Virat Kohli retains top spot in ICC Test rankings

Agencies
September 3, 2018

Dubai, Sept 3: Skipper Virat Kohli maintained his top spot in the latest ICC rankings of Test batsmen, while pacer Mohammed Shami climbed up three places to return to top 20 in the bowlers' table.

Kohli achieved a career-high 937 rating points after innings of 46 and 58 in the fourth Test.

The Indian captain, who has scored 544 runs in his eight innings this series, is 11th in the list of best ever in terms of rating points, just one adrift of a group of four - Gary Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Kumar Sangakkara.

Cheteshwar Pujara remains the second highest ranked India batsman in the list as he retained the sixth position. However, his unbeaten 132, which helped India take the first innings lead, lifted him from 763 to 798 points.

In the bowlers' list, pacer Shami progressed back to the top 20 after his six-wicket match haul lifted him three places to 19th position while fellow fast bowler Ishant Sharma's four wickets saw him move up one place to 25th position.

Jasprit Bumrah continued the strong start to his Test career, moving to a career-best 487 points while retaining 37th position after his fifth Test.

For England, all-rounder Sam Curran made quick gains while spinner Moeen Ali also moved up after the Southampton Test, which saw the home side winning by 60 runs on Sunday to take a winning 3-1 lead in the five-match series against India.

The 20-year-old Curran moved up 29 places to the 43rd position among batsmen after producing crucial knocks of 78 and 46 in the fourth Test match.

The left-hander, son of former Zimbabwe cricketer Kevin Curran and younger brother of England player Tom Curran, also gained 11 places to reach 55th place in the bowlers' list and 15th position among all-rounders after gaining 27 slots.

Player of the match Ali's haul of nine wickets helped him move up three places to 33rd position with a huge gain in rating points.

The off-spinner, who grabbed five for 63 and four for 71 in the two innings, has gained 66 points to reach 543 points in bowling, while also gaining one slot to reach seventh place among all-rounders.

Jos Buttler also gained 15 slots to reach a career-best 32nd position in the batsmen's list and 584 rating points, just five behind England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who has also gained three places to reach 29th position. While opener Keaton Jennings is another one to gain, moving up four places to 86th position in the list for batsmen.

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News Network
May 24,2020

Melbourne, May 24: Former Australia captain Mark Taylor does not foresee the T20 World Cup scheduled in October-November going ahead and wants the ICC to take a decision during its Board meeting this week.

Taylor also feels that if IPL takes place during the window the T20 World Cup was to be held, the Australian players are likely to be cleared by their Board to take part in the cash-rich league in India.

The ICC Board meets on May 28 to discuss a host of issues related to COVID-19 pandemic, including a revamped schedule and the fate of the men's T20 World Cup in Australia.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

"My feeling is the World T20 won't go ahead in Australia in October as planned. Is it going to be viable to have a world tournament in October or November? The answer to that is probably no," Taylor, also a former Cricket Australia (CA) director, was quoted as saying by 'Nine Network'.

"It would probably be good (if a decision is made this week). Because then everyone can start planning and we can stop sitting here and saying 'well ifs, buts or maybes'."

CA chief executive Kevin Roberts has said that a call on the fate of the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held from October 18 to November 15, may potentially not come until August.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

But players and administrators around the world are keen for some certainty and many have predicted that the 16-team event will soon be postponed.

There are reports that the BCCI is eyeing the October window for the IPL though officially it maintained, that it will not consider new dates of the cash-rich league until the T20 World Cup's fate is decided.

Taylor said the CA wants to keep BCCI happy so the Australia players are likely to be cleared for the IPL if it happens in October.

Pat Cummins, who was bought for a record amount of Rs 15.50 crore in last year's IPL auction, is among the Australians keen to take part in this year's competition.

"The Cricket Australia board will want to keep India happy. So they may want to let the players go to India if the IPL goes ahead," Taylor said.

"Because they want India to come here this summer and play, which will be our biggest summer in terms of dollars. That's the sort of discussion going on. No doubt."

Virat Kohli's team is scheduled to arrive in Australia for a Test tour starting November, which will go along way in addressing CA's financial woes triggered by teh COVID-19 pandemic.

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Agencies
January 23,2020

Aurangabad, Jan 23: An FIR has been registered against three people including former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin for allegedly duping a travel agent, Mohammad Shadab, of more than Rs 20 lakh.

However, Mohammad Azharuddin has refuted allegations and said: "I strongly rubbish the false FIR filed against me in Aurangabad. I am consulting my legal team and would be taking action as necessary."

Azharuddin's personal assistant Mujeeb lives in Augurangabad and has good relations with the travel agency of Shadab.

The travel agent alleged that Mujeeb asked him to book some flight tickets but did not pay the amount.

The police have booked the three under Section 406, 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of MS Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves.

"You watch MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career," he added.

Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, but he truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005 when he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Vishakapatnam.

He is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He first led an inexperienced Indian side to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. He then took over ODI captaincy, but he had to wait for leading the Test side as Anil Kumble was doing the duties in the longest format.

Over his career, Dhoni has been reowned for his finishing skills and he is often viewed as the best finisher that the game has ever seen.

In December 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Then in 2017, Dhoni handed over the captaincy reins to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni recently had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place in the list of BCCI's centrally contracted players from October 2019 to September 2020.

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