India vs West Indies: Virat Kohli badly wanted a century, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Agencies
August 12, 2019

Port Of Spain, Aug 12: Virat Kohli brought up his 42nd ODI ton in brilliant fashion while guiding India to a win against West Indies and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said the Indian skipper was eager to end his 11-innings century drought.

On Sunday, Kohli, who is coming off a relatively quiet World Cup, scored 120 off 125 balls to help India to 279 for 7 before Bhuvneshwar starred with the ball to hand the visitors a 59-win in the rain curtailed match.

Kohli's last hundred had come against Australia in March. Since then the Indian skipper has been among the runs, scoring five half centuries, but has failed to reach a ton.

After scoring the century, Kohli celebrated in a characteristically passionate manner.

"From Virat's expression you could see that he badly wanted to score a hundred not because he was out form but because he was getting out in the 70's and 80's and he's always known for scoring big runs," Bhuvneshwar said at the post match conference.

"The wicket wasn't easy, when Virat came back to the dressing room he said after the ball gets old it's not easy to score runs," he added.

Like Kohli, Bhuvneshwar also played a decisive role in India's victory. The 29-year-old snared four wickets for 31 runs.

"When I came to bowl I was just thinking I have to bowl economically, get more dot balls. I feel getting wickets is a byproduct of bowling tightly. I wasn't thinking much about the result because we knew if we get one or two wickets we will be back in the game."

West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals but looked well within sight of the target with Nicholas Pooran (42) and Rostan Chase (18) in the middle. However, Bhuvneshwar changed the complexion of the game in a matter of an over.

In the 35th over he first dismissed Pooran and then leapt to pull off a stunning catch to see the back of Chase.

"I just caught it. I wasn't expecting it. Pooran's wicket was the main wicket for us because we all know how he plays and he can change the game. So his wicket was the key for us. Roston Chase also the moment he came he started taking singles. So those two wickets were crucial for us."

Now the Indian pace spearhead has set his sight on a precious away series win. India lead the three-match ODI series 1-0.

"We are up in the series we want to win the series. whenever you are playing away from home you just want to win the series," Bhuvneshwar said.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Chennai, Mar 15: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni has left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) training camp following the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) amidst the coronavirus scare.

The former India skipper had joined the CSK's camp earlier this month in order to practice for the upcoming IPL season.

CSK's official handle tweeted a video of Dhoni and captioned the post as: "It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen".

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

BCCI had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

On Friday, BCCI decided to postpone the IPL until April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, all the IPL franchises met in Mumbai to discuss as to how to go on with the tournament in the future.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Jun 9: Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has released a video, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Last week, Sammy had lost his cool after learning the meaning of the word "Kalu", which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad. The T20 World Cup-winning Windies skipper had said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were sometimes called that word when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, Sammy did not specify as to who directed these slurs at him, but now the player has released a video, saying he will message all those who called him that word.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn''t know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

"Now, I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to you call me with that word, think about it, let's have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed," he added.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

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News Network
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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