Sunit Jangir

Sunit Jangir

9488 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

Batsmen Failed To Support Bowlers, Admits Rahane
2840 days ago
Cricket

Batsmen Failed To Support Bowlers, Admits Rahane

India's vice-captain and one of the strongest pillars of the team Ajinkya Rahane has admitted that it was batsmen's fault that let them down in the ongoing 5-match series against England.## India is 3-1 down with one match to spare. Rahane admitted that despite playing good cricket, batsmen failed to support their bowlers who have been brilliant throughout the series.## "Patience is the key in England, whether you bat or bowl. You got to bowl in the same areas for a longer period of time. Maybe as a batsman, you have to leave the ball for a longer period of time," Rahane said.## "We feel bad as our bowlers bowled so well and we as batting group could not support them when we are an experienced group. I think we as batting group fell short.## "When you are on tour you work so hard and prepare so well and then one department performs well then it is the responsibility of other groups to back them," he added.## However, India's vice-captain hasn't looked in best of his touch even though he scored two half-centuries in last two matches. India needed their best overseas batsman to put his best foot forward but he failed to contribute in crunch moments. When he was asked about his batting, he said,## "I didn't get many runs but I got 50-odd and 80-odd in the last two matches. The way I am batting, I am middling the ball really well. Batting is all about confidence. I would like to contribute a little more to my team.## "During this last match I will definitely give my best and I have prepared myself really well. Preparation from beginning till now is similar, whether you are 3-1 down or up. I am just going to enjoy my batting."## However, Rahane is hopeful to finish the tour on winning note. He believes that his team played good cricket but England was the better side in the series.## "Definitely it is an important Test match. The series stands at 3-1 and we want to give our best and finish on a winning note. Especially since I feel we played some good cricket but England played better than us," said Rahane.## "In Test cricket, you have to give more than 100 percent in each and every session. I felt England particularly won small and important sessions. Their bowling unit bowled really well.## "This is going to be the last Test. We are focused on performing well in this last test and if we can win this test and go back 3-2 then that will be really good," he said.## "Every team plays really well at home nowadays. England has played better cricket than us, especially in their bowling and batsmen in both teams have struggled a lot. Only Virat (Kohli) has batted really well in these conditions," he said.## "But England definitely, in their conditions, are a very good team and very experienced team with James Anderson and Stuart Broad in their attack. Moeen (Ali) bowled really well in the last game. They can do really well abroad as well but at home, every team is really strong."## The fifth and final Test will be played at The Oval, London from Friday, September 7. India's record at The Oval is not something they can proud. In 11 previous outings, India managed to win only one match and that too came 37 years ago.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Shastri Feels: No Indian Team In Last 15-20 Years Has Had The Same Run As Current Team
2841 days ago
Cricket

Shastri Feels: No Indian Team In Last 15-20 Years Has Had The Same Run As Current Team

