MS Dhoni again proves he is the master of one-day batting

January 17, 2013

dhoni-odimasterKochi, Jan 17: You cannot but marvel at MS Dhoni's resourcefulness and mind control. Despite being under immense pressure as captain, player and strategist of Team India, with his unit going through a horror run over the last one and a half years, Dhoni's batting in recent one-day Internationals has once again established his phenomenal prowess in this format.

One can question his leadership, his Test performance, his tactics and so on but the way he has almost single handedly battled for India in the series against Pakistan and the ongoing one against England can only draw admiration.

It didn't surprise anyone when England skipper Alastair Cook described Dhoni as "probably the best batsman in the world when it comes to batting in the end overs" after his knock in Kochi on Tuesday.

"He is probably the best player in the world in those situations, in these conditions. He does it time and time again. Dhoni is incredibly hard to bowl at and with that extra man in the circle, it's very hard to stop him on these flat wickets," Cook said.

The pressure has been mounting but Dhoni, back in his favourite format, has not let it affect his game. Pushed into a corner, the Indian skipper has come out with all guns blazing.

Dhoni stood tall amidst the ruins as India lost the series to Pakistan 1-2. His scores in the three-match series read 113*, 54* and 36 at an astounding average of 203.00. But he was waging a lone furrow as he got very little support from his fellow batsmen.

Dhoni has carried on the momentum against England. He followed a quickfire 32 in the first ODI in Rajkot with a brilliant 72 in Kochi on Tuesday.

But it's just not the runs but the manner in which he responded to the high-pressure situation that needs to be praised. Each time that Dhoni has walked out to bat on the last five occasions, he has seen his top-order perish cheaply.

Whether it is rebuilding the innings or going for the slog in the end overs, the Indian skipper has not missed a trick in the bag. Dhoni reads the game shrewdly when he has the bat in his hand.

He has made the new fielding regulations work to his advantage. Often in the past, when doing a resurrection job, Dhoni avoided taking risks till the very last overs.

But with that extra man in the circle now, Dhoni is now willing to go over the in-field much earlier. It has yielded handsome results. Often in the past, a slide in the fortunes of the team has led to a slump in individual form of captains leading India.

Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Kapil Dev have all experienced that. But Dhoni has avoided the fate, at least in ODIs. Despite being in the dock as the team has floundered, Dhoni has averaged 83.82 in is last 27 innings in ODIs after the 2011 World Cup win with a strike rate of 92.39.

Former chairman of selectors Kiran More, who first picked Dhoni for India, said pressure brings out the best in Dhoni. "He has been facing a lot of criticism off late. But I think Dhoni works criticism to his advantage.

Look at how well he has been performing. He is one the best wicketkeeper-batsmen India has produced. I think right now he is best man to lead the Indian side in all formats too.

I think the only place where he needs to abdicate his captaincy is IPL. That will give him a bit of relief," said the former India stumper.

Career highlights:

Only captain to manage average of fifty-plus amongst captains with 2,000 runs or more.

Only player to register average of 100-plus while chasing successfully (min qualification: 1000 runs).

One of the three wicketkeepers to have completed double of 7000 runs and 200 dismissals along with Kumar Sangakkara and Adam Gilchrist.

His average of 75.81 in wins is the highest amongst the batsmen with 3000 runs or more
(Compiled by Rajesh Kumar)

Dhoni's last six ODI innings

Runs

Balls

SR

Opp

Venue

Came at

Left at

Result

58

38

152.63

SL

Pallekele

197/5

290/7

Won

113*

125

90.40

Pak

Chennai

29/5

--

Lost

54*

89

60.67

Pak

Kolkata

70/4

--

Lost

36

55

65.45

Pak

Delhi

63/4

131/7

Won

32

25

128.00

Eng

Rajkot

198/4

271/6

Lost

72

66

109.09

Eng

Kochi

119/4

270/6

Won

Total 365, Ave 91.25, Hundred 1, Fifty 3, S/R 91.70, Fours 27, Sixes 14

Overall ODI batting record

M

I

NO

Runs

HS

Ave.

100

50

SR

6s

Home

80

72

21

2966

183*

58.15

5

17

91.37

79

Away

91

83

21

3017

101*

48.66

1

24

84.62

45

Neutral

45

38

13

1232

139*

49.28

2

7

90.52

28

Total

216

193

55

7215

183*

52.28

8

48

88.28

152

In wins

121

105

45

4549

183*

75.81

6

30

97.51

106

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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Agencies
February 20,2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: Grappler Divya Kakran on Thursday became the second Indian woman to win a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship.

Divya, a bronze medallist at Asian Games 2018, earned her first gold by winning all her four bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Her final bout against Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was the closest one but she managed to outclass her opponent 6-4 to seal her name on the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only five wrestlers were in the fray.

India is likely to add some more medals to its tally when Nirmala Devi, Pinki, and Sarita go out to grapple for the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

Three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) first defeated Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.

In the semi-finals, Nirmala got the better of Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 and will play against 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan for the gold medal.

Pinki (55 kg) started her day on a winning note against Shokhida Akhmedova of Uzbekistan by 12-4 in round 3 and lost to Kana Higashikawa of Japan to enter the semis where she defeated Marina Zuyeva of Kazakistan by a score of 6-0.

Pinki will play in the gold medal bout against Dulguun Bolormaa of Mongolia.

Sarita (59 kg) will now face Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the gold medal bout after winning against her opponents in the qualifiers, quarterfinals and semi-final by a score of 10-0, 11-0 and 10-3, respectively.

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Agencies
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6: Former India batsman Virender Sehwag expressed excitement over the upcoming Road Safety World Series and said he is looking forward to playing with Sachin Tendulkar again.

"I am very excited about this tournament because I will get another chance to play with Sachin. We have played many international matches together and there was a gap and then we played an All-Star match and now again getting a chance. I am looking forward to playing with Tendulkar," Sehwag told media persons.

In the opening match of the Road Safety World Series, India Legends will play against West Indies Legends on March 7. The main aim of the Series is to create awareness about road safety and change people's mindset towards their behaviour on the roads.

Sehwag hailed the initiative of Road Safety World Series and said: "I think it is a very good initiative by the government that they are working towards creating awareness regarding road safety. Awareness regarding road safety is important for everyone."

Road Safety World Series, a five-nation T20 cricket tournament, will showcase some of the biggest names in cricket from India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and South Africa.

Players who will feature in this series include Tendulkar, Sehwag, Brian Lara, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brett Lee, Brad Hodge, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Ajantha Mendis and many more. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is the Commissioner of the Series.

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