Cricketers win but Ranbir Kapoor steals the show

March 31, 2013

Ranbir_KapoorNew Delhi, Mar 31: It was a different ball game altogether when the Indian cricketers took on movie stars at the floodlit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in a maiden charity football match.

The cricketers emerged victorious by a scoreline of 4-3 on Saturday but they were given a run for their money by the All Star team led by Abhishek Bachchan.

The funds raised from the match went to the Magic Bus Organisation, which works for charity for underprivileged children. Virat Kohli launched the team for his foundation 'All Heart Football Club' against the All Stars Football Club.

With 'RK' emblazoned on his back and the loudest cheers from the crowd every time he had the ball, the 'Barfi' star Ranbir Kapoor stole the show.

He dribbled past defenders at ease, outpaced the cricketers, made numerous attempts at goal and capped off his night with a blistering strike from the edge of the penalty box. The only blip was a missed penalty, which however he made up for by winning another one for his team.

Earlier, the cricketers dressed in red and black, showed their prowess with the ball at their feat by smashing three goals in the first half.

They started off in an aggressive fashion with India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni making a pin-point cross in the box from the right wing which was duly put at the back of the net by Tanmoy Mishra giving the 'All Heart' team the lead in the second minute of the game.

Though all for charity, the seriousness out on the field was evident with Yuvraj Singh shouting at every referee call against him, grimacing at every miss by his teammates.

Egged on by over 10,000 cheering crowd, the All Stars coached by former footballer Bhaichung Bhutia, equalised in the 10th minute with Shabbir Ahluwalia scoring the goal.

It was all Manoj Tiwary show after that with the Bengal cricketer showing his footballing skills with two neatly scored goals to give the All Heart team a 3-1 lead. Tiwary was later adjudged the Man of Match for his brilliant show.

Playing in humid conditions, the All Stars team managed to give a tough fight even though they went 4-1 down immediately after the resumption of play in the second half.

It was a Ranbir Kapoor show after that. He easily dodged and moved past Zaheer Khan on several occasions. He even tried a back flick which almost gave the All Stars a second goal. But it came nonetheless moments later, when 'RK' was tripped in the box which was duly put away.

Ten minutes into the second half, Dino Morea was tripped in the box, but Ranbir's lame shot from the resultant penalty was easily saved by All Heart goalkeeper Ishant Sharma.

But Ranbir was not to be denied a few minutes later, when he picked up a pass from Marc Robinson and smashed a thundering strike right into the top corner to make the scoreline 4-3.

The All Heart team coached by footballer Sunil Chhetri, managed to survive the nervy moments and emerge victorious but not before getting a real scare from their opponents.

"The Indian cricketers are in a habit of winning matches with a scoreline of 4-0. We were scared we would get the same treatment, but all credit to our team especially Ranbir for having fought so brilliantly against the cricketers," said All Stars captain Abhishek Bachchan after the match.

Talking about the team composition, vice-captain Ranbir, who was disappointed at having missed the penalty, said they had been practising for over six months now for the match.

"Everyone who was regularly practising with us today, was given a chance to play. There is nothing to be ashamed of in losing 4-3 and it was an honour to step up and compete against the mighty cricketers," he said.

Talking about the prospect of arranging a revenge match, Abhishek said a few games were in the pipeline with talks doing the rounds that the two teams will square up again in Sikkim for Bhaichung Bhutia's foundation.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

Mumbai, Jul 7: Australias second largest city Melbourne is set to go for another round of lockdown — for six weeks — from midnight Wednesday as the coronavirus has reared its ugly head in Victoria. And this has further confirmed that this years T20 World Cup in Australia is practically not possible. Even as the ICC keeps delaying the announcement, BCCI hopes that the official call will now be taken with this latest development.

Despite ICC's Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) chief Ehsan Mani as well as Cricket Australia making it clear time and again that hosting a T20 World Cup in the October-November window is practically impossible, the ICC hasn't made an official announcement and that hasn't impressed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to media persons, a BCCI official said that it is only the ICC which has kept speaking about delaying the inevitable — announcing a postponement — even as Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote to the international body that it looks highly unlikely that a T20 World Cup can be hosted in these trying times.

"As it is there were so many logistical difficulties and that is perfectly understandable. The Australian government has been addressing the public health issue efficiently and there are regulations in place which are crucial to address the challenges. In that background even Cricket Australia has been practical in their assessment of the situation.

"With this present situation where Melbourne is in lockdown, the ICC really must take the final call of closure on the issue if they have any concept of responsible decision making," the official said.

Not just CA chairman Eddings, but also Mani — who is also the PCB chief — recently told the media that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in a bio-secure environment.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023, so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event. God forbid if some player(s) falls ill or mishap occurs during the tournament, it will have a big impact and create panic in the cricket world and we can't take that risk. Having a bio-bubble environment is feasible for say a bilateral series like Pakistan in England, but it is very difficult when 16 teams are involved," he had said.

Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley echoed the sentiments when he said the biggest challenge was to get the players from so many teams into the country.

"Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country. If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise," he had said.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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