Sunit Jangir

Sunit Jangir

9461 Articles

As a Senior Editor at Sacnilk, Sunit Jangir leads our coverage on Indian cinema, box office analytics, and global entertainment trends. Passionate about Cricket, Sunit Jangir is an avid sports lover. He finds inspiration in other people's life stories and try to absorb them. Though introvert by nature, he doesn't feel shy when the topic is cinema and sports, particularly cricket.

Articles Written By Sunit Jangir

Virat Kohli Displaces Smith To Become No.1 Test Batsman
2865 days ago
Cricket

Virat Kohli Displaces Smith To Become No.1 Test Batsman

India's skipper Virat Kohli displaced Australia's Steve Smith and becomes the No.1 Test batsman in latest MRFTyres ICC Test Rankings updated on Sunday, August 5. Kohli has now 934 points, 5 more than second-placed Smith.## Kohli now becomes the seventh Indian batsman, and first since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011, to climb to the top of the rankings. He reached to this milestone after the knock of 149 & 51 in the first Test against England concluded on Saturday, August 4 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. However, his remarkable effort went in vain as England won the match by 31-runs.## Apart from Kohli and Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag and Dilip Vengsarkar are the other India batsmen to have achieved number-one rankings during their careers.## Before the first Test match, Kohli had 903 points and was behind Smith with 26 points. But Smith isn't playing international cricket and will not be playing till March 2019 due to a 12-month suspension imposed by Cricket Australia for his part in the Newlands ball-tampering saga.## Apart from Kohli, England's Sam Curran is another big mover in both batsmen and bowlers rankings. The 20-year old scored 24 runs and 4-wickets in the first innings and a match-winning 63 runs and 1 wicket in the second innings and therefore, he jumped from 152nd to 72nd spot in batting charts while the bowling table has seen him rise 49 places to 62nd position.## India's Mohammed Shami slipped two places to 19th in bowlers table while England's Stuart Broad fall one place to 13th. James Anderson has managed to hold his No.1 position.## Latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen:## 1. Virat Kohli (IND) 934 Points## 2. Steve Smith (AUS) 929 Points## 3. Joe Root (ENG) 865 Points## 4. Kane Williamson (NZ) 847 Points## 5. David Warner (AUS) 820 Points## 6. Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) 791 Points## 7. Dimuth Karunaratne (SL) 754 Points## 8. Dinesh Chandimal (SL) 733 Points## 9. Dean Elgar (SA) 724 Points## 10. Aiden Markram (SA) 703 Points## Latest ICC Test rankings for bowlers:## 1. James Anderson (ENG) 884 Points## 2. Kagiso Rabada (SA) 882 Points## 3. Ravindra Jadeja (IND) 857 Points## 4. Vernon Philander (SA) 826 Points## 5. Ravichandran Ashwin(IND) 825 Points## 6. Pat Cummins (AUS) 800 Points## 7. Trent Boult (NZ) 795 Points## 8. Rangana Herath (SL) 791 Points## 9. Neil Wagner (NZ) 765 Points## 10. Josh Hazlewood (AUS) 759 Points## For more and latest news about Cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Ashwin Defends Batsmen After Edgbaston Lose
2866 days ago
Cricket

