India clinch historic clean sweep against Aus with easy win

March 24, 2013
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New Delhi, Mar 24: India today completed a historic 4-0 clean sweep against Australia by recording an emphatic six-wicket victory in the fourth and final cricket Test here today.

On a Feroze Shah Kotla track which is not conducive for good batting, India chased down a tricky target of 155, largely due to Cheteshwar Pujara's dazzling strokeplay as the home team recorded their biggest ever series win in the 81-year history inside three days.

Pujara, who was battling pain as he was playing with a swollen hand, enthralled one and all with his perfect technique on a rank turner, scoring a brilliant unbeaten 82 off 92 balls with 11 boundaries.

For Australia, it was the first time in 43 years to suffer a 0-4 series whitewash after Bill Lawry's side did the same in South Africa in 1969-70.

There were a few jitters when India lost Virat Kohli (41), Sachin Tendulkar (1)and Ajinkya Rahane (1) in quick succession but Pujara kept his cool in company of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (8 not out) to successfully complete the run chase.

Pujara hit three boundaries off Glenn Maxwell to level the scores and then Dhoni hit the winning boundary to send the 25,000-odd crowd at the stadium into a frenzy.

The on-field celebrations were muted but the dressing room was delirious with joy as the players engaged in bear hugs.

The target of 155 might have looked quite a task but both Pujara and Kohli made batting look easy on a difficult track, adding 104 runs for the second wicket to pave the way for victory.

Starting the run chase, Murali Vijay (11) was bowled trying to play an unnecessary reverse sweep but Pujara played some unorthodox shots to set the tone.

Pujara showed positive intent as he and Kohli scored at a brisk pace. The Saurashtra lad showed his stroke-making prowess as India reached their 50 in the ninth over.

Pujara played the sweep shot to good effect but his two best shots were played of Mitchell Johnson. First, he deliberately lobbed a Johnson bouncer over wicketkeeper Matthew Wade's head and then hit a fierce square-cut on the rise. The third boundary of the over was hit through the cover.

As if he was getting into the IPL mode, Pujara scored his second 50 of the match from just 54 balls and India's 100 was reached in 19 overs at a rate of more than five runs per over.

While Pujara stepped up the ante, Kohli was happy playing the second fiddle.

Inexplicably, Australian captain Shane Watson did not use leggie Steven Smith, who could have effectively used the rough, nor did he call James Pattinson or Peter Siddle to bowl to exploit some of the spots created at the Delhi Gate End.

Earlier, on the pitch prepared by Venkat Sundaram which resembled a minefield, Ravindra Jadeja (5/58) created terror in the minds of the Australian batsmen as he extracted vicious turn and bounce as they were all-out for 164 in their second innings.

Siddle produced another gutsy performance with the willow as he took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck, scoring a 45-ball 50 with seven boundaries. His innings was a lesson for Australian top-order batsmen about the technique needed to survive on a treacherous track.

Incidentally, Siddle was the best Aussie batsman in both their innings as his effort meant that the visitors put up a score which could be considered decent enough on this kind of track. Jadeja first removed Glenn Maxwell, who was sent up the order to open the innings. Maxwell (8) did not come fully forward to a delivery from Jadeja that pitched on the middle stump and turned a shade to hit the off-stump.

David Warner (8) was then trapped leg before in Jadeja's very next over as the batsmen played a length ball on the backfoot. He was caught plumbed in-front as the delivery would have hit the leg-stump.

The tension brewing between Jadeja and Warner came into the forefront once again as the Indian left-arm spinner gave the batsman a rude 'send-off' which could earn him a sanction from the match referee.

Phillip Hughes, who had two decent knocks under his belt, got a questionable decision when R Ashwin, coming round the wicket, trapped him on his back-pad. The television replays showed that the ball would have probably missed the off-stump. Hughes managed only six.

The normally dogged Ed Cowan (24, 5x4) employed a positive approach as defending on this track looked impossible. Most of the times, the tactic he used to counter Jadeja was to take a big stride forward to stop the ball from doing unusual tricks. He got a few boundaries in the process.

