Women's World Cup, Semi-Finals: Confident India Eager To Upset Australia

Agencies
July 20, 2017

Jul 20: Odds are stacked heavily against them but a confident India will aim to turn the tables when they take on six-time champions Australia in the second semi-final of the ICC Women's World Cup on Thursday.

India have a poor record against Australia, having lost 34 out of 42 games the two teams have played so far. But come on Thursday, the Mithali Raj-led Indian team will be aiming to end the losing streak against Australia. A win on Thursday will ensure India's entry into the summit clash at Lord's only for the second time in the history of the tournament.

India played the final of the World Cup only once in 2005 edition in South Africa, where they lost to Australia.

While India have finished the round-robin stage in the third spot with five wins and two losses, Australia have finished second with six wins out of seven games.

The match will be played at The County Ground here, a ground boasting plenty of familiarity for India having played four of its group games here that included its last must-win clash against New Zealand to reach the semi-finals.

Australia, on the other hand, are yet to play at the ground -- though they have continued to impress.

"I think this is our home ground and we have played four games here and I think that is why the girls feel at home," India skipper Mithali had said.

The match will also provide the Indians a chance to avenge their morale-shattering eight-wicket loss to Australia in the round-robin stage just a week ago in Bristol.

But it would be easier said than done. To upset Australia the Indians will have to excel in all departments of the game.

Mithali, who played an uncharacteristic knock against Australia in the round robin stage, will be desperate to make amends while Punam Raut would be aiming to repeat her century feat against the Southern Stars.

In the high-pressure game against New Zealand, Mithali scored a great hundred under pressure, while Veda Krishnamurthy scored 70 off 40-odd balls to set a good score on the board.

The Indian bowlers then shot out New Zealand for meagre 79 to register a morale-boosting huge 186-run win.

Besides Mithali and Krishnamurthy, Harmanpreet Kaur also contributed with a half-century.

But the form of opener Smriti Mandhana, who looked in good touch at the start of the tournament would be a cause of concern for the Indian camp.

On the bowling front, the Indian slow bowlers have been impressive while veteran Jhulan Goswami has found the going tough.

Australia, however, can ill-afford to take Jhulan lightly. With 190 wickets, the fast bowler has the most scalps in the format's history, with the chance of becoming the first to reach 200 undoubtedly the point of motivation for pacer who made debut in 2003.

Playing her first match in the World Cup, left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (5/15) picked up her first five-wicket haul in ODIs to single-handedly torment New Zealand and Mithali would be hoping an encore against Australia on Thursday.

The big win against New Zealand gave the Indian eves the much-needed confidence ahead of the semi-final.

"Australia are a very good side, a very rounded side. They have a lot of depth in their batting and they have good bowlers. It is how the team responds to the situation (which is) very important. If we continue to play the way we have played, there is a great chance that we can beat Australia," Mithali had said.

Teams (from):

India: Mithali Raj (captain), Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Smrti Mandhana, Mona Meshram, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Nuzhat Parween, Punam Raut, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma, Smriti Mandhana.

Australia: Meg Lanning (captain), Sarah Aley, Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell, Nicole Bolton, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: India skipper Virat Kohli on Friday made a heartfelt appeal to the citizens of the country, asking them to follow social distancing as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.
He also went on to say that over the past few days, he has seen some people still taking to the streets, and added that if people still continue to venture out, then they are not being honest with the country.
Kohli released a small video clip on Twitter, making the public appeal and captioned the post as: "Please wake up to the reality and seriousness of the situation and take responsibility. The nation needs our support and honesty"
"Today, I am talking to you as a citizen of the country. Whatever I have seen over the past few days, I have seen people not following the lockdown, it has made me feel that some people are taking the battle against COVID-19 very lightly. I request you all to please follow social distancing, whatever the government is asking you to do, please follow it," Kohli said in the video released on Twitter.
"Think about what can happen to your family members because of your negligence. Our medical experts are fighting this battle day in and day out. If you are still going out to the streets, then I don't think you are being honest to your country," he added.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to impose a 21-day lockdown in the country as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have risen to 724 in India (including 640 active cases, 66 cured or discharged people) and 17 deaths.
The World Health Organisation had termed the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic on March 11. 

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News Network
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Mumbai, May 21: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has chosen legendary Sachin Tendulkar over current skipper Virat Kohli as a better batsman in the ODI format, considering the changed rules of the game and the Mumbaikar's longevity of career.

Tendulkar, who retired in 2013, played 463 ODIs and amassed 18, 426 runs with 49 hundreds at an average of 44.83.

Kohli, on the other hand, has played 248 ODIs and scored 11, 867 runs with 43 tons at an average of 59.33.

"Sachin Tendulkar, because probably with one white ball and four fielders inside the circle, not five fielders outside, it will be Sachin Tendulkar for me," Gambhir said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

Nowadays, a one-day innings is played with two white balls and with three powerplays.

In the first power play (overs 1-10), two fielders are allowed beyond the 30-yard circle, while in the second powerplay (overs 10-40) four fielders are allowed. In the last powerplay (overs 40-50), five fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

Gambhir, who was the star performer in 2011 ODI World Cup final which India won, feels that the change in rules has helped batsmen.

"It's difficult because Virat Kohli has done phenomenally well but I think the rules have changed as well, which has helped a lot of new batters," elaborated Gambhir, who played 58 Tests and 147 ODIs.

"The new generation, with 2 new balls, no reverse swing, nothing for the finger spin, five fielders inside for the 50 overs, probably that makes batting much easier.

He said he would also go with Tendulkar, considering his longevity and flow of the ODI cricket format at that time.

"Probably I’ll go with Sachin Tendulkar if we see the longevity and flow of the one-day cricket format.

"Look at how Sachin Tendulkar has played, different rules, that time 230 to 240, was a winning total," Gambhir signed off. 

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