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Kohli becomes number-one ranked ODI batsman

November 4, 2013

KohliDubai, Nov 4: Virat Kohli today became the number one batsman in One-day cricket after a superb batting show against Australia in the just-concluded series, in which he scored 344 runs.

Kohli had scores of 61 (in Pune), 100 not out (in Jaipur), 68 (in Mohali), 115 not out (in Nagpur) and 0 (in Bengaluru).

This gave the 24-year-old a series aggregate of 344 runs at an average of 114.66, and a reward of 38 ratings points which helped him to jump three places to top of the ICC ranking table for ODI batsmen.

He has achieved the number-one spot for the first time in his career, just a few days before his 25th birthday.

Kohli has now become the third India batsman to hold the number-one batting rank in ODI cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni.

Tendulkar first claimed the number one position when he took over from Brian Lara in February 1996. He was last number one in March 2008.

Dhoni first reached number one when he took over from Ricky Ponting in April 2006. He was last ranked number one in July 2010.

Kohli now leads South Africa’s Hashim Amla by 13 ratings points. Amla had been holding the coveted number-one position since November 2010. Kohli is not the only batsman who has gained in the latest rankings, which were released today.

Australian skipper George Bailey jumped six places to claim the number-three position for the first time in his career. Bailey scored 478 runs with a century and three half-centuries to earn 121 ratings points, which, in turn, has put him on a career-best 835 ratings points alongside a career-best ranking to-date.

India’s Shikhar Dhawan has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career after he jumped 12 places to claim 11th position in the batting chart. The left-handed opener scored 284 runs at an average of 56.8.

Dhawan’s opening partner Rohit Sharma has also achieved a career-best ranking of 15th after finishing as the leading run-getter in the series, with 491 runs at an average of 122.75, including 209 in the final ODI on Saturday.

Rohit’s results have earned him 102 ratings points and a leap of 25 places.

Rohit is now India’s fifth batsman to feature inside the top 20, with the others being Kohli (first), MS Dhoni (sixth), Dhawan (11th) and Suresh Raina (19th).

The other big movers in the series were Australia’s trio of Glenn Maxwell in 38th spot (up by 47 places), Adam Voges in 59th (up by 11 places) and James Faulkner in 61st (up by 77 places).

In the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal has regained the number-one position, while Jadeja has slipped two places to finish in third spot.

Saeed had trailed Jadeja by 10 ratings points before the start of the series and, while the India spinner took eight wickets in the series against Australia, the Pakistan bowler has claimed six wickets in two ODIs against South Africa so far.

The biggest movers in what has been a difficult series for the bowlers are Vinay Kumar, Faulker and Mohammad Shami.

Kumar's seven wickets in the series have given him a lift of nine places into 61st position, while Faulker and Shami took seven wickets apiece and are now in 62 and 64th spots, respectively.

In the Rankings for ODI all-rounders, Watson and Jadeja have slipped one place each. The list is headed by Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan.

The 3-2 series win for India means that it continues to sit on top of ODI Team Rankings with Australia in second position, nine ratings points behind.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

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.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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