#Most Catches in ODI by a Wicket Keeper

[skyblogsdotin]

Most Catches in ODI by a Wicket Keeper

Wicket-keepers are an integral part of a cricket team. Teams can always replace a fielder when it is required but they can never change their wicket-keeper as per their wish or amid injury concerns because teams pick their best man to stand behind the wickets often. Bowlers owe 60-70% of their success to the wicket-keepers as without them the abundance of catches and stumpings would never occur.…

[bongaboi]

Australia: 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Champions

Australia 241 for 4 (Head 137, Labuschagne 58*, Bumrah 2-43) beat India 240 (Rahul 66, Kohli 54, Starc 3-55, Cummins 2-34, Hazlewood 2-60) by six wickets

India may be where the heart of the game now resides, but the coolest Head in cricket has once again been shown to be Australian. Travis Head, to be precise, who set up his side's record-extending sixth World Cup victory with a triumphantly paced 137 from 120 balls in Ahmedabad, but whose most significant contribution arguably came some six-and-a-half hours beforehand, with one of the most match-turning catches in ODI history.

What might have been for these two teams had Head not held onto a steepling, sprawling take, running backwards into the covers to saw off India's captain, Rohit Sharma, in his prime? Australia's eventual target of 241 would have been significantly higher, no doubt, and to judge by the ferocity with which India's new-ball bowlers clawed at their opponents in the powerplay - with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami inevitably to the fore - there would have been all the more opportunities for their chase to have toppled off its tightrope.

Instead, Head held on, and in so doing, he applied a handbrake to a runaway innings that would never be fully released. On Rohit's watch, India had racked up 10 fours and three sixes in blazing along to 80 for 2 in the first powerplay. Once he'd gone, India mustered just four more fours, and 160 more runs, across the next 40 overs. It meant they were unable to post a total big enough to mitigate against the inevitable onset of dew - the primary reason why Pat Cummins had risked letting Rohit and Co. set the agenda in the first place.

And so Australia's victory came at a canter in the end, with six wickets standing and a huge 42 balls unused - a margin that would have been greater still but for Head's dismissal to the penultimate ball of the chase. Undeterred, Glenn Maxwell pulled his first ball for two to take his side through to a victory target which - as fate would have it - was the exact total that England and New Zealand had been unable to split by conventional means four years ago.

But that ease at the finish told nothing of the jeopardy that had preceded it. At 47 for 3 after seven overs, with Steven Smith inexplicably failing to review an lbw from Bumrah that was shown to have struck his pad outside off, Australia were in the thick of a do-or-die tussle against two of the most outstanding performers of India's previously peerless campaign.

David Warner, in what may turn out to be his final ODI innings, had scuffed Shami's first legitimate delivery to Virat Kohli at slip for 7, having fenced his own first ball of the innings (from Bumrah) past the same fielder's boot for four, and with Mitchell Marsh's attempt to hit the quicks off their lengths ending in a loose cut through to the keeper, the crowd had found its full voice for the first time in the game.

But Marnus Labuschagne, retained in Australia's starting XI despite the sense, mid-tournament, that he and Head were competing for a solitary berth, showed the value of his Test pre-eminence with an indomitable sidekick's role of 58 not out from 110 balls. Over by over, run by run, he and Head extended their crucial fourth-wicket stand of 192, seeing off pace and spin alike until, at some indefinable moment around the 20th over of the chase, the bite in a two-paced wicket was replaced with the even-sprayed skid of the long-promised dew.

When Bumrah returned for the 28th over for a last roll of the dice with Australia beginning to accelerate away on 148 for 3, he was greeted with three flayed fours from Head, either side of an excruciating umpire's call appeal for lbw against Labuschagne that felt like final proof that India's hope had gone.

Ultimately, it was a clinical and ruthlessly passion-killing display from the most formidable winners in the world game. Every man in Australia's XI played his part in sucking the marrow from a contest that, to judge by the sea of blue in the Narendra Modi Stadium's stands and the expectant attendance of the eponymous PM himself, had been intended as a coronation. Instead, the closing hour of the match was greeted in stunned silence by a 92,453-strong crowd, and nothing epitomised the sense of national anticlimax quite like the trophy-lift itself, for which Cummins was left forlorn on the podium for a full 20 seconds before his team was able to join him after accepting their handshakes away from centre stage.

Not that the lack of in-situ acclaim will derail Australia's sense of achievement. As Head's pivotal catch would ultimately prove, the tone for their victory was once again set in the field. As had been the case in the semi-final against South Africa, the 37-year-old Warner was their barometer, flinging himself with gusto to cut off numerous boundary balls, but while Rohit was on deck, it seemed that Cummins' brave decision to bowl first might get soon overwhelmed, like so many opponents before them, by India's extraordinary weight of strokemakers.

Instead, he backed his bowlers to complete the job they had started in their extraordinary tournament opener in Chennai, where India's top three had all made ducks in slumping to 2 for 3, only for their sub-par target of 200 to be picked off with ease. This time, the dew notwithstanding, he figured the pressure of the big occasion might weigh more heavily in the first innings than the second - especially if his attack could make their early breakthroughs.

All of which made Rohit's shortlived onslaught all the more brave, selfless even, as he shouldered the entire responsibility for India's powerplay proactivity, particularly against Josh Hazlewood, the instigator of that Chennai collapse. In the manner of his charging down the pitch to meet his hard lengths, there were shades of Sachin Tendulkar's pre-emptive attack on Glenn McGrath in the 2003 final … except on this occasion it seemed, briefly, to be working.

But then came the unequivocal moment of the match - a act of fielding majesty that stood immediate comparison with Kapil Dev's running catch off Viv Richards at the pivotal juncture of the 1983 final. Rohit had already slammed ten runs in two balls from Glenn Maxwell's second over, when he stepped into another slap over the long-off boundary, and miscued high out into the covers. Travis Head tracked back from point with the ball skewing high over his shoulder, and with his eyes never leaving the prize, timed his dive to perfection to cling on with both hands.

It will go down as a seminal World Cup moment. Australia had still been battered for 80 runs in the first powerplay - the joint-most conceded in that phase of the first innings of a World Cup final - but now they sensed their chance to turn the contest on its head. Two balls later, Cummins, into his second over, found Shreyas Iyer's edge as he poked without conviction or footwork, and at three down in the 11th, with Shubman Gill already gone to a flaccid pull off Mitchell Starc, Hardik Pandya's absence as India's lower-order pivot was suddenly revealed to be the weakness that Shami's stunning impact with the ball had hitherto concealed.

There had been no such angst while India had been pounding along in each of their ten previous tournament wins - including five untroubled chases to launch their campaign, and a net margin of 875 runs in their five subsequent bat-first victories. As a consequence, India's Nos. 6-11 had barely been called upon in scoring a total of 240 runs between them in those matches, the lowest of any team in this tournament, and now suddenly, with Shami and Bumrah inked in at Nos.8 and 9, none of their set batters dared to be the one to set that descent into the tail into motion.

At least in Kohli, India had a man whose tempo in such circumstances could be trusted. On his team's better days, and in spite of his formidable tournament haul of 765 runs at 95.62, his ruthless devotion to run-making had been mistaken for a weakness. Now his 56-ball fifty was the bedrock of his team's recovery, albeit the reaction to his latest landmark was a pent-up roar that merely exacerbated the anxious hubbub that had preceded it.

But Australia's magnificent attack could not be denied, especially after Cummins had seized on his opponents' visible reticence to smuggle through a churn of change bowlers. Between them, Maxwell, Head and Marsh burgled ten overs for 44, a perfect holding pattern that bought back options for the back end of the innings.

That included the return of the captain himself for the 29th over. With the third ball of his second spell, Cummins hit an awkward length with his short ball, and Kohli looked genuinely emotional as he under-edged onto his stumps with an angled bat, glared at the length from which it had lifted, and glanced over his shoulder before trudging off, as if assessing the pull shot he had chosen to keep in his locker.

KL Rahul endured, but was scarcely unable to unfurl either, even though he did break a 97-ball sequence without a boundary by lobbing Maxwell over his shoulder through fine leg for four, the longest such barren spell for any team in this tournament other than Netherlands, and India's longest between overs 11-50 since 1999.

But on 66, he and the lower order came face to face with another threat that India's own seamers would be forced to do without. In preparing a visibly dry and abrasive deck for this final, the curators had opened the possibility of reverse-swing, and few teams have more eager exponents than Australia. Starc, from round the wicket, straightened an unplayable delivery into Rahul's edge and through to the keeper.

Though Ravindra Jadeja is renowned as a scrapper in such circumstances, his promotion to No.6 couldn't contend with Hazlewood's similarly late movement. After surviving one review for caught-behind he succumbed to the very next ball for 6, at which point, India's easy progress to the final fully caught up with them. With no situational experience to fall back on - and no pace in the wicket with which to access his inverted V from fine leg to deep third - Suryakumar Yadav ground out 18 from 27 before lobbing Hazlewood to the keeper, by which stage he'd faced just five balls out of a possible 17 in his ninth-wicket stand with Kuldeep Yadav.

