Virat no 1 ranked ODI batsman, Bumrah top-ranked bowler in ICC Men’s Player Rankings

Agencies
November 13, 2018

Dubai, Nov 13: Virat Kohli is the number-one ranked ODI batsman, while Jasprit Bumrah is the top-ranked bowler and Rashid Khan is the leading all-rounder in the latest 

MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, which were released on Tuesday.

After scores of 80 and 86 not out, Ross Taylor has leapfrogged Joe Root, Babar Azam and David Warner to third position.

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor has warmed up for the upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan by achieving a career-high position.

The 34-year-old middle-order batsman started the series in sixth position, but after scores of 80 and 86 not out, has leapfrogged Joe Root, Babar Azam and David Warner to third position. This is his career-best ranking, which has come after 207 ODIs in which he has scored 7,433 runs. The former captain had earlier reached fifth place this June. Taylor, reacting to the news, said, “First and foremost you want to win games, you don’t go out there to try to get your rankings up there. But I guess, at this stage of my career, it is nice to know that I am still able to compete."

“I think as you come towards the end of your career, you’ve worked your game out and you try to enjoy yourself a bit more. I'm not sure how many years I may have left so I'm trying to make the most of every opportunity," he said.

“It's obviously nice to achieve a high ranking, but at the same time I hope there're a few more runs left in me,” Taylor said.

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman is the other batsman to achieve a career-high ranking from the series in the UAE, which ended at one-all after the decider in Dubai was washed out. The left-handed opener had scores of one, 88 and 65, which have lifted him six places to 11th in the latest rankings. The 28-year-old, however, will not be part of the Test squad.

Similarly, Shadab Khan has achieved a career-high bowling ranking but will not feature in the upcoming Tests. The wrist spinner bagged six wickets in the series, including four for 38 in the second match, to vault 16 places to 24th position.

The other bowler to make an impact in the ODIs and one to look out for in the Tests is Lachlan Ferguson. The New Zealand fast bowler had figures of three for 40, three for 60 and five for 45 during the series, which also reflect in the latest rankings, in which he has rocketed 31 places to 42nd.

Shaheen Afridi, who took nine wickets in the series and won the player of the series award, has rocketed 66 places to sit just outside the top-100 in 118th position.

However, Trent Boult and Hasan Ali have been unable to either defend or improve their rankings.

Boult made a dream start to his season when he took a hat-trick in only his second over. However, he managed to add just one more wicket to his tally and consequently finished in seventh position after starting in fourth place. Hasan, who had started the year with a number one ranking, has continued to slide. After falling three places following his four wickets, he is now ranked 13th, but remains his side’s highest-ranked bowler.

Down Under, South Africa defeated Australia 2-1 in a three-match series, with the series-decider in Hobart producing scintillating centuries from Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Shaun Marsh.

Du Plessis scored 125 in the run feast and finished with a series aggregate of 182 runs that has put him in seventh position with a rise of three places. 

Miller scored 139 and ended up as the leading run-scorer with 192 runs, which have been rewarded with a rise of 11 places and put him in 31st position. 

Marsh scored 106 to end the series with 128 runs and in 62nd position after starting in 80th place.

South Africa’s series win is also reflected in the bowling table in which Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Andile Phehlukwayo Lungi Ngidi and Dwaine Pretorius have made upward movements, while Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have headed in the opposite direction.

Rabada’s haul of seven wickets has helped him move from sixth position to fourth, Steyn’s series figures of seven for 94 have lifted him nine places to 15th, Phehlukwayo’s three wickets in his only appearance have helped him gain six place to 28th spot, Ngidi occupies 43rd position after earning a rise of 19 places following his four wickets and Pretorius has finished in 55th spot after gaining 20 places with five wickets in the series.

In contrast, Hazlewood has slipped four places to ninth, Starc has fallen three places to 17th and Cummins has dropped one place to 19th.

However, Marcus Stoinis has enhanced his reputation as a world-class all-rounder in the making by finishing in 17th place after starting in 40th spot. 

This is after he ended in 49th batting position (up by three places) and 85th bowling position (up by 37 places).

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News Network
May 4,2020

May 4: Yuzvendra Chahal is among the best leg-spinners in international cricket right now but he can be more effective with better use of the crease, says former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.

Ahmed picked Chahal, Australia's Adam Zampa and Pakistan's Shadab Khan among the top leg-spinners in white-ball cricket.

"Chahal as been impressive. He is definitely among the top leg-spinners of the world. And I feel he would be more effective if he uses the crease a lot more," Ahmed said.

Ahmed, who has coached all around the world and is currently a consultant for his native team, said India's ability to take wickets in the middle-overs in the limited overs format through Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has been a game-changer for them.

Both the wrist-spinners were brought into India's limited overs set-up following the 2017 Champions Trophy. Though, of late, both Chahal and Kuldeep havn't been playing together.

"He (Chahal) can go wide of the crease at times. You got to be smart enough to understand pitches. If it is a flat pitch, you can bowl stump to stump," said Ahmed, one of the best leg-spinners Pakistan has produced.

"If the ball is gripping, you can go wide of the crease because you can trouble even the best of batsmen with that angle. That way your googly also doesn't turn as much as the batsman expects and you end up taking a wicket."

Chahal has taken 91 wickets in 52 ODIs at 25.83 and 55 wickets in 42 T20s at 24.34. He is not a huge turner of the ball but uses his variations very effectively.

Ahmed also feels the likes of Chahal and Kuldeep have benefitted immensely from former captain M S Dhoni's advice from behind the stumps.

"You have got to be one step ahead of the batsman. You should know your field position as per the batsman's strength. I always say attack with fielders not with the ball. If you understand that theory, you will always be successful," the 49-year-old, who played 52 Tests and 144 ODIs, said.

"India has become a force to reckon with in all three formats as it uses its bowlers really well. Dhoni was a master at getting the best out of his bowlers in limited overs cricket and now you have Virat Kohli."

He also said the art of leg-spin remains relevant more than ever.

"You need leg-spinners and mystery spinners in your team as they have the ability to take wickets at any stage of the game. I see a lot of them coming through in the next 10-15 years.

"Most batsmen now like playing express pace but with a good leg-spinner in the team, you are always in the game," added member of the 1992 World Cup-winning squad.

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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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News Network
March 25,2020

New Delhi, Mar 25: Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen appealed to Indian citizens to stay home during the 21-day lockdown, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain coronavirus.

"Namaste India! I have heard that your situation is like ours, PM Modi has announced a nation-wide lockdown for 21 days. I request you to follow this instruction. We will fight coronavirus together and come out to this situation. Please stay at your home and stay safe, " he tweeted in Hindi.
At the end of the message, Pietersen gave credit to his "Hindi teacher" Shreevats Goswami, who is an Indian domestic cricketer.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the nationwide total lockdown will be in place for three weeks to combat the coronavirus menace.

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