News Analysis India

Tag: bouts

  • It is unfortunate for neutral umpires not to come on foreign tours: Bumrah

    Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Saturday made a controversial decision not to allow Australian captain Tim Paine to be given a run-out after the end of the first day of the second bowling day Test match against Australia, saying that it is sad that the current time In neutral neutral umpires cannot come on foreign tours. “It is very unfortunate that unbiased umpires cannot come on foreign tours for Test matches,” Bumrah said in a press conference held after the first day’s play against a close run-out appeal against Tim Paine.

    He, however, said soon after that the team’s focus is not focused on Penn’s decision to run out. Australian captain Tim Paine was actually a victim of a run-out during the first innings today. When the decision of Penn’s run out went to the third umpire, Penn was run out from the angle of the camera, while from the other angle he was seen a little inside the crease.

    During this, the third umpire Paul Wilson said that he has no strong evidence of this, in which the pens are seen outside the crease, so he is giving a decision of not-out. After this decision of the third umpire, Ajinkya Rahane, who was captaining the team in place of regular captain Virat, was also seen talking to the umpire on the field, and two-three Indian fielders also raised questions about this decision.

  • Virat Kohli maintains number one, Hardik Pandya in top 50 for the first time

    India captain Virat Kohli, who scored two half-centuries in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against Australia, continues to hold on to the top position in the latest ODI batsmen rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Thursday. While Hardik Pandya has reached the top-50 for the first time with a long jump.

    Indian team opener Rohit Sharma, who did not play ODI series against Australia due to IPL injury, also retained the number two position and is five points ahead of Pakistan player Babar Azam who is third in ODI rankings.

    Virat also performed well in the T20 series against Australia, due to which he has also occupied eighth place in the recently released T20 rankings with 697 points. Virat scored 134 runs in three T20 matches at an average of 44.66, which benefited the team and him.

    Hardik, who has performed brilliantly in the ODI series, has also risen in the rankings and has reached 49th position with his career-high 553 points. Hardik played his first ODI against Australia after the World Cup in 2019, in which he scored a 90-run innings and in the third ODI, the match Jitau scored 92 not out.

  • Mohammed Shami preparing for long haul in India’s tour of Australia

    After about a week of quarantine in Sydney, the Indian team is now training every day ahead of the contests against Australia. Three ODIs and three T20Is will precede a marquee four-Test series. As for Mohammed Shami, he is concentrating more on red-ball cricket.

    “We are going to have a long tour starting with the white ball followed by pink and red ball Tests. My focus area has been the red ball and I am working on my lengths and seam movement,” Shami told bcci.tv.

    The first ODI in Sydney is on November 27, while the first Test in Adelaide, a day-nighter, commences on December 17. Over the past two-and-a-half months, Shami had been playing white-ball cricket in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the limited-overs leg of the Australia tour will be a sort of continuation.

    The Adelaide Test will be a played with a pink ball, which swings more than its red variant. The next three Tests, in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane respectively, are traditional red-ball encounters. For a bowler, especially a pacer, adjusting lengths will be important.

    “I have always felt that once you start pitching the ball at the lengths you desire, you can succeed in different formats. What you need is control. I have done well with the white ball and now spending time in the nets bowling with the red ball. You don’t bowl in the same area since both formats are different, but your basics don’t change much,” Shami said.

    His first tour of Australia in 2014-15 wasn’t a very successful one, although Shami was India’s highest wicket-taker with 15 scalps from three Tests. A relative newcomer back then, he was still learning the ropes as regards to handling the red Kookaburra, and his length wasn’t consistent. Two years ago, during India’s triumphant tour in 2018-19, he took 16 wickets in four Tests and his series average was 26.18 compared to 35-plus in 2014-15. Last time around, he bowled a lot fuller, swung the ball, and was rewarded. Shami targeted a few batsmen with bouncers, but used it more as a shock weapon.

    Some fast bowlers, especially from the subcontinent, tend to get a little carried away on hard and bouncy Australian pitches and resort to an overdose of short-pitched bowling in Test cricket. At 30 years of age, Shami is now one of the senior bowlers in the group and India’s chances to a great extent will depend on how he and Jasprit Bumrah perform as a pair.

    Then again, even for a bowler of Shami’s experience, it’s not easy to make an instant switch from white-ball length to its Test-match equivalent. Little wonder then that he is focusing on red-ball cricket at the moment.