T20 World Cup 2016

Asia Cup: India aims to retain No.2 position in ICC ODI table

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Dhaka, Feb.24 (ANI): India starts its campaign in the Asia Cup, which commences on February 25 in Dhaka, with an aim to retain its number-two position on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings at the 1 April cut-off date.</div>
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At number two, India will be the highest ranked side in the five-team tournament, with 115 ratings points, and will contest the tournament that also features fourth-ranked Sri Lanka, sixth-placed Pakistan, ninth-placed Bangladesh and unranked Afghanistan.</div>
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The side that finishes on top of the ODI rankings table at the 1 April cut-off date receives a shield and a cheque of US$175,000, while the side that finishes second receives US$75,000.</div>
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India held the number-one rank from January 2013, but ceded the top position to Australia after losing its recent ODI series against New Zealand 0-4.</div>
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Australia is now assured of the number-one ranking on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings on the 1 April cut-off date, with 117 ratings points, and will receive the ODI Shield as well as a cheque of USD 175,000 for finishing atop.</div>
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Even if India were to win all its matches in the Asia Cup, including the final, it will gain two ratings points to move to 117, on par with Australia. But when ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, Michael Clarke's side will be ranked higher.</div>
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Therefore, India can at best hope to retain its number-two position at the end of the Asia Cup, but its position will be challenged by fourth-ranked Sri Lanka.</div>
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Sri Lanka rounded off a three-match series against host Bangladesh with a six wickets win on Saturday to win the series 3-0. The clean sweep helped Sri Lanka gain one ratings point to move to 109, on par with England, but when ratings were calculated beyond the decimal point, Angelo Mathews' men were able to move ahead into fourth place.</div>
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Sri Lanka can now hope to move ahead of India on the rankings table if it wins all its matches in the Asia Cup, including the final. In such a scenario, Sri Lanka will gain three ratings points to finish on 112, one ratings point ahead of India and therefore move up two places to second.</div>
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But if India wins even one of its matches during the tournament, it will hold onto the number-two position, in spite of losing up to three ratings points to finish on 112.</div>
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Meanwhile, fifth-placed England and sixth-ranked Pakistan will also be involved in a keen tussle on the table. While Pakistan will be seen in action during the Asia Cup, England will take on West Indies in a three-match series in Antigua from February 28.</div>
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England will hold onto fifth position if it wins at least one of the matches in the series against eighth-ranked West Indies. Should England fail to win a match, however, Pakistan can hope to move ahead of England if it wins all the matches in the Asia Cup, including the final.</div>
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Meanwhile, Afghanistan has an opportunity to get onto the main ODI rankings table during the Asia Cup.</div>
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To gain this promotion, Afghanistan must either win two ODIs against Full Members, or achieve one win in an ODI against a Full Member and also have won more than 60% of qualifying matches versus other Associates (as shown on the Associate / Affiliate ODI Ranking Table).</div>
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To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Rankings Table, please click here. The ODI and T20I Rankings tables, unlike the Test Rankings Table, are updated after every match.</div>
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India captain Virat Kohli starts the Asia Cup with an opportunity to reclaim the number-one position on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen.</div>
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Kohli is currently ranked second with 870 ratings points, just two behind number-one ranked AB de Villiers. With South Africa having no scheduled ODI series, Kohli has an excellent opportunity to reclaim the number-one position he last held in January 2014.</div>
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Kohli is also the highest-ranked batsman in the Asia Cup, and the lone player from his team in the top 10 in the absence of regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.</div>
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The other batsmen inside the top 20 likely to be seen in action over the coming weeks are Kumar Sangakkara (fifth), Misbah-ul-Haq (eighth), Shikhar Dhawan (11th), Eoin Morgan (13th) and Mohammad Hafeez (16th).</div>
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Meanwhile, Saeed Ajmal will start the Asia Cup as the number-one ranked bowler on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers.</div>
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West Indies' Sunil Narine in third will be the highest ranked in the series against England.</div>
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The others in the top 20 likely to be seen in action over the next fortnight are Ravindra Jadeja (ninth), Junaid Khan (11th), Abdur Razzak (13th), Hafeez (15th), Angelo Mathews (17th) and Shakib Al Hasan (20th). (ANI)</div>
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Asia Cup ICC ODI Asia Cup: India aims to retain No.2 position in ICC ODI table

Dhaka, Feb.24 (ANI): India starts its campaign in the Asia Cup, which commences on February 25 in Dhaka, with an aim to retain its number-...

