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Touring India' No.1 rank at stake in ODI series against New Zealand

January 17, 2014

India_RankingDubai, Jan 17: India must win the upcoming five-match One-day series against New Zealand if they have to retain their number one status in the ICC team rankings.

India are sitting atop the ICC team rankings table with 120 ratings points, and enter the series leading eighth-ranked New Zealand by 36 ratings points.

If India lose the series, starting Sunday in Napier, they will lose their numero uno status and as many as six ratings points.

India have been the number-one ranked ODI side since January 2013, when it replaced England at the top.

For New Zealand, a series win against India by any margin will mean that it will push up a place to seventh, ahead of West Indies. A series loss for New Zealand, however, will not make any difference to its position on the rankings table.

If India do not manage to win the series against New Zealand, either Australia or England could stake a claim on the number-one rank.

Australia and England are currently playing a five-match series, with the home team leading 1-0.

Australia are currently in second position, six points behind India. For Australia to reclaim the number-one rank, they needs to beat England in its ongoing series by a margin of 3-2 or better, and they also require New Zealand to beat India by a margin of 3-2 or better.

On the other hand, England, who sit 10 points behind India in third spot, need to beat Australia by a margin of 4-1 or better, and also for New Zealand to win its series against India by a margin of 4-1 or better, to become the number-one ODI side again.

India`s young batsman Virat Kohli will start the series in New Zealand as the highest-ranked batsman on either side.

Kohli is currently in second position in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen with 859 ratings points, just 13 behind number-one ranked AB de Villiers.

A good show with the bat for Kohli could see him reclaim the number-one rank he last held in November 2013.

In all, India has three batsmen in the top 10, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni in sixth place and Shikhar Dhawan in 10th spot.

Inside the top 20, Ross Taylor in 16th and Rohit Sharma in 18th place are the other batsmen likely to be seen in action.

Outside the top 20, the batsmen likely to play the series are Suresh Raina (22nd), Brendon McCullum (23rd), Martin Guptill (24th) and Kane Williamson (31st).

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja in sixth position will be the highest ranked bowler on either side in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers. In fact, Jadeja is also the only player in the top 10 of the bowlers? table who is likely to feature in the series.

Among the top 20 bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin (16th) and Kyle Mills (17th) are the others likely to feature in the series.

Outside the top 20, the bowlers likely to play are Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (24th), Tim Southee (26th), Nathan McCullum (28th), Mitchell McClenaghan (29th), Amit Mishra (39th), Mohammed Shami (41st) and Ishant Sharma (50th).

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March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: He will be supporting Australia for sure but former pacer Brett Lee feels an Indian victory in Sunday's T20 Word Cup final could be a "start of a major breakthrough" for the women's game in the cricket-mad country.

India and Australia will lock horns in what is expected to be a blockbuster title clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"As an Australian, I'd love nothing more than for (Meg) Lanning's team to do the job. But if India were to win the World Cup for the first time, victory would do so much for women's cricket in a country that already adores the sport," Lee wrote in an ICC column.

"This could be the start of a major breakthrough, particularly with the amount of talent that is coming through."

The former speedster said Australia will have to look for ways to counter the in-form 16-year-old Shafali Verma.

"In Shafali Verma, India boast one of the most talented players in the world and you feel that for Australia to win the game, dismissing her will likely be their first job.

"I've been so impressed with the opener - it's staggering to believe she's only 16 with the confidence she has in her own ability and the way she strikes the ball so cleanly.

"She's such good fun to watch and I'm not sure the women's game has seen anyone like her for such a long time."

Shafali has been the star of the tournament, having amassed 161 runs at a strike rate of 161, consistently providing India solid starts, and that was not lost on Lee.

"To be the world's best T20 batter already shows just how far she has progressed in such a short space of time and the experience in this tournament will hold her in good stead for years to come.

"Even with the way she's played in Australia and her fearless brand of cricket, you still get the feeling she has more to come as well."

He reckoned Shafali may have another big score awaiting her.

"She's got a big score in her locker and there's probably no better place to do that than the MCG. Shafali is already a record breaker but if she can steer her side to their first Women's T20 World Cup title at just 16, then the sky really is the limit for her career."

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

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.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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