Kuldeep and Mohammed Siraj kept the innings alive to the final ball, but the mood within the stadium was never able to emerge from its funk. Australia had come with a plan, and the sure knowledge of what it truly takes to win the biggest title in the sport. Ahmedabad turned blue alright, but only with a wistful sense of what might have been.

[cricaza]

KL Rahul: A Cricket Maestro with Many Hats

KL Rahul stands tall as one of Indian cricket's most versatile and gifted players. A true all-rounder, he excels as a batsman, wicket-keeper, and leader. Leading the charge as captain of the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, Rahul has showcased his flair and passion on the field.

Born on April 18, 1992, in Bangalore, Karnataka, Rahul hails from an academic background. His father, KN Lokesh, a professor, and mother, Rajeshwari, also a professor, instilled in him a love for cricket. Growing up in Mangalore, he honed his skills at NITK English Medium School and St. Aloysius College.

Rahul's cricketing journey began with his debut for Karnataka in 2010, swiftly establishing himself as a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket. His breakthrough season in 2013-14 saw him amass over 1000 runs in the Ranji Trophy, a key factor in Karnataka's title win. He made his Test debut in 2014 and etched his name alongside cricketing greats with a century on his second Test.

Since then, Rahul has been a mainstay in the Indian Test team, amassing seven centuries and 13 half-centuries in 47 Tests. He's played pivotal roles in India's victories in Sri Lanka, West Indies, Australia, and England.

In ODIs and T20Is, Rahul has been nothing short of spectacular. He made history by scoring a century in his ODI debut and T20I debut, joining an elite club of Indian batsmen. With five centuries and 13 half-centuries in ODIs, and two centuries and 22 half-centuries in T20Is, Rahul's impact on the limited-overs format is undeniable.

In the IPL, Rahul's star shines bright. He's been a standout performer for various teams, tallying over 7000 runs in 212 T20 matches. His record for the fastest fifty in IPL history (achieved in just 14 balls) and his leading run-scorer status in IPL 2020 with 670 runs, have etched his name in IPL folklore.

Off the field, Rahul is admired for his calm and composed demeanor. A skilled and agile wicket-keeper, he's known for his stunning catches and swift stumpings. As a leader, he's proven his ability to motivate and thrive under pressure.

KL Rahul isn't just a cricketer; he's an inspiration. Beloved by fans for his style, skill, and personality, he's a role model for aspiring cricketers. His journey is a source of pride for all who support him.

For fans looking to further engage with Rahul's games, Cricaza offers a platform to bet on his performance. With the best odds, markets, and features for cricket enthusiasts, Cricaza ensures fair play, fast payouts, and a secure betting experience. It's where cricket meets betting, providing an exciting way to celebrate Rahul's achievements and support his journey. Join Cricaza and be part of the action!

[11wickets-fantasygames]

Why You Must Select All-rounders in Your Fantasy Cricket Team

In fantasy cricket, the role of an all-rounder is unparalleled. If you are building a squad of 11 on your favorite 11 Wickets fantasy cricket app, you must consider adding at least one all-rounder to your composition.

All-rounders are those who can bat as well as bowl. They can perform both pretty well. You will see batting all-rounders and bowling all-rounders in the world of cricket. Batting all-rounders predominantly bat. They can try their hands at bowling if the captain entrusts the all-rounder with bowling spells.

Likewise, a team selects bowling all-rounders who can predominantly bowl. They become handy at batting also to garner quick runs or come as a pinch hitter. The game does not limit the all-rounders to one skill or department. They excel in every department.

You will also find fielding keeper all-rounders who can predominantly bat or bowl but are excellent at fielding. Then can save a lot of runs and boundaries and pick near-impossible catches.

Another all-rounder are wicketkeeper allrounders who can bat at the top order. Consider them when selecting the wicketkeeper of your team.

All-rounders are valuable assets in a team and can play a decisive role in winning matches. Selectors add the all-rounders in the shorter version of the game, like ODIs and T20s. In test cricket, if you have an all-rounder, then the person must be brilliant in a specific department.

The world has witnessed legendary all-rounders in the history of world cricket. The first name that comes to mind is Sir Garfield Sobers from West Indies. He was an integral part of the West Indies ODI World Cup winning teams and has won matches with his significant contributions. Because of him, the West Indies were formidable and unconquerable during his times.

Then we have the Steller trio of all-rounders: Ian Botham-Kapil Dev-Imran Khan. They have won crucial cricket matches and even World Cups for their teams. The teams tout them as the edge of the opponent team.

Then came the spin trio. The cricket fraternity considers primarily bowling all-rounders. They are Shane Warne-Anil Kumble-Muttiah Muralitharan.

We have many current-age all-rounders in the world of cricket who devastate the opponent with their bowling, batting, fielding, or all three. Let us name a few, but there are greats whose names we have not included in the list below.

Ben Stokes

Hardik Pandya

Shakib Al Hasan

Ravinder Jadeja

Andrew Flintoff

Andre Russel

Marcus Stoinis

Cameron Green

Glenn Maxwell

Reasons to include all-rounders in Fantasy Cricket Team

All-rounders can score fantasy points for you on all fronts, bowling, batting, and fielding. They can earn points by picking up catches or saving a few runs, boundaries, and run-outs because most all-rounders are great fielders. They can hit 6s and 4s and win matches, especially cricket matches going down to the wire. A recent example is Chennai’s win on the last ball. Ravinder Jadeja hit a six in the penultimate ball and a boundary in the ultimate ball in a nail-biting finish against Gujarat.

Including more than one all-rounder can make sense in T20 or ODIs because then you are beefing up both the batting and the bowling battery. The Indian team which won the first World Cup under Kapil Dev had 5-6 all-rounders who played decisive roles in the World Cup winning. One of the all-rounders, Mohinder Amarnath, was the Man of the Match.

All-rounders are always handy for maneuvering with your bowlers or batters. A captain gets options and flexibility to try other strategies like Plan A, Plan B, or Plan C if he has more all-rounders on the team. Never miss including at least one all-rounder in your fantasy team. All-rounders will provide balance and stability to your fantasy cricket team.

[levelup11fantasy]

Building the Perfect Fantasy Cricket Team: Choosing the Right Players

Introduction: The Excitement of Fantasy Cricket

Fantasy cricket allows fans to experience the thrill of being a team manager, making strategic decisions, and competing against others in virtual matches. By selecting real-life players and earning points based on their performances, fans can immerse themselves in the game and showcase their cricketing knowledge.

Understanding the Scoring System

Before delving into team selection, it is crucial to understand the scoring system of the fantasy cricket platform you are using. Different platforms may have varied scoring parameters, such as points awarded for runs, wickets, catches, or other statistical achievements. Familiarize yourself with the rules to make informed choices.

Researching Player Performance

To build a successful fantasy cricket team, research is vital. Analyze player statistics, recent performances, and overall consistency. Look for players who have been consistently performing well in both domestic and international matches. Consider their batting or bowling average, strike rate, and recent form to gauge their potential for earning points.

Analyzing Match Conditions

Match conditions play a significant role in determining player performance. Consider factors like the pitch conditions, weather, and venue statistics when selecting players. Some players may excel on specific types of pitches or in particular weather conditions. Tailor your team selection accordingly to leverage these advantages.

Balancing the Budget

Most fantasy cricket platforms allocate a limited budget for team selection. Ensure that you distribute your budget wisely across different player categories. Don’t exhaust your funds on a few star players, as it may limit your options in other positions. Strike a balance between renowned players and promising talents to create a well-rounded team.

Selecting the Captain and Vice-Captain

The captain and vice-captain are crucial roles in fantasy cricket. The captain earns double the points, while the vice-captain earns 1.5 times the points. Choose players who are consistent performers and have the potential to make a significant impact on the game. Selecting the right captain and vice-captain can make a substantial difference in your team’s overall score.

Exploring Different Formats

Fantasy cricket offers various formats, such as Test matches, One Day Internationals (ODIs), and Twenty20 (T20) matches. Different players excel in different formats, so adapt your team composition accordingly. For longer formats like Test matches, consider players with good stamina and patience, while for shorter formats like T20, prioritize explosive batsmen or wicket-taking bowlers.

Keeping an Eye on Injuries and Form

Stay updated with the latest news regarding player injuries and form. Injured players may not be able to contribute effectively to your team, while out-of-form players may struggle to perform consistently. Monitor team announcements and pre-match reports to ensure you have the most up-to-date information for your team selection.

The Importance of Team Combination

A well-balanced team with players from different positions and skill sets is crucial for success. Consider the roles of each player in their respective teams and ensure you have a good mix of batsmen, bowlers, all-rounders, and wicket-keepers. A strong team combination enhances your chances of scoring well in various aspects of the game.

