Virat no 1 ranked ODI batsman, Bumrah top-ranked bowler in ICC Men’s Player Rankings

Agencies
November 13, 2018

Dubai, Nov 13: Virat Kohli is the number-one ranked ODI batsman, while Jasprit Bumrah is the top-ranked bowler and Rashid Khan is the leading all-rounder in the latest 

MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, which were released on Tuesday.

After scores of 80 and 86 not out, Ross Taylor has leapfrogged Joe Root, Babar Azam and David Warner to third position.

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor has warmed up for the upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan by achieving a career-high position.

The 34-year-old middle-order batsman started the series in sixth position, but after scores of 80 and 86 not out, has leapfrogged Joe Root, Babar Azam and David Warner to third position. This is his career-best ranking, which has come after 207 ODIs in which he has scored 7,433 runs. The former captain had earlier reached fifth place this June. Taylor, reacting to the news, said, “First and foremost you want to win games, you don’t go out there to try to get your rankings up there. But I guess, at this stage of my career, it is nice to know that I am still able to compete."

“I think as you come towards the end of your career, you’ve worked your game out and you try to enjoy yourself a bit more. I'm not sure how many years I may have left so I'm trying to make the most of every opportunity," he said.

“It's obviously nice to achieve a high ranking, but at the same time I hope there're a few more runs left in me,” Taylor said.

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman is the other batsman to achieve a career-high ranking from the series in the UAE, which ended at one-all after the decider in Dubai was washed out. The left-handed opener had scores of one, 88 and 65, which have lifted him six places to 11th in the latest rankings. The 28-year-old, however, will not be part of the Test squad.

Similarly, Shadab Khan has achieved a career-high bowling ranking but will not feature in the upcoming Tests. The wrist spinner bagged six wickets in the series, including four for 38 in the second match, to vault 16 places to 24th position.

The other bowler to make an impact in the ODIs and one to look out for in the Tests is Lachlan Ferguson. The New Zealand fast bowler had figures of three for 40, three for 60 and five for 45 during the series, which also reflect in the latest rankings, in which he has rocketed 31 places to 42nd.

Shaheen Afridi, who took nine wickets in the series and won the player of the series award, has rocketed 66 places to sit just outside the top-100 in 118th position.

However, Trent Boult and Hasan Ali have been unable to either defend or improve their rankings.

Boult made a dream start to his season when he took a hat-trick in only his second over. However, he managed to add just one more wicket to his tally and consequently finished in seventh position after starting in fourth place. Hasan, who had started the year with a number one ranking, has continued to slide. After falling three places following his four wickets, he is now ranked 13th, but remains his side’s highest-ranked bowler.

Down Under, South Africa defeated Australia 2-1 in a three-match series, with the series-decider in Hobart producing scintillating centuries from Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Shaun Marsh.

Du Plessis scored 125 in the run feast and finished with a series aggregate of 182 runs that has put him in seventh position with a rise of three places. 

Miller scored 139 and ended up as the leading run-scorer with 192 runs, which have been rewarded with a rise of 11 places and put him in 31st position. 

Marsh scored 106 to end the series with 128 runs and in 62nd position after starting in 80th place.

South Africa’s series win is also reflected in the bowling table in which Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Andile Phehlukwayo Lungi Ngidi and Dwaine Pretorius have made upward movements, while Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have headed in the opposite direction.

Rabada’s haul of seven wickets has helped him move from sixth position to fourth, Steyn’s series figures of seven for 94 have lifted him nine places to 15th, Phehlukwayo’s three wickets in his only appearance have helped him gain six place to 28th spot, Ngidi occupies 43rd position after earning a rise of 19 places following his four wickets and Pretorius has finished in 55th spot after gaining 20 places with five wickets in the series.

In contrast, Hazlewood has slipped four places to ninth, Starc has fallen three places to 17th and Cummins has dropped one place to 19th.

However, Marcus Stoinis has enhanced his reputation as a world-class all-rounder in the making by finishing in 17th place after starting in 40th spot. 

This is after he ended in 49th batting position (up by three places) and 85th bowling position (up by 37 places).

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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Agencies
July 8,2020

New Delhi, Jul 8: After a hiatus of 116 days, international cricket will be resuming today as England and West Indies lock horns in a three-match Test series.

Since March, no international cricket has been played due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because of this virus, whole sporting action across the world came to a standstill.

Australia and New Zealand had played the last international cricket match on March 13 behind closed doors, but the remaining two ODIs of this particular series were cancelled due to COVID-19.

