Stuart Broad runs through India as England take control of 4th Test

August 8, 2014

Stuart BroadManchester, Aug 8: England fast bowler Stuart Broad took six wickets to skittle out India for 152 and the hosts finished on 113 for three in reply to take control on an absorbing opening day of the fourth test on Thursday.

Broad and James Anderson reduced India, who won the toss, to eight for four and only a defiant 71 by the touring side's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni saved them from complete collapse with a gripping series level at 1-1.

England lost openers Sam Robson, for six, and Alastair Cook (17) but Gary Ballance and Ian Bell added 77 for the third wicket before Ballance was trapped lbw for 37 by Varun Aaron just before the close.

Bell will resume on 45 not out with nightwatchman Chris Jordan on nought.

The start was delayed by half an hour due to overnight rain and Anderson and Broad took full advantage of favourable conditions, obtaining prodigious swing to send back Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara in the space of 13 balls.

It was a fine performance on his home Old Trafford ground by Anderson, who was cleared to play after being found not guilty of breaching the International Cricket Council's code of conduct in an incident with India's Ravindra Jadeja during the first test.

Gambhir, recalled to the side, was first to go for four when he got a leading edge to a full delivery from Broad and the ball flew straight to Joe Root at gully.

PERFECT OUTSWINGER

Vijay, on nought, prodded at a perfect outswinger from Anderson and Cook took a straightforward opportunity at first slip.

Two balls later the out-of-form Kohli fell in identical fashion for a duck and Pujara drove loosely at a full ball from Broad, Jordan clutching a sharp catch at third slip to leave India in tatters at eight for four.

Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane stopped the rot with a fighting fifth-wicket partnership of 54 as conditions for batting improved.

But Rahane was out for 24 just before lunch when he drove at a full wide ball from Jordan and Bell took a regulation catch at second slip.

Resuming in the afternoon session on 63 for five, India soon lost Jadeja for a duck, lbw to Anderson.

Dhoni received solid support from Ravichandran Ashwin, however, and the pair added 66 runs in quick time. Ashwin had made 40 when he hooked a short ball from Broad and was well caught by Robson running in from deep square leg.

Dhoni reached fifty with his 11th four but Broad struck again, bowling Bhuvneshwar Kumar for nought.

Chancing his arm, Dhoni hit four more boundaries before heaving Broad straight to Jordan at backward square leg to give the tall fast bowler his fifth wicket.

He then bowled Pankaj Singh, condemning India to equal the world record of six individual ducks in a test innings.

Broad completed superb figures of six for 25.

Robson, who has struggled in the series, never settled and he was bowled by Kumar offering no stroke to a straight delivery.

Cook, his confidence lifted by two half-centuries in the third test, started confidently but he recklessly hooked a short ball from Aaron and was caught by Pankaj at deep square leg.

India made three changes from the side which lost the third test in Southampton, bringing in Gambhir, seamer Aaron and spinner Ashwin. England named an unchanged team.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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Agencies
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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