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Kohli's ton helps India draw Wellington Test; NZ win series 1-0

February 18, 2014

Kohlis_tonNew Delhi, Feb 18: Virat Kohli hit his sixth Test ton while Brendon McCullum became the first Kiwi to score a triple on Day 5 of the second Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington as the match finished in draw. With this, the hosts win the two match series 1-0.

Kohli (105*) has been in supreme touch since he strode out. He has been favouring the elegant cover drive and playing it to perfection. While he has continued to hook and pull, sometimes a bit too much, they have been far more controlled. He brought up his sixth Test century with a copy book straight drive for four.

However, the morning session belonged to the hosts with the skipper putting up the highest score by any batsman for the country: 302. Giving him company was overnight batsman Jimmy Neesham who made his Test debut with a sparkling century, finishing with 137 not out when his captain declared. The two put up 179 runs between them for the seventh wicket.

Thanks to that partnership, and another one posted on Day 4 between McCullum and BJ Watling got New Zealand to a mammoth total of 680 runs. They led by 434 runs and were firmly in control of a match that they had almost lost by an innings.

Zaheer Khan did get a five wicket haul, getting McCullum to edge to Dhoni in the process, but that came a bit too late to do the touring team much good.

Indian batsmen took to the feild just before tea and were in trouble two overs after the break, losing both openers in consecutive overs.

The first over after lunch, Trent Boult removed Shikhar Dhawan (2), trapping him in front of the wicket. He got a few balls to move away from the left hander and then bowled a length delivery that did not. Dhawan failed to pick it, decided to shoulder arms to it but got hit on the pads for an LBW.

In the next over, Tim Southee came to the party to get rid of Murali Vijay (7). Another good length delivery on the off stump shaped slightly away from the right handed Vijay and got an edge from his defensive bat to go to the slip cordon.

India would have ben in deeper trouble but for an umpiring howler. He got quite a pronounced edge to the 'keeper off Trent Boult's bowling. The entire New Zealan team had started to celebrate but the umpire's finger never went up. Kohli had not walked and survived a sure dismissal.

But Kohli took charge at that point and tried to get the team to safety. Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara (17) stitched together a 44 run partnership, trying to make sure the team does not suffer a total batting collapse.

But Southee put paid to those plans, getting Pujara to glove one to BJ Watling behind the stumps. He peppered Pujara with the short ball, repeatedly around the off stump. Then finally, he brought one to the leg and the Indian batsman could not get his bat out of the way in time.

With the team in deep trouble, Rohit Sharma (31*) came out to bat. He showed uncharacteristic determination and stayed with Kohli till the end. The two put up a 112-run partnership to make sure the team suffered no more setbacks till the umpires declared the match draw. India had reached 166/3.

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News Network
February 2,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 2: India registered a rare 5-0 whitewash against New Zealand after notching up a seven-run win in the fifth and final T20 International at Bay Oval here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, India posted 163 for three, riding on Rohit Sharma's 60 off 41 balls and a 33-ball 45 from K L Rahul.

The visitors then restricted the hosts to 156 for nine with Jasprit Bumrah claiming three wickets for 12 runs.

Chasing the target, the Black Caps were tottering at 17 for three in 3.2 overs.

Tim Seifert (50) and Ross Taylor (53) then added 99 runs for the fourth wicket as New Zealand recovered to 116.

Seifert clobbered a 30-ball 50 studded with five fours and three sixes, while Ross Taylor hit two sixes and five fours in his 47-ball 53-run innings.

However, once Seifert was dismissed in the 13th over, the hosts suffered a collapse, losing five wickets, including Taylor, for 25 runs to loss the plot in the end.

Brief Score:

India: 163 for 3 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 60; S Kuggeleijn 2/25)    

New Zealand: 156 for 9 in 20 overs (Ross Taylor 53, Tim Seifert 50; Jasprit Bumrah 3/12).

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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