Send SOS to Pujara, Zaheer: Sourav Ganguly

January 20, 2014

SOS_to_PujaraKolkata, Jan 20: India need Cheteshwar Pujara and Zaheer Khan in their one-day line up, former captain Sourav Ganguly said on Sunday as India began their New Zealand tour with a defeat in Napier.

Criticising Ishant's selection, Ganguly felt India leaked too many runs even as they had the "world's best" one-day batsman in Virat Kohli.

"I feel selectors should think about two players - Cheteshwar Pujara and Zaheer Khan. Pujara is the most-needed batsman in these conditions. He has adjusted well in the Test mould and I'm sure he will do well in the ODI format," Ganguly said.

"Similarly Zaheer is must-needed in the bowling attack. If he can bowl 30 overs in Tests, why can't he do that for 10 overs?" he asked.

Questioning the selection of the lanky pacer who conceded eight runs per over in the first ODI on Sunday, Ganguly quipped "Ishant Sharma remains to be an enigma to me."

"He is the seniormost Indian bowler with experience. But he has been inconsistent under pressure as Mohammad Shami has become the backbone of Indian bowling. He's no doubt the find of Indian cricket as I've said earlier," he said.

Ganguly hoped that Bengal pacer Ashoke Dinda will make a comeback after his Ranji performance this season.

"I hope Dinda will get a chance this year. He is good in his length and line."

Ganguly also hailed Kohli who scored his 18th century to keep India in the hunt in their chase of 293 before being bundled out for 268 to trail 0-1 in the five-ODI series.

"He is no doubt the best one-day batsman in the world at the moment. He has scored runs in all parts of the world. But the target proved too much in such conditions. In India, it would have been easy," Ganguly told a Bengali news channel.

Bengal might be staring at an innings defeat against Maharashtra in their Ranji semifinals in Indore, but the city's favourite cricket icon said Laxmi Ratan Shukla should not lose heart after their commendable performance in the Ranji season.

"It's really unfortunate, the match seems to have gone out of their hand. It seems toss became crucial. But they should rejoice about their performance this season. Hope they go forward from here," he said.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Mumbai, Jun 13: Vasant Raiji, who was India's oldest first-class cricketer at 100, died in Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday.

Raiji was 100 years old and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

"He (Raiji) passed away at 2.20 am in his sleep at his residence in Walkeshwar in South Mumbai due to old-age," his son-in-law Sudarshan Nanavati told PTI.

Raiji, a right-handed batsman, played nine first-class matches in the 1940s, scoring 277 runs with 68 being his highest score.

He made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939.

His Mumbai debut happened in 1941 when the team played Western India under the leadership of Vijay Merchant.

Raiji, also a cricket historian and chartered accountant, was 13 when India played its first Test match at the Bombay Gymkhana in South Mumbai.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh had paid a courtesy visit to Raiji at his residence in January when he had turned 100.

It has been learnt that the cremation will take place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

London, May 31: "Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli," replied umpire Ian Gould when he was asked to name the three best batsmen he loved watching when he was officiating as an umpire.

The former ICC elite umpire said that he was unlucky to not watch Ponting bat as much as he would have liked to.

"Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And probably Virat. I was unlucky in some respects. I didn't see the best of Ricky Ponting. He was an outstanding character, outstanding captain, such a proud Australian," ESPNCricinfo quoted Gould as saying.

"But his career was just starting to wane as I came on the scene. But he was incredibly helpful, so I'm disappointed I have to leave him out. Jacques Kallis, I could sit and watch all day, Virat, the same. And Sachin, if you want someone to bat for your life, he was the man," he added.

Gould had retired from the ICC's panel of elite umpires in 2019, after standing in more than 250 international matches over a 13-year career.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been 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 has 70 centuries across all formats.

While, Kallis played 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20Is for South Africa and he is often viewed as the greatest all-rounder the game has seen.

Many pundits of the game find it hard to pick between him and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Across his career, Kallis scored 25,534 runs in his career and he also managed to take 577 wickets.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Christchurch, Mar 2: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday said the under-fire Rishabh Pant has got a "lot of chances" but the team is not looking to try someone else in the youngster's place just yet as one player can't be singled out in a collective failure.

Pant has been under the scanner for the past one year because of his inconsistent run. His tally of 60 runs across four innings in the 0-2 Test series loss to New Zealand, which concluded here on Monday, has only amplified the debate whether it was prudent to leave out a keeper of Wriddhiman Saha's calibre and back Pant.

"...we have given him (Pant) a lot of chances in the home season as well starting from Australia. Then he was not playing for a bit. In turn he really worked hard on himself," Kohli came to Pant's defence after the series here.

"You need to figure out when is the right time to give someone else a chance. If you push people too early, they can lose confidence," he added.

"...collectively, we didn't perform. I don't believe in singling him out. We take the hit together as a group whether it's the batting group or as a team."

When asked if he believes Pant has taken his place in the side for granted, Kohli made it clear that the culture of this team doesn't encourage anyone to think along those lines.

"I don't see anyone taking his place for granted in this team. That's the culture we have set. People are told to take responsibilities and work hard. Whether it happens or not is a different thing. Then you can have a conversation with the players," he said.

"But no one has come here thinking I am going to play every game or I am indispensable," he added in no uncertain terms.

Kohli, just like head coach Ravi Shastri, made it clear that Pant can make a difference in overseas conditions and he won't like to deviate during future tours.

"The time that he didn't play, he really worked hard on his game. So we thought this is the right time because of his game and the way he plays because he can make a difference lower down the order.

"That was our planning behind it. We can't really fluctuate when it comes to what we planned," he added.

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