Evaluating the Opponent

Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent’s team can provide valuable insights for your own selection. Identify potential weaknesses in their lineup and exploit them by selecting players who can exploit those weaknesses. Additionally, consider the strategies your opponent might adopt and make tactical decisions accordingly.

Making Informed Transfers and Substitutions

Throughout the fantasy cricket season, you may need to make transfers or substitutions to optimize your team. Stay updated with player performances, upcoming fixtures, and team news. If a player is consistently underperforming or has a tough schedule ahead, consider replacing them with a more suitable alternative.

Staying Updated with Team News

Team news, such as player injuries, squad changes, or last-minute replacements, can have a significant impact on your team’s performance. Stay informed through reliable sources and official team announcements to make necessary adjustments before the match deadline.

Maintaining Flexibility in Your Strategy

Flexibility is key in fantasy cricket. Adapt your strategy based on the changing dynamics of the game and the performances of your players. Don’t be afraid to take calculated risks or deviate from your initial plans if it presents a favorable opportunity to maximize your team’s score.

Managing Risks and Expectations

Fantasy cricket involves inherent risks, as players’ performances can be unpredictable. Manage your expectations and avoid placing all your hopes on a single player or match. Diversify your team and consider different scenarios to mitigate potential losses. Remember, it’s a game of strategy and luck.

Conclusion

Building the perfect fantasy cricket team requires careful analysis, research, and strategic decision-making. By considering player performance, match conditions, budget constraints, and other factors discussed in this article, you can enhance your chances of creating a winning team. Enjoy the journey and embrace the excitement that fantasy cricket brings to the game.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q1: How many players should I select for my fantasy cricket team? A1: The number of players in your team may vary depending on the platform you are using. Typically, you need to select a balanced combination of batsmen, bowlers, all-rounders, and wicket-keepers.

Q2: Can I change my team after the match has started? A2: No, once the match has begun, you cannot make any changes to your team. Ensure that you finalize your team before the match deadline.

Q3: Should I prioritize selecting star players over promising talents? A3: It’s advisable to strike a balance between renowned players and promising talents. Over-reliance on star players may limit your options in other positions and affect team balance.

Q4: What happens if a player I selected gets injured before the match? A4: In case of player injuries or unavailability, most fantasy cricket platforms

[battingonjakku]

The Cricket Fam Review of the Year 2019 - Results in full

That’s right guys! We’ve reached the end, the awards have all been handed out to their honoured recipients, and now it’s time for all that meaty analysis aka pie charts showing the full results.

This will be a long post, but remember those wise words of two-time men’s cricketer of the year winner, James Anderson:

...Well there we go, read more for the full results!

Test Team of the Year

India - 10.8%

No surprises here after Australia retained the Ashes. Surprised India didn’t get more votes (and that England got so many), but they were facing off against what are probably the ‘big three’ teams of tumblr. 

Limited Overs (International) Team of the Year

New Zealand - 5.4%, India - 5.4%

Another round without surprise, each year this team has been won by a world cup winning team. With two world cups next year, who wins? 

Domestic Team of the Year

Renegades - 5.7%

Essex win back the award they won in 2017.

Batsman of the Year

Marnus wins this, and the award for most different spellings (intentionally or not) of his name. And I am glad to stop writing it now. Jack Leach was nominated on the longlist, but he did win a PotM award for his batting so that’s fair I guess.

Bowler of the Year

Stuart Broad - 8.1%, Mitchell Starc - 8.1%

Not surprised by the result, but surprised by the spread - Starc & Broad getting so few votes despite the World Cup and Ashes.

All Rounder of the Year

Jimmy Neesham - 5.6%

Stokes wins back the award after winning it in 2016, the first year I did this. Perry returns to the top two after winning in 2017 and coming second in 2016. 

Keeper of the Year

Jos Buttler - 8.1%

Taylor wins this award for the second year running, and I think we’ll all miss the fastest hands in the game. England had four wicketkeepers nominated last year and are down to merely three this year. Healy also stays in the top three for the fourth year running.

Captain of the Year

Kane wins for the third year in a row, and the second time outright. Kind of surprised it didn’t go to Morgan, but also I love Kane so tbf.

Test Cricketer of the Year

Kusal Perera - 2.7%, Mayank Agarwal - 2.7%

Despite Smith being miles ahead during the nominations, Marnus comes out on top in the main poll. 

ODI Cricketer of the Year

Mitchell Starc - 8.1%

Again surprised that Starc didn’t get more votes, or Sharma. But this is a pretty even poll really with nobody going over 30%.

T20 Cricketer of the Year

Rashid Khan - 8.3%

Healy wins for the second year running, keeping the award in the women’s game for three years running.

Newcomer/Young Talent of the Year

Ollie Pope - 5.4%

Jof pips Marnus by a vote. Pat Brown finds himself third for the second year running. 

Men’s Cricketer of the Year

Jos Buttler - 2.7%

Despite Marnus winning test player and batsman of the year, he didn’t pick up a single nomination for this award. Most nominations were a combination of Stokes/Smith/Williamson which is reflected here. 

Women’s Cricketer of the Year

Meg Lanning - 5.6%, Heather Knight - 5.6%, Kate Cross - 2.8%

Perry wins the award for the third time after winning in 2016 and 2017. Last year’s winner Healy comes third in an all Australia/England shortlist, and an all Australia/England longlist too. 

Individual Performance of the Year

Stokes 84* - 7.9%, Murtagh 5/13 - 7.9%, Perera 153* - 2.6%

Stokes wins this by a landslide, the biggest win of all the awards. He also won this award back in 2016 for that double century in South Africa. I do just want to give a shoutout to Kusal Perera here as well.

Batting Performance of the Year

Perera 153* - 2.8%

This one also goes to that Stokes innings, this award doubling up for the third time (Stokes also winning for that same innings in 2016).

Bowling Performance of the Year

Perry wins this award to complete the set of batting performance, individual performance (both 2017), and now bowling performance. Looking at the ‘pure’ cricketing awards, she’s won the most different categories since I started doing this.

Fielding Moment of the Year

Joe Denly - 2.7%

This is the most fun award for me because I just get to watch a load of catches and run outs whilst I compile it. I thought this would be another one for Stokes, I thought Guptill would be second, I was wrong and they were both third.

Team Performance of the Year

The most ridiculous and closest result ever as we have the first ever three way tie. You guys were trying to kill me with this one I swear.

Moment of the Year

Australia women - 7.9%, Sri Lanka - 2.6%

I could have had a separate category called ‘moment of the WC final’ because there were a lot of tiny moments from it on the longlist. Also a lot of commentary. This award was also ridiculously close with one vote separating the top three.

The ‘STOP RETIRING’ Award

Chris Gayle - 10.3%, Lasith Malinga 5.3%

Another very close top three, and lots of big names on that shortlist.

Collapse of the Year

India - 2.6%

A two-horse race between England and England, with England not getting a single vote for another collapse. Oh, and they won this award last year and in 2016 too. They won at Lord’s and Headingley, winning more matches in the summer when they were bowled out for under 100 than when they weren’t.

The ‘funny cricket is better than good cricket’ moment of the year

Trent Boult - 7.7%

The absolutely most important award that everybody wants to win. Two-time winner Ben Stokes avoided making the shortlist for the first time, but does feature three times on the longlist. 

Drama of the Year

Alex Hales - 5.3%, South Africa - 2.6%

Another award where it was hard to know where to begin with the World Cup final, so it’s probably no surprise that it’s the source of the top two.

The ‘wrap them up in cotton wool and hide them from the world’ player of the year

Another very close award, won by one vote.

Hottest Cricketer of the Year

Cummins is top after coming second in 2017, when he lost to this year’s second place, James Anderson.

Ship of the Year

A field dominated by Australians brings the first new winner after Cookerson’s hattrick. Stuart Broad/David Warner’s wicket was my favourite on the longlist though.

Hero of the Year

Steve Smith - 7.7%

Stokes dominates another award after his double-miracle year. Smith becomes the first player to have been nominated for hero and villain.

Villain of the Year

Steve Smith - 2.6%

The ECB finally? win this award at their third attempt, having come closest in 2016 when they came second. As ever I must remind you all that this award is in jest.

And that’s the lot, thank you all for taking part, it’s always fun to see what you come up with and who comes out on top, and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it as well!

[cricketkumbh]

एमएस धोनी ने 15 अगस्त 2020 को अंतरराष्ट्रीय क्रिकेट से संन्यास की घोषणा की।

भारत को दो-दो वर्ल्ड कप जिताने वाले ��ूर्व कप्तान और अनुभवी विकेटकीपर बल्लेबाज 39 साल के महेंद्र सिंह धोनी ने इंटरनेशनल क्रिकेट को अलविदा कह दिया है.

