Wankhede curator in a fix over MS Dhoni's demand for 'Day-One turner'

November 22, 2012

waneked

Mumbai, November 22: Sudhir Naik, the Wankhede Stadium curator, walked out of the field after a long day's work on Wednesday afternoon, pouting at the sight of the Indian team that had arrived for a practice session and gnawing away at inquisitive journalists.

"They want it to turn from the first ball... Yeh kya laga rakhe hain (what are they thinking?)," he murmured. "Pehla over bhi nahi, pehle ball se turn chahiye (they want the ball to turn not only in the first over but the first ball)," the mumbling continued. When asked to comment on how the pitch is going to behave, he snapped: "I'll lose my job if I talk."

The pitch has to assist turn from the start, or as early as possible. That is the demand made by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as Team India look ahead to the Wankhede, the venue for the second Test against England beginning on Friday, desperately seeking 'home advantage'. The advantage, clearly, has to be more 'homely' than what the Gujarat Cricket Association dished out in the first Test at Motera. The Motera wicket did turn but not early enough. And when it did, the bounce was missing and the pace only slowed as the game progressed.

Luckily for India, Dhoni won the toss, which ensured that England wouldn't get to bat on the pitch where run-making was relatively easy in the first three sessions of the innings.

What if there's a repeat at the Wankhede and the coin doesn't favour Dhoni? Allowing England to bat first and letting them get anywhere close to the 500-run mark would mean higher chances of a draw, which is simply not acceptable to the Indian skipper.

Dhoni appears to be very clear in his head about what his team wants and he has been mincing no words in expressing it. If a certain Steve Waugh doesn't exactly appreciate India's desperation to have turners for home advantage, it doesn't bother Dhoni at all.

The skipper was pleased at the manner in which his bowlers helped him earn 20 wickets in Ahmedabad.

Dhoni's view is that the toss should not prove to be vital, which means in case India have to bat second, their spinners should have the advantage of a turning track as early as possible in the game.

From outside the boundary rope, it took more than just a glimpse to figure out the 22-yard strip at the Wankhede which will be the centre of all attention here when the Test begins. The pitch appeared to be a damp brown patch with a smattering of grass on it.

As for the England team, when they arrived for practice here, their batting coach Graham Gooch, a couple of players and cricketer-turned-journalists such as Michael Atherton were seen looking grimly at the surface. A clearer picture of what is in store will emerge on Thursday.

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News Network
April 12,2020

Mumbai, Apr 12: Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries.

In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars.

A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session.

It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service.

During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said.

Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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