Ashwin Defends Batsmen After Edgbaston Lose

When Day 4 play resumed of the Edgbaston Test, India were needed 84 runs to win with five wickets in hand. The conditions wasn't easy for the batsmen as it were offering a lot to the bowlers. However, Irrespective of the conditions India's camp was hopeful to win this Test as world's best batsman, Virat Kohli was still at the crease on 43* with Dinesh Karthik at the other end on 18*.## As the game resume, only on the 4th ball of the day, Karthik got out off James Anderson to wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow. He could add only two more runs to his account. Hardik Pandya came to the crease with positive intent and played a few shots with right frame of mind. On the other hand, Kohli reached past his fifty with a boundary.## The biggest turning point came in the 46th over of the innings whene Ben Stokes dismissed Virat Kohli soon after reaching the half-century. As Kohli was going back, India's hopes were also seems to be gone. Two balls later Kohli's dismissal, Mohammed Shami also got out in the same over. From now, the win was looking far away and in 54th over, India bowled out on 162 to handed England a 31-run win. If India lose this match it is because of the poor shot selection from the their top order that increased the pressure on Virat Kohli. He stood alone in both the innings and aggregated 200 runs (149 & 51) in this match for his side but his effort went in vain.## on the other hand, if India could come so close to win because of their bowlers who bowled out England in both the innings. If Ravichandran Ashwin was a star in the first innings (4 wickets), Ishant Sharma stood out in the second innings with a 5-fer. But it were the batsmen who let slipped the game from their hand.## However, Ashwin went on to defend batsmen after their poor show with bat. He was talking to media in post-match press conference. He said that despite the lose, they competed really well.## "I think this is a game where we would have liked to finish on the winning side. No doubt about it but there are a lot of things we can feel proud of at the end of this game, it's a long Test series so to feel defeated or pained so early on in the series is unfair and at the moment it is all about the feelings that I am bringing out, and I don't feel that bad about it as of now because I thought we competed really well and made two comebacks and probably didn't close out the game when the initiative was on our side. That's something that can happen when you are traveling so we are upbeat about it.## "Like Virat keeps mentioning, when you make runs and pick up wickets, you want to make sure that it is a killer blow and you want to end up on the winning side. It gives you more pleasure out of the game and when it doesn't happen you feel a little deflated about it. But as I told you before, this game was like a see-saw battle and there was enough in there for the quicks and it was doing quite a bit. So they were always in the game and you do expect batsmen to get a ball that has their name on it. So with that sort of a game hedging on the balance, I thought we competed really well through the game. There are a lot of things to be upbeat about so not completely feeling deflated and in this space I feel like we did well and there is something we can learn going ahead in this series," Ashwin said.## On his personal perspective, Ashwin himself has plenty of reasons to be proud of. He turned in a superlative performance with the ball, ending with seven wickets in the match.## "For me, it's all about this mental space I find myself in. I don't dwell much into the way I have bowled, it is in the past as of now. It is important to try and learn from this game and take it to the next game. These are not conditions that are extremely suitable or tailor made for a spinner so I would like to take confidence out of this game and try and move ahead and build on this." he added.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Sensational Mandhana Blows Lancashire Thunder With A Record Hundred
2867 days ago
Cricket

Sensational Mandhana Blows Lancashire Thunder With A Record Hundred

Looks like there is no stopping India's swashbuckling left-hander Smriti Mandhana in women's Kia Super League in England. After hammering the fastest fifty of the tournament a few days ago, she followed up with a sizzling 102 off 61 balls against Lancashire Thunder at Old Trafford, Manchester on Friday, August 3.## With the help of Mandhana's first T20 hundred, Western Storm beat Lancashire Thunder by 7-wickets. Mandhana single-handedly took his side home with a comfortable win in the end. ## She has been in great touch since the start of the tournament. In five matches so far, she has scored 48, 37, 52*, 43*, and 102 with the strike rate of more than 200.## Coming to this match, Western Storm's skipper Heather Knight had won the toss and opted to field first. New Zealand's Amy Satterthwaite played a brilliant inning of unbeaten 85 off 57 balls. India's Harmanpreet Kaur run herself out without scoring a single run off the first ball after playing a heroic knock in the last match.## Despite Amy Satterthwaite, no other player could score big. Nicole Bolton (13), Eleanor Threlkeld (15), and Emma Lamb (13) could not capitalize on their start and therefore, Thunder made 153 for 7 after 20 overs. Anya Shrubsole took 2 for 36 while Freya Davies and Naomi Dattani grabbed one wicket each.## In reply of 154, Storm lost Rachel Priest (5) and skipper Heather Knight (8) on 47 but Mandhana and Stafanie Taylor (33*) put on a match-winning partnership of 102 off 77 balls. Mandhana dismissed just before reaching the target but she made sure that her team won the match. The Storm chased down the target with 10 balls to spare.## Kate Cross, Emma Lamb, and Amy Satterthwaite took a wicket each but they never looked troubling Mandhana at any stage of the game. Mandhana awarded Player Of The Match for her match-winning hundred.## For more and latest news about Cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Best ODI XI At Present
2868 days ago
Cricket