Shane Warne linked to Ultimo lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone

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Melbourne, February 24 (ANI): Shane Warne has been linked to Ultimo lingerie millionaire Michelle Mone, after he reportedly spent four hours romancing her in her hotel suite.</div>
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According to the Sun, the 44-year-old former Australian cricketer showered Mone with champagne and red roses in her suite at The Dorchester Hotel, just hours after spending Valentine's Day with Elizabeth Hurley, News.com.au reported.</div>
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Sources have revealed that the 42-year-old business tycoon sees the relationship as "the beginning of something special for both of them''.</div>
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Warne had flown to UK to spend time with Hurley and was pictured at The Dorchester where Mone was staying the next day. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News Shane Warne linked to Ultimo lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone

Melbourne, February 24 (ANI): Shane Warne has been linked to Ultimo lingerie millionaire Michelle Mone, after he reportedly spent four hou...

Rajasthan Royals player claims MS Dhoni involved in IPL fixing – Reports

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A Rajasthan Royals player has claimed MS Dhoni was involved in match-fixing in IPL</div>
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In a recent revelation, an unnamed Rajasthan Royals player has claimed that MS Dhoni was involved in match-fixing during IPL in a conversation with The Sunday Guardian.</div>
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The match under question here is the 61st fixture of IPL season 6, which took place between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on 12th May, 2013.</div>
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IPS officer G Sampath Kumar, who made a deposition in front of the Justice Mudgal committee, had revealed that bookie Utham Jain, aka Kitty, <span 02="" 11="" 2014="" bookie-ms-dhoni-suresh-raina-match-fixing-ipl-cid-report-justice-mudgal="" http:="" target="_blank" www.sportskeeda.com="">had talked about the same match being fixed, and about Dhoni’s involvement in it</span>.</div>
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The <span dhoni-involved-in-spot-fixing-in-the-ipl="" http:="" rel="nofollow" sports="" target="_blank" www.sunday-guardian.com="">RR player told Sunday Guardian</span> that the way the CSK team went about the match, cast doubts over their intentions, one example being Dhoni’s unusually tense demeanour.</div>
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“There were many factors which made me feel that CSK were not keen to win the match. Right from the time they came to bat first, there were many things that happened on that day which were also quite questionable. Also captain Dhoni seemed to be unusually tense during that match. I believe he had a hand in the manner in which CSK played that day,” he said.</div>
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The player goes on to say that though CSK are known for upping the pace during the later stages, “on that day, they did not seem to be any sort of hurry to score.”</div>
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Having reached 83/1 at the end of 12 overs, CSK ended their innings at a below par 141/4, with MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina mysteriously falling cheaply in the same over.</div>
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The latest <span 1="" 344682.html="" http:="" indiatoday.intoday.in="" ipl-spot-fixing-gurunath-vindoo-transcripts-expose-more-muck="" rel="nofollow" story="" target="_blank">transcripts of conversation between Gurunath Meiyappan and Vindu Dara Singh</span> reveal that Meiyappan told the latter that Chennai will end up scoring ‘around 140′. They ended up scoring 141.</div>
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Meiyappan also said that Rajasthan will win the match and placed Rs. 1.4 crore bets against CSK. In the conversation, he urges Vindu to place Rs. 30 lakh more on Rajasthan. “RR is winning <em>pakka</em>,” Meiyappan said according to the transcript.</div>
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Another queer aspect of this match, according to the RR player, was the lack of any sixes in the CSK innings.</div>
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“In any T20 tie, one can see around 12 to 15 sixes being hit. CSK did not hit a single six in their entire innings. This is something unheard of in a T20 tie. In my career in T20 so far, I have never come across a competitive T20 match in which a team fails to manage a single six. We knew that there was something wrong with the way CSK were approaching their innings,” he said.</div>
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The player goes on to question the way MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina gave away their wickets against Kevon Cooper in the same over.</div>
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“What is even more surprising was the fact that Captain MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina two of the hardest hitters in T20 format played very slowly. Not only that they seemed to be in no sort of any urgency to score.</div>
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“Nothing wrong in that. But when you consider the fact that both got out in the same over bowled by West Indian rookie bowler Kevin Cooper then things are not normal,” he said.</div>
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The player also put MS Dhoni’s conduct during the match under spotlight.</div>
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“Normally one would expect the Indian captain to be cool and composed. But he seemed to very tense. Now we all knew that even if CSK had lost this match, they had already qualified for the next stage. So why he tense for no reason?” he asked.</div>
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The Mudgal Committee’s report comes up for hearing in Supreme Court on March 7, one day before the final of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, which both MS Dhoni (side strain) and Suresh Raina (dropped) are missing.</div>
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<i style="color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;">Author : NAR133</i></div>
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Cricket News Rajasthan Royals player claims MS Dhoni involved in IPL fixing – Reports

