Uthappa, Nair tons power Karnataka

March 12, 2014

Nair_tonsKolkata, March 12: Skipper Vinay Kumar grabbed a five-wicket haul after Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair hit individual centuries to lead Karnataka’s recovery and guide the team to a 27-run win over Gujarat in their quarterfinal match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Tuesday.

Vinay returned figures of five for 85 in his 12 overs to dismiss Gujarat for 274 in 48.2 overs. Karnataka had scored 301 for seven in 50 overs after being invited to bat at the Jadavpur University Complex ground.

Karnataka were struggling at 31/4 in the eighth over before opener Uthappa (132 not out) and Nair (120) put up a marvellous batting effort and stitched a 209-run partnership.

Uthappa faced 135 balls and hit 10 fours and three sixes while his younger partner Nair hit 14 boundaries and a six in his 121-ball knock, which turned out to be his maiden List A century.

The duo consolidated the partnership after Jasprit Bumrah (4/58) and Kamlesh Thakor (2/57) claimed two wickets apiece to rattle Karnataka. Bumrah and Thakor removed top-order batsmen - Mayank Aggarwal (0), Manish Pandey (8), Ganesh Satish (0) and K L Rahul (0).

Gujarat, in reply, lost early wickets as the top-order batsmen failed to stitch big partnerships. Pacer Abhimanyu Mithun picked three batsmen, including Venugopala Rao (15) to dent Gujarat’s run-chase.

Rujul Bhatt made 67 and Akshar Patel scored a quick-fire 93 as the duo added 139 runs to raise Gujarat’s hopes of overhauling the target after they were 75 for four in 16.2 overs.

Gujarat required 88 off 68 balls when the fifth-wicket stand between the two ended, courtesy Bhatt’s run-out. Rohit Dahiya (30 off 23) hit some lusty blows but Vinay Kumar skittled the lower-middle order.

Patel smashed 12 fours in his 78-ball knock while Bhatt’s innings came off 93 balls and included three fours. Karnataka will face the winners of Services and Jharkhand in the semifinals, which will be held on March 14 at the same venue.

KARNATAKA: Robin Uthappa (not out) 132, Mayank Agarwal b Bumrah 0, Manish Pandey b Bumrah 8, Ganesh Satish lbw Thakor 0, KL Rahul c Patel b Thakor 0, Karun Nair b A Patel 120, Amit Verma c Dhurv b Bumrah 13, R Vinay Kumar b Bumrah 3, Extras (B-4, LB-9, W-12) 25. Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 301.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-30, 3-31, 4-31, 5-240, 6-274, 7-301.

Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 12-1-58-4, Kamlesh Thakor 10-1-57-2, Rohit Dahiya 9-0-56-0, Akshar Patel 8-0-54-1, Rakesh Dhurv 9-0-48-0, Jesal Karia 2-0-15-0.

GUJARAT: Parthiv Patel c Rahul b Vinay 4, Rajdeep Darbar b Mithun 15, Rujul Bhatt (run out) 67, Y Venugopala Rao c Kazi b Mithun 15, Abdulahad Malek c Rahul b Mithun 12, Akshar Patel c Agarwal b Vinay 93, Jesal Karia c Verma b Vinay 17, Rohit Dahiya c Pandey b Vinay 30, Rakesh Dhruv c&b Vinay 4, Jasprit Bumrah b Sharath 1, Kamlesh Thakor (not out) 3. Extras (B-1, LB-4, W-8) 13. Total (all out, 48.2 overs) 274.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-36, 3-55, 4-71, 5-211, 6-215, 7-260, 8-267, 9-267.

Bowlers: Vinay Kumar 12-0-85-5, HS Sharath 9.2-0-33-1, A Mithun 9-0-51-3, Karun Nair 5-0-25-0, Ganesh Satish 1-0-8-0, Abrar Kazi 9-0-45-0, Robin Uthappa 2-0-17-0, Amit Verma 1-0-5-0.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli's natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith's mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game's biggest crowd-pullers right now.

"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that," de Villiers said during his interaction on 'Sports Hurricane'.

"In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

"I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

"Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone," de Villiers said.

"And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.

"But personally, in a chase, I'd say Virat is the best I've seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing."

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

"He's much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there's more to life than just cricket," de Villiers said.

"...Virat's always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what's to come, the different religions, we talk about everything."

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain's actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

"We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We're waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

"It's a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 per cent of the time we talk about other stuff. It's refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament," he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

"Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it's been more than friendship," De Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

"Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it's different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.

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