The final of the T20 World Cup 2007 is the more famous India-Pakistan clash in that tournament, but their earlier meeting was a thrilling game as well.
The group encounter in Durban ended in a tie, with the winner decided on a best of five ‘bowl out’. India won it 3-0.
The bowling coach of India then, Venkatesh Prasad recalled the bowl out where India used part-timers Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa apart from Harbhajan Singh. Pakistan, meanwhile, failed to hit the stumps despite having regular bowlers Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat.
“We had gone through the rules and regulations of the World Cup. When there was a tied game, there was no Super Over back then, there was a bowl out. Obviously we always use to practice it,” Prasad told Ravichandran Ashwin on the Indian off-spinners YouTube show ‘DRS with Ash’.
WATCH Venkatesh Prasad’s Chat Session:
“We had this competition between batsmen and bowlers. Most of the batsmen wanted to bowl as well, like MS Dhoni, Sehwag, and Robin Uthappa. We had this competition in these nets,” Prasad explained.
“I was looking at what was happening from behind. So I knew who was hitting the wickets consistently. That’s when I saw Sehwag hitting, Uthappa hitting and Harbhajan hitting,” the former Indian pacer added.
“So we said okay fine. Nobody expected that our very first match will have a bowl-out. It was a tight game. It was a bowl-out. It was not hard for me to convince MS Dhoni, saying ‘these are the guys who are doing well’.
“We had to take our chances as well. We did take a bit of chance there, having Sehwag and Uthappa I had to back my instinct and make a decision. The slower bowlers are more in control of their bodies and delivery. They had a straight-arm action.”
India went on to win the tournament, beating Pakistan in the final in another thrilling clash.
Cricket Australia announces the schedule and squad details for the Big Bash League(BBL) 2020-21. This summer’s Big Bash League(BBL) will run for more than 60 days and feature its earliest ever start when the first ball is bowled on December 10.
Cricket Australia on Wednesday announced plans for a full Twenty20 Big Bash League(BBL) season starting in December. The CA announced that there will be 21 BBL matches held throughout the month of December, with Tasmania, ACT, Queensland, and South Australia hosting those fixtures.
The 10th BBL will begin on December 10 Hobart Hurricanes faces Sydney Sixers followed by 60 matches across the country and a final on February 6. Following are the Big Bash League(BBL) 2020 schedule and squad details…
Big Bash League 2020-21 Schedule and Squad
*Watch highlights by clicking on the respective match
Glenn Maxwell (c), Hilton Cartwright, Jackson Coleman, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Liam Hatcher, Clint Hinchliffe, Zahir Khan, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Jonathan Merlo, Lance Morris, Tom O’Connell, Nicholas Pooran, Will Pucokvski, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Dilbar Hussain, Andre Fletcher, Harris Rauf.
OUT: Daniel Worrall (Strikers), Peter Handscomb and Sandeep Lamichhane (Hurricanes), Haris Rauf.
Coach: David Hussey
Sydney Thunders
Callum Ferguson (c), Sam Billings, Jonathan Cook, Ben Cutting, Oliver Davies, Brendan Doggett, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, Nathan McAndrew, Adam Milne, Arjun Nair, Alex Ross, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Chris Tremain
OUT: Liam Bowe, Jay Lenton, Gurinder Sandhu (Sixers), Chris Morris, Liam Hatcher
Coach: Shane Bond
Adelaide Strikers
Danny Briggs (OS), Phil Salt (OS), Rashid Khan (OS), Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head (c), Ryan Gibson, Spencer Johnson, Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Liam O’Connor, Matt Renshaw, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall.
OUT: Billy Stanlake (Stars)
Coach: Jason Gillespie
Hobart Hurricanes
Matthew Wade (c), Scott Boland, Jake Doran, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, James Faulkner, Jarrod Freeman, Peter Handscomb, Colin Ingram, Will Jacks, Sandeep Lamichhane, Dawid Malan, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, David Moody, Tim Paine, Keemo Paul, D’Arcy Short, Nick Winter.
OUT: Clive Rose.
Coach: Adam Griffith
Sydney Sixers
Moises Henriques (c), Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Carlos Brathwaite, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Nathan Lyon, Ben Manenti, Steve O’Keefe, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope, Jordan Silk, Mitchell Starc, James Vince, Jason Holder, Jake Ball.
Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Joe Clarke (replacement), Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Colin Munro, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Jason Roy, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman, Colin Munro.
OUT: Morne Morkel (Heat)
Coach: Adam Voges
Brisbane Heat
Tom Banton, James Bazley, Xavier Bartlett, Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Tom Cooper, Lewis Gregory, Sam Heazlett, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben Laughlin, Dan Lawrence, Chris Lynn, Morne Morkel, Jimmy Peirson, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Matt Willans, Jack Wildermuth.
OUT: Matt Renshaw (Heat), Ben Cutting (Thunder), James Pattinson (Renegades)
Coach: Darren Lehmann *Ur Rahman has tested positive for COVID and will miss at least the first two games.
Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Shaun Marsh, Mohammad Nabi, James Pattinson, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Mitch Perry, Beau Webster, Imran Tahir, Noor Ahmad, Josh Lalor, Jack Prestwidge, Rilee Rossouw, Imad Wasim, Benny Howell, Brody Couch, Peter Hatzoglou.
OUT: Dan Christian (Sixers), Tom Cooper (Strikers), Jack Wildermuth (Heat), Harry Gurney, Richard Gleeson, Samit Patel, Andrew Fekete, Tom Andrews, Brayden Stepien, Nathan McSweeney.
Coach: Michael Klinger
*Squad updated on December 8, 2020 (4:26 AM UTC) Subjected to change
New Signings in BBL 2020-21
The Big Bash League squad has kept changing as many start players including Steve Smith, AB de Villiers have been withdrawn from the season. Times of Sports(TOS) updates the Big Bash League 2020 squad and schedule details as soon as it hit the BBL official site.
Adelaide Strikers
Young guns Liam Scott(Australia) and Spencer Johnson(Australia) have signed their first Big Bash deals, join the Adelaide Strikers for KFC BBL|10.
Danny Briggs, the most prolific wicket-taker in the history of England’s domestic Twenty20 competition joins Adelaide Strikers for BBL10.
Powerful opening batsman Phil Salt returns to Adelaide to play BBL10.
Superstar Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan will again light up the KFC Big Bash League with the Adelaide Strikers in BBL10.
World-class wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey will remain with the Adelaide Strikers for the next four years.
Powerful top-order batsman Ryan Gibson has joined the Adelaide Strikers as a local replacement player for Travis Head.
Hobart Hurricanes
Sandeep Lamichhane, a 20-year-old has signed with the Hobart Hurricanes for BBL 10.
West Indian all-rounder, Keemo Paul makes his Big Bash League debut with the Hobart Hurricanes.
The 21-year-old Will Jacks joins Hobart Hurricanes for the BBL10 season.
Australian Test Captain, Tim Paine signed for Hurricanes for BBL10.
Domestic talents Nick Winter and Tim David joins Hobart Hurricanes for BBL10.
South African power-hitter, Colin Ingram joins Hobart Hurricanes for BBL10 season.
Home-grown all-rounder Mitchell Owen has penned his name on a Hobart Hurricanes contract.
Johan Botha is coming out of retirement and pulling on the purple to celebrate the BBL10.
Melbourne Stars
The Melbourne Stars have secured Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan ahead of the upcoming KFC BBL season.
The Melbourne Stars have clinched the signing of West Indian power-hitter Nicholas Pooran ahead of the upcoming KFC BBL10 season.
Ahead of successful IPL 2020, Marcus Stoinis will remain a key figure for the Melbourne Stars for many seasons to come after signing a new contract extension. His contract ties him to the club until the end of the 2023-24 season.
Jonny Bairstow has put pen to paper with Melbourne Stars for the upcoming KFC BBL season.
Melbourne Stars signs Victorian batsman Will Pucovski ahead of the upcoming KFC BBL season. It is the first BBL contract for the talented 22-year-old.
The Melbourne Stars have filled the final domestic spot on their club with the signing of fast bowler Liam Hatcher.
The club has also extended contracts with batter Nick Larkin and bowler Jackson Coleman through the end of the BBL11 season.
The Melbourne Stars have added to their international roster with the signing of fast bowler Dilbar Hussain.
The Melbourne Stars have signed West Indian T20 opening batsman and wicketkeeper Andre Fletcher.