भारत को दो-दो वर्ल्ड कप जिताने वाले पूर्व कप्तान और अनुभवी विकेटकीपर बल्लेबाज 39 साल के महेंद्र सिंह धोनी ने इंटरनेशनल क्रिकेट को अलविदा कह दिया है. उन्होंने शनिवार को 16 साल लंबे अंतरराष्ट्रीय करियर को विराम दिया. धोनी ने दिसंबर 2004 में बांग्लादेश के खिलाफ वनडे खेलकर इंटरनेशनल क्रिकेट में पदार्पण किया था. हालांकि एमएस धोनी आईपीएल खेलते रहेंगे. ऐसे में उनके प्रशंसक आईपीएल में धोनी को खेलते हुए देख सकते हैं.

महेंद्र सिंह धोनी टेस्ट क्रिकेट से पहले ही संन्यास ले चुके हैं. धोनी ने भारत के लिए अपना आखिरी टेस्ट मैच दिसंबर 2014 में ऑस्ट्रेलिया के खिलाफ मेलबर्न में खेला था. इसके अलावा धोनी ने अपना आखिरी टी-20 इंटरनेशनल मैच फरवरी 2019 में ऑस्ट्रेलिया के खिलाफ बेंगलुरु में खेला था, जबकि वर्ल्ड कप सेमीफाइनल (9-10 जुलाई 2019) उनका आखिरी वनडे इंटरनेशनल रहा.

धोनी वर्ल्ड क्रिकेट में इकलौते ऐसे कप्तान हैं, जिन्होंने आईसीसी की तीन बड़ी ट्रॉफी जीती है. धोनी की कप्तानी में टीम इंडिया आईसीसी वर्ल्ड टी-20 (2007), क्रिकेट वर्ल्ड कप (2011) और आईसीसी चैम्पियंस ट्रॉफी (2013) का खिताब जीत चुकी है. इसके अलावा भारत 2009 में पहली बार टेस्ट में नंबर-1 बना था.

International records

Test cricket

Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India topped the Test cricket rankings for the first time, in 2009.[147]

Dhoni is the most successful Indian Test captain with 27 Test wins, eclipsing Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21.[124]

Dhoni has the most overseas Test defeats by an Indian captain, with 15.[148][149][150]

Dhoni is the first Indian wicket-keeper to complete 4,000 Test runs.[151]

Dhoni’s 224 against Australia in Chennai is the third highest score by an Indian captain.[152] En route to 224, Dhoni registered the highest Test score by an Indian wicket-keeper when he was on 193, beating Budhi Kunderan‘s 192. It was also the highest score by a wicket-keeper–captain beating Englishman Alec Stewart’s 164.

Dhoni’s maiden century against Pakistan in Faisalabad (148) is the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket-keeper, and fourth overall.[153]

After hitting a six in the third Test against England in Southampton, Dhoni completed 50 sixes as a captain, an Indian record.[154]

Dhoni, with 294 dismissals in his career, ranks first in the all-time dismissals list by Indian wicket-keepers.[citation needed]

Dhoni shares the record for most dismissals in an innings (6, with Syed Kirmani) and in a match (9) by an Indian wicket-keeper.[citation needed]

ODI cricket

Dhoni is third captain (and the first non-Australian) overall to win 100 games.[134]

Fourth Indian to reach 10,000 ODI runs after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly & Rahul Dravid and also the second wicket-keeper to reach the milestone.[155]

First player to pass 10,000 runs in ODI cricket with having a career average of over 50.[156]

Dhoni has the fifth highest batting average (51.09), among cricketers with more than 5,000 runs and the second highest batting average among players with an aggregate of over 10,000 runs.[157]

Most career runs in ODI history when batting at number 6 position (4031)[158]

Only player to score more than one hundred in ODI cricket when batting at number 7 position or lower (Dhoni has 2 centuries at number 7).[159]

Most not outs (82) in ODIs.

First Indian and fifth overall to hit 200 sixes in ODIs.[citation needed]

Dhoni’s 183* against Sri Lanka in 2005 is the highest score by a wicket-keeper.[160]

Dhoni’s 113 against Pakistan in Chennai in 2012 is the highest by a captain batting at number 7.[citation needed]

Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were involved in a partnership of 100 not out against Sri Lanka, which is India’s highest eighth wicket partnership in ODIs.[citation needed]

Most unbeaten innings and highest average (among batsmen with more that 20 such innings) in successful ODI run-chases.[161]

Holds the record for playing the most matches in ODI history as captain who has also served as a wicket-keeper(200)[162]

Dhoni holds the records of the most dismissals in an innings (6) and career (432) by an Indian wicket-keeper.[163]

Dhoni has the most stumpings (120) by any wicket-keeper in an ODI career and is so far the only keeper to pass 100 stumpings[164][165]

First Indian wicket-keeper to take 300 ODI catches and fourth wicket-keeper in the world to achieve the feat.[166]

T20I Cricket

Most wins in T20Is as captain (41)

Most matches as captain in T20Is(72)[167]

Most matches in T20I history as both captain and wicket-keeper (72)[168]

Most consecutive T20I innings without a duck (84).[169]

Dhoni holds the record for playing the most T20I innings (76) and scored the most runs(1,153) before scoring a fifty.[170][171][172]

Most dismissals as wicket-keeper in T20Is (87)[173]

Most catches as wicket-keeper in T20Is (54)[174]

Most stumpings as wicket-keeper in T20Is (33)[173]

Most catches as wicketkeeper in a T20I innings (5)[175]

International records (combined ODI, Test and T20I)

He has played the most international matches as captain (332)

Dhoni is the first, and so far only, wicket-keeper to effect 150 stumping dismissals across the three forms of the game. His current total of stumpings in internationals stands at 161.

Awards and accolades

National honours

2018: Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award.[192]

2009: Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award.

2007−08: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honor given for achievement in sports.

Sporting honours

ICC ODI Player of the Year: 2008, 2009

ICC World ODI XI: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 (captain in 2009, 2011-2014)

ICC World Test XI: 2009, 2010, 2013

Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year: 2011

Other honours and awards

MTV Youth Icon of the Year: 2006[193]

LG People’s Choice Award: 2013

Honorary doctorate degree by De Montfort University in August 2011

[np19932-blog]

Pant wants to be the leader, says Ricky Ponting

Delhi Capitals got a massive blow prior to their IPL 2021 season where their regular captain Shreyas Iyer wouldn’t be available in the entire series as he has hurt his left shoulder during the first ODI between India and England. And, in his absence, Rishabh Pant will lead the team.

However, Head Coach Ricky Ponting, who attended his first practice session recently, said that Rishabh Pant understands the game very well and the extra responsibility of captaincy is going to help him as well. Delhi Capitals on March 30 announced wicket-keeper batsman Pant as the skipper for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which will start from April 9.

“I think extra responsibility is going to sit really well with him. He’s that sort of a person who likes the responsibility, wants to be the main man and wants to be the leader, so I am really excited to see how he goes. We’ll help him through, but honestly, I don’t think he’s going to need much help at all,” Ponting said in a statement.

You can catch Match Prediction, IPL prediction, Live Cricket Score on Cricadium.

The former Australian legend further added that it will depend on the coaching staff and the senior players’ job to back the newly appointed captain so that he could manage things well.

He added: “I think if we can get most of the talking with Rishabh about his captaincy done leading into the first game then we don’t have to worry about it as the tournament starts. The last thing you want is to be overloading the captain with all sorts of information once the tournament is underway. It’s a big part of my job, and other coaches and senior players’ job to get behind Rishabh and help him where they need to. Not only during training, but during matches as well.”

Delhi Capitals will begin their campaign against Chennai Super Kings on April 10.

[jaivendra]

 Cricket - A Bat & Ball Game

Overview

Cricket is a team sport that is played outdoors. Cricket originated in England and gradually became popular across the globe. This sport requires complete physical fitness and athleticism to play. The sport is played between two teams of 11 players each.

Australia is the current World Champion (2015). Countries like India, Pakistan, England, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, and Sri Lanka also have equally dominant cricket teams.

Objective

Cricket is played outdoors on the ground. The objective of the game is that a team should score more runs than the opponent team. It is all about attempting to score more runs while restricting the score and dismissing the batsmen of the opponent team. Further in the document, one can closely understand the game, its popular terms, and rules.

Team Size

In cricket, each playing side has 11 players and one of them is appointed as captain. Apart from these 11 players, there are a few more players on each side who can only field as a substitute for an injured team member. The fielding team should have 11 players and the opposition can send only two batsmen on the ground at the time of play.

A 15-member squad is a must for all international tournaments conducted by the cricket’s governing body, International Cricket Council (ICC).

Cricket - Participating Countries

Cricket as a sport began in England. The evidence available leads us to believe in south-east England at the beginning of the 1900s. During those days, Australia, South Africa, and West Indies were the other countries where the sport was played. Gradually, the sport picked up popularity in the Asian continent as well. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh also started playing the sport.

