Tamil News – MS Dhoni told me I will get batting opportunities in IPL this year : Ravindra Jadeja – Maalaimalar.com

Ravindra Jadeja said that he was focusing on batting these days even though his bowling figures have not been impressive in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ravindra Jadeja, who is striving to make a comeback, said that he was focusing more on batting now as MS Dhoni told him that he would be getting batting opportunities in the Indian Premier League this year. Jadeja’s bowling figures have not been impressive in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. But the Saurashtra all-rounder is now focusing his attention on batting. “Mahi bhai told me that I will get batting opportunities in the IPL this year. He said that I have the ability of a proper batsman, and I am not the flash in the pan type of batsman. And I should think like that,” Jadeja said in an interview to New Indian Express.

Jadeja, who has been retained by the Chennai Super Kings for this year’s IPL, along with Dhoni, said, “It was really encouraging for me. So, I am concentrating more on the batting aspect of my game and trying to get used to playing the anchor role.” “I am quite happy with the way I am bowling. In fact, I am focusing more on my batting now. I do not want to be a player who is known for hitting those 20-odd runs. I want to play the anchor role, just like I did today.” With World Cup only 16 months away, Jadeja is not ignoring his bowling strength and said that he was trying different angles to bowl. “It  is the most important thing. I am trying to do that. I am using different angles to bowl.”

Speaking on his performance in Vijay Hazare tournament, he said, “If I get wickets owing to mistakes of batsmen, I am not satisfied from the inside. If I think I have done the things I wanted to do, like varying the pace, I am content with that. If I am satisfied with the way I have bowled, I do not think much about other things. If I am executing my plans, I am happy. The pain was unbearable sometimes while playing certain shots. But this was really important for my self-confidence. It is morale boosting. To chase the target (330) under the circumstances is really special for me.”

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Tamil News – Australia cricket team needs aggressive approach for 2019 World Cup: Darren Lehmann – Maalaimalar.com

Australia have won only two out of their last 15 ODIs in 2017 and 2018 and coach Darren Lehmann has stressed on the side to fix a core group of players to lead the charge for the 2019 World Cup. Ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales next year, Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has admitted that his team needs to adapt to a more aggressive approach if they are to retain the global crown. Lehmann said the team was not able to settle upon a fixed core group that will lead the Aussies charge in ODIs for the 2019 World Cup because of the national team’s rotation of players depending on the various formats

“The results are more about execution for us. We had to chop and change a lot of the side depending on what’s happening with the Test arena and going from Test to non-Test and obviously Tests are a focus for us,” Lehmann was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo. “So we haven’t been able to have a settled one day side. I’d like to see us play with a settled side over six months and see what the result is then, see how we play. Lehmann also suggested that skipper Steve Smith and selectors have to be cautious with their selection of players in the buildup to the event. However, the sides improved performance in the ongoing Twenty20 Tri-series gives him hope for a turnaround in the limited-overs format.

“The improved T20 performance gives you food for thought after a long, tough Test series… fresh guys coming in. We’ll sit down at the end of the South African series, but we’ve always got to look forward. World Cup’s coming along pretty quickly, I think there’s about 22 games to go before we play our first game. So we’ll have to settle on a group of players, we think we’ve got a really good group,” Lehmann revealed. Australia, who has qualified for the final, will travel to New Zealand to play their fourth game of the tri-series against the hosts. The Test squad will head west for their four-Test tour of South Africa.

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Tamil News – Early Arrival in South Africa Would Have Made a Lot of Difference: Ravi Shastri – Maalaimalar.com

India coach Ravi Shastri said that his team will not complain about the pitch and the conditions which they have been offered but said that in hindsight, another 10 days of practice would have made a lot of difference. “We are not here to moan about the tracks because like I said at the start of the game both teams play on the same surface. The good thing though is people won’t crib and moan when matches in India get over in two and a half days. Neither will they ask me what kind of track are you playing on. In hindsight, I would say another ten days of practice here would have made a difference. But that’s no excuse. The pitch we play on, it’s the same for both sides and I would rather focus on the 20 wickets we have tae, it will be a good test match.” said Shastri, addressing the media on Monday.

Shastri added that it is something which will be taken care of in the future tours, “Unfortunately, the schedule was such that you had matches. But am sure henceforth in the future when itineraries are made that will be taken into account, there is absolutely no doubt about that. You get there couple of weeks earlier and prepare.” he added.The Indian coach rued his team’s missed opportunities where they let the chance to put South Africa under pressure slip but was hopeful of a good showing in the final Test. “They have had chances in both test matches but they didn’t make the most of it, so when you believe you have a chance to win then you look forward to a test match. when you don’t believe you can win you don’t look forward to a test match, as simple as that.”

