Latham aims to go a step further than dad Rod in the WC

Agencies
July 4, 2019

Chester-le-Street, Jul 4: His father was part of the team that went till semifinals in the 1992 World Cup and New Zealand's wicket-keeper batsman Tom Latham says he is determined to go a step further in the ongoing edition.

Despite losing by 119 runs to England, New Zealand, who have never won the World Cup, have one foot in the last four with Pakistan needing a highly improbable margin of victory over Bangladesh to oust them.

Rod Latham, who played four Tests and 33 ODIS for New Zealand, was part of the Black Caps squad that lost to eventual winners Pakistan in the 1992 edition of the World Cup.

"I've spoken to him a lot over the years about that tournament – it was the same format as this one and hopefully we can go one better than they did," Tom said.

Left-hander Tom, 27, made his first half-century of the tournament before he was dismissed by Liam Punkett on Wednesday.

"It was nice to spend time in the middle and get familiar with the things that I do well but we weren't on the right side of the result."

The Black Caps vice-captain was batting in familiar surroundings at the Riverside, having played two seasons for Durham.

"It was nice to come back and see a lot of familiar faces. It was a great day here in the north-east."

New Zealand suffered their third straight defeat of the tournament, losing by 119 runs to England. Chasing 306, the Kane Williamson-led side collapsed under pressure managing just 186 but all-rounder Jimmy Neesham said he has already moved on from the defeat.

The all-rounder was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers, taking 2/42 and removing the dangerous Jason Roy. But despite the defeat and the remote possibility of a Pakistan miracle at Lord's, the Black Caps seem to be in the semi-finals.

"It was poor, certainly below the level we expect of ourselves as a team. But if you look at our goal this tournament, it was to give ourselves a chance of making the semi-finals," Neesham said.

"Once you are in the top four it is only a case of having two good days and anything prior to that will be swept under the carpet. We prepare for every game and I will forget this game tomorrow," he added.

New Zealand has seemed far too reliant on captain Williamson with the openers disappointing in all the games.

Against England too Henry Nicholls and Martin Guptill were gone within the first six overs leaving the 2015 finalists reeling at 14 for 2.

"It would have required a good start and I think we had a fair bit of misfortune in our top four especially. We didn't have a whole lot go our way.

"We certainly had a chance when myself and Tom were together to put something together and give ourselves a chance of a tilt at the end.

"It wasn't to be but we are pretty happy to have ended up in the semi-finals," Neesham said.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

It could be Virat Kohli versus Faf du Plessis in the Asia XI-World XI two-match T20 series that has been organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on March 18 and 21 -- subject to the India skipper confirming his availability.

The matches will be played to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The BCB is awaiting a confirmation from Kohli as well as K.L. Rahul for the March 18 game as India are set to play South Africa on the same day in the final ODI of a three-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Agencies had earlier reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had sent the names of Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav to the BCB for the two matches. And they all feature in the Asia XI team with the addition of wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and Rahul.

Announcing the names, BCB President Nazmul Hassan said: "We have already received four names from India. We haven't signed contracts but Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammed Shami are supposed to come. They have said K.L. Rahul and Virat Kohli will play one game each, but that hasn't been finalised.

"Players like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have finalised with us, from Afghanistan. Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane will play while from Sri Lanka, we will have Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera. From Bangladesh, we will have Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah and Liton Das.

"I don't remember all the names, but we will have three or four players from South Africa. Definitely, there will be the same number of players from West Indies. Australia and New Zealand will be playing but we will try to find some (players). Bairstow is definitely coming. Ngidi is coming. Chris Gayle is supposed to play. Faf du Plessis. We will have some of the best players around. We are uncertain about Pakistan since the PSL is will be ongoing. We will invite some of the cricketing greats."

Squads: Asia XI: Virat Kohli*, K.L. Rahul*, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Mustifizur Rehman, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lasith Malinga, Muzeeb ur Rehman

World XI: Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Nicholas Pooran, Ross Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Sheldon Cottrell, Lungi Ngidi, Andrew Tye, Mitchell McClenaghan. (Coach: Tom Moody)

Note: (*) For one game; Kohli's selection subject to confirmation.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: On the first day of the New Year 2020, Hardik Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share a photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The 26-year-old shared three pictures and a short clip on the social media platform. In one photo, Stankovic can be seen flaunting her ring.

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'.

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