No risk, no gain: Kohli's T20 World Cup mantra

Agencies
September 23, 2019

Bengaluru, Sept 23: His eyes trained on next year's T20 World Cup, skipper Virat Kohli is willing to take risks in order to mould his India players into an "unfazed" unit, one that is able to "take toss out of the equation".

His bold but surprising decision to bat first in a venue always known to favour the chasing teams may have backfired during the third T20l against South Africa, but Kohli said they will have to take risks to find the best combination.

"Look, we will have to take risks. Even when you want to win a game of cricket you have to take risks, so nothing is a given, nothing is a guarantee before you start playing," Kohli said at the post-match press conference here late on Sunday.

"I think as a team if we are willing to get out of our comfort zone a lot more, then we will be unfazed with what happens at the toss. That's our basic idea: trying to take the toss out of the equation as a side."

His long batting line-up gives him the leeway to experiment but India still lost the series' final game by nine wickets to settle for a 1-1 stalemate.

"That's why we are trying to play the best combination we can, (with) people batting till nine. So that if you bat first or bowl first, you know we are in a good position," Kohli said.

"Mentally, if we put ourselves in a situation where we are ready to do anything rather than wanting to do one thing, we will be in a better position as a side to capitalise on any situation that we are in."

"Unless you do that, unless you start taking those risks, you are always going to be put under somewhere or the other. We want to make sure that we iron all those out before we head into the World Cup."

No team had ever chosen to bat first in six previous T20Is at this ground, but Kohli wants his team to also become stronger in defending totals.

134 was not a good score on this surface, admitted Kohli but refused to be harsh on his bowlers after the big nine-wicket drubbing.

"Bowlers coming out of their comfort zone mean at least they get 160 (to defend). You can't defend 130, we didn't get it right with the bat and you can't be too harsh on the bowlers in a T20 game with this kind of total when there is a bit of dew as well.

"They should not be analysed or criticised defending this low total. We didn't have enough runs on the board, so the bowlers are always under pressure knowing that one or two overs can take the game away from you."

"But I think they have done decently well (in the series overall), we will have to be patient with the combination we are playing at the moment. We will have to strengthen one or two things."

At the toss, in the presentation as well as the post-match media conference, Kohli said he doesn't want his team to be in a comfort zone.

"... But quickly we realised the pitch didn't allow us to keep doing that. So I think the kind of start we got, 63 for one after that, I think we could have reassessed, thing about 170 rather than 200."

He acknowledged the South Africans executed their plans better.

"Not to take anything away from South Africa, they hit the right areas, they bowled really well, understood the pitch. So it was a combination of good bowling, not great decision-making but, as I said, these kinds of games will keep happening," Kohli said.

"As long as we are wanting to come out of our comfort zone and putting ourselves in situations which could be the case in a big tournament."

The focus now shifts to the three-match Test series and Kohli expressed confidence, which stemmed more so from the bowling attack at his disposal.

"Our Test team is as strong as it gets in world cricket, especially in our conditions we are one of the best teams. We know exactly what we need to do," he said.

"The kind of bowling attack that we have is always going to be challenging, but at the same time, you have to respect all opposition and make sure that you are playing consistent, solid cricket in all the sessions."

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News Network
March 12,2020

Miami, Mar 12: The NBA has suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was center Rudy Gobert. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the test.

"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice,'' the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT. "The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.''

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed ``due to unforeseen circumstances."

Shutdown for two weeks?

Those circumstances were the league's worst-case scenario for now -- a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that time-frame is very fluid.

"It's a very serious time right now," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think the league moved appropriately and prudently and we'll all just have to monitor the situation and see where it goes from here."

The Jazz released a statement saying a player -- they did not identify Gobert -- tested negative earlier Wednesday for flu, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. That player's symptoms diminished as the day went along, but the decision was made to test for COVID-19 anyway. That test came back with a preliminary positive result.

"The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City," the Jazz said, adding that updates would come as appropriate.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Sydney, Feb 7: "I received a message from Brett Lee," said former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Friday when asked as to who recruited him to take part in the Bushfire relief fundraiser match.

Tendulkar will be coaching the Ponting XI in the upcoming Bushfire Bash on Sunday, February 9 at the Junction Oval.

"I received a message from Brett Lee. Brett said that Kevin (Roberts, Cricket Australia's chief executive) would like to be in touch with you. It was a no-brainer. From the moment I was asked, I said, 'yes I'm more than happy to come here," cricket.com.au quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Bushfire Bash was originally slated to be played at Sydney on Saturday but weather forecast prompted Cricket Australia to reschedule the game to ensure the best possible pitch and outfield conditions for the final of Big Bash League.

The match will be played to raise funds and all match profits will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

"This is an alarming situation, it's catastrophic - that's an understatement. You see the number of lives it has affected, not only humans but also wildlife which sometimes people don't talk about. That is equally important. I'm so happy I'm here in whatever way to support the cause, to raise money," Tendulkar said.

Ponting XI: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (c), Elyse Villani, Brian Lara, Phoebe Litchfield, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Luke Hodge. Coach: Sachin Tendulkar

Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (c & wk), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed (one more to be announced). Coach: Tim Paine

The Bushfire Bash exhibition match will be a 10-overs-per-side contest, with a five-over Powerplay, no bowling restrictions, and batters unable to get out from the first ball they face.

Bowlers will not have over limits, fielders can sub on and off as it suits, while captains will have the ability to sub batters in and out during an innings.

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