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Nidahas Trophy 2018: Fortunate to have skills of bowling in powerplay, says Sundar

Agencies
March 15, 2018

Colombo, Mar 15: Washington Sundar has been phenomenal in the powerplay during the ongoing Nidahas Trophy Tri-series and the young-off spinner said he is fortunate to have the skill set to bowl during this crucial period of the game.

The 18-year-old lanky spinner has come of age in this tournament and is the most penetrative bowler on display with seven wickets to his kitty, including three against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Besides, Sundar is the most economical bowler in the tournament with an impressive economy rate of 5.87 runs an over -- surprisingly 11 of his 16 overs have been bowled in the powerplay.

While Sundar admitted that it is a challenge for a spinner to bowl in the powerplay, but the key to success is to face those challenges and overcome them.

"It is definitely a challenging thing but that is what you play cricket for. When you get an opportunity to represent your country you need to face those challenges. When you win those challenges you get a lot of satisfaction," he said.

"I have to admit that I am very fortunate I have got this skill. It's more of reading the batsman's mind, especially in the powerplays because every six balls, they will be looking to hit you out. So it's important to read the mind.

"I myself being a batsman to an extent I can at least suspect what he is thinking or where he is going to hit me," Sundar said at the post-match press conference last night after India beat Bangladesh by 17 runs to seal their place in Sunday's final.

Asked about the mantra behind his success while bowling in the powerplay periods, Sundar said: "I play a lot of league games back home. Couple of years back, we played a tournament. I used to bowl two in the powerplay and two in the death overs which was difficult. These things helped me to get better as a cricketer."

Sundar accounted for the wickets of Tamim Iqbal (27), Liton Das (7) and Soumya Sarkar (1) to wreck Bangladesh's top order. Besides, Yuzvendra Chahal also shone bright with the ball with figures of 4-0-21-1 as the two Indian spinners made merry.

"It's a very good feeling when you bowl under 6 everyday," Sundar said.

"It was very important for me and Chahal to bowl well. Our 8 overs were very important. Mine and Chahal's four overs were very crucial and both us bowled well.

"It is not an easy wicket to defend any kind of totals. You saw them (Bangladesh) chasing down 215 odd runs. So we had our plans," he added.

World cricket might be moving fast towards wristspinners, especially in white-ball cricket, but Sundar feels off-spinners have always been effective in all forms of the game.

"If you see over the years off-spinners have always been effective in all formats. It's an important skill, as good as wrist spin. It's all about reading the wicket, having good skills, it's all about improving everyday. It's important to keep working hard no matter what skill you have," he said.

Sundar feels India will win the Nidahas Trophy if they play to their potential on Sunday.

"If we could play to our potential, if we could play to our strength, if we could have another good day definitely we will win the tournament," he signed off.

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News Network
January 28,2020

New Delhi, Jan 28: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is clear that while they have no problem with the Pakistan Cricket Board hosting the 2020 edition of the Asia Cup -- set to be a preparatory ground for the T20 World Cup in Australia -- the venue needs to be a neutral one as travelling to the neighbouring country isn't an option at present.

Speaking to news agency, a BCCI official said that the hosting rights is not an issue and it is just a case of picking a neutral venue as the Indian team wouldn't be travelling to Pakistan for the T20 tournament that will see the top Asian teams in action.

"The question isn't about the PCB hosting the tournament. It is about the venue and as things stand now, it is quite clear that we would need a neutral venue. There is no way that an Indian team can visit Pakistan to even participate in a multi-nation event like the Asia Cup. If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is ok with an Asia Cup minus India then it is a different ball game. But if India is to participate in the Asia Cup, then the venue cannot be Pakistan," the official said.

In fact, issues in obtaining visa for Pakistan players to come and play the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup in India was one of the major reasons why the tournament was shifted out of the country with BCCI hosting the event in UAE.

The official said that the PCB can do just the same and host the event in a neutral venue. "A neutral venue is always an option. BCCI did it in 2018," the official pointed.

Cricket returned to Pakistan after a decade when Sri Lanka toured the nation in 2019. While Sri Lanka was the first nation to play a full series in the country, Bangladesh is currently in the country as they just finished playing three T20Is. They will play a Test from February 7 to 11 and then play a one-off ODI before playing the second Test from April 5 to 9.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on 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 currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
February 19,2020

New Delhi, Feb 19: An Indian wrestler whose family story was immortalised by Bollywood is hoping to create a blockbuster of her own by becoming her country's first world champion in the high-octane sport of mixed martial arts.

Ritu Phogat, who initially followed her father and two elder sisters into wrestling, is now charting a new path after making an explosive MMA debut in November.

Phogat's father Mahavir, and her sisters Geeta and Babita were the subject of 2016 movie "Dangal", telling the story of the wrestling coach who raised his daughters to become Commonwealth champions.

But Ritu, 25, is forging a different career. After winning her first MMA fight in less than three minutes, she will face China's Wu Chiao Chen at this month's ONE Championship fight night in Singapore, which will be held behind closed doors because of the coronavirus.

The youngest Phogat daughter is trading an attempt at an Olympic medal to tackle MMA, but she said she was attracted by the lure of making history in her new sport.

"I got a chance to train with the best in Singapore and there was no looking back," she told AFP during a promotional event in New Delhi.

"There was the 2020 Olympic Games but I thought that I would do well in mixed martial arts. I have come with an aim of becoming the first girl from India to become a world champion in mixed martial art."

The nimble but strongly built Phogat said wrestlers were a good fit for the fast-growing contact sport, which is yet to take off in India.

"Top seven champions in mixed martial arts are wrestlers, so I believe that wrestlers have an edge in this sport with their ability to take down the opponent," she said.

"It is all a matter of skill. You just have to practise hard. I think MMA is not much different from wrestling in terms of preparation.

"One has to take risks to do something new and as an athlete I am ready to embrace every challenge."

She added: "Without the support of my father and sisters I would not have been where I am. My father always taught me to be far-sighted, hard-working and with strong resolve. Three traits will take you a long way."

Phogat won 48kg gold at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship and followed it up with a silver in the under-23 world championships the next year.

"She used to watch a lot MMA and one day told me that I will win a gold in this game. So we all backed her and the result is there for everyone to see," he said.

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