Mayank, Siraj get maiden call-up; Dhawan dropped from India squad for West Indies Tests

Agencies
September 30, 2018

New Delhi, Sept 30: Shikhar Dhawan was dropped for the two-match Test series against West Indies after his poor run in England while Mayank Agarwal and Mohammed Siraj's achievements in the domestic circuit were rewarded with maiden India call-up.

The selectors decided to rest the pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, taking into account their "recent workload". The pace bowling department wears a new look with Mohammad Shami being the only experienced player in the Virat Kohli-led 15-member squad.

Mumbai's Prithvi Shaw has retained his place in the side after failing to make the playing XI in the last two Tests in England. Considering that Dhawan has been shown the door, young Shaw could finally get his chance to open the batting with K L Rahul, who had saved his place with a fine knock in the final Test against England.

"Taking stock of the recent workload, the selectors have decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Both Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya were not considered for selection, as they are yet to recover from their injuries," BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary said in a statement.

The first Test will be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot from October 4 to 9, followed by the second match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad from October 12 to 16.

India squad:

Virat Kohli (captain), K L Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Veteran India batsman Suresh Raina feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best captain India ever had.

Raina and Dhoni play for the same IPL franchise -- the Chennai Super Kings --, which is also led by the latter.

"I think we have the best captain who has changed the Indian team like anything. Now we have that same aura in our dressing room," Raina said on 'The Super Kings show' on Star Sports Tamil.

The 38-year-old Dhoni has retired from Test cricket but his future in the limited overs formats is a subject of intense speculation.

The two-time World Cup-winning former captain took a break from cricket after India's exit from the 2019 World Cup in England. He is set to be back in action at the IPL, where he will captain the CSK, starting March 23.

With three restricted stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai finally being reopened, Raina urged the fans to fill the venue in every CSK home game.

"We have all the seats available. Hopefully, we'll have more fans now so that there is it will be more energy on the field," the 33-year-old Raina, a former India batsman, said.

Raina, who last played for India in 2018, also expressed his excitement about the prospect of playing with CSK's latest acquisitions.

"This year we have a lot of new talent in our team. Piyush (Chawla) is there, then we have Hazelwood, Sam Curran, Sai Kishore from Tamil Nadu, he has been bowling really well for them. So, I think we have a lot of mixture of youngsters and seniors."

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Indian pacer S Sreesanth has slammed England all-rounder Ben Stokes for questioning MS Dhoni's intent during a World Cup match, saying that the former captain will end Stokes' career.

Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' had questioned Dhoni's intent during India's 31-run defeat at the hands of England in the premier tournament last year.

"For Ben Stokes, I will only say that you should pray that Dhoni does not play against you in the future. Dhoni does not forget things easily," Sreesanth said during a Live session on Helo.

"I wish Stokes all the best for whenever he faces Dhoni again, be it IPL or an England vs India match. You must be earning in millions now, Dhoni Bhai will end your career. Dhoni will strike the ball everywhere and he (Stokes) can never dismiss Dhoni. Before he (Stokes) opens his mouth, he should make sure to wear a helmet," he added.

Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding had also come out in support of Dhoni and said that the wicket-keeper batsman wanted to win the match against England.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding had said on his official YouTube channel.

"...It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 percent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," he had added.

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