Pakistan pacer Harris Rauf will be turning up for BBL franchise Melbourne Stars.
Brisbane Heat
Rising young Queensland pace bowlers Xavier Bartlett and Matthew Willans join the Brisbane Heat for the BBL10.
The Brisbane Heat have signed Redlands allrounder James Bazley for the BBL|10 Season.
English batting talent Dan Lawrence signed to play for Brisbane Heat in BBL10.
The Brisbane Heat have re-signed wicket-keeper Jimmy Peirson for a further two years as well as securing batsman Sam Heazlett and paceman Mark Steketee on new deals.
South African fast bowling great Morne Morkel joins hand with Brisbane Heat for BBL10 season.
The Brisbane Heat will welcome leading English allrounder Lewis Gregory to the club for the first time to play BBL10.
Marnus Labuschagne re-signing with the Brisbane Heat for another season.
The Afghan cricketer Mujeeb Ur Rahman signed to play for Brisbane Heat in BBL10.
Brisbane Heat signed off-spinner Jack Sinfield as a replacement player for the start of the KFC Big Bash League.
Sydney Sixers
West Indies star Carlos Brathwaite joins Sydney Sixers for the BBL10 season.
Sydney Sixers welcomes Mitchell Starc back to the Club for KFC Big Bash League 2020-21.
English cricketer James Vince signed with Sydney Sixers to play for BBL10.
Sydney Sixers signed West Indies Test captain Jason Holder on a three-game deal.
English international fast bowler Jake Ball has signed with the Club.
Perth Scorchers
The Perth Scorchers have bolstered their batting stocks with the signing of one of the world’s most dangerous hard-hitters Colin Munro for BBL10.
In addition, the signature of English batsman Joe Clarke has been secured for BBL10 by Perth Scorchers.
The Perth Scorchers have strengthened their top-order for the upcoming Big Bash League season, with the signing of explosive England opening batsman Jason Roy.
The club secured Joel Paris and Cameron Gannon for BBL10.
England international Liam Livingstone has re-committed to the club for the upcoming KFC Big Bash League season.
Sydney Thunders
The 21 years old Baxter Holt joins hand with Sydney Thunders to play BBL10 season.
Sydney Thunder has recruited explosive English batter Sam Billings.
The New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne joins hands with Sydney Thunders for BBL10.
One of the world’s most exciting T20 opening batsmen Alex Hales will return to Sydney Thunder to play BBL10 season.
Melbourne Renegades
Renegades signed South African batsman Rilee Rossouw for the BBL10 season.
The club has secured fast bowler Josh Lalor and all-rounder Jack Prestwidge ahead of the BBL10 season.
The Melbourne Renegades have secured another emerging Victorian prospect with Mitch Perry signing on for the next two seasons.
Melbourne Renegades signed Imran Tahir and Noor Ahmad(Afghan) for the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League (BBL).
The world’s number one ranked T20I all-rounder Mohammad Nabi will return to the Melbourne Renegades for the tenth edition of the KFC Big Bash League.
The Melbourne Renegades welcome back Australian fast bowler James Pattinson who will return to the club after signing a three-year deal.
The Melbourne Renegades have secured the signing of Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim.
Melbourne Renegades have added English all-rounder Benny Howell to their squad.
The Renegades have also added Brody Couch and Peter Hatzoglou to the squad as Local Replacement Players for Marcus Harris and Will Sutherland respectively.
Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann on Wednesday rated the Jasprit Bumrah-led Indian bowling as the one which has the ability to bowl out any side cheaply.
The cricketer-turned-commentator was in the West Indies in September last year when Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami blew away the hosts, sharing 33 out of the possible 40 wickets among them en route to a 2-0 whitewash in the two-Test series.
“I thought it was incredible and I said at the time, this Indian team right now would bowl out any team in the world cheaply with this bowling attack. The way they’re bowling right now, and I stand by that it’s incredible,”Swann said in a chat show on Sony Ten’s Pit Stop.
West Indies lost both the Tests heavily but have now defeated England by four wickets in the Southampton Test when cricket resumed for the first time post the COVID-19 outbreak.
Swann said England probably did not watch that series and blunted their pace attack by a wrong selection of team and dropped Stuart Broad who is capable of doing the ‘donkey’s work’ by complimenting James Anderson.
