Kohli Blames Poor Batting for Loss; Praises Kiwi Batsmen for Application

Agencies
October 23, 2017

Mumbai, Oct 23: India captain Virat Kohli admitted that they were at least 30 runs short but at the same time praised the application of the New Zealand batsmen especially Tom Latham.

Kohli's 31st hundred in his 200th ODI was overshadowed as New Zealand chased down a target of 281 in 49 overs with Latham scoring an unbeaten 103 and Ross Taylor contributing 95.

"We thought 275 (280) was a good total. But Ross and Tom were fantastic. They did not give us any chances, apart from a run-out here or there. And when you get a 200-run partnership,

you deserve to win," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

The Indian captain reckoned that the pitch played really well in the second half and dew became an issue.

"Putting dew into perspective, in the last 13-14 overs, we were 20-30 runs short. But in the first half of the day, the wicket was playing very differently. We would have liked a better batting performance, if a couple more guys had chipped in, batting a few more overs, we could have had 40 runs extra," said Kohli.

Kohli also complimented the Kiwi batsmen for tackling Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal with well.

"New Zealand tackled our spinners really well, handled the fast bowlers too. Credit to Tom and Ross - Tom especially as Ross has been around for a while. He's (Latham) not played

as many international games but he played superbly. Trent (Boult) as well, with the ball."

Asked why he didn't use Kedar Jadhav, who has been a handy part-time, Kohli opined that pitch had enough on offer for the two specialist spinners.

"There was enough turn on offer in the pitch to trust the frontline spinners. Maybe if the chase had gone away from us earlier, or If the lower order was in, we might have used

Kedar. Hardik did well for us as well, so we didn't feel the need to bring Kedar in."

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson termed the chase as one of the greatest that he has been a part of.

"It was a brilliant performance. It was one of the greatest chases I have seen, certainly in my time as a Black Cap," Williamson said.

"Tom and Ross controlled the innings perfectly through the middle overs. You know over here that you take the game deep. It was something we wanted to do. Even with a few more

batsmen left, they had to finish it off." Williamson conceded that the weather was challenging.

"The weather was very challenging. We have been here two weeks, you can't really get used to it, but we got on with it."

Man of the match Latham said that although he could play sweeps and reverse sweeps, he didn't have the requisite confidence earlier.

"It's something (sweep) I had been working on, just didn't have the confidence to play the reverse sweep so early in the game. The biggest thing in a partnership is communication, we were talking after every over, hats off to Ross for playing such a great innings. He was a calming influence on me."

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Dubai, Jan 11: India opener KL Rahul has retained the sixth position while skipper Virat Kohli and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan have advanced one place each in the latest ICC Men's T20I player rankings after the conclusion of the series against Sri Lanka.

India won the T20I series 2-0 with one match getting washed out. Rahul, the highest-ranked Indian batsman, has gained 26 points and is now at the sixth spot with 760 rating points.

Rahul is just six points behind Australia's Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in the ninth position while Dhawan is on 15th. Manish Pandey has advanced four places and is ranked at the 70th.

India's fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Player of the series Navdeep Saini has rocketed from 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets in the series. Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach the 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th position after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the ICC Men's team rankings, India have gained two points but remain at fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236 points and are at the eighth spot.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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