A Rajasthan Royals player has claimed MS Dhoni was involved in match-fixing in IPL In a recent revelation, an unnamed Rajasthan Roya...

Deepak Hooda – A young all rounder with a lot of potential

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Deepak Hooda (R)</div>
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Sometimes, luck plays a very vital role in the career of an upcoming cricketer. The player under reference here is Deepak Hooda, an all rounder for India under 19s, who gave a substantial contribution in all the four matches of the World Cup. He excelled both with bat and ball. Let us have a look at the background of this promising youngster.</div>
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His full name is Deepak Jagbir Hooda. A native of Rohtak, Haryana, Hooda was born on 19-04- 1995 and he is 18 years of age. He is a right hand batsman and a right arm off break bowler, who has represented Baroda. He made his T20 debut in March 2013, while playing for Baroda against Gujarat at Ahmedabad.</div>
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His record in the U19 World Cup was very good. In the crucial quarter final match against England played in Dubai on 22 February, he was the highest scorer for India under 19s. He also took a wicket with his off breaks. Also, while playing against PNG, he had taken 2 wickets for just 5 runs. Earlier, in the match against Scotland, he had given a contribution of vital 24 runs and remained not out. He did not bowl in that match.</div>
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But his most valuable contribution in the tournament was seen on 15th February, when in the important match against arch rivals Pakistan, he not only scored a quick fire 22, but excelled with the ball as well. That victory over the Pakistan was purely based on the stunning bowling performance of Deepak Hooda, as he took 5 wickets for just 41 runs.</div>
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He is a very hard working and committed cricketer. He takes his time before playing his strokes and has shown the ability to improvise instantly. He plays in a very bold and fearless manner. He times his shots well and his running between the wickets is really good.</div>
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He has got a cool and contented temperament, as a result of which Deepak is a decent finisher. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that in the 4 matches he had played in this tournament, he remained not out on 2 occasions. Thus, his batting average for the World Cup comes to a little more than 58 – which is considered excellent.</div>
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It is too early to say anything, but it surely appears that we have got a talented and consistent player who needs to be nourished under professional training. Hopefully, he will be able to contribute effectively for team India in the near future.</div>
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<i style="color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;">Author : Kuku</i></div>
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Cricket News Deepak Hooda – A young all rounder with a lot of potential

Deepak Hooda (R) Sometimes, luck plays a very vital role in the career of an upcoming cricketer. The player under reference here is ...