India's head coach Ravi Shastri made a big statement on current Indian Test team and called them the best in last 15-20 years in overseas conditions despite suffering 3-1 (with one more match to play) in the ongoing 5-match series against England. Shastri has always defended his side and this time was no different. He was speaking in the press conference ahead of the fifth and final England-India Test.## Though India haven't been able to cross the line on numerous occasions, Shastri backs his side and called them the best Indian team in last 15-20 years. He has always been said that they want to be the best traveling side in the world. However, India's last series win outside Asia (excluding West Indies) came against New Zealand in 2009, since then they haven't been able to win any series against SENA countries. ## There is no doubt that Virat Kohli led Indian side have competed much better than other teams in overseas conditions but they haven't been able to cross the line on many occasions. Even Kohli had said after 4th Test that, "we can not say every time that we have competed well, crossing the line is something that we need to learn as the team".## They have run both South Africa and England close, but have failed to cross the finish line - something that has left Shastri with a headache. Shastri laid out a number of things that seem to dog India when it came to seizing the initiative.## "I think you have got to get tough mentally. We have run teams close overseas and we have competed. But now it's not about competing. We have to win games from here. Now the endeavor is to understand where you made the mistakes and take it head on and try to correct it. The fact of the matter is you had a chance.## "The scoreline says 3-1 which mean India have lost the series, what the scoreline doesn't say that India could have been 3-1 or it could have been 2-2. And my team knows it. They would have hurt and rightly so after the last game. But this is a team that will not throw in the towel. It will come out there and look to compete and not be on the first flight home, and that's exactly what we will do," Shastri said in press conference.## India have come close to win Edgbaston and Southampton Test but on both occasions, their batsmen let India down. India's top order has failed miserably against the swinging balls. If the swinging balls weren't enough to run through India's batting order, their shot selection wasn't good either. Edgbaston and Southampton's lose showed not only India's struggle in closing out games, but also the number of factors that they needed to get right in order to do so.## "As far as crossing the line goes, you have to give credit to Moeen Ali there on the last day (in Southampton). To be honest, he bowled magnificently. As hard as our guys tried, England was one-up on us there. Nothing to take away (from them). The endeavor of this team is to travel well, compete and win. If you look at the last three years, we have won nine matches overseas and three series.## "I can't see any other Indian team in the last 15-20 years that have had the same run in such a short time, and you have had some great players playing in those series. So the promise is there, it is just about getting tougher mentally, you have got to hurt when you lose matches because that's when you look within and come out with the right kind of answers, to combat such situations and get past the finishing line. One day you will if you believe," He added.## "I think shot selection left a lot to be desired, we blew away a very good position straight away after Tea on day two (in Southampton). That's an area where you can tighten, be aware of what the team needs, being aware of the match situation, that will be a big help. I think that was crucial more than anything else.## "It's being aware of being in a good position and then capitalizing. And not doing something silly to open the door for the opposition, I thought at 180/4, there was a definite chance of a 75-80-run lead, and that would have been crucial. So that hurts."## The fifth and final Test will be played at The Oval, London from Friday, September 7. Though England have already won the series, India will look to win the final match to boost their morale going into Asia Cup.## For more updates and news about Cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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BCCI Announces Fixtures For Home Series Against West Indies
2842 days ago
Cricket

BCCI Announces Fixtures For Home Series Against West Indies

The Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) has announced the schedule for series against West Indies on Tuesday, September 4. India will play 2 Tests, 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is against the former world champions.## The tour will start from 4th October to 11th November. The two-Test will be played at Rajkot and Hyderabad and Guwahati, Indore, Pune, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram will host 5 ODIs while Kolkata, Lucknow, and Chennai will host T20Is.## Before the series against West Indies, the Indian team will feature in the Asia Cup starting from September 15. India is a defending champion of this prestigious tournament and will start as a favorite.## Schedule Of India-West Indies Series :## TESTs## Match DATE VENUE 1st 4-8 OCT RAJKOT 2nd 12-16 OCT HYDERABAD ## ODIs Match DATE VENUE 1st 21 OCT GUWAHATI 2nd 24 OCT INDORE 3rd 27 OCT PUNE 4th 29 OCT MUMBAI 5th 1 NOV THIRUVANTHAPURAM ## T20Is Match DATE VENUE 1st 4 NOV KOLKATA 2nd 6 NOV LUCKNOW 3rd 11 NOV CHENNAI ## For more updates and news about Cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Kohli, Rahane's Effort Went In Vain As Ali Stars In Series Win For England
2844 days ago
Cricket

