Sri Lanka becomes first South Asian nation to criminalise offences related to match-fixing

New Delhi, May 14: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an unconventional and unique leader, whose biggest strength is his incredible gut feeling, says his Chennai Super Kings teammate Faf du Plessis.

The former South Africa skipper has spent considerable time with Dhoni after joining the Indian Premier League (IPL) side in 2011 and has been an integral part of its successful journey.

"He reads the others player really well and he uses that to make instinctive decisions on the field. He's got an incredible gut feeling on the game and I think that's his biggest strength," du Plessis said in a Facebook live session with Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal.

The 35-year-old said Dhoni changed his perception of how a captain should be.

"It was amazing for me to see how different M S was as a captain. I used to think a captain must speak all the time in team meetings etc but M S was completely different.

"He doesn't believe a lot in team meetings. He's a very instinctive captain he's got such a good cricket brain that he relies on it to make the right decisions on the field," du Plessis said of former India skipper.

Dhoni last played for India in World Cup semifinal last year and was expected to be back to playing competitive cricket at now-postponed IPL.

Calling Dhoni the best finisher he has played with, Du Plessis said no one can emulate what the dasher from Ranchi can do with the bat.

"He's extremely calm. I haven't played with someone who is a better finisher than him. It's just remarkable to watch him from the side of the field."

"If someone else tries to do it like him they won't be able to. He's just so unique like he times the ball so late he's got an incredible calmness. He knows his game and he picks a bowler and goes for it."

Du Plessis said that playing for CSK alongside Dhoni and under the guidance head coach Stephen Fleming has taught him a lot about leadership.

"I'm lucky to have started my journey there at CSK because I have really learned a lot from a leadership point of view. I tried to learn as much as possible from Dhoni and Stephen Fleming because both are great captains."

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

New Delhi, Jun 24: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not allowing recreational cricket to resume.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had described the cricket ball as a 'natural vector of disease' and ruled out recreational cricket's return in the country.

Hearing Johnson's argument, Vaughan tweeted: "Hand sanitiser in every players pocket. Use every time you touch the ball ... SIMPLE ... Recreational Cricket should just play from July 4th ... utter nonsense it's not being allowed back ... #Cricket."

Johnson was responding to a question from Conservative MP Greg Clark in the House of Commons, and it was then that Johnson said that it is too soon to lift current restrictions to allow the return of recreational cricket.

"The problem with cricket as everybody understands is that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially at any rate. We've been around it many times with our scientific friends," ESPNCricinfo had quoted Johnson as saying.

"At the moment, we're still working on ways to make cricket more COVID-secure but we can't change the guidance yet," he added.

Johnson had announced various relaxations on Tuesday, but the return of recreational cricket was not a part of them.

However, this statement given by Johnson will have no impact on the Test series between England and West Indies, scheduled to begin from July 8.

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said that it is looking to resume recreational cricket in the country around July 4.

The board has also said that cricket is a low-risk sport as it is a non-contact sport.

"We believe that cricket is a non-contact sport, with very low risks of exposure, and that it can be played as safely as many other activities being currently permitted," the ECB said in an official statement.

"It is our strong desire to work with Government to see the return of recreational cricket on or around 4th July, as they continue to lift other restrictions more broadly across society," it added.

All international cricket has also been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it is set to resume to from July 8 as England and West Indies will lock horns in the three-Test series.