We are well past that moment: Ashwin On Kohli- Kumble fiasco

Agencies
July 25, 2017

Jul 25: India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who will be playing his 50th Test in the opening match against Sri Lanka at Galle said that the team is well past that moment when the difference of opinion emerged between captain Virat Kohli and former coach Anil Kumble.ashwin

Ashwin also reckoned that Ravi Shastri will have a positive influence and the team is looking forward to working together with Shastri and produce some amazing results. "We are well past that moment (when the difference of opinion emerged between captain Virat Kohli and former coach Anil Kumble).

The decision has been made and it is definitely something that I cannot really comment on. Ravi bhai (Shastri) has been a fabulous person to have in the dressing room," Ashwin told reporters after team's training session.

"Even when he was here last time, we lost that Test in Galle and really picked us up from that low point in our careers. And he (Shastri) is someone who can really have a positive influence on the dressing room. We are looking forward to working together and producing some amazing results," he added.

Ashwin termed Sri Lanka's tour of 2015 as a landmark for the Indian team for their come-from-behind 2-1 series win.

"In 2015, we were sandwiched into the middle of a leadership takeover. Virat had just taken over in Australia and we came here having played one Test in Bangladesh. We had set ourselves a lot of goals for each other and I would say we have achieved them and come out with flying colours over the last couple of years as a group," Ashwin added.

"We have produced a lot of good cricketers, some young cricketers have come in and put their hands up while others have excelled," he said.

The 2015 Lanka tour proved to be the watershed moment for at least three players -- Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and the then come back man Cheteshwar Pujara.

"That includes Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara and me. Pujara has made a sort of a comeback because he was not a part of that Galle Test in 2015. But he came on in the third Test (at the SSC in Colombo) and played exceedingly well on quite a tough wicket.

"From thereon, a lot of people have put their hands up and we have kind of become a pretty good unit. Sometimes, I feel that even good cricketers lose out in this particular team because of the quality we have in the dressing room," Ashwin said.

Ahead of his 50th Test, Ashwin was asked about some of his memorable dismissals, and he recalled: "Getting Kumar Sangakkara here in Sri Lanka especially in the second Test at the P Sara Oval (Colombo in 2015). AB de Villiers in Nagpur (2015), even though it was quite a helpful wicket but the set-up was very good.

"Shaun Marsh in Sydney in the second innings (2014) and David Warner in Bangalore (2017). There have been quite a few good balls that I have bowled," he added, recounting his favourite dismissals.

Ashwin cherishes the 'Cricketer of the Year' award and when asked to recall his favourite moments, the burly spinner said: "It has to be one of the special moments along with the 4-0 triumph over England. I think England were a far better side than the results showed. It was a kind of boxing game every time we walked out to play England. It was a closely-fought series, we won some of the tight moments.

"And I would also say the Bangalore Test (against Australia). It was fourth day when we won the Test match coming back from 1-0 down at Pune. We hadn't managed to do it against England in 2012 and it was good to pull one back on them. Australia came well prepared, so these three have to be top three moments."

In the early half of his Test career, Ashwin went through some hardships especially on the overseas tours, and was dropped from the Test side twice -- first at Durban against South Africa in 2013 and then at Adelaide on the 2014-15 Australia tour a year later.

Talking about missing that Adelaide Test, Ashwin tried to play it down.

"It does not mean much to me to be honest. As a cricketer, I only want to be excellent, I don't want to be a survivor by any stretch of imagination. If it doesn't go my way, it doesn't go my way," he said with an air of assurance.

Ashwin expressed confidence that he has the capability of doing well in life beyond cricket.

"I can do well in a lot of other careers in my life. I do think I am intelligent enough to cope on with it. I don't like to hold onto things desperately. I will only do so until I enjoy it.

"The day I think I cannot improve any more or cannot be excellent, I cannot perform at the best of my abilities, I don't think anybody needs to tell me. I am not a desperate person that way. I have a lot of pride in myself," insisted Ashwin.

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

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News Network
February 24,2020

Feb 24: India captain Virat Kohli had no qualms in admitting that his team was outplayed by New Zealand in the opening Test but said they "can't help" if a few want to make a "big deal" out of the 10-wicket defeat. Hosts New Zealand thrashed India by 10 wickets at the Basin Reverse on Monday to go 1-0 ahead in the two-match series. This was India's first defeat in the World Test Championship, coming after two inept batting efforts. "We know we haven't played well but if people want to make a big deal out of it, make a mountain out of it, we can't help it as we don't think like that," the skipper said at the post-match media interaction.

Kohli said he fails to comprehend why one Test match defeat should be made to look like the end of the world for his team.

"For some people, it might be the end of the world but it's not. For us, it's a game of cricket that we lost and we move on and keep our heads high," Kohli said.

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said.

"We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said. "We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

If he had given credence to the "outside chatter", he said the team wouldn't have been where it is now.

"That's why we have been able to play this kind of cricket. If we would have paid attention to the outside chatter, we would again be at No. 7 or 8 in the rankings. We don't really bother about what people are saying on the outside," the skipper said.

One defeat can't make a team, which has been winning games of Test cricket, "bad overnight".

"If we have lost then we have no shame in accepting that. It means we didn't play this game well. It doesn't mean that we have become a bad team overnight. People might want to change our thoughts, but it doesn't work like that."

The self-belief is intact and Kohli was confident the team would come back stronger in the second Test, to be held in Christchurch in four days time.

"We will work hard, and after four days play just like we have played all these years. Just because we have lost one match in between all wins, doesn't mean that the belief is gone. The dressing room thinks differently and team atmosphere is different."

Kohli felt that there is a very thin line between being ultra-defensive and over-attacking, something that his team didn't get it right in this Test match.

"New Zealand got into the mind of the batsmen and make the batsmen do something that they don't want to. think that's a very thin line and a very delicate balance of when to attack and when to put bowlers under pressure which we failed to do in this match and there is no harm in accepting that."

According to Kohli, it was a combination of both good bowling from the Kiwis and Indian batsmen not putting the pressure back on bowlers, which led to the drubbing.

"That has got to do with partly good bowling from New Zealand and partly us not pressing that momentum on to them when required. "It was perfect for them because they bowled well and we allowed them to bowl well for longer periods rather than doing something about it in a partnership."

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