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World Cup Cricket final leaves Kiwi fans on sticky wicket

Agencies
July 12, 2019

Wellington, Jul 12: The Black Caps' surprise runs to the Cricket World Cup final has created a dilemma for fans in New Zealand after sports bars across the country failed to anticipate their team's success.

Matches at the England-hosted tournament are being played in the middle of the night for Kiwis and most had written off the Black Caps before their upset semi-final win over India.

That includes the hospitality industry, which needs special licences for bars to operate throughout the night when there are big sporting events.

"It takes 20 working days for a late liquor licencing application to be processed, obviously no one in Wellington thought we'd get to the final because no one has asked," a Wellington City Council spokeswoman said.

New Zealand media reported similar issues around the South Pacific nation, leaving cricket fans on a sticky wicket about how to watch the Black Caps' bid for a maiden title.

The match starts at 9.30 p.m. Sunday in New Zealand and will finish around 5.30 a.m. Monday if it goes the distance, but sports bars are only licenced until 4:00 a.m.

So supporters can either watch the match at home or join fellow fans in a bar and run the risk of being turfed out at 4:00 if neither of the finalists repeats the collapse that marred New Zealand's appearance in 2015 final.

Wellington City Council's spokeswoman said the unexpected nature of New Zealand's appearance meant there would be no fan zones in the capital.

She also offered a novel suggestion to supporters if they managed to find a venue screening the match that was open all night: "You could watch it without drinking!"

New Zealand has won support from an unexpected quarter, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation backing the Black Caps after England humiliated their team in the semi-finals.

"In the spirit of Australia's penchant for unashamedly claiming any sporting success from across the ditch as its own, the Black Caps are clearly firming as Australia's choice for Sunday's Lord's showdown," it said.

The sentiment is unlikely to be welcomed by Kiwis still smarting from their mauling by Australia in 2015 final and feeling morally superior after the 1981 underarm bowling controversy.

Regardless of the result, bleary-eyed Kiwi fans may welcome the late Australian prime minister Bob Hawke's advice after his country pulled an all-nighter in 1983 to watch a victory in America's Cup.

"Any boss who sacks anyone today for not turning up is a bum," he said.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

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

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

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday extended wishes to the "most prolific batsman of all time" Sachin Tendulkar on his 47th birthday.

ICC took to Twitter and wrote: "Happy birthday to Sachin Tendulkar, the most prolific batsman of all time! To celebrate, we will give you the opportunity to vote for his top ODI innings in a bracket challenge! Stay tuned to join the celebrations."

The Maharashtra-born player had an illustrious career in the game, creating several records.
Tendulkar made his debut in Test cricket on November 15, 1989. In the same year on December 18, he played his first ODI match.

The legendary cricketer has the most number of runs in the longest format of the game, amassing 15,921 runs. Along the way, Tendulkar scored 51 Test centuries, most by any player.

Things are no different in ODI cricket as Tendulkar atop the list of most runs in this format as well. He has accumulated 18,426 runs in ODI which includes 49 tons.

Tendulkar represented the country in six World Cups during his career that lasted for 24 years. He was the part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

This year, Master Blaster decided not to celebrate his birthday due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country.

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News Network
May 8,2020

New Delhi, May 8: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in post COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

"It's quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don't know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans," Kohli said in Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate," he added.

Kohli said the many moments which are created because of the passion brought in by fans, would be missing.

"Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created.

"We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by," he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.

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