Sourav Ganguly bats for Laxmi Ratan Shukla's India comeback in Ranji final

January 16, 2014

Sourav_GangulyKolkata, Jan 16: Urging Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla not to lose hope for a India comeback, Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday said the national selectors would surely be noticing the allrounder's sparkling show if they make the Ranji final.

"If Bengal make the final, Shukla's performance will be counted by the national selectors, (Ashoke) Dinda will also make a strong case for himself for a comeback," Ganguly said of Shukla who played three ODIs way back in 1999.

Despite having got the Lala Amarnath award for the best all-rounder in domestic limited overs by the Board, the 32-year-old is still being overlooked as Stuart Binny was chosen for the allrounder spot in India's five ODIs in New Zealand.

Defending the decision, Ganguly said the selectors had considered the burly allrounder's IPL show for the Rajasthan Royals and rued that Bengal had little representation in the T20 extravaganza which is taken as a yardstick.

"He (Binny) had been a stand out performer for the Rajasthan Royals and in their qualification into the (IPL 6) final. He has also been retained by Rajasthan Royals.

"But if you look at Bengal, our boys are not even get a chance to play in IPL regularly...

"On form, Shami is the best Indian pacer at the moment, but it's unfortunate that he's not retained by the state franchise (KKR).

"These are the things national selectors take into account. Selectors are bound to give importance to a big tournament like IPL, that's the way it is, that's the system," Ganguly pointed out.

Hailing Bengal for making the Ranji semifinal for the first time since 2006-07, Ganguly said: "They have all performed under from pressure, right from skipper Shukla, Dinda who is still being overlooked by the national selectors...

"All these players have stood under pressure. For four years, they have fought relegation. I've seen it very closely. I know how tough it is," the left-hander told a Bengali news channel.

"On paper, Bengal have beaten stronger teams to make the semis than Maharashtra who have come from lower rung group C. But any team at this stage is strong, they (Bengal) have to play all five days of good cricket to be in the final," he said of Bengal who will face Maharashtra in Indore from January 18-22.

Ganguly further said India would do well in the five ODI and two-Test series in New Zealand, an "inferior" side to South Africa.

"They dont have (Dale) Steyn or (Morne) Morkel in their side. New Zealand are an inferior side in comparison to South Africa. If their coaches are intelligent enough, they would have out and out greentops.

"I'm very very hopeful of success against New Zealand. We've just come back from a tough tour of South Africa, losing both Test and ODI series. We have seen India doing well after a difficult tour. But I'm hopeful of Team India doing well in New Zealand."

Ganguly, who has already got an honorary fellowship from University of Central Lancashire, will be conferred D.Litt by the Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur.

"That I will be honoured in my home town makes it all the more special. It's a big honour for me. I feel proud," Ganguly concluded.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Indian pacer S Sreesanth has slammed England all-rounder Ben Stokes for questioning MS Dhoni's intent during a World Cup match, saying that the former captain will end Stokes' career.

Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' had questioned Dhoni's intent during India's 31-run defeat at the hands of England in the premier tournament last year.

"For Ben Stokes, I will only say that you should pray that Dhoni does not play against you in the future. Dhoni does not forget things easily," Sreesanth said during a Live session on Helo.

"I wish Stokes all the best for whenever he faces Dhoni again, be it IPL or an England vs India match. You must be earning in millions now, Dhoni Bhai will end your career. Dhoni will strike the ball everywhere and he (Stokes) can never dismiss Dhoni. Before he (Stokes) opens his mouth, he should make sure to wear a helmet," he added.

Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding had also come out in support of Dhoni and said that the wicket-keeper batsman wanted to win the match against England.

"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 had said on his official YouTube channel.

"...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 percent, 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," he had added.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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News Network
April 7,2020

London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.

Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.

"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.

We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.

Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.

"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.

"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.

Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.

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