“England were playing the Ashes, they wouldn’t have watched it. We were there and that was an Indian team, an Indian bowling attack in unbelievable form. Jasprit Bumrah was in incredible form in that series.”
“I think England underestimated the West Indies, even subconsciously, and they picked the wrong team. England got their team selection wrong by dropping Stuart Broad. I will keep banging on about this. England blunted their whole bowling attack by not playing Stuart Broad,” he said.
Swann lauded Broad for doing the hard yards for years now.
“I think he will forgive me for this, I’m not calling Stuart Broad a donkey, but remember, there is such a thing called donkey’s work in a Test match.
“A fast bowler who can bowl 25 overs a day on the sport, never bowl a bad ball, day in day out, same pace — that is Stuart Broad. He is the foil for James Anderson.”
England picked two out-and-out pacers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood and Swann said they ended up doing the “donkey’s work”.
“If you want to know how to beat anybody as an England team, you pick Stuart Broad and James Anderson, together. While they are still working, still walking, pick them together for goodness sake.”
England skipper Joe Root who missed the first Test due to the birth of his second child, is set to return for the second Test beginning Thursday.
“That will strengthen the team, obviously. Yeah but then again, he’s in the same boat and has not played cricket for a long time. I think there is massive pressure now.
“They want to pick Stuart Broad now. That puts a lot of pressure on Stuart as well. He normally responds to pressure well. I don’t worry about Stuart,” he said.
What marked MS Dhoni out as a great leader was his loyalty, said former India coach Gary Kirsten. Kirsten related an incident from just before the 2011 World Cup when Dhoni had cancelled a team trip to a flight school because they said a day before the scheduled visit that the South Africans in the team’s coaching staff would not be allowed entry.
“One of the most impressive people I have met, he is a great leader of people, he’s got incredible presence as a leader, but the most important thing is that he is loyal,” Kirsten said about Dhoni on The RK Show on YouTube.
“I’ll never forget, just before the World Cup, we were invited in Bangalore to go to the flight school, to go and kind of have a look at that. Obviously, we had a couple of foreigners in our support staff, and we got word back on the morning before the whole team was meant to go – and everyone was looking forward to the event – that the three South Africans, which were me, Paddy Upton and Eric Simmons, weren’t going to be allowed into the flight school because it was seen as a potential security risk,”he said.
“So MS cancelled the whole event. He just said, ‘These are my people. If they’re not allowed in, none of us are going’. And that was what he was about,” Kirsten said.
WATCH Gary Kirsten Chat in The RK Show:
Kirsten said Dhoni had gained credibility with the senior players after winning the T20 World Cup, and that the team spirit in the dressing room allowed him to focus on building a ‘long-term partnership’ with the then-27-year-old captain.
“He was very loyal, to me, and I think he saw as well, there were times when we didn’t always win games and we’d have some tough times. We’d spend a lot of time, just one on one together, talking through, taking the team forward. I think we built a strong relationship in the three years we had together,” Kirsten added.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder and England’s Ben Stokes have made career-high gains in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings, following the conclusion of the first Test between England and West Indies at the Ageas Bowl.
Holder has attained the highest points tally by any West Indies bowler in 20 years, reaching a career-best second place in the Test Rankings for bowlers after playing a crucial role in his side’s four-wicket victory over England in Southampton that helped take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Holder, who picked seven wickets including a haul of six for 42 in the first innings, is now on a career-best 862 points, the best for any West Indies bowler since Courtney Walsh’s tally of 866 in August 2000.
He retained 35th position among batsmen after the first Test and has also reached a career-best tally of 485 points at the top of the all-rounders’ list. The competition at the top promises to gain momentum as Stokes, who is at the second spot, has also made huge gains to attain a career-best tally of 431 points, narrowing the lead from 66 to 54 points.
Jason Holder Becomes No 1 All-Rounder
Stokes, leading the side in the absence of Joe Root, has equalled his career-high ninth position among batsmen that he achieved last November, after scores of 43 and 46 at the Ageas Bowl. He is now only one place behind Root. Stokes has also risen three places in the bowlers’ list to 23rd position with six wickets in the match.
Other England players to move up the rankings include left-handed opener Rory Burns, who is in the top 30 for the first time after scores of 30 and 42, while middle-order batsman Zak Crawley is in the top 100 after accumulating 86 runs in the match.
