunch, with Vijay scoring all of them.

But, after the lunch break, the show completely belonged to Dhawan who treated the Australian bowlers with disdain, playing some delightful shots, especially through the heavily populated off-side.

Such was his off-side play that it would have pleased even Sourav Ganguly and former England captain David Gower. The Delhi batsman's timing was impeccable, and his shot-selection faultless.

The Australians, literally, had no answer to counter Dhawan's stroke-play. The way Dhawan dominated the Aussies, it never looked like he was playing in his maiden Test.

In terms of statistics, he hit 19 fours in the first 23 overs, the joint-highest along with West Indian Chris Gayle.

Dhawan reached his 50 off 50 balls, with the help of 12 fours in 72 minutes.

Earlier, Starc was caught behind on 99 by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Ishant Sharma, which dashed his hopes of becoming the first Australian in 66 years to score a century while batting at number nine.

Another record tumbled on the day as Starc and Smith's 97-run association for the eighth wicket surpassed the previous best of 73 between Shane Watson and Brett Lee for this wicket at this ground. Starc was the more aggressive of the two.

Starc smashed 14 fours and faced 144 balls during his 146-minute stay at the crease. The 23-year-old left-hander from New South Wales was equal to the task whether it was about facing pacers or the spinners.

Making a sort of a lucky comeback to the Test squad after more than two years in wilderness, Smith made it count with a career-best score that included 10 boundaries and a six. He occupied the crease for 235 minutes and faced 185 balls.

A well-deserved century in sight, Smith became a victim of a viciously turning delivery from Pragyan Ojha and an equally good work by India skipper Dhoni, who stumped the batsman in a flash.

India heaved a sigh of relief, but Australia ensured they consolidate their position with another half-century partnership, for the ninth wicket between Starc and Nathan Lyon, with the former firmly in control of the proceedings.

During the course of their innings, both the batsmen had surpassed their previous best Test scores. While Smith's previous best effort -- 77 -- had come against Pakistan at Leeds, Starc's top-score prior to this match was 68 against South Africa in Perth last year.

Not just they added important runs, but did so at a fairly quick rate while keeping the Indian bowlers at bay.

Resuming at 273 for seven, both Smith and Starc were at ease while dealing with the ball, which was 104 overs old at the start of the day's play.

Starc made his intentions clear by pulling Ishant Sharma and then flicked Aswhin for another boundary.

After surviving a close lbw shout by Ishant, Smith got into the act driving him through the off-side for his first authoritative shot of the day. Starc, meanwhile, played Ishant straight over the bowler's head as the ball sped to the fence in one bounce.

The new ball was taken after 108 overs, but it was not the quicker bowlers, but a spinner who gave India the first breakthrough of the day.

Having replaced Aswhin from the pavilion end, Ojha got one to turn and bounce sharply, and Dhoni completed a smart stumping with Smith's back foot on the line.

For India, Ishnat and Ravindra Jadeja finished with three wickets each, while Ashwin and Ojha had two apiece.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 22,2020

India's cricket board will not push for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia to be postponed but would consider staging the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October/November slot if it becomes available, a senior BCCI official has told Reuters.

This year's IPL, which is worth almost $530 million to the BCCI, has been indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic while the World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18, is also in jeopardy.

Reports in Australian media have suggested India's influential board may look to push for the World Cup to be postponed to open up a window for the IPL.

World Cup contingency plans are on the agenda at next week's International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting but BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal said India would not be recommending it be pushed back.

"Why should the BCCI suggest postponing the Twenty20 World Cup?" Dhumal told Reuters by telephone.

"We'll discuss it in the meeting and whatever is appropriate, (the ICC) will take a call.

"If the Australia government announces that the tournament will happen and Cricket Australia is confident they can handle it, it will be their call. BCCI would not suggest anything."

While Australia has seen new infections of the novel coronavirus slow to a trickle and is gradually easing travel curbs and social distancing restrictions, hosting a 16-team World Cup would be a Herculean task for Cricket Australia.