Cricket: I am so not done with it, after all – A Team India fan

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As an Indian cricket fan, I have to admit, I am guilty of a few quirks. Every time my team wins, it doesn’t take any time for me to jump around like a maniac – like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone – screeching myself hoarse in the process. Age and maturity don’t enter into the equation and to be fair, they never have in all these years that I have been a fan of the Indian cricket team.</div>
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Over the years that I have been a cricket fan, while relishing and reliving the ecstasy and spark of India’s victory, I have also had innumerable opportunities to experience the bitterness of losses as well. Glaring losses these have been too, humiliating the very construct of my – a fan’s – existence.</div>
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Like the one suffered against New Zealand, not so long ago which piled too many insults on top of a very long list of injuries.</div>
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Was it demoralising? Incredibly so. Was it demeaning? Absolutely. Was it the straw that broke the camel’s back; making me turn once and for all from Indian cricket and all that it entailed? No, definitely not!</div>
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Call me a masochist for emphatically deciding to continue to follow the game that has only brought forth agony and frustration in the past few months. But no matter what tags may float around me, it isn’t going to bother me or detract me from being a foul weather fan for my team and by extension, the sport that most of my countrymen revere. For, supporting the Indian cricket team has always meant going through an indescribable roller-coaster ride where losses invariably tag along the wins in close succession, much to a fan’s chagrin.</div>
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But, despite the inexplicable vagaries in Indian cricketing fortunes, I still believe the team can and will be able to overturn these humiliations into something positive and concrete. It’s not blind faith that makes me say so. But testimonies from various events in the past where the Indian cricket team has gone on to turn tables on all the teams that abased them in the first place.</div>
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My surety however isn’t lackadaisical in nature and nor do I wish to defend the outrageous insipidity of the Indian cricket team while at New Zealand. If I were to say it bluntly, they were beyond pathetic in the way they lost the second Test despite having a commanding lead to start with.</div>
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The whole defensiveness in their game reeked of casualness and nonchalant over-confidence as if they had nothing to lose. But no matter with whose assistances Brendon McCullum heaped on the runs, the situation is going to get salvaged by doing the blame game routine.</div>
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Yes, changes are needed – more forceful than ever before – and I totally accede to this, but honestly, this scenario isn’t at all unlike old wine in a new bottle. One horrifying series; crucify the captain and his tactics. One miserable run overseas; discuss the potentiality of getting a new guy onboard who will perhaps do better in the next couple of tourneys and then fall short in some other country.</div>
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The piece-by-piece, meticulous dissection of team members – names who otherwise were the reigning favourites – does give some sort of satisfaction by allowing pent-up emotions to be vented out.</div>
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But I realised one thing that I could never be frustrated with the sport or with the sportsmen for long. Because, at the end of the day, no matter how savage the satisfaction gained by nailing the cricketers’ mistakes, cricket shall the first sport that got me hooked to the genre – if I could call it that – in the first place.</div>
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The enigmatic attraction of all those years ago that kept me glued to the TV set even when I was so young that I could barely distinguish offside from onside or a leg spinner from an off spinner or clearly define the various fielding positions.</div>
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The one thing that never failed to make me pause everything else in my life to watch a bunch of people create an unsurpassable clarity on the field, in the midst of incessant chaos prevailing all around it; like now, with all these chaos hovering around.</div>
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However, there seems to be no clarity anymore giving me all the more reason to put all other stuff on hold and follow the sport in anticipation that better things and better days will soon follow for Indian cricket, repeating the queer cycle that seems to hound Indian cricket, time-after-time and generation-after-generation.</div>
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Cricket News Indian Cricket Cricket: I am so not done with it, after all – A Team India fan

As an Indian cricket fan, I have to admit, I am guilty of a few quirks. Every time my team wins, it doesn’t take any time for me to jump a...

Oz selectors may call in reserve bowlers for Cape Town Test

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Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): With Australia losing the second Test at Port Elizabeth to South Africa by a whopping 231 runs, and the series-ending Third Test in Cape Town beginning on Saturday, selectors may just think of giving their unchanged bowling attack of the past seven Tests a break, and call on reserve pacers James Pattinson and Jackson Bird to effect a quick turnaround in the team's fortunes.</div>
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According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle collectively bowled a whopping 121 overs out of almost 200 in the Port Elizabeth Test, which probably has left them exhausted and dispirited.</div>
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In the past three years, Australia has only fielded more than 200 overs in a match on three occasions. In each, one of its bowlers succumbed to injury.</div>
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As South Africa coasted beyond 300 runs and 100 overs in its first innings, Australian captain Michael Clarke began preserving his strike-bowlers Johnson and Harris, using them for a total of three overs in the last 40 of the innings. In the second innings, the captain kept them to short spells, with Siddle and off-spinner Nathan Lyon doing most of the bowling.</div>
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Clarke said his incumbent pacers had put in the hard yards at Port Elizabeth, and reiterated his preference for a seam-bowling all-rounder in the team. He said that all-rounder Shane Watson is recovering well, but did not reveal whether he would be in a position to make the eleven for the Cape Town Test. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News Oz selectors may call in reserve bowlers for Cape Town Test

Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): With Australia losing the second Test at Port Elizabeth to South Africa by a whopping 231 run...