Asian Countries Participating in Cricket

In the late 1900s, Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan have made a mark in world cricket with each winning World Cup once. It led to the founding of the Asian Cricket Conference in 1983 that took charge of developing the sport in the rest of Asia. By the 21st century, Bangladesh had become a new force in Asian cricket. Nepal, Malaysia, and Afghanistan also play competitive cricket now. Amongst these three nations, Afghanistan made headlines by qualifying for the World Cup in 2014.

The Asian Cricket Conference was renamed Asian Cricket Council in 2003, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. The council is subordinate to ICC and has an association of 25 countries.

Non-Asian Countries Participating in Cricket

England, Australia, West Indies, and South Africa started playing cricket in the early 20th century. It was the brain of Abe Bailey, the then President of South Africa Cricket Association, to form an international council. Imperial Cricket Conference was formed in 1906 that was later renamed as International Cricket Council. Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada, Scotland, and UAE have all been part of international tournaments for over two decades. The United States also adopted the game in the last few years. Currently, there are more than 100 countries playing this sport and associated with ICC.

International cricket is played in three formats. A five-day match called Test match; same-day match comprising 50-over a side called One-day International; and 20-over a side called T-20 International are the three formats. T-20 is the latest and the most popular format over the last five years.

Cricket - Playing Environment

Cricket is a team sport and is played on a big ground. The pitch in the center and ground is prepared for any format of the match. Later, stumps are rooted along the breadth of the pitch, and players are called on to the ground to start the play. The team fielding will have 11 players guarding the boundary and two batsmen from the opposition will come to bat. There will be two umpires on the field to monitor the match proceedings.

Cricket Field Dimensions

The sport is played on presumably a circular leveled ground with pitch as the center. The pitch is 24-yards in length and 4-yards in breadth. A rope is placed around the ground at a distance of 80 yards from the pitch. This rope is observed as a boundary. The stumps are rooted at both ends with a distance of 22-yards between them. Two carved small pieces of wood are placed on stumps, called bails. White parallel lines are drawn on both ends of stumps, called batting/bowling crease. It is 1.2 meters from stumps. Another set of parallel lines are drawn perpendicular to the batting crease, called the return crease. This is at a distance of half-meter from the length of the pitch.

Dimensions of Cricket Equipment

ICC has formed certain rules for cricket equipment along with the rules of play. The bat, ball, glove, pads, and all other equipment have to meet the standards set by the governing body. It’s not only the size of equipment but also the logos used on the equipment that should conform to the standards set by ICC. Given below is a list of cricket equipment with permissible measures −

Bat − A cricket bat should not be more than 38 inches in length and 4.25 inches wide.

Ball − The cricket ball must weigh between 155.9 and 163 g. Apart from weight, the circumference should be between 224 and 229 mm.

Keeper glove − The keeper glove doesn’t have specific measurements but should not be made of stretchable material. The glove has webbing between the thumb and the index finger.

The rest of the equipment is all used to protect body parts, hence there aren’t any specific measures or design standards, with safety as a priority.

Cricket - Equipment

As cricket is a game of bat and ball, the players are subjected to wear protective gear to not getting hurt. In this chapter, we will discuss all the important gear and equipment that the players use while playing the game.

Bat − Bat is a nicely carved piece of equipment made out of special wood, with a handle on top to hold and play. These vary in weight and size with age and requirement of the batsman.

Ball − It is a spherical object made out of cork and covered with leather. Two pieces of leather are stitched around the cork ball. The color of the ball for test matches is red and white for ODI and T20 matches.

Keeper Glove − These are worn on both hands to protect the fingers from injury. Cloth and leather are stitched together in the shape of the fingers and palm to fit exactly. The inner side of the glove has finger gaps with cork tips for more protection.

Batsman Glove − This gear is similar in shape but smaller and softer on the outer part when compared to the keeper glove. It is used to hold the bat firmly. The finger part of the glove has extra protection with a hard sponge on the outer area.

Keeper/Batsman Pads − These are worn to protect the lower limbs of the batsman/keeper. They are made of cloth and leather. The front portion of the pads is very hard as there are hard plastic or wood sticks beneath. The rear portion is spongy and soft to soothe and comfort the legs. Keeper pads are a little shorter than batsman pads.

Helmet − A headgear for the batsman/keeper while batting or wicket-keeping behind the stumps. It is a mix of metal and hard plastic. It has a metallic grill in the front to protect the face.

Stumps − These are cylindrical and long in shape with a shard end like a spear. This end goes into the ground so that stumps stand erect in the ground.

Bails − Bails are the smallest equipment placed on stumps. It helps in giving easy decisions by umpires to dismiss the batsman when the wicket is broken.

Popular Terms in cricket

By now, you must have got the hang of terms like a batsman, bowler, umpire, stumps, etc. Now, let’s know the terms used at play.

Striker − A batsman facing the bowler is a caller striker and the opposite end is called a non-striker.

Off-side/leg-side − One half of the ground is called off-side and the other side is called leg-side. From the perspective of a right-handed batsman, the pitch in front of his body as he takes a strike, i.e. the right side of the pitch is called off-side. Similarly, the left half of the pitch, i.e. the pitch behind his body while taking a strike is called leg-side.

Run − It is the basic unit of scoring in cricket. It is scored when a striking batsman hits the ball bowled and runs between the stumps along with a non-striker. It is usually scored in ones, twos, and threes.

Four − The ball hit by the batsman crosses the boundary rope by rolling on the ground. Then, it is called a boundary or four runs.

Six − The shot that ensures the ball lands directly outside the rope is called six or six runs are allotted to the batsman.

No-ball − If a bowler’s foot crosses the popping crease while delivering the ball then, it is called a no-ball. The ball bowled that is directed above the waist of the batsman without pitching on the ground is a no-ball too.

Wide − A ball that is bowled away from the batsman and moves wide of the return crease on the off-side at the batting end is called wide. Another definition is a ball bowled that bounces over the head of the batsman after pitching is also called wide.

Out − When a batsman gets out, it gives an opportunity to the next person on the batting side to play until 10 players out of 11 are dismissed in various ways. Bowled, Caught, Run-out, LBW, and Stumped are the most common ways of getting out.

Bowled − It is a way of getting out where the batsman misses the ball bowled and the stumps behind are disturbed.

Caught − A batsman is declared out when the fielder catches the ball on full that is hit by the batsman. If it is caught by the wicket-keeper then, it is called caught-behind.

LBW − LBW stands for a leg-before wicket. A batsman is declared out as lbw when he tries to play the ball with the body that is directed on to stumps.

Run-out − If a fielder disturbs the stumps with the ball in hand while the batsman is not increased after playing a shot, then the batsman is declared run-out.

Stumped − A batsman moves out of the crease to play a ball and misses, the keeper gathers the ball and hits the stumps with the ball in hand. Then, the batsman is declared out as stumped.

Spin bowling − Bowlers run a short distance from stumps and release the ball with the use of wrist or fingers to get maximum revolutions. The ball tossed in the air spins after pitching. Off-break and leg-break are two varieties of spin bowling.

Fast bowling − Bowlers sprint and deliver the ball at high speed to batsmen. To do so, they take long run-up from stumps. Slow-medium, medium-fast, and fast are the popular fast bowling varieties.

Extra runs − All the runs given by the fielding team where the batsmen have not hit the ball with the bat are considered as extra runs. For example, wide, no-ball, etc.

Innings − A session of batting and bowling where either the batting team is all-out or the permissible number of overs to be bowled by the fielding team is completed.

How to Play Cricket?

Cricket is a game that requires physical agility to bat, bowl, and field. Two teams of 11 players each play at one time. A set of rules were designed for the game by ICC. These are the same for both men and women players. The game begins with captains of both teams and the match's referee gathering for a toss. The toss winning captain is allowed to elect to bat/field first. This process is the same across all formats. However, the dress code and fielding restrictions vary by format. It is mandatory for players to wear all white for a Test match, and colored tees and trousers for ODI and T20.

Umpires have a key role in the game as they monitor the proceedings. They decide whether the batsman is out, decide on no-ball, wide, and ensure both teams are playing according to the rules.

In this section, we will understand a few laws of the game and how a cricket match is played. The cricket game begins with the on-field umpire’s signal “Let’s play!”

Scoring

Manual and electronic scoring is done during the match to avoid any errors.

The scoring is done on a cumulative basis. All the runs scored with a bat, extra runs like no-ball, wide, etc. are added to the team’s total.

In some instances, on-field umpires find it tough to give few decisions like boundaries, out, no-ball, etc. Therefore, they seek the help of another umpire, called third-umpire.

The third-umpire looks at video visuals and gives a final decision.

Cricket - Formats

In the golden era, cricket was played for days as each team almost played more than 100 overs a day. We can relate that to the current format of Test cricket. In the early days of cricket, an over-involved eight legal deliveries. Gradually, new formats and rules came into existence and an over was reduced to six legal deliveries across all formats. We’re going to discuss the different formats of professional cricket in this chapter and a few rules about them.

