India vs West Indies, Preview 3rd ODI: Shikhar Dhawan under pressure to score big with series on the line

Agencies
August 14, 2019

Port of Spain, Aug 14: Opener Shikhar Dhawan would be desperate for a big knock after four consecutive failures as India are eyeing another series victory when they clash with the West Indies in the third and final ODI here on Wednesday.

With scores of 1, 23, 3 in the Twenty20 International series (T20I) and single-digit score of 2 in the second ODI, Dhawan's comeback post injury has been far from ideal.

Troubled by in-coming deliveries, twice Dhawan lost his wicket to pacer Sheldon Cottrell.

Since Dhawan is not part of the Test squad, the Delhi left-hander would like to finish the Caribbean assignment on a high.

There is another mini-battle brewing in the Indian batting line up for the number four slot with Shreyas Iyer putting tremendous pressure on Rishabh Pant.

Pant has enjoyed the backing of the team management, especially skipper Virat Kohli but his repeated failures and Iyer's 68-ball 71-run knock in the second ODI has made things different.

Pant's temperament is cause of concern as he threw away his wicket on numerous occasions. Any team would prefer a level-headed batsman for that crucial position and by his knock on Sunday, Iyer has made a strong case for himself.

Even legendary Sunil Gavaskar has vouched for Iyer for the number flour slot. He wants Pant to drop down to number five as he feels the wicketkeeper batsman is best suited to provide the late impetus.

Elsewhere on the batting front, Kohli would look to carry on with his good batting form after hitting a brilliant 120 off 125 balls in the second ODI.

Kohli anchored India's innings in Iyer's company after openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were dismissed cheaply.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the star for India with the ball in the last match with impressive figures of 4 for 31 from eight overs and the pacer would look to carry on his fine form in the coming matches of the tour.

Bhuvneshwar's pace colleague Mohammed Shami (2/39) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/59) also chipped in wickets but the left-arm spinner went for some runs and he would be hoping for better display in terms of economy rate.

Although teams don't prefer changing their winning combinations, Kohli might give Navdeep Saini a run in the last ODI by resting Shami.

West Indies, on the other hand, would be desperate to save the series with a win.

But for that to happen, West Indies' batting unit will have to take more responsibility. It's time talents like Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran rise up to the occasion for West Indies cricket to thrive.

After the final ODI, the two teams will battle in a two-match Test series, s tarting August 22 at North Sound, Antigua.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini

West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Chris Gayle, John Campbell, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Kemar Roach.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Chennai Super Kings have rejected the idea of an IPL with only Indian players in the near future, differing with Rajasthan Royals, the franchise which is keen on the option given the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IPL, which is indefinitely postponed, can be held in the September-October window if the scheduled T20 World Cup in Australia doesn't take place.

"CSK is not keen to do an IPL with only Indian players. That way it would be playing another Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (domestic T20 competition). The franchise has not been in touch with the BCCI of late as the situation is worsening," a CSK source said on conditions of anonymity.

"Let's hope we can have the IPL later this year," he added.

CSK are three-time IPL champions, making them the second most successful team in the event's history after Mumbai Indians, who have won the tournament four times.

The BCCI is also very keen to stage the IPL and if it doesn't happen, the world's richest board would be in financial trouble like Cricket Australia.

"The board will take a revenue hit of Rs 4000 crore if it doesn't happen. The board will be in a big problem," BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal said earlier this week.

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in India, the board and IPL team officials see little point in discussing when the event can be held.

"There has been no discussion with the BCCI ever since it postponed the IPL. There is no point in discussing also as things are unlikely to be okay anytime soon," the CSK source said.

"We expect the BCCI to take the best possible decision when the time comes," he added.

For the IPL to happen with foreign players, travel restrictions, which are currently in place, will have to be eased.

There is an option of conducting the IPL outside India and Sri Lanka Cricket has even offered to host the biggest T20 league in the world.

M S Dhoni was expected to make a much-awaited comeback with the IPL but that too has been postponed indefinitely.

Teammates like Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla have already spoken about how eager Dhoni was to return.

According to them, Dhoni had the determination of a youngster before the league was suspended due to the lockdown imposed to contain the pandemic.

"Dhoni is his own man but I see him playing the IPL for at least two three years. When it comes to playing for India, only he knows best," the source added.

Last month, Rajasthan Royals executive chairman Ranjit Barthakur had said the franchise was open to a shortened IPL with only Indian players.

"Earlier we could not think of an Indians-only IPL but now there is enough quality to choose from. It is better to have an Indians-only IPL than not have it at all," he had told news agency.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Northamptonshire, Jul 31: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for coronavirus, and as a result, he will miss the British Grand Prix.

The Racing Point driver was absent from the circuit on Thursday after self-isolating following what his team called an "inconclusive" test. Perez then re-tested later in the day and it returned positive.

Formula 1 is following a strict testing regime as part of the safety protocols put in place when racing resumed earlier this month, and this is the first time a driver has tested positive.

"Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities," Formula 1 and the FIA said in a statement.

"With the assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined," the statement added.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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