Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karn Veer Kaushal slams historic double ton

Agencies
October 7, 2018

Nadiad, Oct 7: Uttarakahand opener Karn Veer Kaushal entered the record books by scoring the first double century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, smashing 202 off 135 balls, to star in a 199-run rout of Sikkim in a Plate group match here Saturday. The in-form Kaushal, who has now three 100-plus scores from seven matches, eclipsed Ajinkya Rahane's 187 for Mumbai against Maharashtra in Pune in 2007-08.

In List A cricket, which includes ODIs, the 200-mark has been breached six times by Indian batsmen -- Rohit Sharma (thrice), Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar one each. But this is for the first time it has happened in the country's domestic circuit.

Kaushal also shattered the record for the highest opening stand in List A cricket in India when he along with his opening partner, Vineet Saxena (100 runs of 133 balls), put on 296 runs to lay the foundation for Uttarakhand's 366 for two in 50 overs. Shikhar Dhawan and Aakash Chopra had put on an unbeaten 277 for Delhi versus Punjab in 2007-08 in the previous highest opening stand.

"I felt very nice when I completed it, but I didn't know then that it was a record. I never expected it," the 27-year-old said. "Only when I was about 30 runs short, I said to myself 'Okay, I can try for a double-century'. I got to know that I was the first one to score a double-century after I came back to the dressing room."

Sikkim's decision to bowl first backfired at the GS Patel Stadium as openers Kaushal and Saxena feasted on the bowling. Kaushal, who debuted against Bihar in this tournament, smashed 18 fours and nine sixes in a strike rate of 149.63 on the way to his third 100-plus score -- the most in the tournament so far.

Kaushal's first century (101) was against Puducherry, while in the last match he scored 118 versus Mizoram. He now has 467 runs in seven matches at an average of 77.83 and strike-rate of 122.25, second to Meghalaya's Bisht (488 runs).

Chasing the huge target, Sikkim's outing with the bat too turned out to be one of misery as they lost four wickets for 42 inside 12 overs before half-centuries by Lee Yong Lepcha and Padam Limboo took them to 167 for six in 50 overs.

The victory also kept afloat Uttarakhand's hopes of qualifying for the next round as they moved up to the second spot with 24 points from seven matches.

With one more game remaining for them against Arunachal Pradesh, they not only need to win that game but also hope that Bihar lose their last match against Mizoram in order for Uttarakhand to get through to the quarters. One team from the plate group make the quarters.

Summarised scores:

At Anand: Mizoram 100; 42.3 overs (Taruwar Kohli 33; Inakato Zhimomi 3/8, Imilwati Lemtur 3/24) lost to Nagaland 102/2; 12.5 overs (Nitesh Lochab 49 not out; Zorinliana 2/21) by eight wickets.

At Nadiad: Uttarakhand 366/2; 50 overs (Karn Veer Kaushal 202, Vineet Saxena 100; Mendup Bhutia 2/82) beat Sikkim 167/6; 50 overs (Lee Yong Lepcha 65, Padam Limboo 51 not out; Deepak Dhapola 3/19) by 199 runs.

At Vadodara: Meghalaya 238/5; 50 overs (Yogesh Nagar 67 not out, Puneet Bisht 58; Jitender 3/29) beat Manipur 170; 45.4 overs (Yashpal Singh 106 not out; Lakhan Singh 3/24, Mark Ingty 2/23) by 68 runs.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Hamilton, Jan 28: No one sits on the seat that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his own in the team bus, revealed India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, saying that the talismanic former skipper is missed by the side.

In a video shot inside the team bus while it was on its way to Hamilton for the third T20 International against New Zealand, Chahal is seen talking to several members of the squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to an empty seat which, he said, was the former captain's preferred spot before he went on a sabbatical last year.

"Yeh woh seat hai jahan ek legend baithate the. Mahi bhai. Abhi bhi yaha koi nahi baithata. Hum unhe bohot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot)," Chahal said in the video posted on 'bcci.tv'.

The-38-year-old Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. Earlier this month, Dhoni was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on his future.

However, on the same day, Dhoni returned to training, batting fluently in the Jharkhand team nets.

Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

The Indian team lead the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 2-0.

Virat Kohli's men will take on the hosts in the third T20 here on Wednesday.

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News Network
July 6,2020

New Delhi, Jul 6: India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly says improved fitness standards and a change in culture have led to the country developing one of the world's best pace attacks.

Spearheads Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are part of a battery of five formidable quick bowlers that have helped change India's traditional reliance on spin bowling.

"You know culture has changed in India that we can be good fast bowlers," Ganguly said in a chat hosted on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Twitter feed.

"Fitness regimes, fitness standards not only just among fast bowlers but also among the batters, that has changed enormously. That has made everyone understand and believe that we are fit, we are strong and we can also bowl fast like the others did."

The West Indies dominated world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s led by a fearsome pace attack that included all-time greats such as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.

Recently Indian quicks have risen to the top in world cricket with Shami, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a deadly arsenal.

"The West Indies in my generation were naturally strong," the former India captain said.

"We Indians were never such naturally strong... but we worked hard to get strong. But I think it is the change in culture as well that is very important."

Shami last month claimed that the current Indian pace attack may be the best in Test history.

"You and everyone else in the world will agree to this -- that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package," said Shami.

"Not just now, in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world."

Shami took 13 wickets during India's 3-0 home Test sweep over South Africa last year, while Bumrah has claimed 68 scalps in 14 Tests since his debut.

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