Kohli, Rahane's Effort Went In Vain As Ali Stars In Series Win For England

Skipper Virat Kohli (58 off 130 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane's (51 off 159 balls) partnership of 101-run gave India a hope to win the match and level the series but just when India started feeling on top, Moeen Ali (4 for 71) ran through India's middle-order to handed them a 60-runs defeat at The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Sunday, September 2 and take an unassailable 3-1 lead with one more match to play..## India had their moments in this match first, they let England score 246 in the first innings from 86 for 6 then they scrambled against Moeen Ali while batting and again the let it go from 140 for 2 to 272-all out. India had still a chance in the second innings if they could stop England under 200 but they failed again.## The target of 245 in the fourth innings was always going to be very difficult to chase down on a pitch which was turning square and it had become almost impossible after losing three wickets on just 22 on the board.## However, India was still hoping to win the match as their two best players, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were still at the crease. The duo, however, survived a few close calls but they looked determined at the crease to taking forward the inning. Both were very watchful at throughout the innings and scored their half-centuries.## But it was always going to be a matter of one ball against Moeen Ali and that came when ball kissed Kohli's glove and went in Cook's hand at short leg. It was perhaps the turning point of this match where the pendulum swung in England's favour again. India were 126 for 4 at Tea with 119 still to win.## Hardik Pandya again failed with the bat and fell just after tea. Rishabh Pant (18) sawed positive intent by hitting a six and four to Ali but that proved shot in the dark as he caught at the mid-off boundary by Cook. With the dismissal of Rahane, India's last hope also dismissed. Ravichandran Ashwin (25) played some good shots but that only proved to shorten the margin of defeat.## England's bowlers were right up to the mark from ball one. Stuart Broad and James Anderson ran through India's top order. Broad dismissed KL Rahul while Anderson removed Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply. Moeen Ali who took 5-wickets in the first wickets again spun India's middle-order including Kohli and Rahane. Ali awarded man of the match for taking 9 wickets and scoring valuable 49-runs in the match.## The fifth and final Test will be played at Kia Oval from September 7.## For more updates and news about Cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Kohli Rested, Rohit Sharma Named Captain For The Asia Cup 2018
2846 days ago
Cricket

Kohli Rested, Rohit Sharma Named Captain For The Asia Cup 2018

The Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) has announced 16-member squad for the upcoming edition of Asia Cup 2018 on Saturday, September 1. Rohit Sharma will lead the team during the tournament as regular sipper Virat Kohli been rested.## Khaleel Ahmed, the 20-year-old left-arm pacer from Rajasthan, who has earned his maiden India call-up while the wait continues for Mayank Agarwal despite his rich vein of form. ## Manish Pandey who has missed out 3-match series against England recently has been recalled after his successful quadrangular series for India A featuring Australia A, South Africa A, and India B.## Along with Pandey, Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav have also been recalled for ODIs. Suresh Raina, Umesh Yadav and Siddarth Kaul, who all featured in the squad for the England ODI series, are among the ones to miss out. ## Ambati Rayudu was an automatic selection for the Asia Cup as he missed out England series only because failing in yo-yo test. Jadhav also find his palace in the squad after he recovered from injury.## Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.## For more updates and news about cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Indian Pacers Day Out
2847 days ago
Cricket

Indian Pacers Day Out

India might not have thought before the start of Southampton Test that they will be on top at the and of day one but the Indian Pacers made sure that they make most of the green top pitch to put India on top. However, Jasprit Bumrah did not expect that pitch will offer so much help for the pacers especially in the first session where England had lost 4 wickets.## "It's quite interesting (bowling) with the Dukes ball. When I was sitting out in the first two matches, I was keeping an eye on what the other bowlers were doing. We also wanted to bat, but when we started to bowl there was a lot of seam and swing early on, more than we expected. Always good when the plan works. The ball was swinging so I thought why not try the inswinger (against Jennings). Even when the ball is not reversing, the batsman tries to see the shine because the shine is prominent. I usually hide it often.## My action was different in U19. But it changed more and more. Wherever I went, in NCA and the MRF academy, the coaches said they won't change my action. We'll make you stronger and your body stronger because they were afraid I'll lose my pace. We would've taken 245 at the start of the day. We bowled well in patches and they played well too. I've not played a single ball after the IPL. I'm trying to bat in the nets," Bumrah said after day's play.## England's situation could have been even worse if 20-year old Curran did not come to rescue them with a fighting knock of 78. He has lifted England from 86 for 6 to 246. Conditions also helped England to recover as once the ball got old it became easier for batting after the morning session. But pacers led by Bumrah continued to pitch the ball in right areas that did not allow English batsmen to play freely.## Jasprit Bumrah again proved why he has become India's premium bowler. The way he set up Keaton Jennings with threoutswingerser and then one inswinger which actually got him out was excellent to watch. Jennings had no idea where that inswinger came from. Bumrah could have been Joe Root as well but he overstepped that saved Root but he nicked England's best batsman of the series Jonny Bairstow (6) to Rishabh Pant. Later he dismissed Stuart Broad as well who contributed with valuable 17 runs.## On the other hand, India's leading wicket-taker of this series Ishant Sharma bowled a tight opening spell in which he got skipper Joe Root LBW with a big inswinger. Mohammed Shami, another important member of India's pace attack too haa d a big success with h the ball. He first dismissed, Jos Buttler (21) who was looking dangerous and then Ben Stokes (23) by LBW.## It was the complete dominance of the pacers that rewarded Ravichandran Ashwin with two wickets. Moeen Ali (40) who survived through some brilliant pace bowling seek an opportunity to score runs against Ashwin and that resulted in him his wicket. He went for the expensive sweep but only managed a top edge to Bumrah. Ali put an 81-run partnership with Sam Curran that set up England's recovery. Ashwin had Curran too the last batsman of England's innings.## Overall it was a great day for India in terms of bowling where they managed to bowl England out on below par total. India started well with bat and scored 19 without losing any wicket at the end of day one. Looking at the conditions and pitch the next couple of days will be excellent for the batting so it is a great chance for India to take big first innings to lead to put England under serious pressure.## For more and latest news about Cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Kohli Is Against ECB's Proposal Of 100-Ball Format
2848 days ago
Cricket