Dhumal questioned whether the tournament should go ahead if it had to be played without spectators and said the Australian government would play a key role in any decision.

"It all depends on what the Australian government says on this - whether they'd allow so may teams to come and play the tournament," he added.

"Will it make sense to play games without spectators? Will it make sense for CA to stage such a tournament like that? It's their call."

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts was guarded about the prospects of staging the tournament as scheduled on Friday.

"We don't have clarity on that one, yet. But as the situation continues to improve, you never know what might be possible," he said.

"It's ultimately a decision for the ICC."

The ICC has said it was unlikely to make a final call on the fate of the World Cup until August but some boards are in the process of making contingency plans in the event of a postponement.

While the BCCI recognised an open October-November window would suit the IPL, Dhumal said there was no point in making plans until there was some certainty about the World Cup.

"If we have the window available, and depending on what all can be organised, we'll decide accordingly," he added. "We can't presume that it's not happening and go on planning."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 15,2020

New Delhi, Apr 15: Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday urged people to beat coronavirus by staying at home and by maintaining social distancing. He termed the virus 'mother of all World Cups' and asked people to combat this disease together and win the World Cup of humanity.

Taking to Twitter, Shastri shared a video post where he cited cricket examples to aware people about the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. "As I would know, sports teaches you life lessons that can be applied to just about anything you want to pursue in rest of your life.

Today the COVID-19 has put us in a situation where we got our backs to the wall. To combat this coronavirus is like chasing a World Cup where you give your everything in trying to win it. What's staring you at the face is no ordinary World Cup. This is the mother of all World Cups where not just eleven are playing but 1.4 billion are in the playing arena and competing. Guys we can win this. For that, we have to observe the basics. You have got your Prime Minister leading from the front ahead of the curve like other countries have farmed out," Shastri said.

"You have to obey the orders that come from the top: be it centre, state or the frontline workers who are risking their lives. Two orders that stand out: staying home and maintaining social distancing. It is not easy but to win the game you got to go through the pain to break the chain and see the gain. Come on, guys! let's do it together. Let us get out there in a bruit force of 1.4 billion and beat this corona and get your hands on the World Cup of humanity. Let's do it," he added.

With 1,076 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 11,439, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

Out of the total tally, 9,756 cases are active while 1,306 patients have been cured/discharged and migrated. With 38 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll rises to 377.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Former opener Gautam Gambhir is mighty impressed with the way K.L. Rahul batted during India's comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I and said it amazes him why the right-handed batsman can't play the same way in Tests. On Tuesday, Rahul top-scored with a 32-ball 45 as India chased down the meagre target of 143 with utmost ease at the Holkar Stadium.

"Rahul is in unbelievable form. It amazes me every time I see Rahul bat that why didn't he play the same way in Test cricket," Gambhir told the host broadcasters. "It's not about only white-ball cricket; it is about Test cricket too. He just got into a shell too much. With the kind of quality he posses, he is someone who can get you a 50-ball 100 in Test cricket as well. The kind of shots he has is superb," he added.

Shikhar Dhawan, who is making a return to the team after an injury lay-off, also contributed with a "rusty" 30-ball 32. Both Dhawan and Rahul are virtually playing for the second opener's slot for the World T20, with Rohit Sharma set to be one.

And Gambhir feels going by the current form, Rahul should be opening the batting alongside Rohit in Australia. "You can't compare IPL to international cricket. When you're playing for Delhi Capitals, you know there's no one waiting for the opportunity, but when you're playing for the country and you know there's someone who's actually can replace you, there'll always be pressure. And today it was shown who's in better form," Gambhir said.

The cricketer-turned-politician, however, exuded confidence that Dhawan will bounce back strongly in the next game. "Shikhar Dhawan looked rusty but it's a good thing that he got some runs under his belt. It will help him when he walks out to bat in the next game. Had he got out early, the pressure would have been more," he said.

India will play Sri Lanka in the final T20I in Pune on Friday before taking on Australia in a three-match ODI series beginning January 14 in Mumbai.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.