Virat Kohli Extremely Good, Not Great Yet, Says Michael Holding

Agencies
January 22, 2018

Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding feels India captain Virat Kohliis an extremely good batsman, but for him to enter the category of cricket greats he will have to score runs in England. Holding described Kohli as one of the top three batsmen in the world at the moment along with England's Joe Root and Australia's Steve Smith. According to Holding, however, great batsmen score runs everywhere and Kohli is yet to do so.

"Virat Kohli is a fantastic batsman. I was asked to name three top cricketers and I included Kohli in that list. He is a very very good player. When I see him score runs in England, I would call him a great player. I like people who score runs everywhere. He is an extremely good player," Holding told Mumbai Mirror.

Holding believes Kohli is emotional about is cricket and needs to further improve his captaincy.

"But as a captain, he has some work to do. I don't want to condemn him too much because I like to have my own way as a captain. I like to be given the team I want all the time. But it is still not the right way to go. There got to be discussions with the wiser heads from time to time, come to conclusions and flesh out different arguments. I get an impression that he is getting what he wants.

"He is very emotional about his cricket. He means everything he wants to do. In time he will learn. Because he has been so successful since he took over, it is hard for him to change. He has to see other view points and arrive at consensus," Holding further added.

Last week, Kohli was crowned cricketer of the year by the International Cricket Council, capping off a strong innings for the 29-year-old across all three formats of the game.

Kohli is just the fourth Indian to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, following in the footsteps of batting greats Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Rahul Dravid (2004) and teammate Ravichandran Ashwin (2016).

"It's the first time winning the Garfield Sobers Trophy, and it's a huge honour for me," Kohli said in a statement.

"It's probably the biggest of all in world cricket and two Indians getting it back-to-back makes it more special."

Kohli was also crowned the world's best one-day batsman, winning that title for the second time since 2012.

During the voting period from 21 September 2016 to end-2017, Kohli scored 2,203 Test runs at an average of 77.80 including eight centuries.

He accumulated 1,818 runs in the one-day format including seven centuries.

The 29-year-old was also bestowed a rare honour -- selected to captain the ICC's Test and ODI sides, a team in name only that comprises the best players from around the globe.

India emerged as the world's best Test side in 2017 under Kohli, with an unbroken series winning streak at home. He also leads the ODI and Twenty20 teams for the subcontinent.

But it has not always been smooth sailing for Kohli, whose men were defeated 2-0 in a Test series against South Africa, prompting criticism about his team selection and India's poor Test record away from home.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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News Network
March 19,2020

London, Mar 19: Talking about the break in cricketing activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa pacer Dale Steyn said that the disease seems to be to the only topic of conversation these days.

"I don't know how to describe it. Doesn't matter where you go, everyone is talking about it - whether it is on an airplane or you are just popping into a grocery store. It just seems like it is the only topic of conversation," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Steyn as saying.

"Yeah, it's so strange. Normally if I am on holiday I'll be planning a fishing trip or a surfing trip. At the moment I am just chilling at home," he added.

Steyn was last seen in action in the Pakistan Super League where he took two wickets in two matches.

When asked whether he has enough hand sanitizers, he replied: "We just decided that stockpiling is definitely not the way to go. It is not fair on everybody who needs that stuff. I went to the grocery store the other day and everyone had bought all the toilet paper. We have what we need, and when that runs out, that runs out, and we need to go and get some more".

"We didn't feel it was necessary to go and absolutely just, like, zombie our lives up. There's other people that live on a day-to-day basis. They are not going to get all of that stuff, so we thought it was best not to do that".

Steyn also had a message for the fans, "Stay healthy, wash your hands, look after yourself, don't be greedy. Right now they are saying old people are really struggling, so if in a position to help, rather help them than help yourself. Pretty simple, really."

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the ODI series between India-South Africa and Australia-New Zealand have been postponed.

The start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been postponed until April 15.

Cricket South Africa has suspended all forms of cricket for 60 days while Cricket Australia has advised all its employees to work from home.

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