Shastri defended the decisions made by the team management, saying the team sticks by the decision it makes. “Chopping and changing overseas is easier. In India, you don’t need to chop and change because you know what the conditions are. Overseas, you go on current form and you go on conditions and you see which player can adapt to certain conditions quicker than the other. What are the overhead conditions for which bowler to play as opposed to what kind of track you will get, where you need a bowler with bounce or you need a bowler with swing. So that’s where the chopping and changing starts”

“That will always be the case. If Ajinkya had played first, and not done well, you would have asked me the same question, why Rohit hasn’t played. Rohit played, he didn’t do well, you are asking me Ajinkya didn’t play. the same would have happened with the fast bowlers. So when you have choices, the team management has discussed what is the best option and they stick by it they go by it.” Shastri added, when asked about the decision to drop Rahane and pick Rohit in the middle order.

He heaped praise on the performance of the bowlers and said that they were many times when his team looked like the no.1 team, “Our bowlers did a great job. I mean no one expected our bowlers to fire the way they did and take 20 wickets so I rather harp on that because for me that’s the biggest positive that has come out of this tour. We are here to live and learn from our mistakes and like I said that is the most positive. Even our top order, we go in with six batsmen, five batsmen and an all-rounder, so it means that responsibility on both sides on the top order is that much more. so you have to gust it out, it wont be easy.” Shastri said.

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Latest Tamil News – Chennai Super Kings Made me Into a Real Cricketer: Raina – Maalaimalar.com

Out-of-favour India all-rounder Suresh Raina knows his worth in the Indian Premier League and credited Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for transforming him into a real cricketer.The 31-year-old Uttar Pradesh captain, who struck a belligerent 126 not out against Bengal on Monday, is an IPL legend with maximum matches (161) and runs (4540) at an excellent strike-rate of 139.09.So it was of little surprise that CSK had retained Raina along with MSDhoni and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. “We have played so many matches together. We had to play for CSK again. In fact, I became a real player in Chennai,” Raina said on the sidelines of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali domestic T20 tournament.

“The coaches and the players there like Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan had a fine influence on me. I have learnt a lot from them. It’s not a team but like a family,” Raina, who will return to Chennai after leading Gujarat Lions for two seasons, said. The left-hander said he can’t wait to don CSK jersey again in the upcoming season of IPL. “The amount of love I have got from fans was great. It was a great team atmosphere. Many players like (Ravichandran) Ashwin, (Pawan) Negi, Jadeja came up from CSK. “You have to perform to play and I’m looking forward to play for Chennai again. We all are excited to regroup,” he said.

Raina’s fitness was one of the things that kept him out of the national side. It’s been more than two years that he is out of the ODI side and last played for India in a T20I against England in January last year.Having cleared the yo-yo fitness test which is mandatory to stay in contention for the national side, Raina said he has worked a lot on his skill as well as physical strengthening.Terming it “very demanding”,

Raina said: “It’s one aspect you do everyday and it’s not only about gyming alone. It’s about spending time on the field. You have to have a street smart brain.”. “You have to bowl at the nets for two hours everyday, you have to be on your toes. And you have to be strong in shoulder to bat well.” “Gyming is one thing but you have to do a lot of strengthening as well. At the same time you have to ensure that you body regroups. It’s very much demanding. Still I would say it’s 40 percent gym and 60 percent skill,” Raina added.

Asked about the motivation to play in the Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, he said: “I play each and every tournament with the same intent. The tournament has many big names and before the IPL and upcoming Asia Cup it’s a nice opportunity.” The CSK vice-captain further said the tournament will give him an opportunity to see the talented youngsters ahead of the much-anticipated IPL auction on January 27 and 28. “There are a lot of exciting youngsters like Rinku Singh, there’s also Kuldeep (Yadav) who will play a couple of matches before heading to South Africa. It’s a chance to see many youngsters,” Raina said.

Raina said small town cricketers have changed the mindset of the game completely. “The small town cricketers have done well in recent times. Look at (Mohammed) Shami. Bhuvi (Bhuvneswar Kumar) comes from Meerut, there’s also Praveen (Kumar), Zaheer. All these players have changed the mindset,” he said. Raina also backed the under-fire Indian team who had already lost the ongoing Test series in South Africa. Raina, however, argued that Virat Kohli‘s men have done decently and pointed out India’s bowling was a revelation in the first two Tests in South Africa. “They have done well, almost won the first Test. We fought hard and bowled well. South Africa too have not been able to score runs against us. From four innings they (South Africa) are yet to score a century,” he said referring to Virat Kohli’s 153 in the second Test at Centurion. “Our batting has done well in patches. We have to support the team. We cannot dismiss them, we have some big names who have done well over the years,” he concluded.

