Skipper Airee stars in Nepal’s historic win over India

Agencies
November 13, 2017

Kathmandu, Nov 13: Nepal registered a historic 19-run win over India in the ongoing ACC U-19 Youth Asia Cup on Sunday.

After skipper Dipendra Singh Airee displayed an impressive all-round performance scoring 88 runs and claiming four wickets, Nepal produced first-ever win against India in its cricket history.  

In the Group A match at Bayuemas Oval Cricket ground, India won the toss and invited Nepal for batting. Nepal scored 185-8 in the allotted 50 overs and managed to bowl out India for 166 runs in 48.1 overs.

Nepali head coach Binod Das praised his players after defeating Rahul Dravid’s side.

“This is an historic win and all credit goes to the team for the hard work and the belief they put in. The game was competitive from the word go and having played here before, we knew the conditions will change with time,” said head coach Das.

“Dipendra made one of the best all-round performances we have seen. He led with the bat and delivered with the ball.”

With the win over India, Nepal has now strengthened its chance of securing its berth in the semifinal. Three teams in group A including India, Nepal, and Bangladesh have two points each.

India and Nepal, which have played two matches each, occupy the first two places in the group on the basis of run-rate, while Bangladesh is in the third position with one game in hand. Tigers will take on Malaysia in their second match on Monday.

Nepal had made a poor start to the inning with opening duo Jitendra Singh and Mahamad Asif Sheikh building up just 12-run partnership for the first wicket. Sheikh was dismissed for 3 runs while the other opener Singh scored 95-ball 36 that included three boundaries.

Nepal came under pressure when it lost the third number batsman Anil Kumar Sah for just six runs. However, skipper Airee who came to bat at the fourth number smashed 101-ball 88 and led Nepal to a respectable score. Airee also created 49-run partnership with Singh for the third wicket.

He also formed a 28-run partnership with Rohit Kumar Paudel for the fourth wicket. Paudel was able to contribute just six runs in 14 deliveries.

Airee did not get strong support from fellow batsmen as Bhim Sharki (15), Pawan Sarraf (1), and Kamal Singh Airee (5) left pavilion cheaply.

Unbeaten Kishor Mahato and Sandeep Lamichhane contributed seven and nine runs respectively.

India’s Abhishek Sharma and Aditya Thakare claimed two wickets each while Vivekanand Tiwary, Mandeep Singh, Shiva Singh, and Atharva Taide added one wicket each.

India made strong start to the inning as openers Himanshu Rana and Manjot Karla created 65-run partnership for the first wicket. Indian skipper Rana made 38-ball 46 hitting one six and seven fours while Karla scored 35 runs in 46 deliveries.

Atharva Taide (13), Atharva Taide (27), and Anuj Rawat (18) were the other batsmen to make notable contribution for the Indian team.

Pawan Sarraff and Shahab Alam supported skipper Dipendra Singh Airee in bowling by claiming two wickets each, while Kamal Singh Airee and Lamichhane added one wicket each.

Nepal will now take on Malaysia in its last group-stage match on Tuesday while India and Bangladesh will compete in the group’s last match on the same day.

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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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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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News Network
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: He has flattered to deceive on umpteen occasions but highly-rated wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson says he has learnt to accept his failures in pursuit of the calm demeanour that former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni possesses.

The 25-year-old from Kerala has always been talked about by the likes of Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir but it hasn't translated into international success with only four T20 Internationals in his kitty in the last five years.

"I have learnt to understand and focus more on my strengths and (be more) accepting (of) the failures. I try to contribute to the team's cause and try to take the team over the line. I am learning to focus and control my emotions while batting like MS Dhoni," Samson said during a podcast organised by Rajasthan Royals.

He recently made a comeback in India's T20 side and it was a worthy experience for him.

"It was great to be a part of the Indian team again. To be a part of one of the best teams in the world, surrounded by players like Virat bhai and Rohit bhai, it was a fantastic experience," Samson said.

In one of the games in New Zealand, Samson was sent to bat in the Super Over, something which made him feel wanted in the Indian set-up.

"It was a great feeling to be trusted by the players such as Virat bhai and Rohit bhai to go out there and bat in the crucial moments. It's a great feeling when the team and the players consider you to be a match winner."

On a lighter note, Samson revealed that he refers to Steve Smith as "chachu" (uncle) after Brad Hodge once started calling him by that name.

"I share a very good relationship with 'Chachu' Steve Smith. He is one of the best brains in world cricket and we all enjoy a lot playing under him."

Asked what's the back story of the nickname, Samson said: "It started with Brad Hodge, he used to call Smith 'Chachu', then when Hodgy left, I started calling Smith 'Chachu'. In return Smith also started calling me 'Chachu'. We both really enjoy and continue calling each other that."

While Dhoni is his idol, he also loves watching Jos Buttler in Royals and makes notes on how the star Englishman prepares for games.

"I observe Jos especially given he too is a wicketkeeper-batsman. He's always working on his skills and his game and never sits idle.

"He's either working on his keeping, batting in the nets or running around the park. I love to observe and know how he thinks and prepares as a keeper before a game.

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