Virat Kohli among Allan Border's top three World Cup captains

Agencies
May 25, 2019

Melbourne, May 25: Cricket legend Allan Border has handpicked Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan and Aaron Finch as the three skippers to watch out for in the ICC ODI World Cup, starting May 30 in the United Kingdom.

Border, who led Australia to World Cup triumph in 1987, said Kohli's aggressive and "in-your-face" style of captaincy makes him a different kind of a leader than Morgan and Finch.

"Virat Kohli, I think he's a different type of captain. He's a bit more of a boisterous-type player and wears his heart on his sleeve," Border told cricket.com.au.

"So the players know if they've stuffed up because he's one of those really in-your-face-type skippers."

Border, who captained Australia in 178 ODIs, however, refused to rank the trio in any order but is mighty impressed with Morgan under whose leadership England have reached the pinnacle of ODI cricket.

"England, I think they're doing exceptionally well. They've brought a different game plan to the table which is going to be interesting to see how it pans out in the World Cup. They're a dangerous side because of it and you know as the bowling group you're under pressure," he said.

"The way it looks to me, they might drop the odd game but they're going to win enough games to get through to the semi-finals and that's what it's all about.

"That game plan under Trevor Bayliss as coach and Eoin Morgan, I think he's a seriously good one-day cricketer, and he's as good a captain as there is going around. Tactically he's very good and their game plan at the moment is a dangerous game plan to play against."

The 63-year-old former left-handed batsman was also impressed with compatriot Finch's leadership qualities, especially under difficult circumstances.

"Aaron Finch is doing a great job. He's got a good feel around the group, I think that's what he brings to his captaincy," Border said.

"Everyone knows their responsibilities and it's a good environment to play in. So that's a good start as a captain. He's done a very good job.Tactically, I think they (Kohli, Morgan and Finch) all do very well."

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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
April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: The love and loyalty of the fans will never let him leave Royal Challengers Bangalore till the time he is playing IPL, skipper Virat Kohli said on Friday.

RCB have reached the IPL final thrice but have not gone on to win the trophy.

During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.

"It has been such an amazing journey. It is always going to be our dream, winning the IPL together. There is no scenario where I could think of leaving the team ever.

"You can feel emotional about the season not going well but till the time I am playing IPL, I am never leaving this team. The fans, their loyalty has been amazing," said the India skipper.

Responding to Kohli's feelings towards RCB, De Villiers too acknowledged the support of fans over the past nine years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been with RCB since 2008.

"Same for me. I never want to leave RCB but to do that I got to keep scoring runs. I am not the captain you see," said the South African in jest.

Both recalled their early days in international cricket and their growth as cricketers and friends.

Kohli said at times, the youngsters coming in have too much regard for the "system" and he wants to see them break the norm.

"I want to see youngsters coming in scoring 500-600 runs. I want people to break the norm. Sometimes I feel people have too much regard for the system in sport. When you break the shackles, you do something special."

Kohli also acknowledged contribution of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher early on in his international career.

"Gary always gave me positive feedback. Boucher told me in 2008 to improve my game against the short ball. He had the vision. Then Fletcher, he had a keen eye for the game. So many people who have contributed (to my growth)," said Kohli.

De Villiers picked the 119 at Wankhede in the 2015 series decider as his best knock against India. Kohli picked the 119 he scored in Johannesburg Test in 2013.

"I was always really motivated to win the series after 2-2 . I was incredibly motivated to do something special," de Villiers said.

They also picked their combined South Africa and India ODI team. It included Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, M S Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada.

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News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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