News Analysis India

Tag: Cricket

  • Far from madding crowd, MS Dhoni trains alone at NCA

    BENGALURU : The best in the business prepare quietly  for tougher battles and Mahendra Singh Dhoni is no exception as he went through a rigorous net session at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), far from public gaze, ahead of England tour.

    Legends at the business end of their careers prepare and follow a customised blue-print to increase their longevity.

    Sachin Tendulkar during his last few years in international cricket would train all by himself at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai and Dhoni’s training session at NCA on Monday looked similar.

    He faced hundreds of deliveries with 70 percent being throw-downs.

    Dhoni, who took the YoYo test on June 15 with other limited overs specialists, had stayed back and perhaps waited for the hullabaloo around the team to die down before taking the field.

    On what would have been the fifth day of the Afghanistan Test match (had it not finished in two days), Dhoni walked inside the National Cricket Academy nets team’s throw-down expert Raghu and speedster Shardul Thakur in tow.

    The next two and half hours was an intense session with Dhoni facing Raghu’s customary throw-downs from 18 yards and Thakur’s deliveries in between.

    It was two hours at a stretch and after a short break, he again resumed batting and this time Siddarth Kaul also joined the session.

    There wasn’t too many people around to watch and experience a Dhoni net session.

    Raghu started with usual length deliveries as he warmed up with usual knocking.

    Slowly the pace increased and the veteran was peppered with short balls which reared from back of the length. He gingerly defended a few, confidently brought a few down and even swayed out of the line in case of a few.

    However, the moment there was some width, Dhoni would slash it over point.

    He would call up Shardul and ask him about his imaginary field placings. Shardul would be seen pointing at imaginary field positions like mid-wicket, extra cover and deep fine leg. Dhoni would play shots accordingly.

  • Dwayne Bravo is mentor to all young Chennai Super Kings bowlers,

    “Bravo is massively important from two perspectives. He is an incredibly experienced cricketer. His ability to control in those middle overs, when we need some control (and) bowl to his field is wonderful to watch,” the former bowling coach of Indian team said ahead of CSK’s match against Mumbai Indians.

    “The number of balls he bowls that go down the ground for one or to the square for one, he exactly knows what’s going to happen… is hugely important. And then the third component is the amount of mentorship he does for our bowlers. He does lot of talking, lot of advising,” Simons said.

    However, there is room for improvement as far as CSK bowlers are concerned.

    “There are certain lengths we would like to improve on, lines we would like to improve on and work on them all the time but we also very aware of the fact that this is a long tournament and we are not even near the halfway mark yet. And I feel, we are improving but we would like to give our batsmen less to chase,” he signed off.

    Simons also waxed eloquent about Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s marvellous effort against Royal Challengers Bangalore the other night.

    “MS might look unorthodox but he is very effective, that’s the way he plays. He reads the game. He senses where the game changes. Against the RCB the other night, it was all about reading the game, understanding who were their key bowlers and who is going to target at the back end and that’s what MS is about,” the bowling coach said.

  • Records Tumble as Shreyas Iyer Slams 93* on Captaincy Debut

    Shreyas Iyer has become the talk of the town after the youngster guided Delhi Daredevils to only their second win of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Friday.

    During the course of his innings, Iyer took the numero uno spot in the list of highest runs scored on captaincy debut in the Indian Premier League. Iyer surpassed the likes of Aaron Finch, Murali Vijay and Adam Gilchrist to take the top spot in this illustrious list.

     Shreyas Iyer (DD): 93* vs KKR, 2018

    Aaron Finch (PWI): 65* vs KXIP, 2013
    Murali Vijay (KXIP): 55 vs GL, 2016
    Adam Gilchrist (DC): 54 vs CSK, 2008

    With the help of his third consecutive fifties in the IPL, Iyer has also made it into illustrious list of Indian batsmen who took least number of innings to cross the 1000-run barrier in the cash-rich league.

