Paes, Bopanna fail to create magic; leave India trailing 1-2

September 19, 2015

New Delhi, Sep 19: Leander Paes, partnering Rohan Bopanna, suffered a rare doubles defeat in the Davis Cup as Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek gave Czech Republic a 2-1 lead over India in the World Group play-off tie, here today.

paesIt was one rubber in which India entered as favourites but the fancied team were tamed by the Czechs 5-7 2-6 2–6 in two hours and 10 minutes.

It was Paes' only second defeat in a Davis Cup doubles in the last 15 years. The last defeat had also come with Bopanna against Uzbekistan in an away tie in 2012.

It was also the first defeat for Paes in a home tie since 2000 when he and Syed Fazluddin had lost to Lebanon's Ali Hamdeh and Jicham Zaatini in Lucknow.

Paes, who won US Open mixed doubles last week, had joined the team only on Wednesday for the tie while other players had started to assemble from Saturday. Paes had only two practice sessions with Bopanna after his arrival.

The result leaves Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri with a daunting task of winning both the reverse singles tomorrow if India are to re-enter the elite 16-nation World Group.

Yuki will take on left-hander Jiri Vesley in the fourth rubber while Somdev will clash with big-hitting Lukas Rosol in the fifth match.

Bopanna, world number 13 in doubles rankings, was rusty today as he lacked control over his shots and there was no sting in his serve either.

Bopanna struggled to keep the ball in the court, which cost India dearly. Most of the half-volley pick ups Bopanna made went outside the lines. Even as he improved his serve in the third set but India could never recover.

On the other hand, Adam packed a lot of punch in his shots with impressive hand and eye co-ordination. His returns were solid and at net too he was a delight to watch. He hardly missed a shot and was a winner in his duels with both Paes and Bopanna.

In each set, Indians were first to lose serve and the Czech took full advantage of their lead.

Paes was more in control of his shots and made less errors than his compatriot.

Paes dropped his serve four times in the match and Bopanna thrice. Stepanek, who won two Grand Slams with Paes, was solid his service games and the Czechs lost serve only twice, both times Pavlasek failed to hold.

The Indian duo was always playing catch up after Bopanna lost his serve in the fifth game of the opening set. His backhand went soaring over the baseline that put the Indians down by a breakpoint. The Czechs capitalised on another error from the Indian.

Supported by thousands of fans, who braved blazing sun, the Indians managed to get the break back when they broke Pavlasek but Paes dropped his own to trail again. It was an engrossing rally from right behind the net between Pavlasek and Bopanna with the Czech coming out on top with a deft volley.

Radek served out the set comfortably as Paes’ attempted lob went out. The support of the Indian hockey team from the stands did not change the fortunes of the hosts.

Paes lost his second consecutive game as Pavlasek yet again showed terrific hands, winning his second duel with Bopanna, who sent a forehand volley out.

Pavlasek hit a cross-court winner to earn the Czechs two break points on Bopanna’s serve in the fifth game. They saved both but Bopanna smashed an overhead volley into the net, facing the third chance.

The young Czech lost his serve immediately after that but Paes surrendered his won and Stepanek served out the Czechs to a 2-0 lead.

The third set was same story as Bopanna handed advantage to the visitors by dropping serve in fifth game. There was little drama in that game as the Indians thought they have got the game point at 40-30 but the Czech team challenged the call and called it right. It was deuce.

Pavlasek was at it again and this time Paes was at receiving end. The young lad pipped the seasoned in another net battle.

Indians managed to save two breakpoints in that game but Paes hit a volley out in the third. Another error from Paes in the seventh game gave the Czechs their second break and it was over for India in the next game as Stepanek served out the set and match.

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News Network
June 24,2020

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.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Mumbai, Mar 3: India on Tuesday retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings despite a dismal Test series against New Zealand.

India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points. The 0-2 result against New Zealand was India's first series loss in the World Test Championship.

Kohli remains in second position in the batting rankings despite a forgettable Test series in which he made 38 runs in four innings, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Blundell and his Indian counterpart Prithvi Shaw and debutant paceman Kyle Jamieson were among the biggest movers in the rankings, released on Tuesday.

Blundell had a successful series against India, scoring 117 runs in four innings, with one half-century, which put him among the top two run-scorers in the series.

The performance meant he was rewarded with a jump of 27 places to No. 46. Shaw, who returned for his first series since his Test debut against West Indies in 2018, and made a punchy 54 in the first innings of the Christchurch Test, rose 17 places to No.76.

Australia's Steve Smith retained his top spot, holding a 25-point advantage over Kohli. Smith's apprentice Marnus Labuschagne jumped one spot to round off the top three, taking the place of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India opener Mayank Agarwal moved a spot each and swapped places to break into and fall out of the top 10 respectively.

Among bowlers, Tim Southee's Player of the Series winning performance against India took him into the top five, with a jump of two places to No.4, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult returned to the top 10, gaining four places each to occupy the seventh and ninth positions respectively.

But the biggest gainer was Jamieson, who rose from No. 80 to 43.

There was only one change in the top ten among all-rounders, with Southee dropping a spot to No.10 and team-mate Neil Wagner falling out of the top 10 with a drop of four spots.

As with the bowling rankings, Jamieson, who frustrated India with handy lower order runs, gained big on the all-rounders' table, rising 26 places to No. 22.

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