Virat Kohli is the new king of world cricket, says Dean Jones

January 2, 2015

Jan 2: Former Australia cricketer Dean Jones believes that time had come for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to take a call on his Test career, and says that Virat Kohli is the ‘new king of world cricket’ with his recent appointment as Indian Test captain.

Dean Jones

Dhoni announced retirement from Test cricket after the third Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) last week, which resulted in Kohli being appointed as the 32nd full-time captain of India.

Jones wrote in his column in the Sydney Morning Herald, “Being captain of the Indian Test team is possibly the biggest, toughest and most demanding position in world sport. India are the power brokers and financiers of world cricket and I could not even imagine the pressures and responsibilities placed on people in this most prestigious role. Now we have a new king of world cricket, Virat Kohli.”

“It is interesting to note that Kohli and his predecessor MS Dhoni are exact opposites. Dhoni is quite reserved, while Kohli is combative. Like most countries around the world, India play brilliantly at home but are atrocious away. It was time for a change and Dhoni knew it and fell on his sword. The game needs India to be strong in all formats of the game. Under Dhoni, India held the No.1 Test ranking for 21 months from 2010-2011. But while India are No.2 in world one-day and Twenty20 rankings, they embarrassingly sit sixth in Test rankings,” he added.

Jones believes that Kohli is someone who will never get bogged down with on-field confrontation, and it will be interesting to see how the Australians deal with the new Indian captain.

He wrote, “Kohli will not back down from confrontation. If Australia want to sledge, he will sledge back. Not too many batsmen are prepared to stand up and talk back to Mitchell Johnson. Fewer still win the battle. Kohli did the same thing to his own, when he almost went toe to toe with Gautam Gambhir in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match last year. Judging from Kohli’s results, it might be time the Australians gave Kohli the silent treatment for a while – like they did to Viv Richards, Brian Lara or Tendulkar. Or will the Australians’ egos get the better of them?”

Jones thinks that while the Indian fans are jubilant with the appointment of Kohli, the Indian team will find new energy and will be more successful overseas. The former Australian cricketer also thinks that there will be a big change in terms of captaincy style, which will certainly help India.

Jones wrote, “Kohli knows he has big shoes to fill. He knows he can learn a lot from Dhoni’s captaincy. But he needs to lead his way. Dhoni captained the team like a python hunts for its prey. Dhoni waited for his opposition to make a mistake and would squeeze the living daylights out of them. Kohli, I feel, will try to win a game from ball one. Like Michael Clarke, Kohli is prepared to lose a match while trying to win. He is an aggressive batsman and his captaincy will not be any different.”

Talking about Dhoni, Jones thinks that the 33-year-old will be missed on the Test arena, as he lavished praise on India’s most capped and successful captain.

Jones concluded, “He will be missed in Test cricket as he is so well respected by fans and his peers. I admired the way Dhoni handled the constant criticism by fans and the media. It was like water off a duck’s back.”

“And how humble was Dhoni when he captained his team to win the World Cup in 2011 and the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007? He just let the team accept all the plaudits and took a back seat. When Dhoni finally retires from all formats of the game, he will be no doubt be in India’s top 10 players of all time.”

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News Network
February 21,2020

New Delhi, Feb 21: Vinesh Phogat yet again fell to Japanese nemesis Mayu Muakida to go out of the gold medal race but Sakshi Malik will fight for the title after winning her semifinal bout at the Asian Wrestling Championship, here on Friday.

Vinesh had lost twice to Mukaida in 2019 – at World Championship and Asian Championships —and the trend continued as the gritty Indian yet again struggled to break the strong defence of the Japanese.

In a tough opening round, Vinesh tried single leg attacks a number of times but every time Mukaida blocked her move and eventually got the upper body lock to subdue the home favourite.

In her last two meetings, Vinesh had not scored a single point against the 2019 world silver medallist. She managed a takedown this time before eventually losing 2-6.

The hard-working Vinesh will now fight for bronze against Vietnam's Thi Ly Kieu but even a medal won't suffice to lift her mood as she and the fans have high expectations from her.

Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, who has been struggling of late, lost her opening round 1-2 to Naomi Ruike from Japan but later overcame two weak opponents to eventually reach the final of the non-Olympic 65kg category.

She could hardly attack Naomi but outplayed Korea's Ohyoung Ha in the next round, winning by technical superiority.

In her semifinal against Uzbekistan's Nabira Esenbaeva, Sakshi led 5-0 but her rival pulled off consecutive two-point moves to make it 5-4.

Sakshi has been losing in closing stages of late but this time she managed to hold on to her narrow lead, surviving anxious last two seconds.

Also in medal contention are India's brightest youngsters Sonam Malik (62kg) and Anshu Malik (57kg).

Sonam, who had defeated Sakshi in the trials, showed good tactical mind in her resounding win against Korea's Hanbit Lee and also in the 2-5 defeat against world bronze medallist Yukako Kawai.

She pulled off a superb point-scoring move from a disadvantageous position and resisted the 2018 U-23 world champion Yukako in a good fashion.

She will now fight for bronze against Aisuluu Tynbekova.

Anshu Malik opened up her campaign against Kyrgyzstan's Nuraida Anarkulova, winning by technical superiority but was outplayed by reigning world champion from Japan Riskao Kawai.

She will have to beat Sevara Eshmuratova from Uzbekistan to grab a bronze.

In the non-olympic 72kg, Gursharanpreet Kaur is in bronze medal contention. She beat Uzbekistan's Svetlana Oknazarova but lost to Kazakhstan's Zhamila Bakberzenova.

She still made it to the semifinal in which she lost to Japan's Mei Shindo.

She is now up against Mongloia's Tsevegmed Enkhbayar.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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Agencies
April 15,2020

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey has heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying the veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman is the "greatest finisher" the game of cricket has ever seen.

"Dhoni is the greatest finisher of all time that the cricketing world has ever produced," Hussey said while speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo's Videocast.

"Dhoni can keep his cool and make the opposition captain blink first. Dhoni also has unbelievable power. He knows that when he needs to clear the ropes, he can do it. He has that kind of self-belief. Honestly, I didn't have that kind of belief in myself," he added.

The former Australian batsman, who shared the dressing room with Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, said the 38-year-old Indian believes in the philosophy that he who panics last, wins the game.

"I tried not to let it reach 12 or 13 runs an over," said Hussey while talking about his ability to finish the game without much hiccups.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"Supportive owners who let coach Stephen Fleming and captain Dhoni decide how to run the team, excellent chemistry between the coach and the captain, Dhoni's leadership and lastly the foresight of the owners, Fleming and Dhoni to pick the best players, particularly the good Indian players and then stick with them for as long as possible."

"This has built an excellent continuity in the team. And once you have continuity, you build relationships and trust that otherwise takes time to grow," he added.

Hussey also said that once Dhoni bids adieu to the game, CSK would probably like to start all over again.

"That's a 60-million-dollar question, and I am equally intrigued. I believe the owners would like to keep Dhoni involved in some way or the other," said Hussey.

"However, whenever the change of guard happens, CSK might want to start all over again, build a brand, new team, and use their existing philosophy as they enter the next decade of IPL. It is definitely going to be more challenging in current times," he added.

Dhoni was supposed to lead CSK in the 13th IPL edition which now stands postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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