Proteas coach Kirsten says can consider coaching England, but after a decade

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London, Feb.24 (ANI): World Cup-winning coach Gary and current South African boss Gary Kirsten has said that he would be interested in coaching the England squad, but only after a decade.</div>
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Kirsten had been identified by many as the ideal man to succeed Andy Flower, but he has said that such an assignment requires a lot of travelling, and that he would like to give whatever spare time he has at present to his wife and young children.</div>
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The BBC quoted him, as saying that he could consider a possible coaching assignment with England later in life.</div>
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Kirsten also confirmed he had received no approach from the England and Wales Cricket Board.</div>
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Kirsten played 101 Tests and 185 one-day internationals for South Africa in a decade-long international career. Then, as a coach, he took both India and the Proteas to the top of the International Cricket Council's Test rankings, as well as winning the 2011 World Cup with India.</div>
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He announced in May 2013 that he would step down as South Africa coach at the end of his contract three months later.</div>
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Kirsten is about to coach the Delhi Daredevils franchise - whose squad includes discarded England batsman Kevin Pietersen - in this year's Indian Premier League. (ANI)</div>
</div>

Cricket News Proteas coach Kirsten says can consider coaching England, but after a decade

London, Feb.24 (ANI): World Cup-winning coach Gary and current South African boss Gary Kirsten has said that he would be interested in coa...

After Port Elizabeth loss, Clarke admits he is due for a big score

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Port Elizabeth, Feb.24 (ANI): Australian skipper Michael Clarke has candidly admitted that he is due for a big score after failing to pass 25 in his last eleven Test innings.</div>
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Clarke, who score 19 and one in the second Test loss to South Africa at the St. George's Park ground in Port Elizabeth, said he is very keen to end his poor form in Cape Town, where the series decider starts on Saturday.</div>
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Accepting that his team and he were experiencing a tough phase cricket-wise, Clarke was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald, as saying that an innings of substance from him was around the corner.</div>
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He, however, joked that if national selectors were to drop a batsman on form to make way for Shane Watson, it might be him.</div>
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He said that his failure to score was not due to not working very hard on his game.</div>
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He claimed that he was timing the ball sweetly, but admitted that his shot selection has been extremely poor. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News After Port Elizabeth loss, Clarke admits he is due for a big score

Port Elizabeth, Feb.24 (ANI): Australian skipper Michael Clarke has candidly admitted that he is due for a big score after failing to pass...

Inspired South Africa upbeat after demolition of Aussies in Port Elizabeth Test: Smith

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Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): Inspired by his side's second Test win over Australia, South Africa captain Graeme Smith has hailed the squad's last session demolition of the Australians, describing it as a great advertisement for Test cricket, proof of his team's mettle and a fantastic fillip for Saturday's series-deciding match in Cape Town.</div>
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Smith said that he has been privileged to see the Proteas churning out some terrific wins over the past eight years, and the Port Elizabeth Test 231-run win against the Australians ranks up their with the best, and has left the squad upbeat and inspired to deliver again at Cape Town.</div>
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The Sydney Morning Herald further quoted him, as saying that for the South African bowlers to claim nine wickets in a session was really something very special.</div>
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He described the session as true drama, and added that that is what makes playing Test cricket so special, and exciting. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News South Africa Inspired South Africa upbeat after demolition of Aussies in Port Elizabeth Test: Smith

Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): Inspired by his side's second Test win over Australia, South Africa captain Graeme Smith ...

