2nd Test, day 2: Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay double-ton stand gives India lead of 74

March 3, 2013

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Hyderabad, Mar 3: Murali Vijay (129*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (162*) wrote their names into the record books with an unbroken partnership of 294 for the second wicket which all but shoved Australia out of the second Test and drove India to a lead of 74 at stumps. While Australia's two frontline fast bowlers bowled fine spells in the morning, it was the spinners who let them down: Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell conceded 140 in 36 overs on a day on which just one wicket fell.

Sunday's play was broken into three distinct passages of play: Vijay and Pujara scratched around 22 overs for 37 runs in the morning session, moved up a gear to take 106 off the afternoon passage, before accelerating in the final two hours to crush a fatigued Australian bowling attack. The breakdown of each of their 50-run stands was proof of how well the pair paced their innings: the first 50 took 157 balls, the second 97, the third 80, the fourth just 65 and the fifth in just 50 balls.

Vijay and Pujara had been joined at the fall of Virender Sehwag for 6 in the third over of Peter Siddle's first spell (7-2-16-1) in which he tested the batsmen with short deliveries and didn't allow them to drive much. Siddle and James Pattinson worked up good pace, while from the other end Moises Henriques (7-4-3-0) plugged away diligently to keep India's scoring to a drip. With the odd ball keeping low, Australia's seamers were encouraged to vary their lengths and this meant Pujara and Vijay had to stay watchful.

The pair managed just 30 runs in 17 overs from the time Sehwag exited to when spin was introduced, in the 22nd over. Vijay opened up with a lofted shot over extra cover for four in Doherty's fourth over and India's 50 came up in the penultimate over before lunch as Vijay drove a full toss from Pattinson to the deep cover boundary. That shot set the tone for second session, in which Vijay and Pujara scored 106 runs.

The sluggishness of the morning session was followed by a busy afternoon that ended with India within 77 runs of drawing level with Australia, whose bowlers slacked in the second session. Vijay and Pujara went after Siddle and Pattinson and took 30 runs off the first eight overs. Vijay flicked and drove stylishly to collect boundaries off Siddle, while 12 runs came off the 35th over bowled by Pattinson as Pujara cut, drove and steered boundaries with purpose. Doherty's reappearance immediately resulted in Vijay hitting six down the ground to bring up his half-century in 141 deliveries.

Pujara too reached the landmark, off 114 deliveries, with a boundary off Maxwell. He had hurt his knee while diving earlier and struggled between the wickets and so relied on loose deliveries to put away. As Australia operated with spin from both ends, both men opened up. Vijay paddled and clipped Maxwell over midwicket for fours and when Doherty and Maxwell dragged the ball down, Pujara got back to punch boundaries. Michael Clarke grassed a tough catch at slip soon before tea, with Vijay on 71, and the session ended with Pujara pulling Siddle to midwicket for four.

Both batsmen resumed the final session on 73, and Pujara sped ahead with four boundaries. Vijay looked to catch up with six and four off the first two balls of Maxwell's tenth over, which cost 15 and saw Pujara dab past short third man to reach his fourth Test century. Pujara had jumped from 73 to 100 in 39 deliveries. Vijay duly followed his partner to three figures, lofting Doherty over the covers for four. It was his second in Tests and second against Australia, and Vijay celebrated by cutting the next ball for four more. David Warner's introduction brought out the ferocity in Pujara, who pasted a half-tracker and two full tosses to the midwicket boundary as India took 94 off the first hour after tea.

The second new ball proved in futility, with Pujara hitting Pattinson for four fours in the space of two overs, thus swelling the alliance with Vijay past 250. Pujara crossed 150 with a hooked six off Siddle, and that shot aptly summed up the way the day ended for both teams. This stand is now the best second-wicket partnership for India versus Australia in Tests, surpassing the 224 that Mohinder Amarnath and Sunil Gavaskar added at Sydney in 1986.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: Shuttler HS Prannoy has hit out at the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and has questioned the selection criteria for the Arjuna Award.

The shuttler has said that the players who have won nothing have been recommended, while the players who have medals to their credit have been snubbed.

His remarks come as BAI recommended doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and men's singles player Sameer Verma for the Arjuna Award on Tuesday.

"Same old story. Guy who has Medals in CWG and Asian Championships not even recommended by Association. And guy who was not there on any of these major events recommended #waah #thiscountryisajoke," Prannoy tweeted.

