Kohli claims 2nd spot, Bhuvneshwar breaks into top 10

October 20, 2014

Dubai, Oct 20: Benefitting from his return to form in the abruptly-ended West Indies series, Indian batsman Virat Kohli claimed number two slot in the ICC rankings while swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke into top-10 for the first time in his career.

KohliKohli scored 191 runs, including 127 in the final match, in India’s 2-1 series win as he pushed South Africa’s Hashim Amla to number three in the list, topped by Amla’s compatriot AB de Villiers.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni was the next best India at number six (unchanged) while Shikhar Dhawan lost a place to be eighth. Left-handed Suresh Raina gained three places to move to 15th.

Bhuvneshwar took only two wickets in the series but he jumped seven places to number seven, just behind Ravindra Jadeja, who slipped to sixth from fifth.

Paceman Mohammed Shami, who ended the series as the most successful bowler with 10 for 174, vaulted five places to 16th and has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career. Off-Spinner was placed at number 18, a loss of two spots.

In the team rankings, India remain at number two with 113 points, same as South Africa, who though have a chance to snatch top spot from Australia (114) when they face New Zealand in the three-match ODI series, starting Wednesday.

A 3-0 series will put South Africa ahead of the four-time world champion by one ratings point.

If South Africa manages to win all the three matches against New Zealand, then it will reclaim the number-one position for the first time in five years after handing over the baton to Australia following its first-round elimination from ICC Champions Trophy 2009.

On the other side, if New Zealand wins the series, then it will leapfrog Pakistan into sixth position. Currently, both Pakistan and New Zealand are on equal points on 98 ratings points but the Black Caps are in seventh position when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Meanwhile, AB de Villiers of South Africa goes into the upcoming series as the number-one ranked batsman and he will be looking to build on his fine recent run of form.

Overall, there are four South Africa batsmen inside the top 20, including de Villiers and Amla, with Quinton de Kock in ninth position and Francois du Plessis in 11th spot - just 19 ratings points behind his team-mate.

New Zealand’s top-ranked batsman is Ross Taylor who sits in 10th place in the current rankings. There are two more three New Zealanders inside the top 20, namely Kane Williamson (12th) and Martin Guptill (20th) and be eyeing positive improvements in their home series.

Skipper Brendon McCullum (25th) lies 20 ratings points adrift of his team-mate Guptill (20th).

On the Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, South African paceman Dale Steyn, will go into the series as the top-ranked bowler in 3rd place, while ninth placed Ryan McLaren is a point adrift of Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez.

Kyle Mills is Black Caps’ leading bowler in 13th place, with Tim Southee laying a solitary ratings point outside the top 20.

Incidentally, Mount Maunganui, which is hosting the first two ODIs on Tuesday and Friday, will debut as an international venue this week. The third ODI will be played in Hamilton.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: India captain Virat Kohli has refrained from making any comments on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), without gaining full knowledge on the sensitive subject.

The CAA will grant Indian nationality to people belonging to minority communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12, even if they don't possess any proper document.

In 2016, Kohli had termed demonetisation as the "greatest move in history of Indian politics", which met with sharp criticism from a lot of quarters, with people questioning his knowledge on the subject.

With Guwahati witnessing massive protests against the CAA till some days back, Kohli was asked about it and the Indian skipper weighed his words carefully.

"On the issue, I do not want to be irresponsible and speak on something that has, you know, radical opinions both sides. I need to have total information, total knowledge of what it means and what is going on and then be responsible to give my opinion on it," Kohli said ahead of India's first T20 International against Sri Lanka.

The skipper made it clear that he will not like to get embroiled in a controversy by commenting on a subject that he is not well aware of.

"Because you can say one thing and then someone can say another thing. So, I would not like to get involved in something that I don't have total knowledge of and it's not going to be responsible on my part to comment on it." However Kohli on his part was happy with the security arrangements and felt that the city is "absolutely safe".

"The city is absolutely safe. We didn't see any problems on the roads," Kohli said, giving his thumbs-up for the match at the Barsapara Stadium.

The Assam Cricket Association is using this match as a "curtain-raiser" ahead of their maiden IPL match this season as Rajasthan Royals have adopted this venue.

There has been deployment of Rapid Action Force for the teams and ACA secretary Devajit Saikia has said the spectators will not even be allowed to bring along handkerchiefs and towels on the match-day as the traditional Assamese scarf was used for protests against CAA.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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