India have called up uncapped Ambati Rayudu as replacement for injured Manoj Tiwary in their squad for the two-match T20 series against India later this month.
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Ambati Rayudu called up as Tiwary’s replacement for England T20s
India have called up uncapped Ambati Rayudu as replacement for injured Manoj Tiwary in their squad for the two-match T20 series against India later this month.
Dravid questions skill, ability and talent of Indian players
Former skipper and the Wall of Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid, on Monday came down hard on the current Test side following their abject capitulation to England in the third Test at Kolkata.
Indian batsmen as well as bowlers looked totally off colour in the third Test at the Eden Gardens, losing that match by seven wickets, to give the tourists a 2-1 lead in the four-match series. The veteran middle-order batsman, who retired from all cricket in March this year, questioned the skill, ability and talent of MS Dhoni and Co featuring in the ongoing four-match Test series against the Three Lions.
Mushfiqur rues Samuels’ last over blitz
Phil Hughes confident to make his Test return count
Hughes made his Test debut for Australia in 2009 and has three centuries from his 17 matches, the last of which was a year ago. The left-hander has twice previously been dropped for long periods, most recently after Australia lost a Test to New Zealand at Hobart last year.Hughes told a news conference on Tuesday there was some significance in making his Test comeback on the same ground on which he played his last Test for Australia. "This is the ground where things probably didn't pan out perfectly on a personal note," Hughes said. "Twelve months down the track, I feel like I'm in a better place now."
Hughes said he had worked hard on his batting technique in the past year, especially ironing out the kinks that made him vulnerable to slip catches.
The 24-year-old's principal scoring shots had been the cut and cover drive, and an awkward tennis-style punch down the ground. He has now developed the pull shot to give him more scoring options through the leg side.
Hughes pulled out of Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash League last season to concentrate on his pursuit of technical improvement. "I feel like I've done a lot of work," he said. "I knew I had to make sacrifices along the way and that was definitely one, to pull out of the Twenty20 comp last year to work on my technique and become a better player. Probably 70 to 80 percent of my scoring options were on the off side. I feel now I've got both sides of the field covered and that's something I had to go away and work on."
Ambati Rayudu replaces injured Manoj Tiwary in India's T20 squad
"Manoj Tiwary has been ruled out of the AIRTEL T20 International Series against England, on account of a side strain," said the BCCI in a press release. "The All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked Ambati Rayudu as his replacement in the Indian team for the series.Rayudu, 27, has played 61 matches for Mumbai Indians, making 1248 runs at an average of 24.96 with a best of 81* not in IPL 5. In July, he was named in a 30-man shortlist for the ICC World Twenty20 but was not included in the final squad for the tournament in Sri Lanka. This is the first time he has been named in an Indian side after his return from the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
He made his first-class debut for Hyderabad in 2001-02 and then moved to Andhra for the 2005-06 season, only to return briefly and then join the ICL in 2007. After serving a two-year ban Rayudu made a comeback to the Hyderabad Ranji Trophy team in 2009-10, but transferred to Baroda in 2010. His most recent Twenty20 outings came for Mumbai Indians during the Champions League in South Africa, where he managed scores of 4, 15, 1 and 6 as the defending champions failed to win a single match.
Tiwary last played a Twenty20 international during New Zealand's tour of India in September. He picked up a series back injury which is expected to rule him out of competitive cricket for at least six weeks.
The two Twenty20s against England are in Pune on December 20 and Mumbai two days later.
Phillip Hughes feels he has come a long way in 12 months
“It was about 12 months ago – to nearly the day – that I got dropped. Twelve months down the track I feel like I'm in a better place now,” shared Hughes.
Hughes was named in the Test squad against Sri Lanka after the veteran, Ricky Ponting, announced his retirement following the Perth Test against Sri Lanka. Having scored 524 runs this domestic season to back his case, Hughes was preferred over Alex Doolan, Usman Khawaja and Rob Quiney in the replacement race.
Having gotten out four consecutive times by edging the ball into slips last summer, against New Zealand, Hughes is likely to face severe criticism if he repeats his mistakes against Sri Lanka, a concern shared by his teammate and opener Ed Cowan.
However, making a comeback in the side on the same venue where he played his last Test, Hughes feels, “It is a lot different. I hit probably 70 to 80 per cent of my scores on the off side. I feel now that I've got both sides of the field covered. I feel now that [the changes], in all forms, have really opened up my leg [side]. It's just easier when they do both straight that I can work off my hip and into the leg side.”
Standing third on the domestic rankings for batsmen, the 24-year-old intends to get in and score big in the Test series as well.
Talking after the first training session ahead of the series, Hughes reflected upon his hard work to earn back the spot in the playing XI. Formerly reliant on cuts between third man and cover to score, Hughes shared that now he was a much more rounded player.
Although ready to play at any number on the card, Hughes is likely to slot in at number 3 after Australian coach Mickey Arthur revealed that vice captain Shane Watson would go down to Ponting’s place in the order.
Cook had it in him from the beginning, says Graham Gooch
The former England captain has closely monitored Cook’s growth as a professional cricket, being the ex-batting coach of Essex, the left-hander’s county.
Over the last couple of years, Cook has performed exceptionally well against different bowling attacks of the world. The left-handed opener did a terrific job in the Ashes 2010-11, helping the Poms retain the Urn.
He was made the captain of the English One Day International side last year and replaced Andrew Strauss as the Test skipper in 2012, after the South Africa born cricketer’s retirement from competitive sport.
Cook already has more than seven thousand runs in the five-day format, which includes 23 centuries. The 27-year-old cricketer is presently averaging more than 50 runs per innings in Test cricket, which speaks volumes of his abilities.
Gooch admits that the England skipper is not the most stylish batsman but said that scoring runs is the most important thing for a player. The former opening batsman feels that many players have the potential but very few make it count and said that Cook was an extremely focused player since his childhood.
“You know the old saying? It's not how, it's how many. Often young players coming up have talent and ability to strike the ball but they don't quite know how to manage their ability. Sometimes it dawns on them later in life and sometimes it doesn't dawn on them at all but this lad had it from the beginning,” he expressed.
The former captain further added that Cook was criticised by many sporting analysts when he was given a chance to prove his skills in the 50-over format; however, the Essex cricketer answered his critics in the best possible manner by doing well with the bat.
Gooch said, “When he came into the one-day side a lot of people said he didn't have the game for it but smart players find a way. And he plays a different sort of game in one-day cricket.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