For the visiting side, Shannon Gabriel has gained 46 points to reach a tally of 726 with a player-of-the-match effort of nine wickets but risen only one place to 18th owing to the wide gap between him and Ravindra Jadeja (722) before the match.
Jermaine Blackwood’s superb second-innings knock of 95 has helped him advance 14 slots to 58th position among batsmen while Shane Dowrich is at a career-best 37th position after scores of 61 and 20.
The win for the West Indies earned them 40 points in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship after a 0-2 loss to India in their only previous series of the championship.
England remains on 146 points and fourth place in the list led by India with 360 points. Australia is second with 296 points while New Zealand is third at 180.
Indian cricket has been enormously affected due to the coronavirus pandemic. It began with racking the home ODIs against South Africa after a relinquished match in Dharamsala. From that point, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was set to begin on March 29, yet it must be delayed for an inconclusive timespan.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is right now searching for an adept window. It was before discovered that the world’s most extravagant cricket board is wanting to begin the up and coming release of the IPL in September.
In any case, they are additionally sitting tight for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to accept an approach to the T20 World Cup in Australia that is planned to start in the mid of October. India is additionally set to play a bilateral series against England from September.
The tour comprised of three T20Is, the same number of ODIs, beginning September 16. Be that as it may, the arrangement probably won’t occur as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is set to suspend the visit because of conflict with the anticipated IPL season according to reports in Daily Mail.
As of late, England turned into the primary major cricketing country to continue top-level cricket with the Test series against the West Indies. The first Test at the Rose Bowl in Southampton ended up being a humdinger, however, the hosts, drove by Ben Stokes, lost the first test by four wickets.
England vs West Indies 1st Test
The subsequent Test will get in progress on Thursday, July 16 at the Old Trafford in Manchester. After the three-test series, England will likewise be facilitating Pakistan for a Test and T20I arrangement, beginning in the long stretch of August.
Most definitely, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has indicated that the competition could happen abroad if the circumstance in India doesn’t improve going ahead. Right now, India is third in the rundown of COVID-19 influenced cases after the United States of America (USA) and Brazil.
Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have offered to have the money rich T20 class. Various specialists additionally feel that the competition ought to be played away from public scrutiny remembering how infectious the corrupt COVID-19 infection has been.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has rescheduled the experimental 3TeamCricket (3TC) competition, which will flag off the resumption of cricket in the country, to July 18 – also celebrated as Nelson Mandela International Day.
Three teams – led by Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers – will all compete simultaneously in the same match for the Solidarity Cup at SuperSport Park in Centurion, with the game televised live. The line-ups and playing conditions remain unaltered.
The announcement comes a day after the country’s sports ministry approved CSA’s plans of having the country’s national men’s and women’s team back in training.
“It’s very exciting to get live cricket, featuring our top players, back on our TV screens again,” CSA’s acting chief executive Jacques Faul said. “I can’t think of a more appropriate day on which to hold this game than Nelson Mandela Day when its prime objective is to raise funds for those who have been badly affected by the coronavirus. It is still nearly three weeks away, so it also gives our players more time to prepare properly and to minimise the chance of injuries.
“I would like to thank the government and our own medical team once again for everything they have done to make a return to training and playing possible. I would also like to add special thanks to the incredible sponsors involved in this event for their continued commitment towards the match and its beneficiary, the Hardship Fund.”
The match was earlier supposed to take place on June 27 but had to be postponed as CSA hadn’t received government clearance for resumption of sporting activities.
There has been no cricket in South Africa since the group stage of the domestic one-day cup was completed on March 15. The playoffs and final had to be postponed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with South Africa going into strict lockdown on March 27.
Although South Africa’s lockdown has been eased over the last two months, the country is preparing for the peak of the pandemic, which is expected to hit between July and September, and could see stricter restrictions being applied in hotspot areas.
The Gauteng province, in which SuperSport Park is located, is one such area and on Tuesday the country’s health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize warned that the province could return to an increased level of lockdown in the coming weeks. Professional sport is not permitted under those levels.
Squads:
Kingfishers: Kagiso Rabada (c), Faf du Plessis, Chris Morris, Tabraiz Shamsi, Reeza Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Heinrich Klaasen, Glenton Stuurman.