Kohli Is Against ECB's Proposal Of 100-Ball Format

Indian captain Virat Kohli has raised his concern over 100-ball format proposed by England's Cricket Board (ECB) in April this year.## After the huge success of 20-over format and T20 leagues, ECB proposed a new format of 100-balls. Initially, the 100-ball concept proposed two eight-team tournaments - for men's and women's teams consisting of 15 traditional six-ball overs, and a final 10-ball over, a 20-delivery shortfall on traditional T20 matches.## However, Indian skipper did not seem too pleased with this format of the game. He raised his concern and said the commercialization of cricket taking away the real quality of the game. Kohli told Wisden Cricket Monthly,## "Obviously for the people involved in the whole process [of the 100-ball competition] and the set-up it will be really exciting but I cannot think of one more format, to be honest. I'm already very... I wouldn't say frustrated, but sometimes it can get very demanding of you when you have to play so much cricket regularly. I feel somewhere the commercial aspect is taking over the real quality of cricket and that hurts me.## "Honestly, I don't want to be a testing sort of a cricketer for any new format. I don't want to be someone who's going to be part of that World XI who comes and launches the 100-ball format. I love playing the IPL, I love watching the BBL because you're working towards something, competing against high-quality sides and it gets your competitive juices flowing. That's what you want as a cricketer. I'm all for the leagues, but not to experiment."## From past few years, Test cricket has been struggling to regain its lost shine among the so many T20 leagues across the world. Kohli feels that experimenting with the game is not good for the longest format. Kohli urged the cricket boards to step up and work towards improving the quality of first-class cricket.## "If you're not going to give more importance to first-class cricket, then people are going to lose motivation to play the longest format of the game," Kohli said. "And with the T20 format coming in I think there's far greater responsibility on all the cricket boards across the world to treat first-class cricket really well, because if the facilities and the standard go up, then the motivation always stays. You don't want players to get into that mindset where they're finding the easy way out."## Kohli may not happy with 100-ball format but he really welcomed the World Test championship idea by ICC which will begin in July 2019 with an Ashes series. The championship is scheduled to play between July 2019 to March 2021 after which top two teams will play the final. The Test championship can be the boon for the test cricket.## "I think the Test Championship is going to give a huge push to Test cricket. It makes every series more competitive, and there's going to be ups and downs throughout the Championship, which I really look forward to," Kohli said.## Virat Kohli and Team Indian are currently featuring in 5-match Test series against England. After the first three-match England is leading with 2-1. The fourth match will start from August 30 at Ages Bowl.## For more and latest news about Cricket, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Virat Kohli Back At The Top Of ICC Test Batsmen Rankings
2854 days ago
Cricket

