T20 World Cup: Gavaskar bats for Rohit-Virat opening pair against Ireland

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SPORTS 4th June 2024, New Delhi, June 4 (IANS) Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has backed skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as the opening pair for Men in Blue's opening T20 World Cup clash against Ireland on Wednesday.

Gavaskar named his playing 11 for India's opening encounter in the T20 showpiece at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 5. Interestingly, the veteran batter dropped pacer Arshdeep Singh from his final 11 and backed all-rounder Shivam Dube to strengthen the batting department.

"I don't really like selecting teams because you can never satisfy everybody there will always be somebody's favourite player who's not being pick but here is my effort to try and pick the 11 for the game against Ireland. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to open the batting along with Yashasvi Jaiswal at three Suryakumar Yadav at four Rishabh Pant at five and at number six, I would have Hardik Pandya," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

The former India captain picked Kuldeep Yadav as the sole spinner along with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

"Number seven would be Ravindra Jadeja, number eight mean not necessarily in that batting order Shivam Dube number nine Kuldeep Yadav number 10 Jasprit Bumrah and number 11 will be MD Siraj," he added.

Gavaskar's predicted playing XI against Ireland: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

In the recently concluded IPL, Kohli finished as the highest run-getter while opening the batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He slammed 741 runs including a century and five fifties. Keeping his recent form in mind, many have voiced his elevation at the top in the T20 World Cup. Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/t20-world-cup-gavaskar-bats-for-rohit-virat-opening-pair-against-ireland

Read More........ → June 04, 2024

ICC World T20 2014: Indian Women Impressively Defeated Westindies

India openers Mithali Raj and Punam Raut took India to a nine-wicket win over West Indies at the Sylhet Stadium. Both openers scored half-centuries as India cantered to victory after their bowlers restricted West Indies Women to 117.  Chasing 118, Raj and Raut got the team off to a flying start. Kaur set the tone of the innings with a boundary off Shanel Daley in the first over. The pair milked the West Indies bowlers as they cruised towards the target. Both reached their half-centuries as they leveled scorers with WI. Their partnership was worth 117 when S Selman claimed Raut to deny India a 10-wicket victory. Earlier in the over, Raut had smashed the bowler twice to the boundary and ran twos couple of times to claim 12 runs off it. After the opener had to return for 56, Smriti Mandhana came to the middle and struck Anisa Mohammed for a four in the next over to take the team to victory. Raj remained unbeaten on 55 as India attained the target with 14 balls to spare. Source: Article

Read More........ → April 02, 2014

Having a Perry good time in cricket and football

Sydney, June 09, 2011, Cricketing all-rounder Ellyse Perry will get a chance to win her second world title in just over a year after being included in Australia's squad for the women's soccer World Cup on Wednesday. Perry, who made her debut for her country in both sports four years ago as a 16-year-old, helped Australia win the women's cricket Twenty20 World Cup in May last year and now has a chance to double the glory in Germany from June 26-July 17. "To be given this opportunity is just fantastic for me, purely from the perspective that I absolutely love playing football as much as I love playing cricket," Perry told. "Having had that experience with cricket and also winning a World Cup I know how great that is and how enjoyable that is. "To be involved in this team now, in a football World Cup, is really special and something I'm tremendously excited about." Love for the game The demands on top sportsmen usually force players to make a choice between sports in their late teens, as happened to former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh when he packed in a promising soccer career. As well as being a defender for soccer's Matildas and an all rounder for cricket's Southern Stars, however, Perry also manages to juggle university studies with her sporting exploits. "The way that I view things is that playing the two sports is what makes me happiest and what helps me to perform as well as I can," she said. "There's never been that point where I've felt like things were too much or I really needed to make a decision." Unlike in cricket, Australia, ranked 11th in the world in the FIFA rankings, are considered just an outside chance to lift the World Cup next month. "It'll be interesting to be in that position, not being one of the teams that's hunted or looked at," Perry added. "Rather we're the ones that have got the opportunity and freeness to play the football that we want to play." Source: Hindustan Times

Read More........ → March 20, 2014