Best ODI XI At Present

Cricket has changed a lot since the start of this decade especially the one-day format. With batsmen have become a bit more innovative with their batting, bowlers found it difficult to deal with their bowling. It could be said that batsmen are dominating the bowlers at the moment.## However, there are some batsmen who are way ahead than the rest of the others as they are more consistent with their performance. This could also be said same for the bowlers.## Here we are presenting you the best ODI team XI of present.## 1. ROHIT SHARMA (IND) - Rohit Sharma is perhaps the best opener at present. He is the only player in the world who has scored 3 double hundreds in the 50-over format. His highest score of 264 came against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2016. He has played 183 ODIs so far in which he scores 6748 runs with an average of 44.99. Sharma has scored 18 centuries and 34 half-centuries to get those runs.## 2. FAKHAR ZAMAN (PAK) - Fakhar Zaman is still new in international cricket but he has shown enough talent to become one of the best batsmen in this format. He surpassed the great Viv Richards to become the quickest to reach a thousand runs (18 innings). He scored a famous hundred in final of the champions trophy against India that helped Pakistan to win their maiden CT title. He is also the only Pakistani player to score a double hundred in ODIs. He has played 18 ODIs so far and scores 1065 runs with an average of 76.07. He has scored 3 centuries and 6 half-centuries.## 3. VIRAT KOHLI (IND) - Virat Kohli is undoubtedly the best batsman in the world at present and currently the No.1 ODI batsman in ICC Rankings. His numbers in ODIs are unbelievable. When its come to chase, there is no better player than him in the history of the cricket. In 211 ODIs he has scored 9779 runs with an outstanding average of 58.21. Kohli has scored 35 hundred and 48 fifties. He is only behind the great Sachin Tendulkar (49) in terms of centuries.## 4. JOE ROOT (ENG) - Joe Root is England's best batsman and currently the No.2 in ICC ODI Rankings. He has played 116 ODIs and scores 4800 runs with an average of 51.61. He has scored 13 centuries (Most by any England's player) and 28 half-centuries.## 5. JOS BUTTLER (ENG) - Jos Buttler is currently the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world. In recent time, he has emerged as a match winner for England. In 117 ODIs, Buttler, has scored 3148 runs with an average of 40.36 and also scored 6 hundred and 18 fifties.## 6. MS Dhoni (IND, C & WK) - Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best wicketkeeper in after Australia's Adam Gilchrist and one of the most successful captains in the world. Despite his poor form in recent times he is still one of the best batsmen of all time. He recently became the only 12th player to reach 10,000 runs in ODIs. He has now 10,046 runs in 321 matches with an average of 51.26. He is the only captain to win all three ICC Trophy (CT, T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup).## 7. SHAKIB AL HASAN (BNG) - Shakib Al Hasan is undoubtedly the best batsman Bangladesh has ever produced. He is currently the best all-rounder in the world and will be recognized as one of best all-rounders of all time. He has scored 5433 runs in 188 matches and grabbed 237 wickets while bowling.## 8. RASHID KHAN (AFG) - Rashid Khan emerged as the biggest superstar of Afghanistan. He is mysterious bowler as many batsmen found it difficult to pick his googly. The No.2 ODI bowler has played 43 matches an picked 100 wickets with an outstanding average of 14.4. His economy rate in ODIs is the best at present (3.96).## 9. JASPRIT BUMRAH (IND) - Jasprit Bumrah is considered as one of the finest bowlers in limited overs cricket. He is currently the No.1 bowler in ODIs. In 37 ODIs so far, he has escaped 64 wickets with 27/5 his best figures. He bowled with the excellent economy rate of 4.65 in 50-overs format.## 10. KAGISO RABADA (SA) - Kagiso Rabada is the best bowler in the world at the moment in across format. The 9th rank ODI bowler has played 50 matches so far and grabbed 80 wickets with the best figures of 16/6.## 11. HASAN ALI (PAK) - Pakistan has always produced great bowlers and Hasan Ali is the latest example of that. Despite being new in international cricket, he has shown great skill and temperament to trouble the batsmen. He has escaped 68 wickets with a brilliant average of 20.88 in 33 matches.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Ashwin Spun England To Put India In Command
2869 days ago
Cricket