Virat Kohli Back At The Top Of ICC Test Batsmen Rankings

Indian captain Virat Kohli back as No.1 Test batsman in latest MRF Tyres ICC Test rankings after a brilliant match at Trent Bridge which saw him score 97 and 103 across two innings.## Kohli had earlier became the No.1 Test batsman for the first time after the first Test but let go his top spot to Steven Smith after the second Test at Lord's where he could score only 23 and 17 in tough conditions for the batting.## Virat Kohli now has 937 rating points, a new career-best for him and is only a point away from breaking into the top ten on all-time points list. The current top ten are Don Bradman (961 points), Steven Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (both on 942), Peter May (941), and Gary Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Kumar Sangakkara (all on 938 points).## He has already broke an India's batting legend Sunil Gavaskar's record of 916 rating points. Apart from Kohli, pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya also rises in ICC rankings. Pandya after his all-round performance at Trent Bridge where he picked a five-wicket haul and tallied a run-a-ball 52* in the second innings helped him to move on 17th in all-rounder list. He also moved up eight spots on the batting list, and is now ranked 51st.## ICC Test Batsmen Rankings:## Rank Player Country Points 1 VIRAT KOHLI INDIA 937 2 STEVEN SMITH AUSTRALIA 929 3 KANE WILLIAMSON NEW ZEALAND 847 4 DAVID WARNER AUSTRALIA 820 5 JOE ROOT ENGLAND 818 6 CHETESHWAR PUJARA INDIA 763 7 DIMUTH KARUNARATNE SRI LANKA 754 8 DINESH CHANDIMAL SRI LANKA 733 9 DEAN ELGAR SOUTH AFRICA 724 10 AIDEN MARKRAM SOUTH AFRICA 703 ## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Against All Odds India Bounced Back Strongly
2855 days ago
Cricket

Against All Odds India Bounced Back Strongly

India was 2-0 down before the 3rd Test. Former players were criticizing them for not showing enough promises against the swinging balls especially in the second Test where India was completely outplayed by England and faced a heavy defeat of an innings and 159-runs.## Not every time a team is able to bounce back after losing first two Test but the way India did bounce back, was something remarkable. They not only won the match but they opened up this 5-match Test series nicely. They handed England a massive 203-runs defeat on Wednesday, August 22 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.## The win was scripted with some brilliant performances. First, a massive partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings that helped India to recover from 83 for 3. Virat Kohli (97) missed out his century but his knock along with Rahane (82) helped India to reach 329.## Though India's first inning score wasn't a huge one hence skipper Virat Kohli was needed his bowlers to bowl their heart out. Hardik Pandya whose all-around ability was questioned before this Test proved India's stand out bowler. His ran through England's batting line-up with career-best 5-28. His first 5-for in Test scripted England's collapsed in only one session who bundled out on 161. India got a huge lead of 167.## After first innings of each team, India had clearly an advantage and they tightened the screws with a sublime hundred from Virat Kohli (103) who missed out in the first innings along with the fifties from Cheteshwar Pujara (72), Hardik Pandya (52). India declared their innings on 352 for 7 and set a total of 521 to win for England with two full days to go.## Because the target for England was a huge one to chase so the question was, can England save this Test?. They might have thought but Ishant Sharma had some other plans who dismissed both the openers cheaply. Joe Root and Ollie Pope tried to show some resistance but Bumrah and Shami got them out with the help of brilliant catching from Rahul and Kohli. England was lost their 4 wickets on just 62. After 4 wickets the match was looking to finish on day 4 but this was the time when Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes put their hands up and put on a mammoth 169 for the fifth wicket. Buttler got his maiden Test century (106) while Stokes scored 62.## When Buttler and Stokes were frustrating India in their long partnership then India take new ball after 80 overs and third over of the new ball, Bumrah got Buttler and Jonny Bairstow on successive balls. In his next over, he grabbed Chris Woakes (4). Pandya in next over, dismissed Stokes and England suddenly reduced to 241 for 8 from 231 for 4. The damage had already been done but Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad still weren't ready to put their hands down and got a fifty runs partnership for the 9th wicket. Bumrah completed his second 5-for in Test after dismissing Broad on 20.## However, Rashid and James Anderson negated India to win in the 4th day only to frustrate India. However, it took only 17 balls to India in the 5th day to got England's last wicket when Ashwin claimed his first wicket of the match by dismissing Anderson. India cursed England by 203-runs.## It was a comeback of the highest quality when so many outstanding performances were responsible for that. Virat Kohli led from the front with his 23rd Test ton it could have been his 24th if he hadn't missed in the first innings. Pandya could able to shut the mouth of critics with his maiden 5-for and 52 runs knock in the second innings. Bumrah put another match-winning a performance with a 5-wicket haul in the second innings.## The series is nicely poised with 2-1 in favor of England with 2 matches more to go. The third Test will be played from August 30 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading

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Time For Indian Batsmen To Show Some Promises
2861 days ago
Cricket

Time For Indian Batsmen To Show Some Promises

Can India bounce back in 5-match series?## This is perhaps the biggest question raising among the all Indian fans at this moment. Well, the answer is 'yes' they can but only if the batsmen to show some promise this time. They will have to believe that they are still the No.1 Test side in the world.## Before landing in England and even after losing the first Test, where they put a great fight but unfortunately, could not cross the line and lost the match by 31-runs after reaching so close to winning, India was the favourite to win the 5-match Test series.## If the first match was very close to a perfect Test match, the second one was the opposite to the first match. It ended with a one-sided affair and England proved that side as they won by an innings and 159-runs. For India, a couple of lost Test matches have raised so many questions and doubts and let out some of the ghosts that have haunted touring Indian sides in the past.## Win and lose is of part of the game but the way India lost the second match where they could not even compete, doesn't augur so well for the confidence levels. In both innings of the second Test, India could manage only 107 and 130 runs. Their top order collapsed drastically in both the innings. Yes, the conditions were too difficult for the batsmen but still, they were needed to trust their skills.## So far in this series, only skipper Virat Kohli has looked in great form who has scored 240 runs with an average of 60 in 4 innings. Hardik Pandya is the second highest run-getter for India with 90 runs in 4 innings. Rest of the other batsmen have been lack of runs with opener Murli Vijay (26), KL Rahul (35), Ajinkya Rahane (48), Dinesh Karthik (21) haven't looked in good touch so far.## On the other hand, Bowlers have performed way better than batsmen. If India could come close to winning the first match, bowlers played a huge role who bowled out England in both the innings. Ravichandran Ashwin whose overseas record was very poor before the series, have looked India's best bowler in two matches so far by taking 7-wickets with a five-wicket haul.## Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami have also looked in great rhythm with 7 and 6 wickets respectively. The only weak point in India's bowling attack has been Hardik Pandya who played a 3rd seamer role in the second Test in place of Umesh Yadav. He hasn't performed well and because of that, the questions are also raising about his place in playing XI.## India is 2-0 down in the 5-match Test series. The third Test will do or die for them which is scheduled to play from Saturday, August 18.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.##

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India Surrendered To Broad And Anderson
2865 days ago
Cricket

India Surrendered To Broad And Anderson

This was perhaps the first time under Virat Kohli's captaincy when India did not even compete in a Test match. After allowing England to take 289 runs lead in the first innings, India was in trying to avoid an innings defeat, bowled out on 130 and lost by an innings and 159 runs and go down 2-0 in 5-match series.## It was a perfect match for England where their batsmen batted well and bowlers took full advantage of overcast conditions. After Anderson's 5 for 20 led England to bowled out India on 107 in the first innings, Chris Woakes (137*) and Jonny Bairstow (93) took the game away from India with a massive 189-run partnership for the sixth wickets.## England declared their first innings on 396 at the fall of Sam Curran's wicket who scored 40 off 49 balls. Indian bowlers did bowl well especially, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami even though they could not stop England to take a big lead. Hardik took 3 for 66 while Shami too went with as many wickets and conceded 96.## With the conditions has become a lot tougher for the batsmen, India had a mammoth task in front of them to save the match. But India had no answer of Anderson and Broad's bowling who ran through India's batting line up with 4-wickets each and the remaining two wickets were taken by Woakes.## One can understand how badly India failed with the bat as for them, the biggest partnership of the match was 55 that came in the second innings between Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin. The situation could have been even worse if the duo didn't put that partnership. Hardik batted well for his 26 while Ashwin remained the top scorer for India in both innings with 29 & 33.## Chris Woakes awarded Man Of The Match for match-winning all-round show as he took 4-wickets in the match and scored his maiden Test ton.## The third match of the 5-match series will be played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham from August 18. It will be a do or die match for India while England will look to seal the series.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading.

