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Ravindra Jadeja is the most valued cricketer at the moment: Kapil Dev

July 21, 2013

Ravindra_JadejaKolkata, Jul 21: Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev on Saturday credited Ravindra Jadeja for the recent success of the Indian cricket team and termed the Saurashtra player the "most valued cricketer" presently.

"Since he (Jadeja) came in, it made so much difference to the team. He is the most valued cricketer at the moment," Kapil said.

Kapil said Jadeja was a great asset to the team with his impressive bowling, batting and sharp fielding.

"In last one year, he has established himself more than an all-rounder. He was the one who lifted the fielding, he not only set the standards he lift the standards.

"Good to see a player of his calibre who can play and win matches with his batting, bowling and on top of that with his fielding. Hats off to him. It's great to have a player of his ability in the team," the 1983 World Cup winning skipper said on the sidelines of Cricket Association of Bengal's annual awards ceremony.

Having seen the youngsters perform during India's successful Champions Trophy campaign, the cricketer-turned-commentator said the gen next did not let anybody feel the absence of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir.

"When you did not have the big players who had served the country so well, and you don't miss them that means the next generation has arrived. I am not saying we don't miss the big names anymore but what I'm saying is that the young cricketers are playing so well that we did not miss the big guns," he said.

Talking about 2015 World Cup, Kapil said the youth brigade can successfully defend their title in Australia.

"It's too early to say that how many will be fit enough to play in the tournament. But, yes we have enough young boys who can play the next World Cup and win it and that's important," he said.

Equally effusive in his praise for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kapil said it was tougher than during his time to win the World Cup.

Asked to compare the two victories of 1983 and 2011, Kapil said: "This one. Tomorrow, it will be more difficult. The reason is obvious. Life gets tougher, so in future it would be more tough. It won't be easy. Next generation is always much more harder and tougher."

"Everybody knows that he's done wonderfully well for himself and the team. Yes, he is one of the best captains and we should respect that. When you ask such question, you have a doubt in your mind. I have no doubts, I don't talk about him. He's the best captain at the moment. We should just say that he is the captain," Kapil replied when asked if Dhoni was the all time best.

On Virat Kohli being the future captain, the all-rounder said: "As long Dhoni is there, we should not talk about any other person. If we have a captain, we should respect him. The day selectors think it's time to change then we should talk about it. I will not about Kohli at all."

Kapil said the Indian opening duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who were struggling to make a comeback should not lose hope and work harder.

"If Gambhir or Sehwag think that they cannot come back then they should pack up and go back home and sleep. A sportsman is a fighter and takes up the challenge," he said.

On the contentious DRS use, Kapil said: "Let's not make it more complicated. ICC is doing their job. We cannot make everybody happy. But if we have to accept something, most should be happy."

Doping is the latest to hit Indian cricket and Kapil urged the likes of Pradeep Sangwan, who failed a random dope test in IPL 6, to learn from others' mistakes.

"I don't talk negatives. If the young boys cannot learn from other people's mistakes then it's a sad thing. Whatever happened I don't know. I just want to wish everybody good luck."

On spot-fixing he said: "If you play good cricket, a lot of bad things get hidden. But we don't want to hide anything. We should have clean cricket as this country loves the game more than anything else. It's the only thing that can unite the country."

Kapil further showered praise on Kolkata saying that the passion of the city for cricket matches that of Brazil in football.

"Kolkata is a very joyful city. People of the city are mad, they are crazy, you can put it anyway. Either they can love you or hate you. This city has a charm of its own. It's unmatched and can compare this with the football fervour in Brazil," he said.

The chief guest of the CAB awards ceremony, Kapil further thanked the interim BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya and hailed him as the most sought after cricket administrator in the country.

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News Network
May 13,2020

May 13: With the Olympics postponed due to the coronavirus, top Japanese fencer Ryo Miyake has swapped his metal mask and foil for a bike and backpack as a Tokyo UberEats deliveryman.

The 29-year-old, who won silver in the team foil at the 2012 London Olympics and was itching to compete in a home Games, says the job keeps him in shape physically and mentally -- and brings in much-needed cash.

"I started this for two reasons -- to save money for travelling (to future competitions) and to keep myself in physical shape," he told AFP.

"I see how much I am earning on the phone, but the number is not just money for me. It's a score to keep me going."

Japanese media have depicted Miyake as a poor amateur struggling to make ends meet but he himself asked for his three corporate sponsorships to be put on hold -- even if that means living off savings.

Like most of the world's top athletes, he is in limbo as the virus forces competitions to be cancelled and plays havoc with training schedules.

"I don't know when I can resume training or when the next tournament will take place. I don't even know if I can keep up my mental condition or motivation for another year," he said.

"No one knows how the qualification process will go. Pretending everything is OK for the competition is simply irresponsible."

In the meantime, he is happy criss-crossing the vast Japanese capital with bike and smartphone, joining a growing legion of Uber delivery staff in demand during the pandemic.

"When I get orders in the hilly Akasaka, Roppongi (downtown) district, it becomes good training," he smiles.

The unprecedented postponement of the Olympics hit Miyake hard, as he was enjoying a purple patch in his career.

After missing out on the Rio 2016 Olympics, Miyake came 13th in last year's World Fencing Championships -- the highest-ranked Japanese fencer at the competition.

The International Olympics Committee has set the new date for the Olympics on July 23, 2021.

But with no vaccine available for the coronavirus that has killed nearly 300,000 worldwide, even that hangs in the balance.

Miyake said the Japanese fencing team heard about the postponement the day after arriving in the United States for one of the final Olympic qualifying events.

With his diary suddenly free of training and competition, he said he spent the month of April agonising over what to do before hitting on the Uber idea.

"Sports and culture inevitably come second when people have to survive a crisis," he said.

"Is the Olympics really needed in the first place? Then what do I live for if not for the sport? That is what I kept thinking."

However, the new and temporary career delivering food in Tokyo has given the fencer a new drive to succeed.

"The most immediate objective for me is to be able to start training smoothly" once the emergency is lifted, he said.

"I need to be ready physically and financially for the moment. That is my biggest mission now."

But not all athletes may cope mentally with surviving another "nerve-wracking" pre-Olympic year, he said.

"It's like finally getting to the end of a 42-kilometre marathon and then being told you have to keep going."

As a child, Miyake practised his attacks on every wall of his house -- and he said his passion for the sport was what was driving him now.

"I love fencing. I want to be able to travel for matches and compete in the Olympics. That is the only reason I am doing this."

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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News Network
January 30,2020

Hamilton, Jan 30: Caught unaware about the Super Over scenario, Rohit Sharma took five minutes to “find” his abdomen guard after the third T20 International against New Zealand had ended in a tie on Wednesday.

The India vice-captain said the team had almost given up with New Zealand going great guns at one point.

“Everything was packed. All my stuff was inside my bag. I had to get it out. It literally took me five minutes to find my abdomen guard because I didn’t know where it was,” Rohit said.

“I mean we never thought it would go to the Super Over, the way they were batting at one point. It looked like they could easily win the game,” he added.

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