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Tamil News – MS Dhoni Says proud for Return to the CSK – Maalaimalar.com

Expressing happiness about the return of Chennai Super Kings IPL team, its captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni described Chennai as his Second home. Speaking to the media at the launch of ‘Veedu Kattu Whistle Podu‘, an initiative by The India Cements Limited here, the former captain of Indian cricket team said, “I feel proud about returning to CSK“. He said fans are the real strength of Chennai Super Kings and the IPL team has supporters not just in Tamil Nadu, but across the country. “Though the team did not play for the past two years, the support has only increased,” he said and added that as wicket keeper and captain, he would guide the team towards victory.

Stating that there are plans to include 18-20 members to the team, he said they would try to include Ravichandran Ashwin, who hails from Chennai, in CSK. Rupa Gurunath, whole time director, The India Cements Limited, and others were present.Recently, Australian batting great Michael Hussey was appointed as CSK batting coach. “I am really excited about returning to the Chennai Super Kings in a coaching capacity and working with the players to help them get the best out of themselves and also help to bring success to this great franchise,” he was quoted as saying by CSK website.

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Tamil News – IPL 2018 retained players list of all teams – Maalaimalar.com

Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli and his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among the top players who are retained by their respective IPL franchises, Royal Challengers Bangalore and comeback outfit Chennai Super Kings respectively. The Indian Premier League (IPL) will be entering its 11th season this year and the deadline to submit the list of retained players was January 4. As per the latest guidelines issued by the IPL governing council, each team was allowed to opt for up to five players by virtue of a combination of Player Retention (Pre Player Auction) and Right to Match (RTM) (during the Player Auction).
Among these players, there can be a maximum of either three retentions or three RTMs at the discretion of the franchises and if there is no retention before the player auction, then franchises can have up to three RTMs, as per the norms put in place by the IPL GC.The break-up is: Maximum number of 3 capped Indian players, 2 overseas players and 2 uncapped Indian players each. The player retention price guideline for salary cap charged has also been set as Rs 33 crore (for 3 players pre auction), Rs 21 crore (for 2 players pre auction) and Rs 12.5 crore (for 1 player retained pre-auction).The council also revealed that each team can consist of a maximum number of 25 players (up to 8 overseas players) and a minimum of 18. The player pool available for CSK and RR for retention/RTM will be the players who played for them respectively in IPL 2015 and who were part of Rising Pune Supergiant and GL squads in IPL 2017, as per the norms.
This year, the salary cap has also been increased from Rs 60 crore to Rs 80 crore and will increase to Rs 82 and 85 crore respectively in 2019 and 2020. However, the minimum spend has been fixed at 75 percent of the salary cap for each season.Among the top Indian players, MS Dhoni returned to Chennai Super Kings with Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli stays with Royal Challengers Bangalore while Rohit Sharma will once again lead the Mumbai Indians. Hardik Pandya was retained by Mumbai Indians while young Shreyas Iyer will once again represent the Delhi Daredevils. However, some veterans like Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were released by their respective franchises.The surprise packages of the retention were Punjab’s Axar Patel, Bangalore’s Sarfraz Ahmed and Delhi’s Chris Morris.

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Tamil Newspaper – IPL 2018 Auction – Maalaimalar.com

The mega auction for the IPL 2018 Auction is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28, the Press Trust of India reported on Tuesday (December 19). The dates for the auction coincide with the South Africa-India Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg as well as the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali domestic T20 tournament. The dates for the two-day auction process were ratified at the IPL Governing Council meeting held in New Delhi on December 6. It was in that meeting that BCCI apprised the franchise representatives about the retention process. The auction ahead of the 11th season of IPL will be a bigger affair than usual, given that each franchise can retain a maximum of five players from their existing rosters through a combination of pre-auction retention and Right To Match (RTM) cards. According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, teams have until January 4 to submit their retention lists while the BCCI itself will make public their full list of to-be-auctioned players on January 18. Franchises will each begin with an auction purse of INR 80 crores to build a 25-member (max) squad. This increase in purse value (up from INR 66 crores in 2017) is a direct consequence of the increased revenue for the league through title rights sale. Each team will have to spend at least 75 percent of the salary cap (INR 60 crore) by the end of the two-day procedure. Retained players will have a more dynamic effect on the team’s salary purse depending on the number of players retained by the franchise.

