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Ranji Trophy Quarter-finals: Uthappa, Thakur lead star performers

February 22, 2015

Feb 22: Maharashtra and Mumbai progressed to the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy semifinals with wins over Andhra and Delhi respectively, taking the season's tally of outright results to 54 in 112 games, while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu joined them because of their first-innings leads over Assam and Vidarbha respectively. R Samarth and Akhil Herwadkar, both youngsters, made headlines with the bat, and Shardul Thakur registered yet another five-wicket haul for the season.

UthappaWe look back at some of the highlights from the quarterfinals, which concluded on Friday (February 20).

Siva stands out in Andhra's loss

D Siva Kumar's match figures of 12 for 120, which made him only the second bowler this season after Assam's Swarupam Purkayastha to pick up ten or more wickets in a game twice and took him to the top of the wicket-taking charts, was not enough for Andhra to avoid a 75-run loss to Maharashtra in Lahli.

Another high five for Thakur

The game was the season's 19th finish in three days or less, with the match between Gujarat and Haryana in the league stages having gotten over in two days.

Mumbai's Shardul Thakur picked up five wickets in an innings for the fifth time this season in Delhi's first dig at DRIEMS College Ground in Tangi. Thakur's first for the season was against Railways, followed by similar returns against Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Baroda. Nilesh Kulkarni, the lanky left-arm spinner, was the last Mumbai bowler to have achieved so many five-wicket hauls in a season, and that was way back in 1996-97.

Thakur docked

Thakur picked up three wickets in the Delhi second innings to become the third bowler after Rishi Dhawan and Siva to touch the 40-wicket barrier this season, with Gautam Gambhir one of his scalps.

After dismissing Gambhir, though, he got into a verbal duel, which led to Gambhir approaching him with a semi-raised bat before the scene was diffused by the umpires and Suryakumar Yadav. While Gambhir was spared, Thakur was charged under Level 2.4 of the players' Code of Conduct and docked 50% of his match fee.

Herwadkar returns from cold

Akhil Herwadkar, part of the 2012 and 2014 Under-19 World Cup teams, returned from the cold after four seasons to record his maiden first-class century. He also stitched together Mumbai's first century stand of the season with Shreyas Iyer for either the first or second wickets and laid the foundation for the 204-run win over Delhi.

Mumbai 2 Delhi 0

Mumbai met Delhi at a neutral venue for the first time in the 1996-97 final in a day and night encounter at Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior when they prevailed on the basis of the first-innings lead in a high-scoring game. The latest win made it 2-0 for them at neutral venues.

Unmemorable landmark for Manhas

Mithun Manhas became the third player after Amol Muzumdar (136) and Rashmi Ranjan Parida (125) to play 125 Ranji Trophy matches, but he marked the occasion with a king pair. In Delhi's first innings against Mumbai, Manhas under edged Thakur to be caught behind, and in the second dig he feather-edged the same bowler to give Aditya Tare another simple catch behind the stumps.

More ducks

Swapnil Gugale, Maharashtra's opener, recorded a king pair as well, while Anupam Sanklecha and Samad Fallah, his team-mates, joined Punjab's Sandeep Sharma as the three other batsmen with five ducks against their name this season.

Another statement from Uthappa

Robin Uthappa's 153 and 77 against Assam made him the third batsman this season after Sheldon Jackson and Paras Dogra to go past the 800-run mark. With 840 runs, he is now at the top of the perch, and his feat comes after he had topped the charts at the 2013-14 Vijay Hazare Trophy and the 2014 Indian Premier League.

Samarth has arrived

R Samarth made a splash when he hit six centuries in Karnataka State Cricket Association's 2013-14 pre-season Safi Darashah tournament, but a settled top order meant that it took him time to break into the senior Karnataka team. Finally, when he got a long run, he proved his worth with consecutive daddy centuries. His 180 against Mumbai in the last league game was followed by a knock of 178 against Assam in Indore.

Lots of positives for Assam

If winning five matches and qualifying for the knockouts was not positive enough, Assam would have been pleased with their first double-century partnership of the season in their second innings against Karnataka after having been dismissed for 185 the first time around. Gokul Sharma made an unbeaten 127 and Arun Karthik chipped in with 94, the pair adding 203 runs for the fourth wicket in 46.1 overs.

South Zone v Tamil Nadu

S Badrinath and Ganesh Satish, two regular members of South Zone's Duleep Trophy team for a while, did not quite manage to get Vidarbha, who they now represent as professionals, past Tamil Nadu.

Badrinath, who represented Tamil Nadu in 85 games before deciding to captain Vidarbha this season, managed 40 and 0, while Ganesh, part of Karnataka's Ranji Trophy-winning team last season, registered a golden duck before remaining unbeaten on 59 when the game was called off.

Nervous nineties

M Vijay has been dismissed in the nineties on three occasions in Test matches, and nerves got the better of him against Vidarbha as well. Vijay made 96 before falling to Ravikumar Thakur. A little later, Ravi Jangid bowled B Indrajith three runs short of what would have been his second century.

There were no such nerves for Vijay Shankar, though, as he made 111 in Tamil Nadu's first-innings total of 403.

Srikar at the top

Srikar Bharat, the Andhra wicketkeeper who had become the second after KL Rahul to score a triple-century in the previous round, effected seven dismissals against Maharashtra to take his tally for the season to 46. He surpassed Baroda's Pinal Shah, who was the first gloveman this season to record 40 victims.

Debutants dry up

It was the first round this season that did not record a single debutant. The number of newcomers to the first-class circuit remains 92, 93 if we include Kuldeep Yadav, whose maiden appearance came for Central Zone against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

At the end of the quarterfinals

Highest run-getter: Robin Uthappa (Karnataka) - 840 from 9 matches

Highest wicket-taker: D Siva Kumar (Andhra) - 44 from 9 matches

Highest individual score: 337 - KL Rahul (Karnataka) v Uttar Pradesh

Best bowling figures in an innings: 8/29 - Swarupam Purkayastha (Assam) v Hyderabad

Best bowling figures in a match: 13/88 - Swarupam Purkayastha (Assam) v Hyderabad

Most dismissals for a wicketkeeper: Srikar Bharat (Andhra) - 46 from 9 matches

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News Network
January 10,2020

Jan 10: Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s prized 'baggy green' cap raised more than A$1 million ($686,000) on Friday for bushfire relief efforts after the former leg-spinner donated it for auction.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and thousands made homeless in recent months as huge fires scorched through more than 25.5 million acres of land, an area the size of South Korea.

The baggy green is presented to Australian players when they make their Test debut and they receive just one for their entire career. The Aussie cricketer donated the cap to an online auction site on Monday. The auction closed at 10 a.m. on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday) with a final public bid of A$1,007,500.

"Unbelievable … so generous from everyone. Totally blown away," Warne said on Twitter shortly before the auction closed.

The auction attracted global interest and the price eclipsed the A$425,000 achieved by the late Don Bradman's baggy green when it was sold in 2003.

"We have been overwhelmed and it is a fantastic result," Marc Cheah, head of marketing for auctioneers Pickles, said.

"Other baggy greens have been auctioned and Don Bradman’s got $425,000 about 15 years ago, but the Don is the Don. He’s the greatest cricketer that ever lived," Cheah said in relation to the widely held recognition Bradman was the best batsman the game has produced.

"But Shane is also right up there and that drove a lot of traffic and momentum, while the cause is also very worthwhile."

Warne, 50, is one of many local and international athletes to support the fundraising for bushfire victims with several cricketers promising to donate a sum based on the number of sixes they hit in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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