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Shoaib Akhtar tells Pakistan Cricket Board to stop running after India

September 12, 2013

Shoaib_AkhtarKarachi, Sep 12: Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar says instead of running after the BCCI for normalising cricket ties, the Pakistan Cricket Board should focus on converting the national team into a world class side.

The Indian government has rejected visa applications of the players of Pakistani side Faisalabad Wolves, which was to play in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

"I am not surprised that the Indians have not issued visas to the Faisalabad Wolves team for the Champions League. The fact is that until and unless we have normal and friendly relations at the government to government level why do we expect the Indian cricket board to be supportive.

"I have always said that we don't need to run after India all the time and we need to stop begging on different issues whether it is resumption of bilateral cricket ties, allowing our players for the IPL or our team for the Champions League," Akhtar said.

The outspoken fast bowler said that BCCI simply followed the policy of its government when it came to Pakistan.

"We should have never expected them to issue visas for the Faisalabad team. When they first invited us we should have taken a bold stance and said 'thank you'. When will we as a nation or board show some self respect and pride in our stance towards India," he told a TV channel.

Akhtar said it was time that PCB start making efforts to develop the national side into a strong team.

"(what we will lose?) A few hundred thousand dollars. But it is time we stopped going after India all the time. We need to start setting our house in order and strengthening our own domestic cricket and infrastructure.

"We need to concentrate on building up our cricket structure and building up a world class side. When we have a world class side everyone will not only want to play against us but on our terms as well," he said.

"There is no doubt that the standard of cricket has not only gone down in Pakistan but even worldwide. But in Pakistan we are facing problems because we haven't had a bold captain like Imran Khan for years now and we are not facing role model players who serve as inspiration to others," Akhtar added.

He said that Indian cricket had progressed not because of the IPL but because of just one man…Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"Dhoni may not be as good looking as Imran but he has all the qualities of Imran as a captain and player and he has given their cricket a new direction and life. He has turned Indian cricket around."

He also lashed out at the ICC and member boards for not realising that there was urgent need to inject money into Test and one-day international cricket.

"These were the formats which are real cricket and these were formats where players should be earning more money but instead the money was injected into T20 cricket and the IPL has taken the lead in this," he said.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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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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