Race to the top: Kohli chases Smith in ICC Test ranking

Agencies
September 10, 2019

Dubai, Sept 10: Steve Smith and Pat Cummins on Tuesday consolidated their positions at the top of the ICC rankings after helping Australia score a 185-run victory over England in the fourth Test in Manchester to retain The Ashes.

Smith's player of the match effort of 211 and 82 runs in the two innings has lifted him to 937 rating points, only 10 less than his all-time best aggregate achieved in December 2017.

He is now 34 points ahead of India captain Virat Kohli and virtually assured of remaining at the top at the end of the five-match series.

A match haul of seven for 103 has helped Cummins equal his career-best aggregate of 914 points, which is the joint fifth-best of all time and joint best for Australia along with Glenn McGrath, who reached his best in 2001.

Cummins is a good 63 rating points ahead of South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, with India’s Jasprit Bumrah in third place. Josh Hazlewood is in the top 10 for the first time this year, progressing from 12th to eighth.

Jos Buttler (up four places to 37th) and Rory Burns (up six places to a career-best 61st) for England and captain Tim Paine (up six places to 60th) of Australia have also moved up the batting list in the latest rankings update carried out on Monday and which also takes into account performances in the Chattogram Test.

Afghanistan's 224-run conquest over Bangladesh in Chattogram has resulted in major gains for their players.

Former captain Asghar Afghan’s scores of 92 and 50 have taken him from 110th to 63rd position while Rahmat Shah’s century in the first innings has helped him move from 93rd to 65th.

Captain Rashid Khan’s player of the match effort of 11 for 104 has lifted him from 69th to 37th while all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has retired from Tests in 85th position after gaining 21 slots.

For Bangladesh, left-arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam have inched up one slot each to 21st and 22nd, respectively. Off-spinner Nayeem Hasan has advanced 21 places to 66th position.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Hamilton, Jan 28: No one sits on the seat that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his own in the team bus, revealed India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, saying that the talismanic former skipper is missed by the side.

In a video shot inside the team bus while it was on its way to Hamilton for the third T20 International against New Zealand, Chahal is seen talking to several members of the squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to an empty seat which, he said, was the former captain's preferred spot before he went on a sabbatical last year.

"Yeh woh seat hai jahan ek legend baithate the. Mahi bhai. Abhi bhi yaha koi nahi baithata. Hum unhe bohot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot)," Chahal said in the video posted on 'bcci.tv'.

The-38-year-old Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. Earlier this month, Dhoni was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on his future.

However, on the same day, Dhoni returned to training, batting fluently in the Jharkhand team nets.

Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

The Indian team lead the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 2-0.

Virat Kohli's men will take on the hosts in the third T20 here on Wednesday.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Mumbai, May 11: The French Open, which was postponed to September from May due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, could be held without fans, the organisers of the claycourt Grand Slam have said.

Roland Garros had been scheduled for May 24 to June 7 before the French tennis federation (FFT) pushed it back to Sept. 20-Oct 4 in a bid to save the tournament from falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week the FFT said all tickets purchased for this year's French Open would be cancelled and reimbursed instead of being transferred.

"Organising it without fans would allow a part of the economy to keep turning, (like) television rights and partnerships. It's not to be overlooked," FFT President Bernard Giudicelli told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

"We're not ruling any option out."

The tennis season was suspended in early March due to the pandemic and the hiatus will continue at least until mid-July with many countries in lockdown.

Wimbledon has been cancelled while the status of the U.S. Open, scheduled to take place in late August, is still unclear.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

The FFT was widely criticised when they announced in mid-March that the French Open would be switched, with players bemoaning a lack of communication as the new dates clashed with the hardcourt season.

Organisers said last week they had been in talks with the sport's governing bodies to fine tune the calendar amid media reports that the Grand Slam tournament would be delayed further by a week and start on Sept. 27.

The delayed start would give players a two-week window between the end of the U.S. Open, played on the hardcourts of New York, and the Paris tournament.

"The 20th or the 27th, that does not change much," Giudicelli said.

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