Proteas draw level after stunning Oz batting collapse in Port Elizabeth Test

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Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): South Africa have levelled the three-Test series against Australia one all after engineering a stunning batting collapse in the visitors' ranks on Sunday in the second Test played on a flat St George's Park pitch at Port Elizabeth.</div>
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For the record, Australia lost nine wickets in the last session to hand South Africa victory.</div>
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According to the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, an inspired spell of reverse swing bowling by Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander won South Africa the second Test on the fourth day, notwithstanding a defiant century by opener Chris Rogers. Australia was bowled out for 216, leaving the South African victors by 231 runs.</div>
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Rogers was second last man out for 107 and had an opening partnership of 126 with David Warner (66) before Australia lost ten wickets for 90 runs. No other batsman managed to score more than six, as Steyn finished with 4 wickets for 55 runs.</div>
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The match was just two balls from going into a fifth day after the umpires decided to take an extra half an hour and Steyn was not able to bowl the last over because of bad light, but umpire Richard Illingworth gave Nathan Lyon out leg before wicket even though he appeared to hit the ball.</div>
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This last gasp victory has provided enormous relief for Proteas captain Graeme Smith, with rain forecast on the final day.</div>
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Rogers made his third century in four Tests, saving his Test career after three single figure scores.</div>
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South Africa's bowlers not only embarrassed Australia's batsmen, but also Australia's fast bowlers, with Steyn and Vernon Philander displaying exceptional use of reverse swing and Morne Morkel generating dangerous bounce.</div>
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The third Test begins in Cape Town on Saturday. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News Proteas draw level after stunning Oz batting collapse in Port Elizabeth Test

Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): South Africa have levelled the three-Test series against Australia one all after engineering ...

Port Elizabeth loss exposes Clarke leadership - one win in 11 overseas Tests for Aussies

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Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): Australia's stunning defeat in the second of three Tests against South Africa at St. George's Park here, has thrown up a stark and interesting statistic, which puts the recent achievements of the Kangaroos into perspective i.e. Michael Clarke's men have just one victory in 11 overseas Tests.</div>
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According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, Australia's recent overseas record is worse than at any stage since the nadir of the mid '80s.</div>
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Then, between 1983 and 1989, Australia won just one of the 20 away Tests, and that was against England at Lord's in 1985.</div>
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In comparison, South Africa has not lost an away series for the last eight years, which explains why they are ranked so comfortably ahead of every other team in the world.</div>
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If the Port Elizabeth has proved anything, it is that Australia's bowlers don't have the variety to succeed on dead tracks and that their batsmen lack the patience to build an innings in such conditions.</div>
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Australia's recent captains are an interesting contrast of home and away performances. Michael Clarke (winning average of 62 at home and 42 away) has the widest gap, although both sets of numbers are impressive, while Ricky Ponting (57 home, 46 away) also has a significantly better record in Australia.</div>
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This contrasts with Steve Waugh (48 at home, 56 away) and Allan Border (46 at home, 57 away) while Mark Taylor averaged a blanket 43. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News Port Elizabeth loss exposes Clarke leadership - one win in 11 overseas Tests for Aussies

Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): Australia's stunning defeat in the second of three Tests against South Africa at St. Geor...

Classy Proteas outplayed Australians, says Clarke after Port Elizabeth Test loss

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Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): After Australia collapsed to a stunning 231-run defeat against South Africa in second Test at Sr. George's Park here on Sunday, skipper Michael Clarke conceded that his side had been outplayed by a classy Proteas squad.</div>
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Interacting with media after the resounding thrashing at the hands of the South Africans, Clarke credited the latter's bowlers for coming up with a class spell of reverse swing bowling to bundle his side out for 216.</div>
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Sports24 quoted him, as saying that the Australian bowlers had failed to reverse swing throughout the game.</div>
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For the record, Australia appeared to be in command of chasing down the South African score of 448 at one stage of the match, reaching 126 for no loss, but then stunningly lost ten wickets for 90 runs during the last session of the fourth day's play.</div>
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Clarke said his team would be ready to hit back in the third Test at Cape Town that starts on Saturday, and added that two very good teams were actually playing a fantastic game of cricket. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News Classy Proteas outplayed Australians, says Clarke after Port Elizabeth Test loss

Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): After Australia collapsed to a stunning 231-run defeat against South Africa in second Test at...

