Why aren't Dhoni, Dhawan playing domestic cricket? Asks Gavaskar

Agencies
December 4, 2018

New Delhi, Dec 4: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has questioned the BCCI for allowing the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to skip domestic cricket ahead of a hectic six months culminating into the World Cup in England.

Dhawan, who was dropped from the Test team, is spending time with family in Melbourne following the T20 leg of the Australia while Dhoni has had no cricket since the ODI series against the West Indies ended on November 1. 

The former captain is a certainty only in the 50-over format after he was ignored for the T20s against the West Indies and Australia. He retired from Tests in 2014.

"We shouldn't ask Dhawan and Dhoni 'Why you are not playing domestic cricket?'. We should, in fact, ask the BCCI and selectors why are they allowing players to skip domestic cricket when they are not on national duty," Gavaskar told 'India Today'.

"If the Indian team has to do well, players have to be in prime form and for that they have to play cricket," he added.

Gavaskar wants the two players to compete in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, especially Dhoni, who is facing constant criticism for his waning batting form.

"He (Dhoni) didn't play the T20Is against Australia, before that he didn't play the West Indies Tests, and then he is not playing the Test series against Australia. 

"So, he last played in October (November 1) and will next play in January, which is a huge gap. But if he doesn't do well on tours of Australia and New Zealand, then there will be more questions asked on his place in the World Cup.

"As you grow older and if there is a gap in your cricket, your reflexes will slow down. If you play any form of cricket at the domestic level, you get an opportunity to play long innings, which serves as a good practice for you," Gavaskar added.

The World Cup starts May 30.

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News Network
April 7,2020

London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.

Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.

"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.

We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.

Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.

"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.

"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.

Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault's Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

Renault's Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with Lance Stroll's Racing Point, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

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