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Anirudh Singh

Anirudh Singh has 5203 articles published.

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Anirudh is a die-hard cricket fan, loves playing, watching and talking about cricket. Cricket is his Religion & 'Sachin Tendulkar' his GOD. His motto of life is Eat, Sleep, Cricket, REPEAT!! You can write to him at anirudhsingh2904@gmail.com or get in touch with him on twitter.

Ashes 2019: WATCH – Stuart Broad bowls an absolute jaffa to dismiss Travis Head in the Headingley Test

Published on in Ashes/Australia/England/News/Stuart Broad/Travis Head/Video
Stuart Broad, Travis Head

Stuart Broad produced “one of the best balls he’s ever bowled” to dismiss  Travis Head on the opening day of the third Ashes Test at Headingley in Leeds.

It all happened on the penultimate delivery of the 33rd over when Broad beat Head all ends up. With the ball moving away from the batsman after pitching, the slight movement was enough to deceive Head who was aiming to play a drive on the sixth ball that he faced.

With Head’s dismissal, Broad also equalled the great English quick Fred Trueman for the most wickets taken by a single bowler in Test cricket at Headingley (44).

Here’s the video:

Later, England bowling unit led by Jofra Archer’s maiden five-wicket haul in Tests successfully dismantled the Aussies from 136/2 to 179 all out.

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WATCH: England sensation Jofra Archer takes a six-wicket haul in third Ashes Test

Published on in Ashes/England/Jofra Archer/News/Video
Jofra Archer six-wicket haul

Jofra Archer’s six-wicket haul in the third Ashes Test was the highlight of a stop-start opening day in Leeds. Australia was bundled out for 179 in 52.1 overs after England skipper Joe Root won the toss and opted to bowl first.

When Archer trapped Nathan Lyon lbw in the final over of the day to wrap up proceedings, he walked off the field with the match ball held aloft and figures of six for 45 – the best by an English bowler against Australia at Headingley since Bob Willis helped to level a similar 1-0 scoreline in 1981.

Here’s the video:

“I didn’t do too much differently from Lord’s,” Archer said at the end of day’s play. “It was a bit bowler-friendly today, at times it did go flat and the ball stopped swinging, but it started again.

“I’ll more than take 6-45, but I can be tidier in the future,” he added. “It’s been really good so far, from the moment I’ve put the badge on, it’s been the happiest days of cricket so far and hopefully plenty more ahead.

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BCCI announce Team India’s new batting coach; Sanjay Bangar set to be replaced

Published on in News/Sanjay Bangar
Sanjay-Bangar

Vikram Rathour, the former Indian opener, will be replacing Sanjay Bangar as Team India’s new batting coach. Bharath Arun and R. Sridhar will retain their job of bowling and fielding coaches respectively.

The All India Senior Selection committee led by MSK Prasad has shortlisted three names each for all the support staff positions and the top names in each category will be appointed after the formalities are complete.

The 50-year-old Rathour featured in 6 Tests and 7 ODIs for India but was a domestic heavyweight for Punjab. He till a few years back was a senior national selector under Sandeep Patil’s chairmanship.

Vikram-Rathour

He earlier applied for NCA batting consultant and U-19 batting coach’s position but his application was put on hold as his brother-in-law Ashish Kapoor is the chairman of the U-19 selection committee.

“Vikram Rathour has got enough experience and we are convinced with his skill sets (as a coach). We will ask him to declare if he has any conflict,” BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said to the reporters.

As per the recommendations of the selection committee, Team India’s current batting coach Sanjay Bangar came second while former England batsman Mark Ramprakash was third.

“The team management had their own views but looking ahead, we felt there should be some freshness in the support staff,” Johri said.

Meanwhile, former Mumbai Indians physio Nitin Patel, who was part of the support staff during the 2011 World Cup campaign, is back while Englishman Luke Woodhouse has been appointed as the strength and conditioning (trainer) coach.

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West Indies vs India 1st Test: Sunil Gavaskar baffled by Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion from India’s playing XI

Published on in India/News/Ravichandran Ashwin/Sunil Gavaskar/Test Match
Sunil Gavaskar, Ravichandran Ashwin

India made a bold move of leaving out Ravichandran Ashwin from their playing XI for the first Test against West Indies at North Sound in Antigua. The Virat Kohli-led team instead went in with the lone specialist spinner in Ravindra Jadeja to partner three pacers in the four-bowler side.

