India crush Pakistan by 8 wickets in one-sided match

June 16, 2013

India_crush

India are on a roll and it’s going to take more than a beat Pakistan to stop them.

On a cold, windy day at Birmingham, India won the toss and chose to field first. It was a decision that surprised the experts – the pitch looked like it was slow and would get slower as the match would go on. Basically put, run-scoring would not be easy.

But India’s bowlers made the most of the rain interruptions – they kept their concentration even as the Pakistan batsmen lost their focus, to keep the opposition to 165 runs. The revised target according to the D/L method is 168, which was then further reduced to a 22-over game now and India’s target was 102.

Shikhar Dhawan (48) and Rohit Sharma (18) put on 58 runs for the first wicket and that was all India needed to do to snuff out Pakistan’s hopes.

India had already won Group B, Pakistan were already eliminated. So in the eyes of many this was a match about pride. But for India it was actually much more. It was about keeping the momentum going. So far, the conditions have favoured India – but it doesn’t take long for that to change and the confidence to drop.

So it wasn’t about bragging rights – it was really about keeping a good thing going. Asad Shafiq replaces Imran Farhat for Pakistan, which has lost both its group games, while India is unchanged after wins over South Africa and West Indies.

And once again Dhoni’s bowler’s delivered for him.

The rain interruptions – once again something that Dhoni and Fletcher had factored into their calculations saw the match being reduced to 40 overs. Batting second gave India the advantage of knowing exactly what they would need when they came out to bat.

Pakistan didn’t start off too well. They lost Nasir Jamshed in the third over to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who continues to get India early breakthroughs. But then Kamran Akmal (21) and Mohammad Hafeez (27) took the total to 50 before a stoppage due to rain.

The teams came back on before too long but Hafeez seemed less ready than most. He edged the first ball after the break to Dhoni. Replays later revealed that there was movement behind the umpire but the batsman didn’t put up his hand to stop the bowler, nor did he move away from the stumps.

Hafeez had a point but he didn’t make his move in time. His wicket was quickly followed by Kamran’s wicket as Pakistan were reduced to 56-3. They needed to rebuild and they did that through Asad Shafiq (41) and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (22) but even then, they never looked like taking the match away from India.

Umar Amin chipped in with 27 towards the end but Pakistan just didn’t look like they were ever forcing the pace or making India do anything different.

Bhuvneshwar got two wickets upfront (2-19) and then the likes of R Ashwin (2-35) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-30) ensured that the game never got away from the Indians. The bowling has once again continued to surprise and it has been backed up by some superb fielding too.

When India came out to bat, they needed to keep wickets in hand and they did that with a fair degree of ease. It’s fair to say that both, Rohit and Dhawan gave their wickets away. Pakistan did not earn them.

India would have perhaps liked Rohit to score a few more runs ahead of the semi-final on Thursday. In the end though it turned out to be one of the most one-sided India-Pakistan matches in recent times.

The India-Pakistan rivalry is fast becoming a myth and somehow Pakistan need to find some young talent to make their way back into the reckoning.

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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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News Network
April 15,2020

New Delhi, Apr 15: Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday urged people to beat coronavirus by staying at home and by maintaining social distancing. He termed the virus 'mother of all World Cups' and asked people to combat this disease together and win the World Cup of humanity.

Taking to Twitter, Shastri shared a video post where he cited cricket examples to aware people about the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. "As I would know, sports teaches you life lessons that can be applied to just about anything you want to pursue in rest of your life.

Today the COVID-19 has put us in a situation where we got our backs to the wall. To combat this coronavirus is like chasing a World Cup where you give your everything in trying to win it. What's staring you at the face is no ordinary World Cup. This is the mother of all World Cups where not just eleven are playing but 1.4 billion are in the playing arena and competing. Guys we can win this. For that, we have to observe the basics. You have got your Prime Minister leading from the front ahead of the curve like other countries have farmed out," Shastri said.

"You have to obey the orders that come from the top: be it centre, state or the frontline workers who are risking their lives. Two orders that stand out: staying home and maintaining social distancing. It is not easy but to win the game you got to go through the pain to break the chain and see the gain. Come on, guys! let's do it together. Let us get out there in a bruit force of 1.4 billion and beat this corona and get your hands on the World Cup of humanity. Let's do it," he added.

With 1,076 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 11,439, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

Out of the total tally, 9,756 cases are active while 1,306 patients have been cured/discharged and migrated. With 38 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll rises to 377.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Friday donated Rs 50 lakh to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed 17 Indian lives and wreaked havoc globally.

Tendulkar's donation is so far the biggest contribution among India's leading sportspersons, some of whom have pledged their salaries while a few others have donated medical equipment to fight the dreaded outbreak, which has caused more than 24,000 deaths globally.

"Sachin Tendulkar decided to contribute Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Chief Minister's Relief Fund in his bid to join the fight against COVID-19. It was his decision that he wanted to contribute to both funds," a source privy to the development, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Tendulkar has been associated with a lot of charity work and there has been umpteen times, he has taken up social causes, helped people, which has never been brought to public notice.

Among other prominent cricketers, the Pathan brothers -- Irfan and Yusuf -- donated 4000 face masks to Baroda police and health department while Mahendra Singh Dhoni, through a Pune based NGO, made a contribution of Rs 1 lakh.

Among athletes from other disciplines, wrestler Bajrang Punia and sprinter Hima Das are some of the prominent names to have donated their salaries in the battle against the dreaded virus which has led to a 21-day national lockdown.

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