Test Cricket

Test cricket is considered the format of the highest level as it required both mental and physical strength to excel. All players wear white tees and trousers for this format. A red cricket ball is used to play. The earliest format of test cricket was played for six days with a day as a reserve. The field restrictions are quite different compared to limited-overs cricket.

Teams A and B have to play two innings each, if necessary. 90 overs are to be bowled every day. Team A batting first scores X runs. Team B gets to bat if team A declares their innings or is all-out. Team B should score X or more runs to stand a good chance of winning the match. Then, team A gets to bat for the second time and sets a target for team B. Now, Team B has to achieve the target in the time left and overs to be bowled.

In the case of team B gets all-out during the chase in the second innings, team A is declared winner, else the match is drawn between the teams.

One-Day International

One-day international (ODI) is limited over the format of cricket. It was introduced in the 1980s and 60 over a side were bowled. The dress code was the same as that of test cricket. Over the years, this format also went through drastic changes in rules and it was reduced to 50 over a side and colored uniform. The red-ball was replaced with a white-ball.

Team A batting first had to set a target for team B in 50 overs. Batting second, team B had to chase down the target in the same number of overs. If they fail to do so, team A is declared as the winner irrespective of team A bowling out team B or not.

T20 International

T20 is the latest and the most successful format of cricket. It has attracted a lot of spectators to the ground and witnessed the match. Cricket became a widespread game in this format and new countries like the United States, Malaysia, Canada, and the Netherlands adapted to it swiftly. It originated in the Caribbean islands, West Indies. Each team gets to play 20-over aside. Since it is the shortest format of the game, it is played under floodlights.

Batting first, team A sets a target for team B in 20 overs. Team B has to achieve the target in their stipulated number of overs while batting second.

Team B is declared the winner if they achieve the target else, team A is declared victorious. Team A is declared the winner even if they restrict team B from scoring the required number of runs and don’t get themselves bowled-out.

Cricket - Tournaments

ICC is the supreme governing body of all the international cricket events and tours. All the international teams are ranked based on their performance in a calendar year. Ranking for cricket teams is based on their progress during international events and tours. These ranks are assigned individually for each format.

Currently, there are 10 test playing nations that are eligible for all three formats. The rest of the countries have to play qualification rounds for entry into international events like the ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup. The World Cup is conducted at senior and under-19 levels.

Test status is given to a national team depending on the performance at the domestic level and global events. We will look at champions of different formats in the last chapter. Here is a list of all the global events organized recently by ICC and multiple nations participate for the ultimate trophy.

Tournament Name Venue T20 World Cup 2015 India ODI World Cup 2015 Australia, New Zealand ICC Champions Trophy 2013 England, Wales ICC U-19 World Cup 2014 UAE ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 India

The venue for all the international events is finalized by ICC based on its facilities, playing area standards, and security measures.

All the cricket playing nations have their individual bodies that manage cricket events at the domestic level. The domestic level matches are also played as one-day and five-day games. The one-day games at the domestic level are called List-A and the five-day format is called First-class. Best players are picked from the domestic tournaments to represent the country at the highest level. These national cricket boards also manage venues when another national team is touring their country. They are responsible for visiting the player’s facilities and security.

The following table illustrates the domestic tournaments with respect to country and format.

Tournament Name Country Format Ranji Trophy India Five-day Challenger Trophy India One-day Big Bash League Australia T20 The Sheffield Shield Australia Five-day English County Cricket England Five-day Caribbean T20 League West Indies T20

[boloorsportsmania]

#819 Rayadu made a statement to selectors with a classy knock which helped CSK outclass MI in IPL opener; Jadeja, Faf, Piyush and Curran starred too; Nadal shocked in straight sets by Schwartzman in Italian open QF; Djokovic, Shapavalov and Ruud reach SF too; Maxwell-Carey special partnership gives Australia a well deserved ODI series win against England; US open debutante Matthew Wolff leads by 2 strokes going into final round of 2020 US open Golf and more...:-)

Final ODI between England and Australia started in dramatic fashion. Starc dismissed Roy and Root of first 2 balls of the match. Bairstow and then steadied the ship with a 67 run stand before Zampa put Australia ahead again. He dismissed Morgan and Butler in his first spell. Australia 96-4. Billings and Bairstow then took the attach to Australia with 114 run stand in 19 overs.  Bairstow scored a breezy century. Woakes and Billings scored brisk fifties to take England to 302-7 by end of 50 overs. Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Woakes and dream spell by Root helped England reduce Australia to 73-5. The delivery which Root bowled to castle Warner was a dream ball for any spinner. He bowled around the wicket. It pitched on middle stump and straightened to leave Warner stunned. It could have been 87-6 When Archer dismissed Carey but former bowled a no ball. Australia needed that luck. Post that it was one way traffic. They almost scored fours and six at will especially towards short boundaries. Both scored centuries. They had 212 run stand. Both were dismissed in space of 2 overs. 10 runs was needed of last over. Starc hit a six and boundary of Rashid to seal the series for Australia.  This is first bilateral ODI series loss for England at home since September 2015. England did well without Stokes but their real worry would be poor form of Root. His form has been erratic post world cup.

IPL 2020 finally kick started in UAE. CSK won the toss and chose to bowl against MI. Rohit and Quinton gave a brisk start In 4.3 overs they were 44-0 before Chawla dismissed Rohit for 12. In very next over Sam Curran dismissed Quinton for 33. SA keeper looked in great touch. MI 48-2. Suryakumar and Saurabh Tiwary then steadied ship for MI. They had 44 run stand before Deepak Chahar dismissed Suryakumar. Tiwary then hit a few lusty blows. He and Hardik took MI past 100. They were past 120 by the time 14 overs was done. 180 looked set. Jadeja turned the match on its head. Faf grabbed 2 brilliant catches. Hardik and Tiwary were dismissed in the same over. MI lost way post that. They just managed 162. That looked 20 runs start. MI don’t have Malinga this year which puts lots of pressure on Bumrah.  Boult and Pattinson gave Mi a dream start as they reduced CSK to 6-2 in 2 overs. Rayadu and Faf then showed maturity to play with caution earlier and then open up. Once dew started coming in, it was tough for bowlers. Rayadu showed his intent and form when he clubbed Bumrah for a six. Bumrah has struggled to bowl yorkers this year which was evident in NZ tour as well. Bumrah outside yorker is not as lethal and it showed. Spinners couldn’t grip the ball. Mi spinners are not as classy as their CSK counterparts. Rayadu’s 71 and his 115 run stand took CSK closer to victory. Jadeja and Sam Curran came and played great cameos which helped keep run rate under control. Faf then finished off the match in style. MI have now lost first IPL game in 8 consecutive IPLs. CSK have finally beaten MI after losing last 4 matches against them. MSD’s charm is clear to see but star of the day was Rayadu. He made a clear statement and showed selectors what India probably lacked in SF. Ind were at 6-2 then as well and had Rayadu played, he would have batted at number 4. India picked Pant and Vijay ahead of Rayadu and rest is history.

In Italian open, Nadal started off with easy wins against Busta and Lajovic to storm to QF where clashed against Schwartzman. Nadal looked rusty in QF. His serve was pretty poor. He had a dismal 47% first serve percentage. He held serve only 4 times in the match. Result is Schwartzman  shocked Nadal 6-2 7-5. Schwartzman was leading 4-2 in 2nd and even served for the match at 5-4. Nadal levelled both the times but eventually his serve deserted him. Clay season being played in early winter is a different proposition. Courts would be heavier which is not the conditions Nadal excels in. Schwartzman  would face Shapovalov in SF who outclassed Dimitrov in 3 sets. Djokovic had a tougher route but still reached QF without losing a set. In QF too he was tested by Koepfer. He was up by a set and a break before he lost focus. He won in 3 sets to reach SF. Berretteni was shocked by Ruud in QF. Berrettini was up 4-2 in final set tie breaker before losing it 5-7.