    Sachin Tendulkar: 31
    Suresh Raina: 34
    Gautam Gambhir: 36
    Rohit Sharma/ MS Dhoni/ Ajinkya Rahane: 37
    Sourav Ganguly: 38
    Shreyas Iyer: 39

    Iyer’s blitz against KKR helped DD register only their second win of the season and it was a very big one in terms of the margin. The 55-run defeat for KKR is their biggest in terms of runs against Delhi while it is their third biggest defeat overall.

  • Ashwin’s Stern Message to Out-of-form KXIP

    More often than not, a target of 133 would not be defended in today’s day and age of T20 cricket. But in the on-going season of the IPL, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have not only defended 133, but also previously managed to defend 119. On Thursday evening, when they achieved one of the said feats, the opponents or victims of some fantastic bowling and fielding was the Kings XI Punjab.

    The KXIP side which has Chris Gayle at the top of the order along with KL Rahul began in their usual busy manner before Rashid Khan and Basil Thampi engineered what would be eventually a middle order collapse. After the loss of the two openers, the Punjab batsmen could manage only another 62 runs as they crumbled under pressure and succumbed to a 13-run defeat.

     A rather disappointed KXIP captain R Ashwin was quoted by the Hindustan Times saying, “These things (batting collapse) happen in this kind of a tournament and Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling made the difference. We lost wickets throughout the middle (overs) and I thought we kept attacking a little too much and lost few wickets,” he said after the match.

    For Ashwin’s side, the middle-order has been a problem and it was at the forefront once again. For the Punjab franchise, the main scoring batsmen so far have been Gayle, Rahul and Karun Nair. The rest together total a little over 100 runs in the season.
    After the loss, Ashwin said he hoped that batsmen will pull up their socks and come good in due course of time.
    “We do have finishers but they are not coming off. You won’t get all the puzzles solved at once. Hopefully, some of the people whom we have trusted will come good at the right time. That’s how you get going. They are quality players,” he said.

  • It Won’t be Easy to Score Big Runs in Knockouts

    Chennai Super Kings registered a narrow four-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad, as the former move to top of the points table in IPL. Chennai managed to defend their lowest total this season (182), courtesy some tight bowling by pacer Deepak Chahar who returned with figures of 3/15 in his four overs.

    Bowling, till now in the current edition of the tournament has been difficult. But Chennai skipper MS Dhoni feels that as the tournament progresses, big runs will be hard to come by.

    “Wickets have gone better. If you compare it to the first few editions of the IPL, these wickets are very good batting surfaces. You also need to give credit to the batsmen as they’re getting stronger. They’re making plans as to which bowler bowls what. As we get into the knockout stages, we’ll see the bowlers coming up with new plans and it won’t be easy for the batsmen to score the kind of runs they’re scoring so far,” he said in the post-match interaction.

    In the match, SRH had staged a dramatic comeback. After being 71/4 at one stage, they managed to take the game till the last ball, where six runs were needed.

    “I won’t say what we were talking about (discussion with Bravo before the last ball). I wanted him to change his plan. At times even the best – Bravo – need a bit of advice. That’s what they’re paid for,” said Dhoni.

    Dhoni went on to praise Deepak Chahar and other bowlers, who held their nerve in the tense situation. “What’s important is to give them – the younger bowlers – as many games as possible. Deepak swings the ball and lends balance with his batting down the order. Shardul (Thakur) had a few bad games. Last international series wasn’t good for him. But he has the right attitude and also the variations.”

  • Rishabh Pant Needs Support From Gambhir and Co to Turn Delhi’s Fortune

    Pundits felt Rishabh Pant’s knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday was one of the best they had seen from the wicket-keeper batsman, but Delhi Daredevils once again ended on the losing side as AB de Villiers ensured that RCB romped home. And with the loss, DD are now sitting at the bottom of the points table with two points after 5 games with just one win.

