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Focus on Ashwin, Shami as India take on NZ in opening warm-up

[email protected] (Agencies)
May 27, 2017

London, May 27: Premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be in focus alongside speedster Mohammed Shami when defending champions India take on New Zealand tomorrow in their opening warm-up game ahead of the Champions Trophy here.

ashwin

After a hectic six weeks of Indian Premier League, the two warm-up games will help the 'Men In Blue' get back into the 50-over groove and the emphasis will be on team combination moving into the tournament-proper.

India last played an ODI against England, back in January this year.

Since the match doesn't have official status, all 15 members in the squad will get a chance to play.

All eyes will be on Ashwin as he is coming from a two- month break after the BCCI wanted him to opt out of the IPL in order to recover from fatigue after playing all 13 Tests in a gruelling home season.

The warm-up matches will provide Ashwin with much-needed game time as he fights for his place with Ravindra Jadeja in case the team management decides to go with one specialist spinner in the playing XI.

It will be a good opportunity for Ashwin to test his skills against the likes of Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, and Tom Latham on a placid Oval track where 300 plus is considered to be a par score.

Ashwin has not exactly had a great time in white ball cricket but the Tamil Nadu off-spinner had recently said that he is ready with a bagful of new tricks for the Champions Trophy.

One can expect him to try out new variations in these warm-up games.

Another bowler who is expected to bowl a few overs is Shami. He has not played 50-over cricket for India since the World Cup semi-final in Sydney, back in 2015.

A fit Shami is an asset with his ability to work up brisk pace, swing the ball both ways and hit the blockhole. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah along with Hardik Pandya looking good to make it to the playing XI in India's tournament-opener against Pakistan, Shami would look to make a case for himself.

Among the batsmen, Rohit Sharma will again be batting at the top of the order after not opening the innings for Mumbai Indians during the entire IPL.

While it's a different format, Rohit will certainly need to make some mental adjustments of facing the new ball first- up.

He had played a couple of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches for Mumbai after recuperating from a hamstring surgery but that was also more than two and half months back.

Shikhar Dhawan has been lucky to get a look-in considering Lokesh Rahul had a shoulder surgery. Dhawan, who was adjudged the 'Best Batsman' during the 2013 edition, would like to once again cement his place atleast in the limited overs squad.

Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee and Trent Boult make up for a very potent seam attack in any conditions -- something skipper Virat Kohli would fancy as he is slowly getting back to form.

The middle-order trio of MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Kedar Jadhav will also seek to gain requisite confidence before the game against Pakistan on June 4.

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Dinesh Karthik, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi (wk), Neil Broom, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Corey Anderson, Mitchell Santner, Jeetan Patel, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.

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News Network
February 2,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 2: India registered a rare 5-0 whitewash against New Zealand after notching up a seven-run win in the fifth and final T20 International at Bay Oval here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, India posted 163 for three, riding on Rohit Sharma's 60 off 41 balls and a 33-ball 45 from K L Rahul.

The visitors then restricted the hosts to 156 for nine with Jasprit Bumrah claiming three wickets for 12 runs.

Chasing the target, the Black Caps were tottering at 17 for three in 3.2 overs.

Tim Seifert (50) and Ross Taylor (53) then added 99 runs for the fourth wicket as New Zealand recovered to 116.

Seifert clobbered a 30-ball 50 studded with five fours and three sixes, while Ross Taylor hit two sixes and five fours in his 47-ball 53-run innings.

However, once Seifert was dismissed in the 13th over, the hosts suffered a collapse, losing five wickets, including Taylor, for 25 runs to loss the plot in the end.

Brief Score:

India: 163 for 3 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 60; S Kuggeleijn 2/25)    

New Zealand: 156 for 9 in 20 overs (Ross Taylor 53, Tim Seifert 50; Jasprit Bumrah 3/12).

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: India's World Cup-winning former opener Gautam Gambhir performed the last rites of his deceased domestic help after her mortal remains could not be sent to her home in Odisha due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown.

Gambhir, also a BJP Lok Sabha MP, posted a tribute on his Twitter page for his employee Saraswati Patra, who was working at his residence for the past six years.

"Taking care of my little one can never be domestic help. She was family. Performing her last rites was my duty," he tweeted.

"Always believed in dignity irrespective of caste, creed, religion or social status. Only way to create a better society. That's my idea of India! Om Shanti," said the 38-year-old Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India between 2004 and 2016.

Media reports in Odisha said the 49-year-old Patra hailed from a village in Jajpur district.

She was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital a few days ago and was battling diabetes and high blood pressure for a long period. She breathed her last while undergoing treatment on April 21.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated Gambhir.

"Taking care of Saraswati throughout the course of her illness, he also ensured her dignity in death by performing her last rites himself since her mortal remains could not be sent to her family back home in Odisha," Pradhan, who also belongs to Odisha, tweeted.

"His act of compassion will enliven the faith in humanity for millions of poor, who are working far from their home for livelihood and will garner respect from all folds of the society."

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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