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Appointed KKR skipper, Karthik hopes to lead from front

Agencies
March 4, 2018

Mumbai, Mar 4: Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was today appointed captain of Kolkata Knight Riders and Robin Uthappa his deputy for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Karthik said he would like to emulate current India skipper Virat Kohli and lead from the front. "Virat is a captain who leads by his action.

 He is somebody who shows with his performance and that is something that I can try and emulate -- lead by example rather than speaking, go on the ground and show with the scores or the way I play etc," Karthik told reporters here. He also said that even if he does not look aggressive, there is aggression deep inside and he would not change that while leading the side. "In terms of being aggressive captain, I am not aggressive outwardly by nature, but that does not mean I am not aggressive inside.

 "While playing a game, I am one of those guys who don?t even speak to the opponents, before the game or in the lead up to the game, these are some of the qualities which I have and these are the ways I show aggression." Present on the occasion were KKR?s CEO, Venky Mysore, and Karthik himself. Karthik, who is a part of the India squad or the triangular T20 series in Sri Lanka, added, "When the situation is tough be there and do the best.

 "I look eye to eye, and do small things that matter, I may not show it from body language, but I know deep down I am thoroughly aggressive in the way I play cricket and I would like to take that forward." KKR have young pacers such as Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi, who have made a mark in the U-19 World Cup, which India won. Asked what advice he would give the two Karthik said, "Definitely not just concentrate on pace, thats just one aspect of fast bowling.

 At this stage in a situation like IPL you need variations and you need to be thinking ahead of the batsmen. "We had Heath Streak as bowling coach and he was very efficient and I know he has the potential to help these youngsters and they have lot to learn from him as a bowling coach and they are in safe hands, and with somebody like Jacques Kallis, who is an all-rounder, he would be giving right advice as well." The side also boasts of three wrist spinners in Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and West Indian Sunil Narine.

 Karthik said that other teams would be jealous of KKR as wrist spinners are the flavour of the season. "In terms of wrist spinners, Piyush (Chwla) have 10 years of experience in playing the IPL and in terms of number of wickets taken by an IPL bowler, he is in the top five.

Kuldeep (Yadav) of late, the performances he is producing for Indian team, so that augurs well for the team. "The flavour of the season is wrist spin because it is hard to pick them and they have the ability to pick wickets, it is good that we have those three bowlers. Most teams would be jealous that we have three wrist spinners." Karthik said he was looking forward to lead a side having a combination of youth and experience.

"We have a very balanced side and that is a great place to start from. And in terms of building the team, its a journey. We know that we are going to have this team for three years, so the important thing is to get best out of the players and then keep moving forward.

"The first thing would be to connect all the boys together. One of the most important thing is to get the whole group together and get the bonding going straightaway.

 "Its always difficult in IPL sort of environment because there is not much time. It is always a challenge and we are trying to address that." Mysore said, "It is indeed a start of a new phase for KKR, and we are delighted that someone as experienced as Dinesh Karthik will lead the side." Regarding the teams vice-captain, he said, "Robin has been an integral part of KKR since 2014 and played a crucial role in KKR winning the championship. We are fortunate to have both Dinesh & Robin in leadership roles for KKR." KKR play their opening game on April 8 at the Eden Gardens.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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Agencies
March 14,2020

Sydney, Mar 14: New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has been placed under 24-hour isolation amid the fears of coronavirus after he reported a sore throat following the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series against Australia in Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) which the hosts won by 71 runs.

"In accordance with recommended health protocols, Lockie Ferguson has been placed in isolation at the team hotel for the next 24 hours after reporting a sore throat at the end of the first ODI," said New Zealand Cricket in a statement.

"Once the test results are received and diagnosed, his return to the team can be determined," it added.

The first ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee series was played in front of empty stands as the spectators were not allowed to be at SCG as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, Australian fast bowler, Kane Richardson was also tested for the coronavirus, after suffering from a sore throat on Thursday. That saw him left out of the squad for Friday's game but the test was negative.

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