Kites: Quinton de Kock (c), David Miller, Temba Bavuma, Anrich Nortje, Dwayne Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, JJ Smuts, Lutho Sipamla.
Eagles: AB de Villiers (c), Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Andile, Phehlukwayo, Rassie van der Dussen, Junior Dala, Kyle Verreynne, Sisanda Magala.
Comparisons between captains of yesteryear are not uncommon in cricket, especially in India, where Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni fans are often at loggerheads as to who was the better leader.
While both had their highs and lows through their periods as leaders, Ganguly and Dhoni are considered to be among the most effective Indian skippers in the modern age.
Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, however, believes that Ganguly would have benefitted a lot more from having a player like Dhoni in his team.
Speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Smith discussed ODI captaincy record of Ganguly and Dhoni, “The biggest difference between Dada’s captaincy and MS’s captaincy is MS, the player for me. I think in that middle order, the ability to close games, win games, finish games in that calm that he brought to the people around him. I think for me, that is probably the biggest difference between the two heroes, is MS Dhoni.
If Dada had an MS type player, his team was slightly more developed, I think you would have seen him win plenty more trophies. Dada was blessed to play or not blessed to play in an era where Australian cricket was at the forefront and dominating the world game as well which at the time the team had won the most during that period.”
Watch the Full Episode of Cricket Connected:
According to Smith, a stalwart in South African cricket, there is very little point in debating between Ganguly and Dhoni.
“You are talking about two iconic figures and outstanding cricketers. It’s such small margins and it’s very difficult to debate, but I think, like Allan Border probably did in the early days of Australian cricket, setting them up for the success, I think that you have got to look at Dada here and say that what he did for Indian cricket was iconic.”
However, in terms of red-ball cricket, Smith says the memories of Ganguly leading the team in his inimitable way stand out a lot more.
“The memories that come to mind is that he (Ganguly) brought a hardness that perception wise hadn’t been there before. He was certainly quite a fiery character on the field and he certainly was a huge pillar in the strength of Indian cricket and where it’s gone to today.”
In the most recent week, one of the most talked-about points was Ben Stokes versus Jason Holder – the clash of the best all-rounders. Jason Holder ended up as the winner in Southampton and Stokes will be standing by to put any misinformation to rest in Old Trafford.
Anyway, closer home, former spinner Dilip Doshi saw that Ravindra Jadeja is the best all-rounder India has across formats.
‘I consider him best among the lot,’ says Dilip Doshi about Ravindra Jadeja.
Jadeja has become a key piece of the Virat Kohli-drove group with critical commitments with the bat and ball alongside his phenomenal handling abilities.
Doshi also rated Jadeja’s abilities as a spinner very highly on an online chat session with the Playwrite Foundation.
WATCH Dilip Doshi in conversation with Vivek Atray:
“I consider him as best among the lot. I will play him all the time,”said the former spinner about Jadeja.
Doshi also praised leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, “Kuldeep is a great talent. The more he bowls, the better he will become.”
Cricketing almanac Wisden recently named Jadeja as India’s Most Valuable Player in Test cricket in the 21st century.
“After all, he’s not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No 6 —contributing to a very high match involvement,” reported Wisden quotingCricViz’s Freddie Wilde.
The India all-rounder with a rating of 97.3 was likewise appraised as the second most important Test player around the world.
Former Australian skipper Steve Smith in June, during an Instagram Q and A session with fans, piled acclaim on Jadeja, considered him the best defender in current time. Smith said this when a fan asked who he thought about the best in fielding.
Indian batsman KL Rahul shared an enthusiastic post via Social media platform Instagram as the Indian Cricket crew keeps on remaining off the field and away from cricketing activity inferable from the phenomenal circumstance set forward by the coronavirus pandemic.
Albeit International cricket has come back with the England-West Indies test series, Indian players have not begun preparing appropriately on the cricket field as COVID-19 cases keep on expanding in India.
Rahul was expected to lead one of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kings XI Punjab just because this season yet the competition stands deferred inconclusively attributable to the overall wellbeing crisis. Albeit a few media reports guarantee that the competition may occur in October, if the T20 World Cup gets delayed, there is still no lucidity on the status of the competition.
