Dhawan, Jadeja and Kohli are India's nucleus for 2015 WC: Bedi

June 24, 2013

Dhawan_KohliNew Delhi, Jun 24: Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi on Monday hailed the brilliant performance of the Indian team in the Champions Trophy and said the "nucleus" of the squad that will represent India in the 2015 World Cup is ready.

"This tournament has given us an idea about what will be Indian team's nucleus during 2015 World Cup. Shikhar (Dhawan), Virat (Kohli), Jadeja (Ravindra) and Suresh Raina will form the core of Dhoni's team for the World Cup Down Under," Bedi said during an interview.

The legendary left-arm spinner, however, cautioned that one shouldn't get carried away as this is the time to build upon this stupendous show.

"Let's not get carried away by this performance. They are deserving winners no doubt but we need to build upon this victory. We shouldn't bring the team down if they lose a few matches. The best part was that same XI played throughout the tournament and it happens when a team is full of self-belief," the 66-year-old former spinner observed.

The stand-out player in the tournament, according to Bedi, has been Jadeja, who has shown "remarkable temperament".

"Jadeja has been outstanding in the tournament. He has improved by leaps and bounds in the last two years. He bowled brilliantly throughout the tournament and contributed with the bat when the team needed him the most. It seems that he has worked a lot on his game. He has shown remarkable temperament in," Bedi said.

For Bedi, the key factor in winning the Champions Trophy has been the performance of the Indian bowling unit which has made the difference.

"The trio of Bhuvneshwar (Kumar), Ishant (Sharma) and Umesh (Yadav) should be praised for their performance. The bowlers made a worthwhile effort and took the bulk of the burden. Such was their performance that there was no place in the playing XI for boys like Vinay (Kumar) and Irfan (Pathan), who were equally deserving," he explained.

"If you look at how the team performed, the middle-order wasn't tested at all during the entire duration of the tournament until the final which turned into a T20 affair. I am a firm believer that T20 is a game of lottery," Bedi said.

Bedi made an interesting observation about the match and the composition of the England squad.

"England team went into the toss thinking about 50-over game and it turned out to be a T20. Now the playing XI is not exactly what England prefers when they play the shortest version. Cook doesn't play T20, nor does Trott. Now the moment it became T20, the plans went haywire," Bedi explained.

Someone who is not known to mince words, Bedi however didn't make any comments about the future of the famed quartet of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

"I can't comment on their future and it's not for me or you to assess where these guys see themselves in the current scenario. I believe they are the best judge when it comes to knowing where they stand right now," he concluded.

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Agencies
March 25,2020

Lausanne, Mar 25: The World Archery has hailed as a 'brave decision' the International Olympic Committee (IOC) move to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until next year due to coronavirus pandemic.

"We commend the conscientious and brave decision taken by Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee to delay this summer's Games in the face of an unprecedented challenge to humanity," Ugur Erdener, the World Archery president, said in an official statement.

The decision to postpone the Summer Olympics was confirmed by the IOC, on Tuesday, after the organising body for the event and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to reschedule the quadrennial event in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is not an easy situation, especially for the athletes who had been training hard for Tokyo 2020. I hope that everyone understands why this decision has been made and I urge archers around the world to retain hope and reset for this new timetable," he added.

The IOC has, however, said that the original name of Tokyo 2020 will remain intact irrespective of the fact that it will take place next year.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

London, May 31: "Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli," replied umpire Ian Gould when he was asked to name the three best batsmen he loved watching when he was officiating as an umpire.

The former ICC elite umpire said that he was unlucky to not watch Ponting bat as much as he would have liked to.

"Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And probably Virat. I was unlucky in some respects. I didn't see the best of Ricky Ponting. He was an outstanding character, outstanding captain, such a proud Australian," ESPNCricinfo quoted Gould as saying.

"But his career was just starting to wane as I came on the scene. But he was incredibly helpful, so I'm disappointed I have to leave him out. Jacques Kallis, I could sit and watch all day, Virat, the same. And Sachin, if you want someone to bat for your life, he was the man," he added.

Gould had retired from the ICC's panel of elite umpires in 2019, after standing in more than 250 international matches over a 13-year career.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been 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 has 70 centuries across all formats.

While, Kallis played 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20Is for South Africa and he is often viewed as the greatest all-rounder the game has seen.

Many pundits of the game find it hard to pick between him and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Across his career, Kallis scored 25,534 runs in his career and he also managed to take 577 wickets.

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News Network
February 2,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 2: India registered a rare 5-0 whitewash against New Zealand after notching up a seven-run win in the fifth and final T20 International at Bay Oval here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, India posted 163 for three, riding on Rohit Sharma's 60 off 41 balls and a 33-ball 45 from K L Rahul.

The visitors then restricted the hosts to 156 for nine with Jasprit Bumrah claiming three wickets for 12 runs.

Chasing the target, the Black Caps were tottering at 17 for three in 3.2 overs.

Tim Seifert (50) and Ross Taylor (53) then added 99 runs for the fourth wicket as New Zealand recovered to 116.

Seifert clobbered a 30-ball 50 studded with five fours and three sixes, while Ross Taylor hit two sixes and five fours in his 47-ball 53-run innings.

However, once Seifert was dismissed in the 13th over, the hosts suffered a collapse, losing five wickets, including Taylor, for 25 runs to loss the plot in the end.

Brief Score:

India: 163 for 3 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 60; S Kuggeleijn 2/25)    

New Zealand: 156 for 9 in 20 overs (Ross Taylor 53, Tim Seifert 50; Jasprit Bumrah 3/12).

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