Root urges England to take advantage of Smith's absence

Agencies
August 22, 2019

Leeds, Aug 22: England captain Joe Root wants his side to make the most of Australia star batsman Steve Smith's enforced absence from the third Ashes Test at Headingley starting Thursday as the hosts try to level the five-match series at 1-1.

Smith suffered delayed concussion symptoms after being hit on his neck by a 92mph bouncer from England fast bowler Jofra Archer during the drawn second Test at Lord's and has since been ruled out of action in Leeds.

His absence is a setback for Australia, while England have a slight doubt over opener Jason Roy after he suffered a suspected concussion batting in the nets.

Smith marked his return to Test cricket after a 12-month ball-tampering ban with innings of 144 and 142 during Australia's 251-run win in the first Test at Edgbaston that put his side 1-0 up.

He also made 92, having retired hurt after being hit when on 80, at Lord's where Marnus Labuschagne, Test cricket's first concussion substitute, made a brave fifty in the second innings after being hit flush on the grille of his helmet by Archer.

England too have been without a key man this series after James Anderson, their all-time leading wicket-taker, broke down with a calf injury having bowled just four overs at Edgbaston.

"They will be huge shoes to fill," Root said of Australia being without Smith.

"It's very unfortunate on their part but we had the challenge of Jimmy going down four overs into a Test match and had to manage that without a replacement.

"You get these swings within a big series like this every now and again and when you get your opportunity you've got to jump on it.

"There was a lot of concern in our dressing room for his health but it's great to see he's up and about and is fine."

World Cup-winning fast bowler Archer struck several telling blows on a Test debut that yielded five wickets.

"He's dealing with it pretty well, I think," said Root of the hype surrounding Archer.

"He's just a very relaxed character, unfazed by anything. He's one of those guys who seems to be born for these occasions."

Australia also have plenty of fast-bowling firepower at their disposal in Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc with James Pattinson also waiting in the wings.

But coach Justin Langer insisted his side would not let talk of a 'bouncer battle' sidetrack them from their goal of becoming the first Australia side in 18 years to win an Ashes series in England.

"We know what our plans are to beat England," Langer said. "It's not an ego game.

"We're here to win the Test match, not to see how many bruises we can give."

Smith and England opener Rory Burns apart, both top-orders have struggled in the face of some quality fast bowling.

But England have stuck by Roy, even though the World Cup-winning opener averages just 10 in four innings this series.

Despite his blow in the nets, Roy is expected to be fit to play, although Ollie Pope has been summoned as cover.

Roy has mainly been a middle-order batsman in first-class cricket and England coach Trevor Bayliss said, ideally, that is where he would bat in a Test line-up.

But Root said Roy could yet be a successful Test opener.

"I feel Jason can have a real big impact at the start of an innings," said Root, England's leading batsman.

Australia captain Tim Paine said: "Opening the batting in Test cricket in England is difficult. I know our guys are struggling a little bit as well to get the runs they would like.

"It's international cricket, it's tough," the wicketkeeper added.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Chennai, Mar 15: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni has left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) training camp following the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) amidst the coronavirus scare.

The former India skipper had joined the CSK's camp earlier this month in order to practice for the upcoming IPL season.

CSK's official handle tweeted a video of Dhoni and captioned the post as: "It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen".

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

BCCI had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

On Friday, BCCI decided to postpone the IPL until April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, all the IPL franchises met in Mumbai to discuss as to how to go on with the tournament in the future.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Hamilton, Jan 29: India defeated New Zealand in the third T20 International via Super Over to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series here on Wednesday.

India posted a competitive 179 for five at Seddon Park after being sent into bat. Opener Rohit Sharma top scored for India with a 65-run knock while skipper Virat Kohli contributed 38 runs in team's total.

Later, skipper Kane Williamson smashed a 48-ball 95 but New Zealand faltered in the final over to take the match into the Super Over.

Needing nine runs of the last over, New Zealand lost Williamson and Ross Taylor to finish at 179 for six and tie the match.

In the Super Over, New Zealand scored 17, a target which India overwhelmed in the final ball with Rohit smashing Tim Southee for two consecutive sixes.

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