Prannoy had been left out from the list last year as well and the shuttler had slammed the criteria then as well.

"If you ever want your name in the awards list, make sure you have people who will get your name to the list. Performance is least considered in our country. Sad state of our county but can't help it. Let go and just play until you can," Prannoy had tweeted last year.

Prannoy had won the mixed team gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and he also has a men's singles bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Championships.

On Tuesday, the BAI has also recommended the renowned National Institute of Sports (NIS)-certified coaches, S. Murlidharan and Bhaskar Babu for the Dronacharya Award.

Murlidharan has been working relentlessly for the growth and development of the sport in Kerala, besides being an able administrator.

He has coached the likes of Vimal Kumar, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas amongst many other renowned former players.

He has also been a recipient of the Meritorious Service Award given by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in 1996.

For the Dhyanchand Award, BAI has recommended the names of Pradeep Gandhe and Manjusha Kanwar.

Gandhe is a two-time Asian Games bronze medallist while Manjusha is a South Asian Games silver medallist.

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News Network
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: He has flattered to deceive on umpteen occasions but highly-rated wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson says he has learnt to accept his failures in pursuit of the calm demeanour that former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni possesses.

The 25-year-old from Kerala has always been talked about by the likes of Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir but it hasn't translated into international success with only four T20 Internationals in his kitty in the last five years.

"I have learnt to understand and focus more on my strengths and (be more) accepting (of) the failures. I try to contribute to the team's cause and try to take the team over the line. I am learning to focus and control my emotions while batting like MS Dhoni," Samson said during a podcast organised by Rajasthan Royals.

He recently made a comeback in India's T20 side and it was a worthy experience for him.

"It was great to be a part of the Indian team again. To be a part of one of the best teams in the world, surrounded by players like Virat bhai and Rohit bhai, it was a fantastic experience," Samson said.

In one of the games in New Zealand, Samson was sent to bat in the Super Over, something which made him feel wanted in the Indian set-up.

"It was a great feeling to be trusted by the players such as Virat bhai and Rohit bhai to go out there and bat in the crucial moments. It's a great feeling when the team and the players consider you to be a match winner."

On a lighter note, Samson revealed that he refers to Steve Smith as "chachu" (uncle) after Brad Hodge once started calling him by that name.

"I share a very good relationship with 'Chachu' Steve Smith. He is one of the best brains in world cricket and we all enjoy a lot playing under him."

Asked what's the back story of the nickname, Samson said: "It started with Brad Hodge, he used to call Smith 'Chachu', then when Hodgy left, I started calling Smith 'Chachu'. In return Smith also started calling me 'Chachu'. We both really enjoy and continue calling each other that."

While Dhoni is his idol, he also loves watching Jos Buttler in Royals and makes notes on how the star Englishman prepares for games.

"I observe Jos especially given he too is a wicketkeeper-batsman. He's always working on his skills and his game and never sits idle.

"He's either working on his keeping, batting in the nets or running around the park. I love to observe and know how he thinks and prepares as a keeper before a game.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Reminiscing about his 'special knock' of 208 runs from 153 balls, Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma revealed why his wife Ritika had got emotional after he smashed his third double century in ODIs.

Rohit narrated the incident during his appearance in Episode 2 of the 'Open nets with Mayank'.

The batsman, who was accompanied by Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank on the show, said his wife thought that he had twisted his hand while diving for the 196th run during the innings.

"As you can see my wife got emotional there, this day was special as it was my anniversary. Probably the best gift I could give it to her while I am on the field, it was quite emotional though," said Rohit during the candid chat.

"When I came from the ground, I just asked her why did you (Ritika) cry? So she told me that she thought I (Rohit) twisted my hand when I dived for my 196th run and that was a little worrying factor for her, she got little emotional of because of that I guess," Rohit added.

In the match, the 32-year-old scored 208 runs with 13 fours and 12 sixes against Sri Lanka at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

This enabled India to post a score of 392/4 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then went on to win the match by 141 runs.

"To be honest I was going pretty slow, I never thought I will get to a double hundred but once you cross 125, I feel it gets easier for you because bowlers are under pressure. Unless you make a mistake I don't think you can get out," said Rohit.

Rohit has scored two double hundreds against Sri Lanka and one against Australia in ODIs. The right-handed batsman is the only cricketer to make three double hundreds in ODI history.

Rohit, Shikhar, and Mayank would have been in action for Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab respectively, had the Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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