Ashwin shines as India canter home by innings & 115 runs

August 26, 2012

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Hyderabad, August 26: Ravichandran Ashwin produced a career-best 12-wicket match haul as a merciless India relied on the spinners to crush New Zealand by an innings and 115 runs to take a 1—0 lead in the two—match Test series in Hyderabad on Sunday.

New Zealand batting collapsed yet again as they lost the last seven wickets for 26 runs to get bundled out for a meagre 164 in the second innings, shortly after the tea break to give the hosts an easy victory with more than a day to spare.

Ashwin’s match figures of 12 for 85 is the best by an Indian in a Test match against New Zealand, eclipsing S Venkatraghavan’s 12 for 140.

The Tamil Nadu spinner foxed the inexperienced Kiwi batsmen by extracting a lot of turn and bounce from the strip as he capped 6/54 to follow up his first innings tally of 6/31.

Ojha returned with figures of three for 48 to lend a fine support at the other end as the spin duo shared nine wickets between them exposing the Black Caps’ vulnerability to play spin.

India had a frustrating first session as the overnight duo of Brendon McCullum (42) and Kane Williamson (52) put up a brave front after resuming at 44 for one, following on in the second innings.

But after Umesh Yadav (1/32) broke the 72—run second wicket partnership, New Zealand lost their remaining nine wickets in 34.4 overs with more than a day left for the match.

New Zealand were 146 for six at tea but lost the remaining four wickets in 25 minutes after resumption as the spin duo wreaked havoc in the camp.

It was also India’s first Test win in nine months following a 0—4 spanking in Australia as the batting stalwarts Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired in the aftermath of the series.

The two teams will now travel to Bangalore for the second Test to begin from August 31.

After a frustrating first-half, India got their first breakthrough of the day after lunch when a poor decision by Steve Davis ruled McCullum out.

McCullum got an inside edge before the ball hit the pads but umpire Davis ruled the batsman out as the Indian fielders appealed.

Predictably, McCullum was angry as he started trudging back towards pavilion nodding his head in disbelief.

The absence of DRS certainly hurt the New Zealanders as the partnetship between McCullum and Kane Williamson was proving to be a thorn in the flesh of the Indians. They had defied the Indian attack for 30.3 overs.

Once the resolute stand was broken, it was a one—way traffic for the Indian spinners who returned to haunt the inexperienced Kiwi line—up.

Ross Taylor (7) followed becoming Ashwin’s first victim of the second innings when the New Zealand skipper was foxed by the turn to see his stumps tumbling.

Flynn and Williamson looked to build on a partnership as the latter, who had scored a century in his debut in Ahmedabad two seasons ago, went on to complete a fine half century.

But soon after he too ran out of patience with Ojha adding a second to his tally when the youngster was caught in the slip by Virender Sehwag.

Ashwin took two wickets in two overs in the form of Flynn and James Franklin as with spin at both ends, it was just a matter of time for the Indians to take an unassailable 1—0 lead.

Sehwag took a diving catch at the first slip to dismiss Franklin off Ashwin’s bowling and it enthralled the 20,000—plus Sunday crowd in the 39,000—capacity stadium.

Ashwin was simply unplayble as the Indian offspinner took his 10th wicket haul in the match in the form of Van Wyk.

Earlier, India straightway began the proceedings with the spin duo of Ojha and Ashwin but there was little assistance in the morning as the Kiwi batsmen played them out sensibly.

The duo of McCullum and Williamson played with patience, waiting for the loose deliveries as India struggled to get the first breakthrough of the day.

There was a setback for India when centurion Cheteshwar Pujara while fielding at short leg in the 33rd over, was hit near his right knee, around the same place he had a surgery last year in London.

Grimacing in pain, Pujara was taken out of the field by the support staff as Ajinkya Rahane came as the replacement.

Pujara did not come back but there was an announcement that he was alright and it was just a minor “bruise”. India brought on the medium—pacers Zaheer and then Yadav at one end hoping for some reverse swing but there was no success with the Kiwi duo keeping their intact.


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Agencies
January 26,2020

New Delhi, Jan 26: The sports fraternity on Sunday extended greetings to the people on the occasion of the 71st Republic Day.

Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter to write: "Wishing all Indians a very happy Republic Day."
"Rejoice the Glory of India and it's Freedom Fighters on this Republic Day. Wish you a very happy #RepublicDayIndia . Jai Hind !" former batsman VVS Laxman tweeted.

"Wish you all a very happy #RepublicDay2020 from here in New Zealand," Irfan Pathan tweeted.

Boxer Vijender Singh said India is blessed with different religions, societies, cultures and languages.

"INDIA is a nation where humanity has lived since ages.It is a country which is blessed with different religions,societies,cultures & languages all interplaying with each other in harmony. PROUD OF UNITY IN DIVERSITY #RepublicDayIndia #RepublicDay2020," Singh wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Former cricketer Virender Sehwag, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, wrestler Sushil Kumar and tennis player Sania Mirza also extended their greetings on the occasion.

On this day, 70 years back, India officially adopted its Constitution. Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro is the chief guest at the parade this year.

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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
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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