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Indian Batsmen Should Play Ugly To Be Successful In English Conditions - Clive Lloyd
2866 days ago
Cricket

Indian Batsmen Should Play Ugly To Be Successful In English Conditions - Clive Lloyd

There seems no end of India's batting woes in the Test series in England. After losing the first Test by a small margin of 31-runs in Edgbaston, India's struggle with the bat continued in the second Test at Lords Cricket Ground, London.## After the day one of the second Test completely washed out due to rain, it took only 35.2 overs to England to bowled out India on 107 on another rain-interrupted day two. England's bowlers led by James Anderson's 5 for 20 took full advantage of overcast conditions.## Former West Indies' captain Clive Lloyd said that India should play ugly cricket to be successful in these conditions. One of the greatest captains of all time was speaking to ET and had plenty to say about India's batting and personally about Virat Kohli.## Excerpts :## When the conditions are all stacked in favour of the bowlers, what do you do as a batsman?## You bat ugly. That’s what you need to do and also hope that you have the luck on your side. It isn’t easy to bat in these conditions, especially when a bowler like James Anderson is bowling at you. But as a batsman you have to tell yourself that you will be patient, you will take blows on your body, you will be prepared to play and miss and yet not give your wicket away. Virat Kohli did exactly that at Edgbaston. He was not great to look at but he was hugely effective. That’s what you want from your best player and that’s what you need from your other batsmen.## Are you implying that Virat is a few notches higher in comparison to the other batsmen?## He is a rockstar. A player of tremendous quality but that doesn’t mean the others aren’t good enough or can’t stand out there and help out the captain. You needed one more man to bat ugly to win the Test at Edgbaston. One man to just tell himself that comes what I will not get out. It is a question of resolve and determination. Of courage and conviction. Cricket isn’t an easy sport and these conditions are as difficult as they can ever be. But that’s where you need to excel as a batsman to qualify as a great. Virat has done that and that’s what I am trying to tell you.## Coming to Virat the leader. You have been the most successful cricket captain of all time. How do you look at Virat as captain?## I like his style and like seeing him conduct himself as captain. Every captain is different and will have his own style. I had once asked Malcolm Marshall, who had a broken hand if he would still risk playing? Marshall did and got five wickets for me. Will Virat do the same of his players? Maybe not. The question that is of paramount importance here is how much trust the players have in Virat and vice-versa. I can say my players trusted me wholeheartedly and I did the same with each and every one of them. You can never be a successful captain and get the best out of your team if you don’t trust each other to the fullest. That’s what Virat will have to do as captain — get his players to trust him with their life. I see a lot of potential in him and I hope he will get better with time.## If you were in Virat’s position, would you have played your premier bowlers in the IPL or would you speak to the BCCI and withdraw them from the IPL to keep them fresh for the 2019 World Cup?## I have a very straightforward answer for you. The nation comes first. India comes first. IPL will come every year. If Virat and the management feels you need a certain bowler and the IPL may exhaust him or burn him out, you have to ensure he doesn’t play the IPL in World Cup year. Arthur Ashe once came to Melbourne and seeing 90,000 people in the stadium said to me, you guys must be millionaires. I said we get $500 per game.## Modern players make enough money and there is every reason that they should. But when it is a toss-up between the World Cup and the IPL and when you know you might not be at your best for the World Cup, you have to sacrifice franchise cricket. If you win the World Cup for your country you will qualify in the category of a cricketing legend. No number of franchise league wins can get you up there.## India is 1-0 down in 5-match series. To win this Test series, India will have bat well in rest of the remaining matches. Apart from skipper Virat Kohli, no other Indian batsmen looked to score runs against England's bowling attack in the first Test and resulted in, they failed to chase down 194 and lost the match by 31-runs.## For more updates and news, stay tuned to us.## Thanks for the reading

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