In US open golf, Justin Thomas started off with a great round of 67. He was first round leader as well. Reed , Pieters and Wolff were 1 behind by end of round 1. Mcolroy and Westwood had good solid round of 69 each, 2 behind leader. 2nd round was the opposite. Due to breezy conditions, most of the players struggled. Mcolroy and Westwood had 6 over par round and went out of contention. Woods even missed the cut. Reed had a even par round to be sole leader post round 2. De Chambreau was one shot behind. English, Thomas and Cabrera were 2 shot behind Reed. Baring Carbera, rest of top 5 were all Americans. It’s a typical US open course where Europeans tend to struggle. If player misses the greens, then it’s a long battle ahead. More than big hitting stars, it needs accurate tee shots. If 2nd round was tough, 3rd got even worse. Mcllroy got back to contention with a 2 under round. He ended round 3 at 1 over par. Justin Thomas threw himself out of contention with 6 over par round. Only 3 players ended day 3 at under par. Oosthuizen had a 2 under par round with overall score of 1 under par. DeChambeau had a gritty even par round to have overall score of 3 under par. Matthew Wolff had a dream round of 5 under par to have overall score of 5 under par. He is clear favourite to win the title . But final round and especially back nine could play strange games. So all 3 players under par, English , Matsyuma( both at par) and Mcllroy are in contention to win the major. Wolff who is playing his first US open looks a clear favorite though

[gamesninetyone]

How to Choose Best Fantasy Cricket Player

Fantasy cricket is one of the most-discussed topics currently not only in India but also all over the world. It is a game played using the Internet, where participants have to create a virtual team from a pool of fantasy cricket players. One of the participants becomes the winner​           according to the real players’ highest statistical performances in an actual cricket match.

Choosing the best cricket player for an online cricket contest is not as simple as you think. You just have to be aware of a few simple tips and tricks to choose the best.

 Here are a few tips that will help you understand how to choose the best cricket player in the best possible way.

 Do your research

 It goes without saying. Research is the first step in choosing the best cricket player for your fantasy cricket team. It is a must to select the best cricketer for your team to win. You have to find out more players, and about them too. It may be a daunting task to find out players and also about them that you have never heard of in your life.  

 Fantasy cricket on many cricket tournaments 

You can play fantasy cricket on many cricket tournaments or matches, ranging from domestic to international. A fantasy cricket contest​ you will play that based upon which​           level (national or international) and belongs to which country? 

You have to choose any ongoing or upcoming tournament. You have to create your fantasy XI cricket team by selecting real cricket players from two cricket teams who will play in an actual match. 

If you choose a tournament, you have to know how many cricket teams or which cricketers will compete against each other in the competition. After that, you will have to look for the full tournament squads. In the next step, you are about to play fantasy cricket on a real cricket match of that tournament; you will have to look for the entire squads in the respective two teams.  

 Look at the players’ performance.

 You must look at the performance of players in the recent cricket matches they played. You should also look at the history (domestic, ODI, Test, and T20I) of the players.  

 ●     Runs scored

●     Batting average

●     100s/50s

●     Top score

●     Balls bowled

●     Wickets

●     Bowling average

●     Five wickets in innings

●     Ten wickets in the match

●     Best bowling

●     Catches/stampings

 Their past performance and history will help you to know about them.  

Look at whether a player has been a good performer in recent competitions. But don’t mainly go for choosing a cricketer since his performance has been excellent a few months back.  

 Key points to keep into consideration:

 ●     If an individual performed well previously, it doesn’t mean the player would play well in his upcoming tournaments ​or matches.​      

 ●     If an individual didn’t play well previously, it doesn’t mean the player would not perform well in his upcoming tournaments or matches.  

 ●     There are a few players who remain passionate, dedicated, and relentless in their performance.

 You have to be very careful while choosing players for your team; after all, your earnings depend upon the players’ statistical performance in a one-off match you select.  

 Don’t go for favorites.

The golden rule of any fantasy game is to avoid picking your ​favorite cricket players​ for your fantasy cricket team despite you like or love them the way they take wickets, sixes, fours, etc.  

 What players to choose

You will get 100 credits to pick eleven players in your team.  While ​picking eleven real cricketers​ from the two sides, your focus should be on players and their credits, remaining credits out of 100 credits with yourself, and the deadline of the team submission.  

 You have to choose the following players. 

●     Wicket Keeper​ (​Minimum: 1, Maximum: 4)

●     Batsmen (Minimum: 2, Maximum: 6)

●     All-rounders (Minimum: 1, Maximum: 6)

●     Bowlers​ (​Minimum: 2,  Maximum: 6)

●     A captain and a vice-captain

 The captain gets 2x points for his in-play performance, while the vice-captain gets 1.5x points.

 While selecting players, you will be able to click on their images to know about them. There are a few fantasy sports platforms that implement this feature.  

 Know the weather and a pitch report

Analyzing weather, and having a pitch report are things that most ​how to choose fantasy cricket players​ do not heed on. While choosing players, considering both weather and pitch will be cherries on a cake. 

●     When there is a slow and dry pitch played in the afternoon time, then you should go on picking more spinners than swing bowlers.  

●     When there is a pitch like Wankhede stadium, you should choose power hitters and swing bowlers.

[inmovidutech]

# 007 REPORTING ON FIELD …Bond of Cricket

Dying overs of an ODI game and the bowler was Iftikhar Anjum - the right-arm medium-pacer from Pakistan, moved the fine-leg fielder inside the circle. And according to plan, he bowled a lethal yorker. Unabashedly, the batsman went down on one knee to sweep him past short fine leg. That was a tad too much for Anjum to abide by.

Next ball, he sent the fine leg back to patrol the fence and brought in the third-man fielder inside the circle. This time, the batsman played a cheeky reverse-sweep past the short third-man fielder.

While most batsmen would go on the defensive when the bowler is on the offensive, few, very few, retort in an equally or more aggressive and assertive fashion. This batsman did, then, and continues to even now.

Jersey number 7, The captain cool continued to roar on the field.

Psychologically, there are two kinds of motivators for players on the field:

Extrinsic motivators are external rewards, such as trophies, money, medals, or social recognition. Intrinsic motivators arise from within, such as a personal desire to win or the sense of pride that comes from performing a skill.

And what makes a good player a great player is his intrinsic motivators.

If your internal motivation is high and you play selflessly, it helps you keep your calm under high-pressure situations, you go from being good to great. That's why our captain cool, is one of the greatest sportspersons.

Techniques involved in Dhoni’s Cricket

• Dhoni uses simple principles to score runs on every ball bowled to him.

Dhoni doesn’t use his feet to generate power to clear the fence. Hence, he is a difficult batsman to bowl to.

• Dhoni has his line of bats called Spartan MSD 7 limited edition. His bat weighs around 1.1 to 1.25 kg. He uses the heavy bat as the heavy bat would pack more power since it has more energy and more momentum.

• Every batter knows that there is a spot on the bat where the shot feels the best. Dhoni’s heavy bat has larger swell depth which means a bigger sweet spot.

• Suppose that a wicket-keeper needs to move as fast as possible to the right to catch a ball. Which foot should move first, and in what direction?

It seems obvious that his left foot should stay on the ground and his right foot should move to the right while pushing as hard as possible to the left with the left foot. That way, his whole body and every part of it moves rapidly to the right.

But suppose he pushes to the left with his left foot and moves his right foot to the left. That way, he will tend to fall over to the right and his upper body moves even faster to the right. Such a step is called a gravity-step and it is counter-intuitive.

Dhoni understood this technique and registered himself among the finest wicket keepers.

Some facts about Mahendra Singh Dhoni

 While playing for the Central Coal Fields Limited in the Sheesh Mahal tournament, Dhoni used to get Rs 50 from his coach Deval Sahay for each six that he hit in the matches.

 The 'Helicopter Shot', which Dhoni is famous for, was taught to him during a tennis-ball tournament in Ranchi by his friend Santosh Lal.

 Dhoni is the only captain in world cricket to win all three ICC trophies - 2007 World T20, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.

 Dhoni has always maintained that the Army is his first love and was conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel on 1 November 2011. "I love my country, I tell my wife she is only the third most important after my country and my parents, in that order," Dhoni once said.

 Dhoni was a huge fan of John Abraham copied and had long hair just like him. He even cut his hair short when the Bollywood actor did so.

 He played his hand at football and badminton as well

 He is the most sponsored athlete in India

 MSD has higher net worth than Sachin Tendulkar

The foundation of his cricket is not just his technique, his cricket brain, or his undeniably good luck. It is his belief in his abilities that have brought him this far.

Team INMOVIDU Welcomes the champ to the next phase of life and we hope that he will keep inspiring us!

[pakihead]

The 2.0 version of Sarfraz Ahmed

One of the most successful T20 captains of Pakistan and 1st one to lead Pakistan towards a major 50 over title in 2017 since 1992 is back in the team. Sarfraz was not only sacked from the role of captain but was nowhere in any of the formats including Tests, ODIs and T20Is. It meant that now performances of 33-year old wicket keeper batsman had to be proven in domestic cricket. As first class season in country was once again revamped with now limited teams in the hunt for trophy, keeping all other things aside, quality was definitely on the higher side.

Sarfraz in 2019’s domestic season was able to score 340 runs at an average of 48.50 with 1 century to his name. He was also able to be involved in 17 dismissals behind the wickets. A pretty decent first class season along with maintaining high standards of fitness kept him in the hunt. With the arrival of PSL 2020, all eyes were set to reevaluate his performance for making a comeback into the national side. However, he had an average PSL season but due to no other keeper outperforming in the season, management went back to considering him in the team. Despite his comeback, he still will be 2nd choice as Rizwan played last couple of series as permanent wicket keeper batsman in all the three formats.

