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Sangakkara wants Sri Lanka to play with arrogance vs India

[email protected] (Agencies)
June 6, 2017

London, Jun 6: Sri Lanka must defy favourites India with grit and arrogance of youth in their must-win ICC Champions Trophy match, former captain Kumar Sangakkara has said.sangakkara

After being thrashed by South Africa, Sri Lanka find themselves in a do-or-die situation ahead of the match on Thursday.

"I would personally like this young Sri Lanka side to walk out at The Oval and play with the arrogance and abandon of youth. They should express their talent and play a really positive brand of cricket," Sangakkara wrote in his column for the ICC.

"If they are able to do this, then they have a chance of pulling off an upset, but it will not be easy an India team that so confidently overwhelmed Pakistan on Sunday."

In a blow to the Island nation, captain Upul Tharanga has been suspended for two matches due to serious over-rate offence and prolific Angelo Mathews is also doubtful due to fitness issues.

Sangakkara said it's not an ideal situation for Sri Lanka.

"If Angelo Mathews is deemed unavailable for this vital clash, it could severely hamper the team? chances of winning against India. Even if Angelo is considered fit, the threat of slow over-rate will be a major concern. Having Tharanga suspended is a huge waste," the former captain wrote.

Sangakkara laid the blame with seniors for Tharanga's ill-timed suspension.

"With quite an experienced and senior bowling attack led by Lasith Malinga, a team constituting two spinners, it is unacceptable that Sri Lanka was over by 39 minutes.

"Even though the captain is penalised more for such offences, it should be the responsibility of senior bowlers to push themselves to properly address and rectify the situation. The wicket-keeper and fielders also have to play their part with sustained urgency."

Sangakkara also felt that taking wickets in the first 10 overs will be crucial for Sri Lanka against India.

He is also pleased with the way Indian bowling, especially the pacers, has improved.

"India? bowling has been a revelation in recent years in the sense that, while earlier its strength laid in the spinners it had in its ranks, right now it also has a varied and highly effective pace attack."

The former opener said despite defeat, Sri Lanka had a lot to take from the defeat against the Proteas and it definitely has in it to shock India.

"Sri Lanka will have to regroup and rethink its make-up and strategy, and take heart from the few positives from their outing against South Africa, in particular a strong fielding effort, smart execution of bowling, and the flamboyance of Niroshan Dickwella.

"It will be looking as a team to execute its basics as soundly as well as it can, hoping that when coupled with its individual skill and talent, this will suffice to beat India," he concluded.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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News Network
March 13,2020

Mar 13: The start of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world's most lucrative cricket competition, has been postponed from March 29 until April 15 over the coronavirus, the Indian cricket board said Friday.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation," the BCCI said in a statement.

The two-month Twenty20 competition is estimated to generate more than $11 billion for the Indian economy and involves cricket's top international stars.

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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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