Desperate Oz selectors hoping for Watson's return after failure of Doolan and Marsh

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Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): The double failures of middle order batsmen Alex Doolan and Shaun Marsh in the second Test played here, have left Australia's desperate selectors hoping for all-rounder Shane Watson to be fit enough to play the last Test in Cape Town for the visitors.</div>
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According to news.com.au, the batting and bowling inadequacies that have surfaced during the Port Elizabeth Test loss, have placed the selectors in a quandary.</div>
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Apart from Chris Rogers (107) and David Warner (66), no other Australian batsman made more than six.</div>
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Marsh and Doolan were first Test heroes, and had to be given an extended run to establish themselves as Test cricketers, but a Test later, it seems that all the bets are off. Doolan played a second uncertain single-figure innings, and Marsh made a pair, giving him six ducks in his last 11 Test innings. (ANI)</div>
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Cricket News Desperate Oz selectors hoping for Watson's return after failure of Doolan and Marsh

Port Elizabeth (South Africa), Feb.24 (ANI): The double failures of middle order batsmen Alex Doolan and Shaun Marsh in the second Test pl...

What Indian cricket needs, but doesn’t want

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India coach Duncan Fletcher</div>
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They say a cat has nine lives. Despite the existence of numerous speculations on reincarnation and rebirth, a man cannot have more; that is, if you are not Duncan Fletcher – the tutor who seems to have consumed the nectar of immortality. The Indian cricket team or rather its fortunes have taken a turn from bad to worse and worse to hopelessly pathetic. The misery and misfortune suffered in foreign shores for three horrendous years and four baffling tours are enough to rip open a coach’s heart, clatter his ego and smash – not dent – his self-confidence. But Fletcher is in a trance, his stance depicting one of total obliviousness to the happenings around.</div>
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Coach Duncan, though sporting an unflappable and unassuming demeanour, isn’t exactly oozing confidence at the moment, but rather making a mockery of himself by donning the cloak of unscrupulousness. Fletcher stood his ground and stuck to his job despite suffering humiliating whitewashes against mighty oppositions and embarrassing defeats from lowly ranked counterparts. Where others in his shoes would have voluntarily disappeared into ignominy before getting their heads chopped, Duncan neither called it quits nor received the sack. He was gifted gilded flowers, not the guillotine.</div>
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The BCCI has been an embodiment of consistency. So stubborn and consistently faulty with its decisions, putting to shame even the players, for whom consistency seems a word too hard to spell of late. One is at his wits end trying to figure out why BCCI seems so ‘immune’ to change. And it is the employer’s reluctance to swim against the tide that has affected its highest paid employee, too. Indian cricket is blessed with a skipper who has forgotten the art of innovation, who is becoming dangerously risk averse by the day and shoves suggestions to change his baffling tactics, down the drain. The ‘junta’ is screaming, the fans are yelling and the game’s connoisseurs are pleading. They need aggression. They need flair. They need captains who can conjure up victories from the jaws of defeat.</div>
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Most importantly they need a coach who can knock some sense into the skipper’s skull when he isn’t ticking the right boxes. What isn’t wanted by any stretch of imagination is a tutor who sings a lullaby to the skipper who is already in a deep slumber. Duncan Fletcher needs to, or more appropriately, should have asked Dhoni to take the bull by the horns when the ship was half sunk during the shambolic overseas campaigns. Fletcher was the guide who was expected to imbue imagination and aggression into a jaded outfit and a drained skipper rather than joining hands to play it safe, dull draws and astounding defeats from winning positions being the unfortunate result. The BCCI doesn’t want what the game in the country needs.</div>
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What is bewildering beyond belief is the fact that the BCCI persisted with Fletcher after the Zimbabwean had the most abysmal couple of years in 2011-2013. A team in transition, a truckload of legends calling it a day and a highly successful predecessor made it unfair to compare or judge Fletcher at that juncture. Fair enough. But it has been too long a run – three springs to be precise – too unsuccessful a tourney for Duncan Fletcher with Indian cricket. India has seen enough of Duncan. His coaching pedagogy is no longer a one Indians would buy at face value. He doesn’t possesses the innovative man management skills of a Kirsten, the demeanour of a strict taskmaster like an Andy Flower or even the plain, unabridged aggression of Darren ‘Boof’ Lehmann.</div>
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Whatever the reason is, just like runs over a period of time are an accepted testimony of a batsman’s quality and wickets the yardstick to a bowler’s greatness, it is the results that speak for a coach’s contribution to value creation.</div>
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Duncan Fletcher’s contract is all set to expire on the first of April. In one way or the other his comeuppance for enduring erratic performances for an eternity was nigh. That he has been brought to mortal grounds is all but evident by the fact that the BCCI has begun its search for a new man at the helm of things. Now, here is another example of BCCI’s recalcitrance, the obstinacy to embrace a change. The board’s obsession with foreign coaches is a fact that is as big a secret as a marketplace gossip.</div>
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The question is – is the trade-off BCCI is doing by roping in foreign tutors over local gurus worthwhile? We pay imported tutors double the money. Indian cricket’s governing body is richer than probably the entire cricketing world put together, so bucks aren’t the brooding issue. But bucks spent should be an investment, not an expense. For the record, India won its lone ICC silverware in T20 when Lalchand Rajput and Venkatesh Prasad were the men in charge. Same goes for the historic triumph at Trent Bridge in 2007.</div>
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The barrier begins from the medium of communication and the difference in culture compounds the lack of a proper conduit for free exchange of thoughts and ideas. Take the case of an Indian heavy weight like a Sourav Ganguly for example. Men like a Ganguly or a Dravid who know the Indian dressing room culture inside out seamlessly fit into the scheme of things right from the first day on the job, know where to draw the line and when to take it easy. It is in no way brushing aside the value that an internationally acclaimed personality like Kirsten or Flower brings to the table, but when Indian legends are taking it easy on the couch, it only makes sense to leverage their expertise to the fullest.</div>
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Indian cricket is at the crossroads. The road towards lost glory is certainly the one that hasn’t had the maximum of footfalls. At least it is an alien territory for Indian cricket or rather its bosses. Status quo, if maintained is akin to embarking on a voyage in the quest of deeper pitfalls. Indian cricket needs a change at the helm, which most of the bosses and vested interests find it difficult to digest. Variety is the spice of life, the ultimate verity that should drive our decisions by every move or word. At least for the time being.</div>
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<i style="color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;">Author : Prashant C</i></div>
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Cricket News Indian Cricket What Indian cricket needs, but doesn’t want

