Steyn says India's Champions Trophy squad is a strong one

May 15, 2013

Steyn

Mumbai, May 15: India might have left out seasoned campaigners Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir from their ICC Champions Trophy squad, but South African speedster Dale Steyn feels even without the trio, skipper Mahendera Singh Dhoni has a strong side at his disposal.

"India have got a great side. If you look at the IPL, the highest run getters, the highest wicket takers are all Indian players and all of them are in Champions Trophy. They are going to do just fine. Hopefully not too fine against us," Steyn told PTI here in an interview.

Sehwag, Yuvraj and Gambhir have been omitted from the 15-man Indian squad by the selectors due to indifferent form.

India and South Africa are scheduled to kick-off the eight-nation tournament on June 6 at the Sophia Gardens at Wales, in a Group B match.

Apart from India and South Africa, the four-team Group B also features West Indies and Pakistan, and Steyn said it's a tough pool.

"It's a good group. It's a difficult group. All the teams are doing well and they are playing some good cricket at the moment. The rankings don't matter. There are some star players in every team that can just knock you out. We have got our work cut out for us when we go there. I am looking forward to that challenge," Steyn said about the group.

Steyn was of the opinion that the conditions in England would be dry in June and it could be challenging for both batsmen and bowlers.

"I think it gets dry there now in June. I know when we played the Test series last year, it was quite difficult to bowl on. It is also difficult to score on too. There weren't too many high scoring games in the ODIs we played. There weren't any 300 plus kind of scores, they were like 270 or 260. It always keeps the bowlers in the game. I will assess it when I get there," he said.

South Africa, too, would be missing key players like Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith and Steyn felt that the team lacked experience, but was also confident that the youngsters are capable of performing well.

"Between the two (Kallis and Smith) of them, there is like 500 ODIs, so massive. As cliches go, it is the opportunity for younger guys to do their stuff. I believe that the guys who are stepping up are just as capable of what these guys can do. It is the experience factor that we lack, that's all," he said.

Young South African batsman David Miller, who has been included, has been impressive with his match-winning knocks in the ongoing IPL and Steyn said the 23-year-old has a golden chance to make his mark in world cricket.

"He (Miller) has played only a handful of ODIs. His ability, if not, is as equal to a Smith or Kallis, it is just the experience (that he lacks). He has not played many games for South Africa. He has got a better chance going to Champions Trophy and doing well and making himself a household name," he said.

On A B de Villiers' captaincy, the 29-year old said, "He (de Villiers) is very good. He is a great player. He is one of those freaks. I am so happy that he is in my team. He is going to do just fine."

The world's top-ranked bowler said that he doesn't like to bowl to de Villiers as it dents his confidence.

"I don't bowl to him (de Villiers). I need to keep my confidence, I don't bowl to him. If I had to bowl to him in the nets, I would walk out there with my tail between the legs. There is no point. I try to bowl to the new ball batters and they leave me and make me feel good about myself," he said.

South Africa have not managed to win an ICC Trophy in years and Steyn said if they manage to win the upcoming Champions Trophy, it will be the perfect farewell gift for outgoing coach Gary Kirsten.

"It would be a perfect gift for him (Kirsten). Our chances are as good as anybody else. We just have to go there and play good cricket and see what happens there," he said.

The speedster added that the chokers' tag that has been associated with the Proteas doesn't bother him anymore.

"It doesn't matter any more, personally. I have never gone into a competition wanting to lose. I have always gone in wanting to win. If someone plays better cricket than me then they deserve it. Hopefully this time around we can play better cricket than all other teams," Steyn said.

Steyn said the fatigue factor could come into the picture at the Champions Trophy and cautioned about likely player burn-outs because of constant cricket.

"We (South Africa) have played Pakistan. I played four games against Pakistan in nine days. Came here, played every game in IPL and then I go to Champions Trophy and play every game there. That is the way it goes.

"We have only got 365 days and we have got to cram as much as cricket as possible. It is important that the players decide when to take rest and when not to take rest," he said.