India also left out Rohit Sharma and picked Hanuma Vihari for the middle-order slot. Vihari can chip in with his off-spin – a facet of his game that could have tilted the scale in his favour.

Ashwin has been India’s preferred spinner in Test cricket, but frequent fitness issues hurt him last season. He missed the final Test at the Oval during the England tour with an injury and played only one of India’s four Tests in the Australia tour.

Now, his exclusion from India’s starting XI in the Antigua Test has left former captain Sunil Gavaskar stunned.

Aswin holds the Indian record for Man-of-the-Series awards, and only six Indians have won more match awards than him. One of those series awards and two of those match awards came on India’s last tour of the West Indies, which is why Gavaskar was lost for words at the selection of playing XI.

“[The selection] astonished me,” Gavaskar said during commentary on Sony. “A man with that kind of record, especially against West Indies. He doesn’t find a place in this playing XI. That is stunning. Astonishing.”

In 11 Tests against West Indies, Ashwin has picked up 60 wickets at 21.85 and has scored four centuries to give him an average of over 50.

In his last international match for India, Ashwin took three wickets each in Australia’s two innings and also helped rescue India with the bat from 120 for 6 on the first morning of the series. His Test career now stands at 65 matches for 342 wickets at 25.43 and 2361 runs at 29.14. He is the fastest in the world to complete both 250 and 300 Test wickets.

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Ashes 2019: Details about the big golden flower on the Australian players’ shirt collars

Published on in Ashes/Australia/News
yellow symbol the Australian players have on their shirt collars

Tim Paine-led Australia is currently leading the Ashes 2019 by a margin of 1-0. The visitors managed to win the first Test against host England by 251 runs at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. Steve Smith scored back to back centuries to guide the team to victory.

In the second Test at Lord’s in London, the Aussies held their nerve and managed to draw the contest on the fifth day. Smith again stood up with a gutsy 92 but was hit on the neck by a nasty bouncer from Jofra Archer. The former Australian skipper suffered a concussion and was, therefore, ruled out of the third Test at the Headingley in Leeds.

The big golden flower on the Australian players’ shirt collars in the ongoing Ashes series has got social media buzzing, and a recent Cricket Australia report says it is a symbol of commitment as a team to reconciliation and finding common ground with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Steve-Smith-Australia-Test-jersey

The collar badge is a representation of a piece of Australian native art called “Walkabout Wickets”, by Aunty Fiona Clarke, the great-great-grand-daughter of “Mosquito”, a member of the pioneering Aboriginal team that toured England in 1868.

The artwork depicts past, present and future Aboriginal cricketers.

There is a large circle in the logo which represents the hallowed Lord’s cricket ground, one of the many famous grounds the 1868 team visited, while the smaller circles signify the teams’ other meeting places.

The flying stumps mean Aboriginal cricketers getting the better of the English at their own game, while wickets with no bails signify that the game is continuously evolving.

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Yuvraj Singh takes a cheeky dig at Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli for flaunting six-pack abs at Jolly Beach

Published on in India/Jasprit Bumrah/News/Virat Kohli/Yuvraj Singh
Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh

Virat Kohli partied with his teammates at the Jolly Beach in Antigua on Wednesday, a day before India’s first Test of the two-match series against the West Indies.

Among all, captain Kohli and his go-to fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah stood out by flaunting their impressive six-pack abs. Bumrah shared the picture of the same on his Instagram account. He captioned the image as “Sun soaking with @virat.kohli and the team.”

Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli

While the picture was appreciated by most with compliments pouring in for both Bumrah and Kohli, Yuvraj Singh decided to opt for a different route.

The former Indian all-rounder tried to pull Bumrah’s leg for clicking a picture with ‘fitness geek’ Kohli. He commented, “Oho fitness idol,” on the picture which, in a way, suggests that Kohli is the idol for Bumrah in terms of fitness.

Bumrah and Yuvraj were also the teammates recently in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the camaraderie between them is visible.

Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh Instagram

Earlier on their month-long tour, India swept the three-match T20 International series 3-0 and won the three-match One-day International (ODI) series 2-1 as the opening match in Guyana was abandoned due to rain.