Ashwin Spun England To Put India In Command

In England's 1000th Test match, skipper Joe Root and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow were taking the game away from India before Ravichandran Ashwin (4 for 60) and Mohammed Shami (2 for 64) fired back on England and left them with 285-9 from 216-3 at the close of the day one of the first of the 5-match series.## Ashwin was the star with the ball. He first gets the opener Alastair Cook with a beauty before getting Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Stuart Broad. He mixed the variations in his bowling that helped him getting those wickets. Mohammed Shami supported Ashwin with a tight spell at the other end.## Earlier in the day, it was Joe Root who had won the toss opted to bat first on a damp pitch. Cook and Keaton Jennings opened the innings for England. Both the batsmen paid Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma well as there was not much movement from the pitch. Skipper Virat Kohli was quick to understand that the pitch is not offering much to the pacers, and he put Ashwin in the bowling in just 6th over. He proved the decision right in his just second over as he bowled out Cook on the score of 25. Cook made 13.## After the dismissal of Cook, Jennings and Root took the charge. Both the batsmen put on a 72-run stand for the second wicket before Shami got Jennings. Jennings was unlucky to get out as the ball took inside edge of his bat before hitting on to his bat and to the stumps. He played a good 42-run inning. David Malan also fall cheaply to Shami as he couldn't hold Shami's fast inswinger and got LBW out after scoring just 8 runs.## However, Root and Bairstow didn't allow India to take control of the game and safely took the game on to Tea break with 163 for 3. After the Tea break, both the batsmen attacked on the bowlers and runs started flowing. When things were looking good for England and miserable for India, a direct throw from Virat Kohli dismissed Root after scoring brilliant 80. Root's wicket was the turning point of the day one as England lose the tempo after that. Bairstow who was well set went for an expensive cut to Umesh Yadav and chopped on. He played a quick knock of 70.## England's new vice-captain, Jos Buttler came to the crease and did last long only for two balls as Ashwin got him LBW on a flighted delivery. Ben Stokes also couldn't hold for long and became Ashwin's third victim of the day. Sam Curran and Adil Rashid added 35 for the 8th wickets before Ishant Sharma collects his 1st wicket of the day by dismissing Rashid on 13. Stuart Broad was the last man of the day to be dismissed as he became a 4th victim of Ashwin. Curran and James Anderson safely negotiated rest of the remaining day as England finish on 285 for 9 at the stumps.## Earlier in the day on the toss, India surprisingly left out Cheteshwar Pujara from the final playing XI and played with three specialist openers, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Confident Kohli Ready For The Tough England Challenge
2870 days ago
Cricket

Confident Kohli Ready For The Tough England Challenge

Not every time when a sub-continent team play in overseas conditions and start the series with a slight advantage. India, the No.1 Test side in the world will look to capitalize on England's recent struggles in the longest format of the game.## However, the things won't be easy for India as their past record isn't good in English conditions. Their last two series in England in 2011 and 2014 weren't something that India can proud. They lost both the series with 4-0 and 3-1 respectively.## But this time around, things could be different as conditions are very much favorable for India. In this season of summer when the pitches are usually dry, Indian team is must be feeling like home. They will be thinking that this is their best chance to win the series in England also knowing that England is not in the best of form in this format.## This is a long series where things can change quickly. India's skipper Virat Kohli while speaking in a pre-match press conference also believes that long series gives opportunities to turn the things around and said that this is something that they are looking forward to.## "The fact this is a long series is something we are looking forward to. It gives you a lot of opportunities during the course of the whole series," Kohli said. "There are two ways to think about this - either it's too long a series to play or think there are so many opportunities to come up every session, every Test match. We are definitely in a good frame of mind. It's a young team who have played a lot of matches. It's a very rare combination to find. We are comfortable with where we stand as a team and we are pretty confident of our abilities. We have to the skill sets, character and mental toughness which is required to compete and win in overseas conditions," Kohli said## Despite been confident, Kohli stressed the need to stay mentally fresh and focussed throughout the next six weeks. Point to be noted that this is the same thing Ajinkya Rahane had said a day before.## "This is a five-match series and not a two or three-match series where if things go wrong in one match, desperation sinks in. In such a long series, you can be patient enough to turn things around. From that point of view, all of us are relaxed. Bowling, batting and even in terms of fielding, everyone is in a good space now."## "You need to make sure that all the players and the management are on the same page. Especially when you have a long series and you know it's going to be challenging, you cannot afford to have individuals who are drifting away with their mindset. We keep speaking about it regularly. It's a small thing that changes the mindset. When you take an adverse situation as an opportunity than something to be feared of, it totally changes the mindset. That's constantly what we speak about. And to understand that, the challenge comes in when the situation is not going your way...that's when composure comes in," Kohli added.## Long series' are always been beneficial. It does not only provide opportunities to fight back but also gives the option to try different combinations. India will really look to take an advantage of this as they are looking to use Kuldeep Yadav. If this happens then anyone from Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja could have sit on the bench. The same can happen with Pujara and Dhawan (at least for one or two games) as they didn't look in best of their touch in the warm-up game.## "You always come up with situations when you're playing such long seasons that you have scenarios. Along with the management, you have to sit down and take a call. It all boils down to your gut feeling. If five people on the table agree that this is the right thing to do for the team, then we go ahead with that, there are no ifs and buts. There's no looking back. If we take a decision today we're not going to sit down tomorrow and say, 'Oh we could have done that.' We don't act like that.## "That's why we've been pushing forward as a team. We've not held on to decisions we've made. Once we've made them we don't look back at them, even if they come off or not. They're taken in the best interests of the team at that particular time; there are total honesty and total ownership all around the squad. That's the mindset behind it. In Test cricket what matters is the balance of the squad: that's the most crucial thing," Kohli said.## Apart from the team's success, Virat Kohli will want to improve his record in English conditions. Last time when India toured England, Kohli struggled throughout the 5-match series. In 10 innings he only managed to score 133 with an average of below 15. But since then, he has been in fine touch. He will be hoping to things turn around for him this time.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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We Have An Attack That Can Disrupt Opponents - Ajinkya Rahane
2871 days ago
Cricket

