Shocking! Upset Mahendra Singh Dhoni to quit international cricket after the ongoing World T20!

April 1, 2014

Apr 1: What was just a rumour till a week back is now almost official: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is extremely upset that his name has been badly sullied by irresponsible rumours about his so-called involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL) fixing scandal.

A week back an upset Dhoni had phoned N Srinivasan, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President, about his desire to step down from the captaincy. Dhoni, who enjoys the unqualified support of Srinivasan, heard him patiently. The BCCI chief told him that while he has his full sympathy he cannot afford not to have him as India captain.

Dhoni_quitA source who is close to both Srinivasan and Dhoni revealed that the Indian captain is too well-mannered to instantly oppose an elder who has played such a huge role in his career. Srini had told Dhoni to sleep over the matter and that he would have a different view point in a few days.

Srini was right; Dhoni slept over the matter but decided merely stepping down from the captaincy was not going to solve his miseries. He had to give up international cricket and even playing the IPL. For long he has believed that despite achieving far more than any Indian captain and despite being the most dangerous batsman-wicketkeeper in world cricket, he has been viciously attacked by a section of people. The feedback he got was that these people were targeting him because of Srinivasan, who proximity with Dhoni needs no elaboration.

Dhoni spoke to his wife Sakshi and his business manager and they felt that financially his retirement would not have any adverse effect on him; if anything being free from international cricketing assignments would give lot more free time to tap his commercial value, the way Sachin Tendulkar is doing. Moreover, there is nothing more left to achieve for Dhoni: he has taken India to the pinnacle of success in the World T20 (2007), the Asia Cup (2010), the World Cup triumph (2011) and the Champions Trophy (2013). Besides, he has led India to the No 1 position in Tests and has made Chennai Super Kings a powerhouse, winning both the IPL and the Champions League T20. He has got everything and more a cricketer can aspire. Dhoni, who will be 33 in a few months’ time, wants to go out with his head high.

That Dhoni has made up his mind about his retirement comes from someone who is extremely close to the Indian captain. He has apparently told the team of his decision and the team wants to win the remaining two matches to give their beloved captain a fitting farewell.

Dhoni has requested the BCCI to make the announcement a couple of days after he lands in India, so that he can get time to pack up and leave the country to an undisclosed destination to be away from the media frenzy that will follow once the news becomes public. Quite clearly, Dhoni has a few good years of cricket in him to serve Indian cricket. It’s unfortunate that he has been forced to make a premature exit because of entirely avoidable circumstances.

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News Network
January 9,2020

Kuala Lampur, Jan 9: Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion P V Sindhu produced dominating performances to progress to the women's singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Sixth seed Sindhu notched up a commanding 21-10 21-15 victory over Japan's Aya Ohori in a pre-quarterfinal match lasting just 34 minutes. It was Sindhu's ninth successive win over Ohori.

The 24-year-old Indian, who won the World Championships in Basel last year, will take on world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals after the Chinese Taipei shuttler got the better of South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 21-18 16-21 21-10.

Saina, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched eight seed An Se Young of South Korea 25-23 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest to make the last eight.

This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year.

The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin.

Saina had defeated Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-15 21-17 in the opening round on Wednesday.

In the men's singles, India's challenge ended after both Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.

While Verma lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 19-21 20-22, Prannoy was shown the door by top seed Kento Momota of Japan 14-21 16-21.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Jan 15: Australia openers David Warner and Aaron Finch both struck superb centuries to complement their bowlers’ inspired display as the touring side handed out a 10-wicket thrashing to India in the opening one-day international in Mumbai.

India, world-ranked No 2 in ODIs, suffered a middle-order collapse on their way to being bundled out for 255 in the final over of their innings after Australia captain Finch won the toss and opted to field in the first of the three-match series.

Warner and Finch then smashed the Indian bowlers to all corners of the ground, picking up boundaries seemingly at will to chase down the target with 74 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.

Left-handed Warner successfully used the decision review system twice to overturn the umpire’s decision on his way to his 18th ODI century, hitting three sixes and 17 fours in his unbeaten knock of 128, from 112 balls. Finch completed his 16th century in the format, his unbeaten innings 110 from 114 features two sixes and 13 fours.

Earlier, Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who made his ODI debut in India 10 years ago, picked up three wickets to set up Australia’s victory. He struck the first blow with the new ball when he sent back Rohit Sharma for 10.

India managed to recover from that early loss through a second-wicket stand of 121 between opener Shikhar Dhawan, who top-scored for the hosts with 74, and KL Rahul. However left-arm spinner Ashton Agar broke the stand by dismissing Rahul for 47 before Agar caught Dhawan off Pat Cummins in the next over.

The hosts were hoping for a solid innings from captain Virat Kohli, who batted a position lower than his usual No 3 spot to accommodate Rahul, to get them out of trouble. However, he lasted only 14 balls, hitting leg-spinner Adam Zampa for a six before offering a return catch to the bowler on the very next delivery to be out for 16.

Starc then returned to the attack, removing Shreyas Iyer cheaply as India lost four wickets for 30 runs to be reduced to 164 for five. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja then fell just short of a half-century partnership, before the remaining four wickets falling for 42 runs, with Cummins and fast bowler Kane Richardson picking up two wickets apiece for Australia.

To compound India’s woes, wicketkeeper Pant suffered a concussion after being hit on his helmet by a short-pitched delivery from Cummins. The Indian cricket board said Pant, who did not come out to keep wicket and was replaced behind the stumps by Rahul, was under observation. The two sides will meet in Rajkot for the second ODI on Friday.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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