    And the main reason behind this is the lack of support for Pant from the other Daredevils batsmen. While the team started well with skipper Gautam Gambhir hitting 55 in the first game against Kings XI Punjab, there have been few noteworthy performances from the batters in the team. In fact, Shreyas Iyer’s score of 52 in the last game was also another one-off show as he has otherwise managed to score just 94 runs in all.

    pant-stat

    Pant is Delhi’s top run getter this season by a substantial margin. His aggregate of 223 runs in 5 innings is 32 runs more than the aggregate score of the next two leading run getters for DD. Jason Roy and Shreyas Iyer have aggregated 97 runs and 94 runs respectively. Pant has hit 37 boundaries, the most by any DD player this season, which is still 3 more than the cumulative boundaries of Roy, Iyer and Gambhir. He also has the best strike rate among DD batsmen. Pant has a strike rate of 176.98 which is marginally better than Maxwell’s strike rate of 176.08 and Morris’ (176.92).

    In fact, after Pant’s 48-ball 85 against RCB, Mandeep Singh said he saw shadows of Yuvraj Singh in the batsman.

    “Rishabh is amazing. When we were growing up, we used to talk about Yuvraj Singh. Yuvi paa used to hit those big sixes more than anyone else. I think, in this generation, Rishabh is one name, who can smack sixes like him (Yuvraj) at will. He has immense ability,” Mandeep said.

     

  • Sanju Samson Heaps Praise on Krishnappa Gowtham

    “Gowtham was amazing. It is a life time experience for him and also for us,” Samson said at the post-match press conference.

    Rajasthan Royals’ West Indian Jofra Archer was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his impressive bowling show of 3/22 which helped his side restrict Mumbai Indians to 167/7. Samson refused to comment on Archer being declared as man-of-the-match.

    “I also feel K Gowtham was man of the match but every one’s contribution is important. Archer too had contributed by taking three wickets and also hitting a few boundaries. I cannot comment on selection of man of the match,” he said.

    Samson regretted at not being able to finish off the match by himself as Jasprit Bumrah dismissed him and Jos Buttler in successive balls in the 17th over. Asked if the match was stretched too long, Samson said, “It was not delayed but I knew when we chase, bowling team is always under pressure. So I just wanted to take it to last overs but unfortunately I got out.

    “I think I should have finished it off. They also bowled well but these matches are finished like that only and it was Gowtham who did it for us.” Talking about the opening slots which still looked unsettled, Sanju said it was a matter of concern.

    “Yes, good opening partnerships have not been there but we are trying different combinations as the tournament progresses. As far as fielding is concerned we need to pull up our socks and improve in that area.”

    There were a few misfieldings, half-hearted efforts and a couple of dropped catches too in the match. Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper batsman Ishan Kishan also praised Gowtham for his unbeaten cameo.

    “He (Gowtham) really batted well. He waited for the ball before going for his strokes,” said Kishan.

    He was, however, unfazed by the defeat and said his side will bounce back.

    “We have been in such conditions in the past also but Mumbai Indians are known to bounce back. So we are not going to lose hope. We would be bouncing back playing our best cricket,” said Kishan who also played a solid innings of 58.

    Asked if his team was heading towards a big total at one point of time and whether poor batting cost them the match, Ishant said his side were 15 runs short. “I think we were 15 runs short but this happens in any T20 match. They (RR) bowled well and the wicket was also not easy to bat later on,” he said.

    On Jofra Archer’s spell of 3 for 22, Kishan said, “He bowled well but still we could have scored more when he was bowling. He gave a few loose deliveries like full tosses and we could have scored more.

  • Mumbai Indians Star Ishan Kishan Learnt Tricks of the Trade From MS Dhoni

    Ishan Kishan has been a revelation for Mumbai Indians in this edition of the Indian Premier League with the defending champions looking to use the diminutive Jharkhand batsman not just as the first down batsman, but his wicket-keeping skills has also ensured that the MI management has been able to play an extra batsman or bowler according to the situation.