We Have An Attack That Can Disrupt Opponents - Ajinkya Rahane

There was a time when India always struggled in overseas conditions due to lack of variety in pace bowling. Despite one or two good fast bowlers, India hadn't the bowlers who could take 20 wickets in a Test match. But this time around, India have the pacers who can trouble any opposition on any surface with their pace and bounce.## Since 2016, the pacers have taken a total of 175 wickets in 23 Tests, at an average of 27.01. The stats becomes even more special because out of 23, 20 matches have been played in sub-continent conditions that doesn't offer much for the fast bowlers. The pacers have established why they are now a more menacing unit.## Ajinkya Rahane, the vice-captain of India also believes that India's pace bowlers are experienced enough to deal with overseas conditions. He had all praise for the pacers in pre series press conference on Monday, July 30.## "Our pace bowlers are very experienced. Shami and Umesh were here in 2014 as well. They've been doing so well for us, not only in India but outside as well.## "In South Africa, we got 60 wickets... our fast bowlers bowled really well. It is a challenge to bowl in England but I'm really confident about them -- not only Umesh and Shami but Ishant, who came here and played some county games. We have Jasprit Bumrah as well. We have an attack that can disrupt opponents. But yes, it will be a challenge for them to bowl patiently and bowl in the right areas for a long period of time," Rahane said.## India pace bowling has grown richer over the past two years. However, spinners ruled the roost but the pacers invariably impressed. In the series against South Africa in South Africa earlier this year, India's pacers combined to take 50 wickets in three Tests. Jasprit Bumrah, despite been new in Test cricket, troubled South African with his pace and bounce along with Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.## However, Rahane also advised to the pacers to be the patience depite been the England pitches are helpful for the fast bowlers.## "There is always help for bowlers in England, but that doesn't mean it is easier for the bowlers. They need to be patient in these conditions and bowl in the good areas. "They have to back their own skills and instead of trying to take wickets from both ends if they one bowlers can play the support role well then it will lead to wickets. To bowl patiently and on spot is crucial to success.## "It is a great opportunity for the bowlers to prove that we can take 20 wickets in a Test match consistently, like we had done in South Africa. Nobody expected us to take 20 wickets in all three Test matches. At the same time, they should not put extra pressure on themselves and they should just look to enjoy the moment. They need to back themselves and believe that our bowling unit is the best in the world," Rahane said.## Not only Ajinkya Rahane, England's former captain and opener Alastair Cook also has praised India's pacers in pre series press conference.## "They seem to have got a good variety of bowlers - pace bowlers, which is probably unusual, and strength in depth in their pace bowling." Cook said.## However, there could be the selection headache for skipper Virat Kohli ahead of the first Test in the absence of Bhuvenshwar Kumar (at least for the first three Tests) and Bumrah (at least for the first). Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the man of the series in 2014 and despite been good pacers, his absence could hurt India in the first three matches.## The five-match series will kick-start from August 1.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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There Is No Technical Concerns With Pujara - Yorkshire’s director Martyn Moxon
2874 days ago
Cricket

