Jadeja takes 5 as India clinch series by innings and 53 runs

Agencies
August 6, 2017

Colombo, Aug 6: India buried Sri Lanka under a mountain of runs as they cantered to a comprehensive innings and 53-run victory in the second Test, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here today.

The hosts, who put up their best batting show in the series so far were all-out for 386 in the second innings despite twin centuries from opener Dimuth Karunaratne (141) and No 3 Kusal Mendis (110).

Ravindra Jadeja (5/152 in 39 overs), after an indifferent final two sessions on the third day, found his rhythm and more importantly length back to inflict the maximum damage.

Once Karunaratne and former skipper Angelo Mathews (36) were dismissed by Jadeja within a space of five runs from each other, it was only a matter of time before India clinched the series.

Karunaratne and Mathews added 69 runs for the fifth wicket as Sri Lanka were 310 for four at one stage before a collapse saw the last six wickets going down for 76 runs.

India have now won back-to-back away Test series in the island nation having clinched the previous edition in 2015 by 2-1 margin. Interestingly, Kohli is the only India captain to have won two Test series in Sri Lanka.

The quality, or the lack of it, of the Sri Lankan team will give Virat Kohli and his boys a chance to complete a clean sweep in Pallekele (Kandy), where the the third Test starts on August 12.

Save Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, India have not had a chance to register an all-win record in an away series in any country.

Not a great believer in enforcing follow-on, skipper Kohli said that a lead of 440 runs convinced him to do so.

"The way the wicket behaved and how it was getting worse by the day and the lead of more than 440 prompted us to enforce the follow-on," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

While there was turn on offer and the pitch did deteriorate, but Karunaratne and Mendis, during their 191-run second wicket stand last evening, had shown stomach for a fight.

"At the international level, you expect teams to come and play like that (on Mendis and Karunaratne tons). They batted really well. You need to have those tough times to improve as cricketers. If you enjoy the hard moments, you enjoy the good moments as well. Never get complacent as a side - that's important."

However, after Sri Lanka were all out for 183 in the first innings in reply to India's 622, it was always going to be a catch-up game for the hosts.

The Indian bowlers -- especially the two spinners -- were made to work much harder than their previous three innings in the Test matches so far.

Ravichandran Ashwin (2/132 in 37.5 overs), after a good first innings show, did not look half as effective. He, however, got the final wicket of the Sri Lankan second innings to end the match.

In the post-lunch session, it was Jadeja who hit the right areas, extracting sharp turn and bounce off the pitch.

Karunartane, after his 307-ball vigil, got a wicked delivery that jumped off his gloves with Ajinkya Rahane running behind the wicketkeeper to take the catch.

Mathews then got one that had both turn and bounce with Wriddhiman Saha giving a superb exhibition of glovework.

Dilruwan Perera (17) was then stumped as he tried to give Jadeja the charge.
The skipper was effusive in his praise for Saha.

"Four byes on that sort of pitch speaks of his (Saha's) quality. He is definitely the best keeper in this format I will say. How agile he is! He is very safe behind the stumps," Kohli stated.

The ninth five-wicket haul for Jadeja came when Dhananjaya De Silva edged one to Rahane at first-slip.
Niroshan Dickwella (31) threw his bat around before Hardik Pandya (2/31 in 15 overs) accounted for his wicket.

At the start, Karunaratne added 40 runs with nightwatchman Malinda Pushpakumara (16) for the third wicket.

The two continued to stonewall the Indian attack, and a few runs were added too. India struggled to make things happen as they failed to latch on to the half-chances offered by the nightwatchman.

The big moment of the session came in the 66th over when K L Rahul dropped Karunaratne (then on 95) at short leg off Jadeja, which didn't prove costly in the long run.

The opener didn't offer any more chances thereafter, reaching the three-figure mark in 224 balls.
India were then given a lucky break as Pushpakumara played a horrific reverse sweep off Ashwin in the 73rd over and was bowled, gifting his wicket after doing all the hard work.

It became a double blow as Jadeja had Dinesh Chandimal (2) caught at slip in the next over, with Rahane holding on to a sharp catch diving to his right.

The visitors took the second new ball as soon as it became available, but Karunaratne and Mathews played watchful cricket given the vitality of this passage of play.

India did bring on its pacers, Mohammed Shami (0-27) and Umesh Yadav (1-39), for short spells with the new ball, but they were unable to provide breakthroughs.

Sri Lanka crossed the 300-mark in the 90th over, with Karunaratne and Mathews bringing up their 50-partnership off 71 balls.

"We were outplayed with bat and the ball in the first innings. But I was happy with the way we played in the second innings. We just want to take positives from this game. Kusal and Dimuth played some really good cricket," Sri Lanka captain Chandimal said.

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
July 4,2020

Maryland, Jul 4: The total number of coronavirus cases worldwide has touched 11 million, according to the latest data by the Johns Hopkins University on Saturday.
More than 523,613 people have died globally due to the infection, according to the data compiled by the university.

Though the virus is believed to have emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the United States is the worst-hit country from COVID-19, which was declared as a pandemic by the WHO on March 11.

At least 129,275 people have died in the US from the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University's latest tally.
There are at least 2,786,178 cases of the disease in the country. The US has the highest number of cases in the world.

The second worst-hit country is Brazil, which has reported 1,496,858 lakh cases. The country's death toll stands at 61,884.

The countries around the world including the US, India, Denmark, and Italy have started the process of lifting the lockdown by easing restrictions despite the number of cases continues to rise.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Washington, Feb 28: US intelligence agencies are monitoring the global spread of coronavirus and the ability of governments to respond, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, warning that there were concerns about how India would cope with a widespread outbreak.

While there are only a few known cases in India, one source said the country's available countermeasures and the potential for the virus to spread given India's dense population was a focus of serious concern.

US intelligence agencies are also focusing on Iran, where the country's deputy health minister has fallen ill during a worsening outbreak.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States was "deeply concerned" Tehran may have covered up details about the spread of coronavirus. A US government source said Iran's response was considered ineffective because the government only has minimal capabilities to respond to the outbreak.

Another source said US agencies were also concerned about the weak ability of governments in some developing countries to respond to an outbreak.

The US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee has received a briefing on the virus from the spy agencies. "The Committee has received a briefing from the IC (intelligence community) on coronavirus, and continues to receive updates on the outbreak on a daily basis," an official of the House Intelligence Committee told Reuters.

"Addressing the threat has both national security and economic dimensions, requiring a concerted government-wide effort and the IC is playing an important role in monitoring the spread of the outbreak, and the worldwide response," the official added.

A source familiar with the activities of the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by Republican Senator Richard Burr and Democratic Senator Mark Warner, said the panel was receiving daily updates. The role of US intelligence agencies in responding to the coronavirus epidemic at this point principally involves monitoring the spread of the illness around the world and assessing the responses of governments.

They are working closely with health agencies, such as the US Center for Disease Control, in sharing information they collect and targeting further intelligence gathering.

One source said US agencies would use a wide range of intelligence tools, ranging from undercover informants to electronic eavesdropping tools, to track the virus' impact.

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