    But more than the performance, it is the fitness that the youngster has shown batting at No.3 and also keeping wickets which is what has impressed all. He has amassed 151 runs in the 5 games so far at an average of 30.20, but a strike rate of 145.19 with a fifty against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. Along with that, he has also picked 3 catches and effected 2 stumpings.

    And while he has made an impact this season for Mumbai Indians, the journey started back in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy season for Jharkhand when he rubbed shoulders with none other than former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Ishan amassed 799 runs in 10 games that season at an average of 57.07. And speaking to CricketNext, the former India U-19 skipper had said that it was Dhoni who made him work on his attitude at the crease.

    “Dhoni bhai saw me at the nets and walked up to me and said that I needed to curtail my attacking instincts to begin with. He believed that to play a long innings I needed to be a little more compact and I did just that. He asked me to change my stance as well and when it comes from someone like Dhoni bhai, you know you can trust his observation.

    “I got time to rework my stance and train with my new stance during the camp ahead of the season and I realised that I was feeling a lot better at the crease. I have maintained that stance since and I have seen that it has enhanced my batting,” he said.

  • Gambhir and Boys Look to Stop Gayle Storm

    Bruised and battered after a string of defeats, Delhi Daredevils find themselves in an ‘oh-so-familiar’ situation as they seek home comfort against a Chris Gayle-inspired Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League on Monday. Without an iota of doubt, the Daredevils have been the least impressive of all teams in the past few seasons of the cash-rich extravaganza, only managing to finish at the bottom half of the pecking order.

    In the last two seasons, the Daredevils ended their campaign at sixth position, were a place down in 2015 and finished last the year before, in 2014. The story has been similar in the ongoing edition as they struggle with fours reverses from five outings to occupy the last place.

    They were done in by the versatile AB de Villiers’ smashing knock last night and up next at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Daredevils will be up against the destructive Gayle, who has made a statement with two fifties and century, scoring those runs in his trademark style.

    Thanks to Gayle’s belligerence, Kings XI Punjab are firmly placed at the top of the order with four victories and a solitary defeat. Given the form they have shown in the previous encounters, Kings XI Punjab will fancy their chances to continue the momentum against an embattled Delhi Daredevils outfit. Royal Challengers Bangalore chasing down a target of 175 with two overs to spare, is more of a reflection of Deredevils’ poor team selection rather than helplessness.

  • Kapil Dev Backs Ravichandran Ashwin’s Leg-Spin Bowling

    Ravichandran Ashwin, the off-spinner, has been bowling more of leg-spins these days and it is quite evident in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2018. Some have criticised his more-than-usual variations but India legend Kapil Dev has backed his leg-breaks. Everybody has a different bowling attack, depending on which pitch they are playing. But what we have come to know from the first or second IPL (till) now, is that the most successful bowler to come out is the leg-spinner,” Kapil Dev said. “Every team has their leg-spinner. Even a bowler like (Ravichandran) Ashwin, he likes to bowl more leg-spin than off spin. That shows the leg-spinners are more successful than anybody else,” he added.

    Ashwin is leading Kings XI Punjab this season, after having turned out for Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant in the past editions.

    In the current edition of the T20 league, leg-spinners have been largely successful with Mumbai Indians’ rookie Mayank Markande shining in the first three games for his franchise.

    SunRisers Hyderabad, too, have a good leg-spinner in Rashid Khan of Afghanistan, while his compatriot Mujeeb Ur Rahman is also a wrist spinner who plays under Ashwin.

    Even the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore possess a successful leggie in Yuzvendra Chahal.

    The 59-year-old former cricketer pointed out how a leggie like Karn Sharma had edged out experienced offie Harbhajan Singh for CSK vs Rajasthan Royals match on Friday.

    “Karn is playing, not Harbhajan (Singh), so Chennai is playing with two leg-spinners (the other being Imran Tahir).So, everybody is there with an extra leg-spinner. I think that is where in spinners you don’t see so many off-spinners, you don’t see left-arm spinners so much, but you see leg spinners definitely,” Kapil added.