Sehwag, Harbhajan axed from India's Champions Trophy probales list

April 6, 2013

Sehwag_Harbhajan_axedNew Delhi, Apr 6: Senior cricketers Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh were omitted while Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parveez Rasool was today named in India's 30-member probables list for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England in June this year.

Apart from the struggling Sehwag and Harbhajan, paceman Zaheer Khan, batsman Cheteswar Pujara and spinner Pragyan Ojha were also left out from the list of probables announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.

The left handed Gautam Gambhir, who had been dropped from the Test team, finds himself in the list which has a number of youngsters like Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Jalaj Saxena, Punjab pacer Siddharth Kaul, Maharashtra middle order batsman Kedar Jadhav and MP pacer Ishwar Yadav.

Both Sehwag and Harbhajan's axing did not come as a surprise since both have been out of form for quite a long time.

While Sehwag, who is also currently sitting injured on the Delhi Daredevils bench, was dropped from the squad for the third and fourth Test against Australia because of a prolonged form slump, Harbhajan managed to retain his Test place but failed to earn a spot in the playing eleven.

Gambhir, who was ignored for the entire Test series against Australia, kept himself in

reckoning by making it to 30-men list which will be pruned down to 15 a month before the tournament.

Shikhar Dhawan's century on his debut Test in Mohali has put him in the reckoning to return to the ODI squad as apart from Gambhir, he and Murali Vijay are the other two openers in the list.

There are three wicket-keepers in the list with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha and Dinesh Karthik getting the preference.

Fit-again Umesh Yadav and troubled pacer Praveen Kumar, who was banned by the BCCI for a short period earlier this year period for misconduct during a Corporate Trophy match, have also been included among the probables.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra has also been included while left-arm spinner Ojha has been left out of the list as he is seen more as a Test bowler.

Among the notable domestic performers who have got a call for the camp are Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Rasool, who took seven Australian wickets for the Board President's XI, Indian Under-19 World Cup winning team captain Unmukt Chand.

Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Ishwar Pandey and all-rounder Jalaj Saxena, Punjab pacer Sidharth Kaul and Maharashtra middle-order batsman Kedar Jadhav have also been included in the list of probables because of their good showing in the domestic circuit.

Probables List for Champions Trophy: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Jalaj Saxena, Parveez Rasool, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok, Dinda, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Irfan Pathan, R Vinay Kumar, Preveen Kumar, Ishwar Pandey, Sidharth Kaul.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Derbyshire, Jul 22: Ahead of the upcoming Test series against England, Pakistan pacer Sohail Khan has credited bowling coach Waqar Younis for teaching him how to swing the ball late.

On the third day of the practice match between Azhar Ali's Team Green and Babar Azam's Team White, the 36-year-old Khan returned figures of five for 50 in 20.1 overs which saw the former fold for 181 in the first innings before they staged a comeback on the final day to win the match by six wickets.

Prior to the practice match, Sohail had a conversation with bowling coach Waqar Younis on the art of late swing. The pacer shared how the presence of the bowling legend in the support staff helped him gear up for the four-day match.

"The conditions in England are swing conducive so every fast bowler gets the ball to move. I asked Waqar bhai to teach me how to swing the ball late. It took him only two minutes to explain it to me. It is because of his tips that I took five wickets in the first innings," Khan said in a release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

"I am eager to learn from Waqar Bhai. I follow him wherever he goes and speak to him about the art of bowling as he has an abundance of knowledge to share. A few days back I was struggling with something while bowling, I thought of reaching out to him and even before I spoke to him about it, he said he knew what I wanted to talk to him about and he explained it to me in a minute," he added.

During Pakistan's tour of England in 2016, Sohail played a crucial role in helping Pakistan secure a 2-2 Test series draw by returning two five-wicket hauls in as many matches.

In total, he picked up 13 wickets at 25 apiece and finished as the third-best wicket-taker.

"Definitely, it is an honour for me to return to the side. I had taken two fifers here against England in 2016 and now in the practice match, I have started off with five wickets so I am feeling very good. We had been at our homes for the past four months due to coronavirus so starting off on a high feels nice," Khan said.

Prior to Sohail's five wickets, 17-year-old Naseem Shah made a big impact when he took five wickets for Team Green. The strength of Pakistan's pace attack was further established as Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up three wickets each providing valuable support to Naseem and Sohail respectively.
Naseem and Shaheen finished the match with six and four wickets respectively.

Shedding light on the youngsters' performances, Sohail said: "It gives me immense pleasure to see Naseem Shah. He bowls consistently at 150kph. Just like him, Shaheen Shah Afridi is another good bowler. I like both of them."

"It gave me great happiness to see Naseem pick five wickets in the first innings. He is in rhythm and is looking great. What is astonishing is that he is playing in these conditions for the first time but still he is doing so well. Shaheen has also been phenomenal," he added.

Pakistan and England are slated to play three Tests and as many T20Is against each other. The first Test will be played at Manchester from August 5.

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there are a lot of similarities between the Virat Kohli-led Team India and the Pakistan team when Imran Khan had led it as both captains instill strong self-belief in their respective teams.

Manjrekar also said that Pakistan under Imran had found different ways of winning matches even when it seemed all was lost.

"India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong," Manjrekar tweeted.

The cricketer turned commentator expressed his opinion after India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash with a seven-run victory over New Zealand in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Manjrekar also lauded KL Rahul, now also shouldering wicket-keeping duty, for his impressive showing in recent times.

"Samson & Pant... the next batting brigade of India obviously have the skill & the power game they just need to infuse a small dose of Virat's batting 'smarts' (mind) into their game," Manjrekar wrote.

The victory at the Bay Oval saw India stretch their record for most successive T20I wins.

This was their eighth win in a row, bettering the previous three instances when they won seven successive matches.

Kohli is the most successful Test captain in Indian cricket history, winning 11 consecutive series at home and are on top of the ICC rankings.

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February 14,2020

Hamilton, Feb 14: Batting first, India finished at 263 for nine on the opening day of the three-day warm-up game against New Zealand XI here on Friday.

Hanuma Vihari made 101 off 182 balls before retiring, while Cheteshwar Pujara scored 93.

Besides, Ajinkya Rahane (18) was the only other Indian batsmen to register double digit score.

The likes of Prithvi Shaw (0), Mayank Agarwal (1) and Shubman Gill (0) failed to cash in on the opportunity.

Scott Kuggeleijn (3/40) and Ish Sodhi (3/72) shared six wickets between them for New Zealand.

Brief Scores:

India: 263 for 9 in 78.5 overs (Hanuma Vihari 101, Cheteshwar Pujara 93; Scott Kuggeleijn 3/40, Ish Sodhi 3/72).

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