KL Rahul Reveals the Toughest Bowler to Keep Wickets:
The 28-year-old recently took to his official Twitter handle and engaged in a Question and Answers sessions with his fans.
During the session, one of his follower in twitter asks him to reveal the name of the toughest bowler to keep and also ask him whether he is enjoying wicketkeeping.
Replying to the same, Rahul said that he is enjoying his new role of wicketkeeping while adding that Bumrah is the toughest bowler to keep to.
Meanwhile, another user asked Rahul to reveal the name of his all-time favourite batsman.
The wicketkeeper-batsman said that it is got to be former South African skipper AB de Villiers.
When asked about his favourite tennis player, Rahul said it is 20-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer.
As former Indian skipper MS dhoni’s future with the Men in Blue still not clear, the replacement wicket-keeper batsman names start to hit the list. Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson – Team India has surely done experiments when it comes to the wicketkeeper-batsman position.
The competition is at its peak between KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant as they execute their full potential in the chances they got. While it should have been Pant who would be taking over the position, his performance and form have got people questioning. The player has however been a hit with Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Decoding the talks, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has said that the main issue is Pant’s batting position in the team. Kaif, who is Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach, has seen Pant from close quarters.
KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant
“Rishabh Pant is a free-flowing player. He is an attacking player and he should play attacking shots from ball one,” Kaif told former India cricketer Aakash Chopra on his YouTube show ‘AakashVani’.
“At first, Dada (Sourav Ganguly), (Ricky) Ponting and I decided to send him early but then we figured out he has to play 10 overs. He should get 60 balls to play. This is something that the Indian team hasn’t done yet.
“An attacking player should get the role a finisher. I feel they haven’t been able to figure out on Pant’s batting position in the Indian team. In IPL, we know we have to make him play the last 10 overs. He plays his natural game in the IPL and that is why he does well,” he added.
These two aggressive players have been given chance in India’s tour of New Zealand. Where Pant, during India tour of New Zealand, was replaced by KL Rahul in limited-overs formats, however, he kept the gloves in the two-match Test series, which India lost against Kane Williamson’s troops.
In the 10 white-ball matches that Rahul has played as a specialist wicket-keeper batsman this year, he has scored 527 runs at an average of 65.87 and a strike rate of 125.77 including one century and four half-centuries to cement his spot for the time being.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead on Monday dismissed speculations that he had tried to remove Kane Williamson from Test captaincy. Stead has addressed media for the first time after the claims against him surfaced that he was behind a plot to remove Williamson as Test skipper. Following New Zealand’s 0-3 defeat at the hands of Australia earlier this year, rumours surfaced that Blackcaps coach Stead preferred left-handed batsman Tom Latham for Test captaincy over incumbent Williamson.
“There’s no truth to it … that was certainly news to me certainly had no conversations around that sort of thing,” Stead was quoted as saying by ‘Newshub’ as he opened up on the issue for the first time.
“At this stage, Kane’s our man. He’s the guy we’ve backed, he’s been a great leader for this team and I’m sure he will be in the future as well.”
Asked about his relationship with Williamson, Stead said: “I think it’s very good. I think it’s strong.”
Kane Williamson
“I like him as a bloke, like what he stands for. He’s a very values-based person and he adds a hell of a lot to the team.”
The coach is at a loss to explain how or why the idea came to light, although he didn’t shy away from suggestions he and Williamson are “philosophically different”.
“I think I probably have philosophical differences with every single person in the team at different times, and that’s just about me being a human being and him being a human being,” he said.
In May, the country’s Cricket Board too had rubbished the claims that Williamson’s Test captaincy was under threat.
Tuesday will mark one year of the epic World Cup final at the Lord’s where New Zealand had lost to hosts England on boundary count-back rule after scores were tied even after the super over.
Stead said there is no “bitterness” but he still feels a “wee bit of hurt” about the loss.
“I think there’s a wee bit of hurt from time to time and I guess any Kiwi fan is probably very much in that same boat. There’s no bitterness at all, we understood the rules going into the match,” Stead said as New Zealand’s top cricketers resumed their training after the coronavirus-forced break.
“It’s a hard one because there are some great emotions that came from that tournament as well, but unfortunately it was just that final hurdle we didn’t cross. It’s something I’m sure will drive the players to keep wanting to get better every day.”