India and South Africa's ODI series also met the same fate due to the pandemic.
It was looking as if it will take a while for sports to come back, but slowly and steadily, all different sports have managed to get into gear and provide fans some respite in these turbulent times.

German football league Bundesliga was the first one to come back, and the organisers set the template as to how to go about conducting tournaments behind closed doors, keeping all safety protocols in check.

Soon after, La Liga, Premier League, and Serie A followed and all major football leagues came back on the television screens across the globe. Formula One kickstarted last week with the Austrian Grand Prix and now it is the time for cricket to resume.

The series between England and West Indies will be played behind closed doors and the matches will be played in Southampton and Manchester. This will be the first time in the 143-year long history of Test cricket that the matches will be played without no crowds.

The England-Windies Test series will be held at Hampshire's Ageas Bowl and Lancashire's Emirates Old Trafford, which have been chosen as bio-secure venues. After the series against West Indies, England would also lock horns with Ireland in three ODIs and Pakistan in three ODIs and as many T20Is.

However, the series against West Indies will be followed closely across the world as all other boards would be looking to see as to how cricket series can be scheduled in their own backyard with the current scenario regarding coronavirus.

The dates for three Tests against West Indies are:

First Test: July 8-12 at Ageas Bowl
Second Test: July 16-20 at Emirates Old Trafford
Third Test: July 24-28 at Emirates Old Trafford

Windies side had arrived in the UK in mid-June and the entire camp had to quarantine themselves for 14 days at Manchester.

For the entire tour, the West Indies squad will live, train and play in a 'bio-secure' environment in England as part of the comprehensive medical and operations plans to ensure player and staff safety.

The bio-secure protocols will also restrict movement in and out of the venues.
Both England and West Indies have played intra-squad practice matches to get some cricketing form back.

While England played their practice match in Southampton, Windies played theirs at Manchester.

West Indies will be led by Jason Holder, while Ben Stokes would captain England in the first Test as regular skipper Joe Root has left the bio-secure bubble to attend the birth of his second child.

England squad for the first Test: Ben Stokes (captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

West Indies squad for the first Test: Jason Holder (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer, and Kemar Roach.

As safety precautions against the coronavirus, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has also brought about some changes to the playing conditions. The new guidelines include the ban of saliva to shine the ball and allowing replacement of players displaying symptoms of COVID-19 during a Test match.

Players will not be permitted to use saliva to shine the ball. If a player does apply saliva to the ball, the umpires will manage the situation with some leniency during an initial period of adjustment for the players, but subsequent instances will result in the team receiving a warning.

A team can be issued up to two warnings per innings but repeated use of saliva on the ball will result in a 5-run penalty to the batting side. Whenever saliva is applied to the ball, the umpires will be instructed to clean the ball before play recommences.

Also, the requirement to appoint neutral match officials has been temporarily removed from the playing conditions for all international formats owing to the current logistical challenges with international travel. The ICC will be able to appoint locally based match officials from the ICC Elite Panel of Match Officials and the ICC International Panel of Match Officials.

Moreover, teams will be allowed to replace players displaying symptoms of COVID-19 during a Test match. In line with concussion replacements, the match referee will approve the nearest like-for-like replacement. However, the regulation for COVID-19 replacements will not be applicable in ODIs and T20Is.

The ICC had also confirmed an additional unsuccessful DRS review for each team in each innings of a match, keeping in mind that there may be less experienced umpires on duty at times.

This will increase the number of unsuccessful appeals per innings for each team to three for Tests and two for the white-ball formats.

The first Test between England and West Indies gets underway later today from 3:30 PM IST.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Melbourne, May 1: Reclaiming the top spot in Test cricket has brought smiles back on their faces but Australia coach Justin Langer says beating India in their own den remains the ultimate test and their numero uno status will be put to test when they clash with the Virat Kohli-led team.

After a tumultuous transition phase post the ball-tampering scandal, Australia on Friday displaced India as number one side in Test format but Langer is aware that it does not take long for the situation to change.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket Australia website. "We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field," Langer added.

The former left-handed opener underlined what he felt will be the ultimate test of character.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia).

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come," Langer put his priorities in place. The team he insists needs to get better as now others will come gunning for them.

"Getting to No.1 is a great thing, but when you're No.1, you're always the hunted," Langer said. "We've been the hunters for a while, now we're the hunted and we need to get better and better."

Langer also hoped that white ball team under Aaron Finch will win the World Cup. "I know how hard it is to win World Cups ... everything has to go right. One day, I'd love to see Aaron Finch with all his mates lift that T20 World Cup above his head."

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