Zol, Samson star as India beat Pakistan to lift U-19 Asia Cup

January 5, 2014

Samson_starMumbai, Jan 5: The World champions of junior cricket have roared at the perfect time. With less than two months to go before they begin defending their Under-19 World Cup crown, India made an emphatic statement by winning the Asia Cup in Sharjah on Sunday, beating arch-rivals Pakistan by 40 runs in a thrilling final.

Put into bat, the Indian colts made 314 for four, with skipper Vijay Zol and Sanju Samson - two of the hottest young talents in India presently - smashing hundreds after India enjoyed a 65-run stand in just 6.4 overs, largely due to opener Ankush Bains, who smashed 47 (34b, 7x4, 1x6). Both made exactly 100.

While Zol's effort took him 120 balls, and included seven fours and a couple of sixes, Samson's knock came off merely 87 balls (8x4, 4x6). Both added 180 for the third wicket to ensure India finished with a massive total. Pakistan, in reply, were restricted to 287 for eight, as Kamran Gulam (102 not out) and skipper Sami Aslam's (87) efforts went in vain. For India, left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav took three for 72.

It is a triumph that should stand India in good stead for the forthcoming World Cup which will be held in UAE too.

"Ankush gave us a fabulous start and then both Samson and Zol, whose roles were critical, batted brilliantly before losing concentration on getting their hundreds. We should have got 360-odd but still got a reasonable total. We then bowled and fielded well to defend our score successfully against a very good Pakistan side. Even beating Sri Lanka in the semis wasn't easy. It was an excellent all-round performance by the boys and an ideal exposure to the conditions that will be prevalent during the World Cup. Both the teams enjoyed tremendous crowd support and the atmosphere of the final was electric. It was a joy to win this tournament with this lovely bunch," an elated Bharat Arun, coach of the India U-19 team, told TOI moments after the victory.

It was redemption time for the colts too. In the last Asia Cup, back in July 2012, India had to share the trophy with Pakistan after the final finished in a tie. In this edition, India had already lost to the Green Brigade once in the league stage - on December 31 - by two wickets.

"Pakistan won that game by a whisker. Before the final, our boys were fired up in the team meeting. I'm glad we pulled off a comfortable win in a tough match," Arun said, revealing an interesting fact - this team has as many as seven left-handers!

While the coach understandably chose to praise all his wards, he conceded that Maharashtra's Zol and Kerala's Samson were 'special boys.' "Both are technically sound. They don't play rash strokes. They have tremendous power and the gift of timing which enables them to clear boundaries comfortably. They have the experience of the IPL and the Ranji behind them now. They are in for a bigger league," Arun gushed.

Amongst the bowlers, he singled out Kuldeep Yadav and medium-pacers Deepak Hooda and pacer Avesh Khan for special praise.

"Yadav is a real talent. He has great attitude and he is a wicket-taking bowler. He can bowl well under pressure and batsmen would find it tough to hit him out of the attack."

Arun revealed that his wards were "too tired right now to celebrate". "They will turn out for their Ranji sides after returning. We will then have a camp for the World Cup before launching into the campaign."

Brief scores: India Under-19 314 for 8 (Zol 100, Samson 100) beat Pakistan Under-19 274 for 9 (Ghulam 102, Aslam 87*) by 40 runs.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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