Our batsmen play ODIs like Tests, says Zaheer Abbas

June 11, 2013

Zaheer_AbbasKarachi, Jun 11: Former cricketers and fans on Tuesday lamented Pakistan's woeful batting performance in their Champions Trophy defeat to South Africa which left them on the point of crashing out of the tournament.

Pakistan were bowled out for 167 in their crucial clash at Birmingham's Edgbaston ground, chasing a modest 234 against a weakened South African bowling attack missing the injured Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.

Only captain Misbah-ul Haq (55) and Nasir Jamshed (42) crossed double figures, while top order batsmen Imran Farhat (four runs in two matches), Mohammad Hafeez (11), Shoaib Malik (nought and eight) and Kamran Akmal (two and nought) flopped miserably.

Pakistan's chances of reaching the semifinal now hang by a thread. They must beat arch-rivals India in their last group game on Saturday and hope other results go their way.

Former captain Zaheer Abbas said the side's failings with the bat were all too familiar and urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to come up with a proper strategy to address the problem.

He said the batsmen looked nervous both against South Africa and in the first game against the West Indies, when they were skittled out for 170 inside their 50 overs.

"I don't know why our batsmen were in awe of the West Indian and South African bowlers, why fear set in is unfathomable," said Abbas, once dubbed the "Asian Bradman" for his prowess at the crease.

"Our batsmen play Tests like one-day and one-day like Tests," said Abbas.

"We have to change the attitude of our batsmen and for that we need to have a good and able batting coach. Batsmen get out but they should be taught to fight."

Former spinner Tauseef Ahmed said the batsmen lacked guts.

"We are now used to of defeats, used to batting failures because this has been going on for quite some time now," said Ahmed. "Batsmen not performing at international level is disappointing."

Fans on the street were left shattered.

"Our batsmen let us down, but this has been going on," said Saqib Murad, a student in Karachi. "We must do something otherwise people will lose interest in the game."

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News Network
April 12,2020

Mumbai, Apr 12: Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries.

In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars.

A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session.

It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service.

During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said.

Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Hampshire, Jul 31: David Willey's maiden five-wicket haul guided England to a six-wicket victory over Ireland in the first ODI here on Friday.

With this win, the hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

Chasing a small target of 173 runs, England got off to a bad start as opener Jonny Bairstow was given LBW in the third over, bowled by Andy McBrine. Jason Roy was then joined by James Vince and the duo added 22 runs on the board before the former was dismissed.

Craig Young then got hold of Vince, who was caught behind after scoring 25 runs. Sam Billings and Tom Banton then took the charge of the chase but the latter too was caught behind which ended his 11-run innings.

Banton's dismissal brought skipper Eoin Morgan on the field. Billings and Morgan played stunning innings and kept scoring boundaries. Morgan struck a scintillating six on the last bowl of the 28th over to take England over the line. Morgan scored 36 runs while Billings played a knock of 67 runs.

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Ireland witnessed a poor start as Paul Stirling was dismissed in the very first over of the innings, bowled by Willey. Andy Balbirnie then joined Gareth Delany but Willey struck again in his next over, removing Balbirnie.

Delany then played furiously and smashed three consecutive boundaries to Saqib Mahmood in the fourth over. However, the fall of wickets did not stop as England took three wickets in quick succession. Mahmood bowled Harry Tector while Delany and Lorcan Tucker were sent back to the pavilion by Willey.

Kevin O'Brien and Curtis Campher then took the charge and played cautiously, taking their struggling side over the 50-run mark. Adil Rashid got hold of O'Brien (22) in the 22nd over before Simranjit Singh was run out in the same over.

Andy McBrine was the next batsman and he played brilliantly along with Campher, who went on to complete his half-century. Both formed a 66-run partnership before McBrine (40) was dismissed by Tom Curran.

Campher remained unbeaten on 59 but failed to find a partner as England bundled out Ireland on 172 runs.

The second ODI between both teams will be played on Saturday.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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