Stand-in captain captain Shane Watson hit a lovely on-drive but then played a rash shot off an innocuous delivery from Pragyan Ojha. Watson rocked on the backfoot to pull a short delivery and missed the line to get bowled.

The score was 51 for four at that stage but within two runs, Cowan was gone as Jadeja pitched one on the good length and turned enough to catch the left-hander on the backfoot. Within first 20 overs of the Australian second innings, the top five were back in the hut.

The post-lunch session saw Steven Smith and Johnson being removed by Jadeja off successive deliveries but two crucial stands of 28 and 35 for eighth and ninth wickets respectively -– both involving Siddle -- helped the visitors cross 150.

In the morning, it took only eight minutes and 13 deliveries to polish off the Indian tail as Nathan Lyon got his career-best figures of 7 for 94 as the home side managed a slender lead of 10 runs.

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News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore's Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson returned to New Zealand on Tuesday after being stranded in India for over a month amid the nationwide lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ex-New Zealand player and coach had arrived in India on March 5 for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League but was stuck in the country after the lockdown was imposed and all flights were suspended.

"What a wonderful sight after spending over a day on a bus to get to Mumbai airport. The staff on @FlyAirNZ were simply outstanding on our return to New Zealand," Hesson tweeted.

He also thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the New Zealand Embassy in India, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"Special thanks to Down pointing backhand index @NZinIndia @MFATNZ @narendramodi @jacindaardern #repatriationflight #india #NZ" he added.

To stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, India and New Zealand had announced lockdowns in their respective countries last month, alongside travel restrictions, forcing the 45-year-old to stay in Bengaluru.

While India remains in lockdown till May 3, New Zealand eased its stringent measures on Tuesday.

The IPL, which was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29, has been suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.

The cornavirus outbreak, that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected over 30 lakh people across the world while killing more than two lakh.

All sporting events, including the Tokyo Olympics, have either been cancelled or postponed.

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News Network
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has indicated that this year's IPL could be conducted in empty stadiums, insisting that all possible options are being explored to ensure that the suspended event does take place despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to all the affiliated units sent late on Wednesday after the ICC Board meeting, Ganguly seemed confident of an IPL this year despite its current status of being indefinitely suspended because of the raging pandemic, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives in India.

"The BCCI is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums," Ganguly wrote.

"The fans, franchises, players, broadcasters, sponsors and all other stakeholders are keenly looking forward to the possibility of IPL being hosted this year.

"Recently, a lot of players both from India and other countries, participating in the IPL have shown keenness on being part of this year's IPL. We are optimistic and the BCCI will shortly decide on the future course of action on this," the former India captain said.

It is widely speculated that the IPL is eyeing the October event if the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia at that time is postponed. The ICC has deferred a decision on the World Cup's fate until next month.

Ganguly also said that the BCCI is working on the domestic schedule while exploring various formats which would make tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Vijay Hazare "competitive and feasible".

"Moving ahead, the BCCI is in process of planning the domestic competitions for the next cricketing season. We are working on various options and formats in our endeavour to ensure that various domestic tournaments are held, they stay competitive and participation feasible," said the former India captain.

"The BCCI will come up with more details in next couple of weeks," he added.

He also informed that BCCI is preparing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for resumption of cricket in all state units to ensure medical safety of those involved.

The president also informed that the BCCI has made "all efforts to release funds/grants to its various members."

"Associations which have made proper submission of their accounts and funds utilization certificates have already received their grants," he said.

The other units will also receive their grants once they submit relevant documents, the president assured while informing that vendors have also been paid.

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer on Sunday picked his all-time IPL team and appointed wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni as its captain.

Jaffer's team's feature opener Rohit Sharma, current Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, spinner R Ashwin, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah as seven domestic players.
While the foreign players spot have been occupied by West Indies' swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, all-rounder Andre Russell, Afghanistan's spinner Rashid Khan, and Sri Lanka's veteran pacer Lasith Malinga.
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been picked as 12th man by Jaffer.

Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to postpone the IPL to April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak.
The board also assured that it will work in unison with the Sports Ministry and will adhere to the guidelines issued.

The 13th edition of IPL was scheduled to commence from March 29. 

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