"I love the game and everyone loves the game. There is no reason why we shouldn't be playing as much cricket as we can. You got to do it sensibly as a player, because if you play every single game, you are going to break down," he said.

"It is tough. But we do what we can on our days off to make sure that we are fit and fine," he added.

Former West Indies bowling great Michael Holding had praised Steyn and wondered how long could the South African last due to excessive cricket but Steyn said he believes he can continue in the same vein for a few more years and that he wants to play Tests till he calls it a day.

"I am only 29. Hopefully I can last for a little bit longer. I am good at bowling fast and that is what I want to do. I want to bowl fast till I retire. I don't want to lose 15 kmph just to play all three formats of the game. I would rather do what I am good at, as long as I can. Time would come when I have to decide, but right now I feel capable that I can still do it," he said.

"At the end of the day, Test cricket is the purest form of the game. Everybody wants to play Test cricket. I want to play Test cricket until I die, seriously. It is one format of the game where I don't feel like anybody can come out there and dominate. If you want to give up something it would be T20s and one-dayers," he added.

Indian bowlers tend to lose pace over time and Steyn said, "Conditions definitely help. If you are playing in the right conditions, there is always motivation to bowl fast. If you are playing in the wrong condition then you want to be a batsman."

India tour South Africa for a three-match Test series later this year and asked how the current crop of players would fare, Steyn said, "Hopefully not as well as they fare here in India. I am going to be biased obviously.

"I love playing against them. Most of them are good mates of mine. I have played with Virat (Kohli) and Shikhar (Dhawan), I don't know (Cheteshwar) Pujara that well but he seems like a good kid, a good guy. They are good players and they would adjust and cope and handle the conditions. But hopefully I would like to get an edge over them," he added.

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of MS Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves.

"You watch MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career," he added.

Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, but he truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005 when he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Vishakapatnam.

He is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He first led an inexperienced Indian side to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. He then took over ODI captaincy, but he had to wait for leading the Test side as Anil Kumble was doing the duties in the longest format.

Over his career, Dhoni has been reowned for his finishing skills and he is often viewed as the best finisher that the game has ever seen.

In December 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Then in 2017, Dhoni handed over the captaincy reins to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni recently had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place in the list of BCCI's centrally contracted players from October 2019 to September 2020.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Sydney, Feb 22: India's demolition of a formidable Australia in the Women's T20 World Cup opener will give them a huge boost going forward, said star batswoman Mithali Raj, who also lauded leggie Poonam Yadav for her magical performance.

Poonam took four for 19 to help India complete a 17-run victory against defending champions Australia on Friday.

"Everyone has been talking about how much batting depth Australia have, yet they couldn't chase 132," Raj, a former India Test and ODI captain, said in an ICC release.

"India will take so much confidence from that victory, but this World Cup is still very open. The match between Australia and India proved how competitive the tournament will be. It proves it does not matter where you stand in the ICC rankings.

"We will be seeing more of the same drama yet. This victory proves every team has a chance," said Raj, who has retired from T20 cricket.

The 37-year-old veteran batswoman said "the opening match definitely lived up to the hype of the tournament".

"It was a whirlwind. There were so many ups and downs. It was a great start to the tournament not only because India beat the defending champions on home soil, but also because of how the game progressed altogether.

"At no point could you say it was going in one side's favour. First we saw our early wickets fall, then we recovered and Australia had to chase 132 before their middle-order collapsed. India and Australia both took the game their own way at different points which made it fascinating for spectators to watch."

Raj said Poonam's spell was the turning point.

"She's been one of the main spinners for India for quite some time now, and her style worked again. Getting their (Australia's) middle-order out really titled the match towards India, she was brilliant.

"Although we recovered our innings through Deepti Sharma and her partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues, it was Poonam's flurry of wickets against Australia's megastars, which completely changed the game," Raj said.

Raj also praised 16-year-old Shafali Verma for scoring 29 off 15 on her World Cup debut.

"Shafali Verma impressed me too on her debut. She gave India's middle order the cushioning they needed to regain momentum. Verma has stuck with stroke play that she demonstrated in the tri-series," she said.

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