There Is No Technical Concerns With Pujara - Yorkshire’s director Martyn Moxon

Before the County season, who would have thought that Cheteshwar Pujara will struggle to find his place in India's Test playing XI. The questions are again raising on his technic in overseas conditions after his poor runs in County cricket for Yorkshire. He struggled in seaming conditions whole the season.## In 12 innings played for Yorkshire, he could manage only 172 runs with an average of 14.33, and went past 40 only on one occasion during his stint with Yorkshire. He also failed to make runs in India's warm-up match against Sussex. On the other hand, KL Rahul knocking at the door with much better performance, Pujara will be feeling vulnerable for his place in the playing XI.## However, Yorkshire’s director of Cricket, Martyn Moxon don't think that Pujara has any technical concerns. He said that behind Pujara's poor runs in County, conditions were very difficult for the batsmen. In an interview with The Indian Express on Saturday, July 28, Martyn Moxon provides his assessment of Pujara’s disappointing run.## Excerpts:## How do you assess Pujara’s time with Yorkshire this time round?## In the four-day stuff, he obviously didn’t get the volume of runs that we would have expected or we would have liked. He actually did really well for us in 50-over cricket. But at the start of the year, he had a couple of poor LBW decisions and ran himself out as well. That didn’t help him with his rhythm getting into the season. There was so much rain in the early part of the season when he played. The pitches were very seamer-friendly, so it was not easy for anybody to bat long to be honest. There’s a bit of reasoning behind him not scoring the runs. The pitches were a little bit tricky.## He’s been out in all sorts of fashion this season. Did you see something that would concern technique-wise, like last time you worked on his balance, ensuring his head doesn’t fall over the off-side?## No, there’s nothing in particular from the technique point of view. His alignment and balance were fine this time. He worked extremely hard on his game. He was the model professional in that respect. He just didn’t get going. There were times when you thought, this is the day he’s going to go and make a big one. But then he found a way of getting himself out. He’s as frustrated as we were, but there wasn’t anything technical to be bothered about.## What’s really stoked concern over his form is that he was getting out to the seamers a lot while poking at the ball rather than playing it late.## I don’t think so. It was just the moving ball. You look at the scores around the country in that period, there weren’t many batsmen scoring a lot of runs. Since, Pujara played Championship cricket for us, we’ve had a heatwave. There may be less sideways movement during the Test series than what he encountered in county cricket this year.## In his innings against Surrey in Scarborough, he took 42 balls to get off the mark and it looked like he got stuck and was putting a lot of pressure on himself. Did you see it that way too?## It was just the conditions again. From our point of view, he was working extremely hard. Surrey had a good attack and didn’t give him anything to score of. It was the quality of their bowling as opposed to anything Pujara could have done. And then the surprising thing I suppose in that particular game was he’d got through all that hard-work and got to about 20, and then got out caught off an off-spinner. It was an inside-edge on to his pad, caught bat-pad. It was an unusual way for him to get out. It was normally the time where you think he would cash in. But that knock kind of summed up his time with us really.## Unlike in 2016, he was coming off a grand season or two with the bat. Was it a more confident Pujara who showed up this time around?## He was just the same. He is a perfect gentleman. A hardworking professional cricketer and very popular in the dressing-room. That didn’t change at all. There’s a great fondness for Pujara in our dressing-room.## There has been a lot of talk and critique about Pujara’s strike-rate over the last 18 months. Was that something that would bother you about his batting?## At the end of the day it’s how many runs you score, isn’t it? That’s what you are judged on as a batsman. For us, one of the reasons we signed Pujara was that we know he’s going to make the bowlers earn his wicket. He’s not going to give it away. A lot of modern players like to dominate and take the attacking option. Sometimes, there’s a fine line between being attacking and careless. And what we like about Pujara is the value he puts on his wicket. To try and hopefully be someone our more aggressive players could bat around if you like. It didn’t quite work out that way but his style of play was the reason behind him coming in.## Did he have a word with him?## Pujara himself said he was disappointed that he didn’t get the volume of runs in the County Championship. He said ‘I’m really sorry but I tried my best.’ And we knew that. There’s no denying that he gave everything he had. But it didn’t quite work out. He knows that, everybody knows that.## Putting you on the spot here. Would he be in your India playing XI for the first few Tests?## (Laughs) I’m not going to tell the Indian selectors who they should or should not pick. Pujara is a quality player. But I’ve got enough challenges here as it is to get involved with the Indian team selection.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Indian Batsmen Shine As Essex-India Practice Match Ends With Draw
2874 days ago
Cricket