India coach Duncan Fletcher They say a cat has nine lives. Despite the existence of numerous speculations on reincarnation and rebirth...

West Indies v England ODI Schedule 2014

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVJk2-9NDEDfPfym0lic__o-E2l1CxLzKCXRHBjmNfSZoKzqW3e82vXaDgFLJYSG8o0oBwE2JI5GNYw8vdDKo1QESP7Whk9vFxAEFW5JH2t8LEackSiI8wVEBrm1rybzt3mE2YRSRMiEd/s1600/West+Indies+v+England+ODI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyVJk2-9NDEDfPfym0lic__o-E2l1CxLzKCXRHBjmNfSZoKzqW3e82vXaDgFLJYSG8o0oBwE2JI5GNYw8vdDKo1QESP7Whk9vFxAEFW5JH2t8LEackSiI8wVEBrm1rybzt3mE2YRSRMiEd/s1600/West+Indies+v+England+ODI.jpg" /></a></div>
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<tr><td align="left" class="TextClass8pt" colspan="3" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; padding-left: 5px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">West Indies v England, 1st ODI</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td align="left" class="TextClass8pt" colspan="3" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; padding-left: 5px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">West Indies v England, 2nd ODI</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td align="left" class="TextClass8pt" colspan="3" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; padding-left: 5px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">West Indies v England, 3rd ODI</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td align="left" class="TextClass8pt" colspan="3" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; padding-left: 5px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">West Indies v England, 1st T20I</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td align="left" class="TextClass8pt" colspan="3" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; padding-left: 5px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">West Indies v England, 2nd T20I</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td align="left" class="TextClass8pt" colspan="3" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; padding-left: 5px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">West Indies v England, 3rd T20I</span></td></tr>
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England ODI West Indies West Indies v England ODI Schedule 2014

West Indies VS England West Indies v England, 1st ODI February 28 2014 (18:30 PST) West Indies VS Engl...