Jacques Kallis, Manvinder Bisla star in Kolkata's win over Punjab

April 27, 2013

Manvinder_BislaKolkata, Apr 27: Those who say Twenty20 is a young man's game should learn a thing or two from Jacques Kallis.

The 37-year-old South African all-rounder, who twisted his knee in the last match against Mumbai Indians and was uncertain for Friday's game, not only recovered in time but also made significant contributions in all aspects of the match to bring Kolkata Knight Riders back to winning ways.

KKR beat Kings XI Punjab by six wickets at the Eden Gardens on Friday evening. The hosts, who had suffered three consecutive defeats before this game, badly needed this win to bring their campaign back on track and Kallis showed how to do that.

He drew first blood for them when he had in-form KXIP opener Mandeep Singh caught by Eoin Morgan at short mid-wicket after Adam Gilchrist won the toss and decided to bat first. Kallis finally emerged as the side's most successful bowler, coming out with magical figures of 2-14 in his four overs.

Chasing 150 for victory, KKR suffered an early jolt when Azhar Mahmood castled skipper Gautam Gambhir and had Yusuf Pathan caught behind off successive deliveries in the second over of the innings.

It was Kallis again who came to the team's rescue. In the company of Manvinder Bisla, who had replaced injured Manoj Tiwary, he steadied the ship as the duo build up a 66-run third-wicket stand in 9.1 overs.

Kallis used all his experience to apply himself on the slow Eden track, mixing cautious with aggression. By the time he was dismissed trying to play one delicately past the wicketkeeper only to be taken by Gilchrist, KKR were well on their way. Kallis fell for a well-made 37 off 33 balls.

The platform was then well utilised by in-form Eoin Morgan and Bisla to take the side home. The duo shared a 72-run third-wicket stand before Morgan fell for a fluent 42 (25b, 3x4, 4x6) just two runs before victory. Bisla remained unbeaten on 50 (43 b, 3x4, 3x6).

Earlier, an out-of-form Gilchrist got a run-a-ball 27 while opening with Mandeep. But it was sad to see Gilchrist, once feared all over the cricketing world for his explosive strokeplay, finding it difficult to time his strokes or even rotate the strike.

He preferred to play second fiddle to Mandeep who led the initial charge for the visitors. Gilchrist tried to accelerate after Mandeep's departure but holed out to Morgan at deep mid-wicket boundary off Rajat Bhatia.

His departure saw Manan Vora breaking loose. The youngster hit Balaji for a huge six but perished to the very next delivery while going for another big one.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Mumbai, Mar 3: India on Tuesday retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings despite a dismal Test series against New Zealand.

India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points. The 0-2 result against New Zealand was India's first series loss in the World Test Championship.

Kohli remains in second position in the batting rankings despite a forgettable Test series in which he made 38 runs in four innings, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Blundell and his Indian counterpart Prithvi Shaw and debutant paceman Kyle Jamieson were among the biggest movers in the rankings, released on Tuesday.

Blundell had a successful series against India, scoring 117 runs in four innings, with one half-century, which put him among the top two run-scorers in the series.

The performance meant he was rewarded with a jump of 27 places to No. 46. Shaw, who returned for his first series since his Test debut against West Indies in 2018, and made a punchy 54 in the first innings of the Christchurch Test, rose 17 places to No.76.

Australia's Steve Smith retained his top spot, holding a 25-point advantage over Kohli. Smith's apprentice Marnus Labuschagne jumped one spot to round off the top three, taking the place of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India opener Mayank Agarwal moved a spot each and swapped places to break into and fall out of the top 10 respectively.

Among bowlers, Tim Southee's Player of the Series winning performance against India took him into the top five, with a jump of two places to No.4, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult returned to the top 10, gaining four places each to occupy the seventh and ninth positions respectively.

But the biggest gainer was Jamieson, who rose from No. 80 to 43.

There was only one change in the top ten among all-rounders, with Southee dropping a spot to No.10 and team-mate Neil Wagner falling out of the top 10 with a drop of four spots.

As with the bowling rankings, Jamieson, who frustrated India with handy lower order runs, gained big on the all-rounders' table, rising 26 places to No. 22.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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