Indian Batsmen Shine As Essex-India Practice Match Ends With Draw

The only practice match between Essex and India before the 5-match series against England ends with draw at County Ground, Chelmsford on Friday, July 27. It was a good outing for the Indian batsmen as five players scored half centuries in the first innings and also for Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma who looked in good rhythm.## However, opener Shikhar Dhawan failed in both the innings as he couldn't even open his account in both the innings. Same happened with Cheteshwar Pujara who could manage only 1 and 23. But apart from Dhawan and Pujara, Murli Vijay 53 (first innings), skipper Virat Kohli 68 (first innings), Lokesh Rahul 58 & 36*, Dinesh Karthik 82 (first innings), and Hardik Pandya 51 (first innings) had a good practice with bat.## Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane however, didn't score big as he scored 17 in first innings and remained not out on 19 in the second innings, but he looked in good touch in both the innings. India tried Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant also and they scored 4, 15, and 34* respectively in the first innings. India's first innings finished on 395 in 100.2 overs. Essex's Paul Walter took 4 wickets for his side.## Essex in reply of India's first innings, give a good fight and made it difficult for the Indian bowlers. They declared their innings on 359 for 8 in 94 overs with three players scored half centuries. Paul Walter was the top scorer with 75 and had a good match with both bat and bowl. skipper Tom Westley and Michael-Kyle Pepper also contributed with 57 and 68 respectively.## For India, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma made most of this practice match and grabbed 4 and 3 wickets respectively. Virat Kohli tried 8 bowlers to know the batter bowling combination before going to official matches. But apart from, Yadav and Sharma no other bowler looked in good touch. Shardul Thakur picked a wicket but he never looked in good rhythm despite some odd balls.## In the second innings when India was on 89 for 2, both the captains agreed on draw as the result wasn't looking possible. Rahul and Rahane remained unbeaten on 36 & 19.## It was the only practice match for India before the series against England which is scheduled to play from August 1.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Sri Lanka And Bangladesh Fixture To Kickstart As Asia Cup 2018 Schedule Announced
2875 days ago
Cricket

Sri Lanka And Bangladesh Fixture To Kickstart As Asia Cup 2018 Schedule Announced

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will face each other in the opening match on September 15 as the schedule of Asia Cup 2018 have been announced on Tuesday, July 24. The six-team tournament will be played in the United Arab Emirates.## The teams are divided into two groups. In group A, Afghanistan is paired with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and in group B, the defending champions India is paired with Pakistan and winner of the qualifiers.## India will play their opening match against the qualifier on September 18 before a much-awaiting clash against Arch-rivals Pakistan on very next day.## As per the new guidelines, the tournament will be played in the ODI format with the 50-over World Cup scheduled to be held next year. The previous tournament in Bangladesh in 2016 was played in the T20 format ahead of the T20 WC.## One team that will finish at the bottom of each group will be eliminated while rest of the teams will be playing against each other in the Super 4 stage. The two teams that finish at the top two in Super 4 stage will play in the final on September 28 in Dubai.## The qualifier tournament featuring Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Singapore and UAE will be held in India in September, with the winner joining the rest of the five teams in the main draw.## FULL SCHEDULE :## GROUP STAGE## Sep 15 Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh in Dubai## Sep 16 Pakistan vs Qualifier in Dubai## Sep 17 Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi## Sep 18 India vs Qualifier in Dubai## Sep 19 India vs Pakistan in Dubai## Sep 20 Bangladesh vs Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi## SUPER 4## Sep 21 Group A Winner vs Group B Runner-up in Dubai## Sep 22 Group B Winner vs Group A Runner-up in Abu Dhabi## Sep 23 Group A Winner vs Group A Runner-up in Dubai## Sep 24 Group B Winner vs Group B Runner-up in Abu Dhabi## Sep 25 Group A Winner vs Group B Winner in Dubai## Sep 26 Group A Runner-up vs Group B Runner-up in Abu Dhabi## Final - September 28 in Dubai## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Anderson Overtake Rabada To Become The No.1 Test Bowler
2877 days ago
Cricket

Anderson Overtake Rabada To Become The No.1 Test Bowler

England's James Anderson has overtaken South Africa's Kagiso Rabada to become the No.1 Test bowler in latest MRFTyres ICC Test Ranking updated on Tuesday (July 24).## However, Rabada picked 7-wickets in the first Test on spin friendly pitch but wasn't at his best in the second match where he could pick only one wicket and that cost him his number 1 spot in the recently concluded 2-match series against Sri Lanka where South Africa had lost the series 2-0.## South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj picked 16 wickets in the series, including a 12-wicket haul in the second Test, and has gained five places to now be among the the top 20 bowlers in the world. He's ranked at eighteen.## In batsmen's ranking, Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne moved up three spots to seven after successful series with bat. He was the top run-getter in 2-match series with 356 runs with an average of 118.67. He has scored 1 century and 3 half-centuries in 4 innings. No other players were even close to him as his teammate Danushka Gunathilaka was the second highest scorer with 161 runs in 4 innings.## The banned Australian Steve Smith is still No.1 batsman with 929 points and 26 points ahead of the second placed Indian Skipper Virat Kohli.## TEAMS RANKINGS :## After the series lost against Sri Lanka, South Africa lost 6 points and slipped down to 106 points but have managed to hang on to the second spot by a whisker. They are just ahead of third-ranked Australia in decimal points. On the other hand, Sri Lanka gained 6 points from the series win and just behind the 5th ranked England (97 Points) in decimal points.## India is No.1 ranked side with 125 points and will remain on No.1 if they lose 5-0 to England.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Batsmen With Double Centuries In One-Day Cricket
2878 days ago
Cricket

