Rishabh Pant has technical issues in keeping wickets: Engineer

Agencies
January 10, 2019

Mumbai, Jan 10: Rishabh Pant might have created a new record for an Indian wicket keeper by taking 11 catches in a Test in Australia, but former stumper Farokh Engineer says the Delhi youngster has a lot of technical problems in his primary job, while praising the left hander's batting heroics.

Engineer said Pant reminds him of his young days.

"His approach is same as M S Dhoni's. But don't praise him sky-high at the moment. Encourage him. (But) He's technically so incorrect," said the one-time flamboyant wicket keeper batsman at Legends Club's talk show at the Cricket Club of India here Wednesday evening.

Pant had also scored a blazing hundred, the first by an Indian wicket keeper in Australia, in the drawn final Test at Sydney to top his record number of catches behind the stumps in the first match of the series at Adelaide.

Pant's flamboyant batting exploits, however, have impressed Engineer so much that he wondered how the Indian selectors can afford to leave him out in favour of the seasoned Dhoni for this year's World Cup in England.

"Question is, for the World Cup will you pick Dhoni? How can you drop Pant? He's done so well. These are the questions for the selectors the three selectors who between them must have played one and a half Tests," he said, before he was corrected that there was a five-man selection panel now with two more additions to the list.

"I don't want to sound harsh. Give him time. He (Pant) will improve. I wish I could have a couple of times with him to make him a good wicket keeper," said Engineer.

Explaining further, Engineer said Pant snatches the ball, gets up too early and does not move his feet.

"A good wicket keeper moves his feet, goes to the ball and does not dive all the time; uses his feet all the time," the Mumbai-born stumper of the 1960s and 1970s said.

"He's young he will learn from mistakes. Wicket- keeping is not taught, it's a natural thing. He has to iron out certain elementary things. I love his approach, but the way he got out in the first Test when India were in trouble," he said.

" He got out to a stupid shot. If he had done that in our time he would not have played another Test. But he buckled down later. He's such a good, natural player. I wish him all the luck. I am sure his wicket keeping will improve," he said.

"Dhoni was the same, was dropping straight forward balls. Sachin (Tendulkar) brought him over to me in England when I was commentating for ESPN. I said what do you do and he said - I see the ball, take my eyes off it anticipating it to come into the gloves and I said 'you should watch the ball right till it comes into the glove'," said Engineer.

Engineer said currently there were hardly any stumpers who make the teams on the strength of their wicket keeping abilities but rather as batsmen who could keep wickets.

"There are no wicket-keeper batsmen; all are batsmen-wicket keepers who can score runs and also keep wickets. In Test cricket you can't afford to drop a catch. It does not come often," he said.

He also praised the Indian team for creating history by becoming the first from the subcontinent to claim a Test series win (2-1) on Australian soil.

"I had a lovely text message from (chief coach of team) Ravi Shastri when I sent a congratulatory message. He has done a terrific job. He, Virat Kohli, our pace bowlers and how can I forget (Cheteshwar) Pujara? He's a stone-waller - the get-me-out, come-to-me sort of (batsman). He tired out all the (Australian) bowlers. People like Pant and Virat capitalised on the tired bowlers," he said.

"And Australia were without (the banned Steve) Smith and (David) Warner. But it was not our fault they were not available. All credit to our team, specially the pace bowlers.

They achieved something which we couldn't. But we played against some khadoos (stubborn) elevens and most of these players would not make those teams," Engineer remarked.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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News Network
June 30,2020

Malabar, Jun 30: I-League club Gokulam Kerala's former assistant manager Muhammad Alloush on Monday died due to COVID-19. He was 44.

Alloush, who was with the football club in its inaugural season, was working as technical director at Egyptian club Tanta SC at the time of his demise.

Alloush's mother had also succumbed due to the deadly virus earlier.

"We're deeply saddened by the death of our former assistant manager Muhammad Alloush, aged 44, after contracting Covid_19. The thoughts of everybody at Gokulam Kerala Football Club are with Alloush's family and friends at this sad time. Rest in peace, Alloush," Gokulam Kerala FC tweeted.

Meanwhile, with a spike of 18,522 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus count stands at 5,66,840, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry, 418 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours. The number of deaths in the country now stands at 16,893.

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