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Ashes 2019: Jofra Archer imitates Steve Smith’s batting style in the nets; video goes viral

Published on in Ashes/Australia/England/Jofra Archer/News/Steve Smith/Video
Jofra Archer, Steve Smith

England will aim for an equalizer when they host the Australian team without Steve Smith in the third Ashes Test at Headingley in Leeds, starting on Thursday (August 22).

Australia rode on Steve Smith’s successive centuries to win the first Test by 251 runs. However, in the second Test, England speedster Jofra Archer hit the former Australian skipper on his neck with a nasty bouncer as the match ended in a draw.

With Smith ruled out of the third Ashes Test due to a delayed concussion, England has the best chance to snap Australia’s 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Ahead of the start of the Headingley Test, the 24-year-old Archer was seen practicing some big shots in the nets. He also imitated Smith’s unorthodox style of leaving the balls during the practice session.

Here’s the video:

The presence of Archer and the absence of Smith is a vital subplot of the third Test but the reality is that Australia needs just one more win from three matches.

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West Indies vs India Test Series: Squads, Match Timings, TV channels and Live stream details

Published on in India/Jason Holder/News/Test Match/Virat Kohli/West Indies
Virat Kohli, Jason Holder, WIvIND

Virat Kohli’s Team India will compete with Jason Holder-led West Indies in the first Test of the two-match series starting Thursday, 22 August at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Although India dismantled the Windies in the T20Is and ODIs, Test matches are a different kettle of fish.

Positioned at the top of the Test rankings, India will be looking to begin their ICC World Test Championship journey with a humbling of the hosts. On the other hand, West Indies, who haven’t beaten India in a Test match in over a decade, will be desperate to record their first victory of the tour.

Dates & Match Timings

Aug 22 – Aug 26, West Indies vs India, 1st Test
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
09:30 AM LOCAL / 6:30 AM IST / 01:30 PM GMT

Aug 30 – Sep 03, West Indies vs India, 2nd Test
Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
09:30 AM LOCAL / 7:30 AM IST / 02:30 PM GMT

Squads

West Indies:

Jason Holder (c), Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Shimron Hetmyer, Shane Dowrich, Shai Hope (wk), Rahkeem Cornwall, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, John Campbell, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel.

India:

Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

TV Channels and Live Streaming

In India, the matches will be telecasted live with an English commentary on Sony Ten 1 & Sony Ten 1 HD. While the Hindi commentary will be available on Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 3 HD. The cricket lovers residing in the Caribbean Islands can catch the live action on ESPN as well as on SPN-Sports OTT platform SonyLiv.

The other networks to broadcast the Live feed across the globe are:

Australia: Fox Sports

Singapore: Astro Cricket HD

USA: Willow TV

South Africa: Super Sports 5

Sri Lanka: Sony Ten 1, Sony Liv

England: Sky Sports

Canada: CBN Cricket

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The Indian team isn’t anyone’s personal property: Manoj Tiwary on MS Dhoni’s retirement speculations

Published on in India/Manoj Tiwary/MS Dhoni/News
MS Dhoni, Manoj Tiwary

The Bengal cricketer Manoj Tiwary has always been vocal on social media with his opinion. He was very disappointed after not being picked for the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. And recently he asked the selectors what is the criteria for selection after he was ignored for the Duleep Trophy despite a good domestic season.

After the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales, the questions over MS Dhoni’s future in Team India have increased. Many believe that Dhoni should have hanged up his boots after the mega ICC tournament. But he didn’t hint anything after India’s shocking loss to New Zealand in the semi-finals.

The BCCI also hasn’t commented anything on Dhoni’s retirement. But they have made it clear that Rishabh Pant will take the wicket-keeper duties for now. MSD himself pulled out of the West Indies tour and won’t represent India for two months.

Meanwhile, Manoj has spoken on the former Indian skipper’s retirement speculations. He believes it’s time for the BCCI to take a call on Dhoni’s future.

“Dhoni has done a lot for our country. He has made a lot of contributions to this team. Recently, Sachin Tendulkar said that it’s time for Dhoni to side-line himself, he has played a lot. Though Virat Kohli has said that the team needs Dhoni, I feel that the selectors need to take a tough call. It’s time to show courage, and it’s necessary to take the step,” Tiwary told the Indian Express in an interview.