Looking at Sarfraz’s previous 2 years’ performance in 2018 and 2019, he did pretty well in limited overs format. Performances in test dropped as he averaged mere 24 with no big score. In ODIs, he averages 31 with 97 as highest score and as far as T20Is are concerned, he scored 421 runs at an average of 30 and a strike rate of approximately 120. One thing to be kept in consideration is that all of these performances came when he was captaining the side in all three formats. Now as he is making his 3rd comeback in a 12-year career and counting, he has a lot of potential to deliver in UK.

Past performances of Sarfraz suggest that he likes batting in the UK, one of his ODI centuries came at Lords Cricket Ground. On the same ground, he was able to score vital 40 odd runs that helped Pakistan winning a test match last year. Furthermore, he averages 59 in ODIs against England and in last 2 years, his average is 89 against the same opposition. The vital factor that has helped Sarfraz in retaining his spot for a major part of his career was wicket keeping abilities. He has taken some great catches including one on Shaheen Shah’s bowling against New Zealand in world cup 2019. In 2019’s domestic season, he had 17 dismissals in 5 matches. In last 2 years, he has 47 dismissals in 11 tests, 37 dismissals in 35 ODIs and 23 in same number of T20Is.

Sarfraz’s record in comparison to all the other modern keepers that Pakistan has produced till date has been really good. Talking about the modern greats, including the likes of Kamran Akmal, Moin Khan and Rashid Latif, Sarfraz has the best batting averages in ODIs and Tests. Captaincy record was also decent enough excluding Tests, 87% in T20Is and 60% in ODIs. Stats clearly depict that performances in tests were dropping, although, he was still performing consistently in limited overs.

Despite his selection in the 29-member squad, he might travel back with getting no match at all but Sarfraz with fitter than before, shall capitalize on his opportunity whenever provided. Even if he doesn’t get a test match, he will still be considered for T20Is as Rizwan didn’t get many games by his PSL franchise even and his record in T20s isn’t that effective.

[sportzprime]

Top 10 Greatest Wicket Keepers in Cricket

Wicket-keeping is a challenging task that requires maximum concentration and focus while on the field in order to extract a dismissal. A task that needs one to be talented, sharp, and flexible at all times. The player standing behind the wickets in gloves and pads to catch the ball is not just a fielder but also an important cog in the team’s composition.

We take a look at some of the best wicket keepers of all time who took up their gloves and left an impact on the cricketing world.

Top 10 Wicket Keepers in Cricket:

10) Andrew Flower

best wicket keepers: Andrew Flower aka Andy is Zimbabwe’s greatest player to have taken up the gloves. Profound behind the wickets, Andy was responsible for a total of 333 dismissals (173 in ODIs and 160 in Tests) in his 11-year stint for his national side. His leadership and playing style set an example for his teammates helping underdog Zimbabwe who had little to show to compete against the heavyweights.

9) Alec Stewart

Having played over 300 matches for the Three Lions in both formats of the game, Alec has 451 dismissals to his name. Starting his wicket-keeping career by switching gloves with Jack Russell, he eventually became England’s first preference. Alec is the most capped England player in Tests and the second on the list for ODIs.

Pakistan’s trump card which helped the team through tough times and was also a part of the World-Cup-winning squad, Moin Khan was one of the most successful wicket-keepers for Pakistan. Khan accumulated 435 dismissals in his career.

Rodney Marsh aka Rod Marsh has 355 Test dismissals, 124 ODI dismissals and over 800 dismissals in First Class career. The Australian was fast and alert when on the field and has left an impeccable mark on cricket history with his performance.

8) Moin Khan

Pakistan’s trump card which helped the team through tough times and was also a part of the World-Cup-winning squad, Moin Khan was one of the most successful wicket-keepers for Pakistan. Khan accumulated 435 dismissals in his career.

7) Rod Marsh

Rodney Marsh aka Rod Marsh has 355 Test dismissals, 124 ODI dismissals and over 800 dismissals in First Class career. The Australian was fast and alert when on the field and has left an impeccable mark on cricket history with his performance.

6) Brendon McCullum | best wicket keeper in cricket

best wicket keepers: New Zealand’s greatest to keep the wickets, ‘The Baz’ has 530 dismissals to his name, a figure no other Kiwi player has come close to. Flexible as a rubber band, Brendon possessed the ability to pounce at the ball like no other could. McCullum dropped the gloves in 2012 after he took up the captainship for New Zealand in all the three formats of the game.

5) Ian Healy

Second Australian on the list, Healy took on the gloves after Rod Marsh retired from the game making his Test and ODI debut in 1988. Healy has 628 dismissals (233 in ODIs and 395 in Tests) to his name.

4) MS Dhoni | best wicket keeper in cricket

India’s most successful captain and wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the name everyone in the cricket world is familiar with. Athleticism of the highest order, coupled with alertness and the right temper, puts Dhoni among the top wicket-keepers in the world with 705 dismissals (including T20Is) to his name. He gave up his whites in 2014 but continues to lead the Indian side in the limited overs format of the game.

3) Kumar Sangakkara

best wicket keepers: Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara are the two names the Sri Lankan cricket fans can never forget. Both have served the country with utmost dedication, Sangakkara had 748 dismissals to his name before he retired from the International scene completely in 2015. He holds the world record of 99 stumpings in ODIs to his name. Swashbuckling with the bat, Sangakkara has scored over 21,000 runs including 47 tons and 117 fifties.

2) Adam Gilchrist

Third Australian in the list, Adam Gilchrist is the best the Aussies ever saw. One of the most perfect glove-men in the game, Gilchrist was always on point. Retiring in 2008, he had 905 dismissals to his name which include 416 Tests, 472 in ODIs and 17 in T20s. Proficient with the gloves, Gilchrist was a man to watch out for and scored over 15,000 runs in his career.

1) Mark Boucher | best wicket keeper in cricket

Remember the number ‘999’? That’s the number of dismissals by Mark Boucher in his 15-year career in South African cricket. Boucher has played in all three formats of the game and was forced to retire due to an eye injury from a bail during the England tour in 2012. With an almost perfect temperament, guts and utmost

[patricewisjournalism-blog]

Season Finale... Chris Read

Chris Read of Nottinghamshire CCC will likely be remembered as Notts, and maybe even England’s best wicket keeper ever.

Originating from Devon, he made his debut at the age of 16 for his counties’ team in a NatWest Trophy match and it wasn’t for another two years that he would make another appearance, this time for Gloucestershire in the AXA life league which would again be his only match played for his club at the time.

He was soon picked up by Nottinghamshire, where he would remain for the rest of his domestic career. In his first season for Notts, he would claim 42 dismissals and accumulate 401 runs.

Although he suffered many ups and downs in his starting years as a professional player, he quickly grew and learned, becoming very experienced and extremely reliable, both behind the stumps and with bat in hand.

His ability to score big runs may have come as a surprise to those with a lack of knowledge in the sport, as his average height, at 5 feet 8 inches, would seemingly not help him reach the boundaries. However, with both knowledge and skill, he has managed to maintain an average run rate in first class cricket of over 37 with over 16,000 runs in 347 games, alongside an equally impressive average run rate of 29 in List A cricket with in excess of 5,000 runs in 333 matches.

From all of his games played, Chris has scored 117 half centuries and 27 full centuries. However, as he will have been bowled out many before he could make a half century or full century many times, he obviously has made many more runs the these statistics would sum up to.

What is most impressive about Reads’ career stats however, is, rather unsurprisingly, his wicket keeping. In his 15 test matches he recorded 48 catches and 6 stumpings, with similar stats in his 36 ODI games with 42 catches and 2 stumpings. Even greater than this would be his 680 combined First Class and List A matches totaling up to an amazing 1367 catches and 126 stumpings.

Whilst his last international appearance was all the way back in 2007, he has kept playing for Notts, gaining the captaincy of the Notts squad in the same year, (2007), from which he has seen much success, starting mostly in 2009 where he held an average run rate of 75.18 runs. He has led his team to two major trophies during his time as captain.

Outside of cricket, Reads’ most notable competition would be when he ran the New York marathon, in honor of his first coach who died of bowel cancer. Chris competed in race to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK, and placed in the best 5% at 4358th out of 90,000 competitors.

2017 sees him in his final year at Nottinghamshire CCC, ten years after his final year/game for England,however, this will also be his last year as a professional cricket player at the age of 39.

From all of this, it is clear to see why he will be renowned as not only one of Nottinghamshire’s best wicket keepers, but also one of their best players period. Sadly, the same can not be said for his England career which in his defence could be put down to the fact that he was not really given a chance and that he didn’t reach his prime until after his final international match.

It is certainly sad to see him go, which is an emotion I am sure I not only share with fellow fans but also with players that have had the pleasure to play alongside him or even against him.

May the rest of his life and his future careers come with equal or greater fortune.