Successive defeats leave Anand nervy in World Chess C'ship

Hamilton, Jan 28: No one sits on the seat that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his own in the team bus, revealed India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, saying that the talismanic former skipper is missed by the side.

In a video shot inside the team bus while it was on its way to Hamilton for the third T20 International against New Zealand, Chahal is seen talking to several members of the squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to an empty seat which, he said, was the former captain's preferred spot before he went on a sabbatical last year.

"Yeh woh seat hai jahan ek legend baithate the. Mahi bhai. Abhi bhi yaha koi nahi baithata. Hum unhe bohot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot)," Chahal said in the video posted on 'bcci.tv'.

The-38-year-old Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. Earlier this month, Dhoni was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on his future.

However, on the same day, Dhoni returned to training, batting fluently in the Jharkhand team nets.

Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

The Indian team lead the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 2-0.

Virat Kohli's men will take on the hosts in the third T20 here on Wednesday.

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

Feb 24: India captain Virat Kohli had no qualms in admitting that his team was outplayed by New Zealand in the opening Test but said they "can't help" if a few want to make a "big deal" out of the 10-wicket defeat. Hosts New Zealand thrashed India by 10 wickets at the Basin Reverse on Monday to go 1-0 ahead in the two-match series. This was India's first defeat in the World Test Championship, coming after two inept batting efforts. "We know we haven't played well but if people want to make a big deal out of it, make a mountain out of it, we can't help it as we don't think like that," the skipper said at the post-match media interaction.

Kohli said he fails to comprehend why one Test match defeat should be made to look like the end of the world for his team.

"For some people, it might be the end of the world but it's not. For us, it's a game of cricket that we lost and we move on and keep our heads high," Kohli said.

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said.

"We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said. "We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

If he had given credence to the "outside chatter", he said the team wouldn't have been where it is now.

"That's why we have been able to play this kind of cricket. If we would have paid attention to the outside chatter, we would again be at No. 7 or 8 in the rankings. We don't really bother about what people are saying on the outside," the skipper said.

One defeat can't make a team, which has been winning games of Test cricket, "bad overnight".

"If we have lost then we have no shame in accepting that. It means we didn't play this game well. It doesn't mean that we have become a bad team overnight. People might want to change our thoughts, but it doesn't work like that."

The self-belief is intact and Kohli was confident the team would come back stronger in the second Test, to be held in Christchurch in four days time.

"We will work hard, and after four days play just like we have played all these years. Just because we have lost one match in between all wins, doesn't mean that the belief is gone. The dressing room thinks differently and team atmosphere is different."

Kohli felt that there is a very thin line between being ultra-defensive and over-attacking, something that his team didn't get it right in this Test match.

"New Zealand got into the mind of the batsmen and make the batsmen do something that they don't want to. think that's a very thin line and a very delicate balance of when to attack and when to put bowlers under pressure which we failed to do in this match and there is no harm in accepting that."

According to Kohli, it was a combination of both good bowling from the Kiwis and Indian batsmen not putting the pressure back on bowlers, which led to the drubbing.

"That has got to do with partly good bowling from New Zealand and partly us not pressing that momentum on to them when required. "It was perfect for them because they bowled well and we allowed them to bowl well for longer periods rather than doing something about it in a partnership."