Tiwary feels that those who underperform shouldn’t be persisted with. He also doubted if the selectors are continuing with Dhoni based on the latter’s exploits in the past. Moreover, the 33-year-old didn’t mince any words in saying that Team India is not anyone’s personal property and the youngsters who are performing well at the domestic level should get their due opportunities.

“Of late, Dhoni’s performance has significantly gone down. I wouldn’t have said this had it been only for an innings or two. But one has to field the best team. Those who perform, stay, and those who don’t have to move away,” Tiwary said.

“I’m not sure if the selectors are giving Dhoni chances based on the past. There are a number of talented cricketers in our country, and they should get chances. The Indian team isn’t anyone’s personal property. It’s a team of the nation, and that needs to be kept in mind,” he added.

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Fans hilariously troll Rohit Sharma for hiding his stomach in Virat Kohli’s group photo

Published on in News/Rohit Sharma/Twitter Reactions/Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, Team India

Virat Kohli recently enjoyed a beach party with his team and the support staff at Jolly Beach in Antigua, where West Indies will host India for the first Test of the two-match series starting on Thursday (August 22).

“Stunning day at the beach with the boys,” Kohli captioned the picture from the party on Instagram and Twitter.

Team India players Mayank Agarwal, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were seen sharing the frame with the captain.

But a few of the Indian cricket fans on social media have somehow found a way to take a hilarious dig at Rohit Sharma.

Rohit was seen standing behind Ajinkya Rahane, and the netizens believe that the former was hiding his belly.

Here’s how fans trolled Rohit Sharma:

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West Indies vs India: Virat Kohli on verge of equalling MS Dhoni’s Test captaincy record

Published on in India/MS Dhoni/News/Test Match/Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli-MS Dhoni Test record

Virat Kohli-led Team India will embark on the ICC World Test Championship journey with the two-match series against the West Indies on August 22. They have already won the ODI and T20I series on the Windies tour and will be keen on going past the Caribbean team in the longest format as well.

Virat is just one win away from becoming India’s joint most successful captain in Test cricket. If India wins the first Test against West Indies in Antigua, he would equal the record of former Indian captain MS Dhoni.

Dhoni-led Team India to 27 wins in 60 Test matches while Kohli currently has 26 wins under his belt in 46 Tests.

Since Kohli was announced as the permanent captain of the Indian Test team in 2015, India have won some memorable Test matches in both home and abroad. Earlier this year, India won their first Test series in Australia, beating the hosts 2-1 in their den.

If India wins both matches against the Windies, Kohli will go to the top of the table with 28 wins from 48 Test matches. Third on the list for most wins as Team India captain is Sourav Ganguly who has 21 wins.

The record for most Test wins, however, belongs to former South African skipper Graeme Smith – who has 53 wins under his belt.

MS Dhoni Most successful Indian Test captain

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ICC World Test Championship: Indian players unveil their new Test jersey, fans are loving it

Published on in India/Jasprit Bumrah/News/Rohit Sharma/Test Match/Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma

Team India is all set to begin their ICC World Test Championship campaign as they are rearing to go against the West Indies after conquering them in the limited-overs format.

Ever since the Test jerseys were allowed to have numbers and names of the players displayed, there has been a buzz in the dressing rooms across the cricketing world and finally, Team India gets to join into the pool.

The official handle of the Indian cricket team revealed the jersey numbers of the players through Instagram stories.

Indian-players

Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will sport number three jersey, bowlers Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav will be having number 11 and 21 respectively behind their backs.

Top-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara will be sporting number 25, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will be wearing number 8 jersey.

Pacer Ishant Sharma will be sporting number 97, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant will don number 17. Rohit Sharma will sport number 45.

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will don number 99 whereas Hanuma Vihari will sport number 44.

The picture of Kohli wearing the No 18 jersey surfaced also on Twitter and fans are giving thumbs up to it, just goes to show how much the Indian skipper is loved among his fans.

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WATCH: Megan Schutt bowls banana inswinger to shatter the timber

Published on in Australia/Megan Schutt/News/Video
Megan Schutt

During the practice game between South Australia Scorpions and Queensland Fire ahead of the start of Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL), the talk of the town was Megan Schutt.

