Justin Langer hails chase master Virat Kohli, says his balance is 'unbelievable'

Agencies
January 16, 2019

Jan 16: Australia coach Justin Langer compared Virat Kohli with Sachin Tendulkar and said the Indian captain's balance while playing 360 degree shots in all formats of the game is "unbelievable".

After his 39th ODI hundred guided India to a series' levelling win in Adelaide, Langer heaped praise on Kohli, saying the India skipper is currently having the same impact on international cricket as Tendulkar.

"I would like to have them both in my team. Sachin was an incredible cricketer. I used to watch him and it was like he was meditating. He was so calm and that's why his record is peerless," Langer said after Australia's six-wicket loss in the second ODI here.

"Virat is doing the same thing. He is so calm and so competitive, and technically his balance is unbelievable. For him to play 360-degree shots in all formats of the game, his balance is unbelievable."

Langer said that it is a blessing in disguise for the young Australian cricketers to play against class players like Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"He (Kohli) is a great competitor and his concentration is extra ordinary and for someone to make so many runs as he has it is incredible like all the great players," he said.

"Sachin and Virat, and MS Dhoni, who averages 50-plus in 340 games, they are all-time great players and our guys are in the best seats at the moment, playing some of the best all-time great ODI players and they will be better from the experience," Langer added.

Dhoni slammed an unbeaten 55 off 54 balls after Kohli laid the foundation for India's series-levelling victory in the second ODI with a fluent 104.

Langer said that the inexperience of his side showed as first Kohli marshalled the middle overs and then Dhoni turned back time to finish the chase with four balls to spare.

"We were playing against three all-time great one-day international players (also referring to Rohit Sharma at the SCG). We saw it in the first one, and class always come to the top, and we have seen that with India so we must respect that," he said.

"The way Virat and MS batted today, you hate losing but when you see that - it's amazing. That's why they are such great players so we will gain great experience from it," Langer said.

"In big tournaments like the World Cup, I like to see our guys under pressure like they were tonight so it will be much better for the experience. And it's still one-all in the series, and it means it's alive and well. The MCG game is going to be huge, and we can't wait for that," he added.

Shaun Marsh's seventh ODI hundred helped Australia set up a tall score of 289 for 9, but India overcame easily riding on the experience of Kohli and Dhoni.

Langer was full of praise for Marsh, who has been Australia's best ODI batsman in recent times.

"I thought Shaun Marsh's innings was absolutely brilliant. We had some good 50-run partnerships but we talked about getting big hundreds, Shaun did that. We probably lost those two wickets just at the end with Shaun and Glenn Maxwell getting out just at the end. It might have cots us 15 or so runs which obviously in the context of this game it would have been handy," said Langer.

"He's turning into a great one-day international player, four hundreds in eight games. You'd like to see him get hundreds and win. It would have been a perfect day for him," he signed off.

The two sides will now head into series-dedicing third and final ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on January 18.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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