Batsmen With Double Centuries In One-Day Cricket

In cricket, new records are created on every day, but who had thought till eight years ago that a double century is also possible in a one-day game. Well it happened, on February 24, 2010, the great Sachin Tendulkar scored the first ever double-century (Men's category) in 50-overs format against South Africa at Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior, India. Since then only five players on seven occasions could score 200 or plus runs in an ODI match.## Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman is the newest member to be included in 200-club. He touched this rare feat against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He became the first Pakistan player to reach this milestone while India's Rohit Sharma is the only player to score three double-century in ODIs.## LIST OF THE PLAYERS WITH DOUBLE-CENTURY IN ODIS IN MEN'S CATEGORY (NEWEST FIRST) :## 1. FAKHAR ZAMAN (210* OFF 156 VS ZIMBABWE) - Fakhar Zaman hammered Zimbabwe in his knock of 210* off 156 balls at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on July 20, 2018. He also became the first Pakistani batsman to score a double-century in an ODI match. He is the promising talented batsman for Pakistan and is still new at international level, played only 18 match for his side. He has already became fastest to reach one-thousand runs in ODIs (18 innings), surpassed the great Viv Richards.## 2. ROHIT SHARMA (208* OFF 153 VS SRI LANKA) - Rohit Sharma is the only palyer with 3 double-centuries in this format of the game. His third came against Sri Lanka at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, India on 13 December 2017. He was captaining India in that match and played a captain's knock of 208*. With it he became the second captain after Virender Sehwag to register a double century in ODIs.## 3. MARTIN GUPTILL (237* VS WEST INDIES) - New Zealand's Martin Guptill is the only second player after Chris Gayle to score a double ton in world cup. On March 21, 2015, he hammered unbeaten 237 and became the second highest individual scorer after Rohit Sharma. His 237* is the highest individual score in world cup.## 4. CHRIS GAYLE (215 VS ZIMBABWE) - West Indies' Chris Gayle was the first batsman to score a double ton in world cup. On February 24, 2015, he punished Zimbabwe when he hammered 215 runs with the help of ten boundaries and 16 sixes in ICC World Cup 2015. He known for his brutal batting especially in T20Is.## 5. ROHIT SHARMA (264 OFF 173 VS SRI LANKA) - On November 13, 2014 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Rohit Sharma played one the greatest knock in a one-day match. He had created history by achieving the feat for the second time in his career. First, he took mere 151 balls to reach the 200-run mark, laced with 26 boundaries and five sixes. And then, the stylish right-hander went on to score the highest individual score in ODIs, as he scored 264 runs off 173 balls with the help of 33 boundaries and nine sixes, against the toothless Lankan attack.## 6. ROHIT SHARMA (209 VS AUSTRALIA) - On November 2, 2013 Rohit 'Hitman' Sharma scored his first double-century in ODIs. In this innings, he hit 17 sixes which is a record in an ODI innings. He took Australian bowlers all-around park at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, India. It was a high scoring match where India came out as victorious and also won the series 3-2.## 7. VIRENDRA SEHWAG (219 VS WEST INDIES) - On 8 December 2011 at Holkar Stadium Indore, the Nawab of Njafgarh, Virendra Sehwag, became the second player to cross the 200-run mark in 50-over cricket. He took on West Indies side by storm playing at Indore and took only 140 deliveries to reach the double-century. He captained India in that match and became the first captain to score a double ton in ODIs.## 8. SACHIN TENDULKAR (200* OFF 147 VS SOUTH AFRICA) - The God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar was the first player to reach 200 mark in 50-overs format. The Master Blaster, scored the double century against South Africa and remained unbeaten on 200, at Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior. Playing at Gwalior, Tendulkar was at his sublime best as he remained not out at 200 off 147 deliveries.## PLAYERS WITH DOUBLE-CENTURY IN WOMEN'S ODI :## 1. AMELIA KERR (NZ) - 232* VS IRELAND (2018)## 2. BELINDA CLARK (AUS) - 229* VS DENMARK (1997)## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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