The 26-year old Australian fast bowler put on quite a show for the fans and outfoxed her opponent with a banana inswinger.

Megan Schutt bowls an absolute peach

Schutt charged in and bowled a delivery, which started from way outside the off-stump. After having a look at the ball, the batter felt that it would miss the stumps and hence, decided to leave it alone. However, she was in for the biggest surprise of her life.

The leather generated massive swing in the air and also moved off the track. Subsequently, it crashed into the middle stump. The batter looked behind and was also left shell-shocked.

On the other hand, Schutt was all over the moon after producing an absolute peach to get the wicket.

Here’s the video:

In 108 matches at the international level, Schutt has claimed 151 wickets with the help of six four-wicket hauls. Her Test and ODI average are in the early 20s even as her T20I bowling average is 15.46. She has been successful both with the new and the old leather, which shows her sheer class in the sport.

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Ashes 2019: Andy Bichel accuses Joe Root of “blatant cheating” in the Lord’s Test

Published on in Ashes/Australia/England/Joe Root/News
Joe Root catch

England captain Joe Root has been accused of “blatant cheating” for claiming a dubious catch in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.

Former Australian quick Andy Bichel levelled the damning charge at Root after the latter claimed to have caught the Aussie saviour Marnus Labuschagne off the bowling of Jack Leach.

Labuschagne, the first concussion substitute in Test cricket history after Steve Smith was ruled out, scored 59 runs from 100 balls as the visitors salvaged a draw in the second game of the five-match series.

Labuschagne’s wicket was sent upstairs with a soft signal of out and numerous replays, which showed a small bounce into the hands, saw third umpire Joel Wilson confirm the decision to Aleem Dar.

Joe Root catch in Ashes 2019

Root and Labuschagne exchanged words after the wicket, with the former holding up his finger to signal out and the latter shaking his head as he trudged off.

“As a fielder, you know if your fingers are under the ball; I clearly felt that was the case,” Root said afterwards.

“I’m an honest guy, I am not going to try and cheat the game regardless of the situation.”

Yet Bichel told Macquarie Sports Radio that Root had done exactly that.

“It didn’t carry – you can see that,” said Bichel, who claimed 58 wickets in 19 Tests.

“It’s ricocheted off the player as well, so it’s bobbled a little bit to him. He knows he’s picked it up on the half-volley. It’s blatant cheating.

“To stand there and then all of a sudden give Marnus a bit of a send-off as well – ‘Mate, you’re out, get off here’ – when Marnus has seen the footage of it on the TV as well, that he’s not out and he shouldn’t be out. It was a real bizarre one from Joe, a man of that experience playing it out like it did.”

Bichel suggested that skipper Root, still 1-0 down in the series, was a man under pressure.

“You’d like to think that there was a real gentleman’s approach to that; just say, ‘Mate, I didn’t catch that’, and you don’t even go upstairs for it. It just didn’t happen,” Bichel said.

“A little low point for a man under pressure in Joe Root. He just hasn’t got any runs and now it’s just mounting on him day by day.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also passed his judgement on what the replays showed more than on Root’s act.

“That was NOT OUT !!”, he wrote on Twitter.

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After returning from Army training, MS Dhoni gets a new hairstyle

Published on in India/MS Dhoni/News
MS Dhoni hairstyle

Besides being one of the best finishers in the modern-day cricket and known for his brilliant tactics behind the stumps, wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also a style icon.

Dhoni, who is famous for experimenting with his looks, has got a new hairstyle after returning from the Territorial Army training. The 38-year-old began his stint with the 106A Battalion (Para) in Jammu and Kashmir on July 31 and stayed with the troops till August 15.

Sapna Bhavnani, MSD’s stylist, on Tuesday shared a video of the former Indian skipper getting a haircut from her. “New look for the captain today. #hot #dhoni captainsaab @madOwothair”, she captioned the video.

In another social media post, Dhoni can be seen getting a makeover before the shoot.

The Ranchi-born cricketer has kept himself away from the game for now. He still hasn’t revealed his plans. But there are speculations that Mahi will continue to play till the 2020 T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia.

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