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Tamil News – Yuvraj Singh: I see myself playing cricket till 2019- Maalaimalar.com

It has been quite a while since we saw Yuvraj Singh playing for India, as his inconsistent form, followed by repeated failure in the Yo-Yo Test has led to him being in and out of the national side. Nevertheless, Yuvraj feels that despite his recent failures, he continues to draw inspiration and works even harder in order to make a comeback to the national side. Yuvraj is also confident of playing cricket until 2019. He also said that the decisions regarding his career would also be solely decided by him, and no one would have any influence on it. Yuvraj Singh awarded with Ph.D

“I would like to tell that I am failing. I still fail. I failed the last three fitness tests but yesterday I passed my fitness test. After 17 years I am still failing. I am not afraid of failure. I have gone through ups and downs. I have seen defeat and that’s what’s the pillar of success. To be a successful man, to be a successful person in your life, you need failure and you’ve got to be defeated. That will make you a stronger person and it will take you to the next level,” said Yuvraj during the UNICEF campaign of ‘The Power of Sports to Shape the Future of Adolescents’ in Colombo. Yuvraj Singh’s exclusive fitness training in NCA irks senior BCCI officals

“I am still playing. I don’t know what format I am going to play. But I am pushing everyday as hard as I used to, may be harder than before because I am getting older. And I see myself playing cricket till 2019 and obviously take a call after that. So I still believe in myself. As I said I don’t know how many people believe in me but I do believe in myself.”

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Tamil Newspaper – I too need rest, I am not a robot: Kohli – Maalaimalar.com

Batting for long in a manner that often seemed unreal, India skipper Virat Kohli today said he too needs rest from the gruelling international schedule since he is “not a robot“. Kohli has played seven Tests, 26 ODIs and 10 T20 internationals in 2017, the most by any player in the Indian team. “Definitely I do need a rest, why don’t I. When I think of the time my body should be rested I will ask for it, why not. I’m not a robot, you can slice my skin and check if I still bleed,” Kohli told reporters on the eve of the first Test against Sri lanka.
The India skipper also played 10 matches at the Indian Premier League‘s 10th season, and had warned about burnout. “This is one thing I don’t think people explain properly. There’s a lot of talk from outside in terms of workload whether a player should be rested or not. For example all cricketers play 40 games a year. Three guys who should get rest their workload are to be managed. Not everyone in the XI would have batted 45 overs or not everyone would have bowled 30 overs in a Test. But the guys who are doing that regularly are the ones who need to be assessed.
His supreme athleticism on the field has rubbed onto other players in the side and they vouched for it. “I don’t think people look at the times spent on the crease, the number of runs, the number of overs, the conditions etc. I don’t think people will go into that analysis. Everyone play same number of games.”For example Pujara will have maximum workload because he spends maximum time at the crease as his game is built that way. You can’t compare that to a counter-attacking batsman because the workload would have been lesser.
“All these things have be taken into consideration purely because of the fact that we have built such a strong core team now of 20-25 players. You don’t want important players breaking down at important times, that’s where the balance needs to be maintained going forward.”He said it is humanly impossible to play all three formats and maintain the same intensity without taking a break. “It’s humanly impossible to maintain same intensity and same level of performance.”

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Tamil Breaking News -I see MS Dhoni playing till 2020 World Twenty20: Ashish Nehra

Defending Mahendra Singh Dhoni‘s recent dip in form in T20Is, former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra, who recently retired from international cricket, on Wednesday said that he sees the wicket-keeper batsman playing till the T20I World Cup in 2020.Recently, former cricketer Ajit Agarkar and VVS Laxman had said that India should look beyond Dhoni for the T20I formats and that the wicketkeeper-batsman should pave the way for youngsters.
Dhoni has come under scrutiny following his low strike rate and a 37-ball 49 in the second T20I in Rajkot against New Zealand where India fell short of 40 runs while chasing down 197 on a flat track.However, Nehra come out in support of Dhoni and said that the former Indian skipper should be allowed to play as long as he wants and as long as his body allows.
The 39-year-old further insisted that if he would have been a coach or captain, he would have made Dhoni played for another two to three years. “In every house, you need an elder one and he is there. I hope till next two to three years or as long as his body allows he plays. Cricket is a game of conditions definitely and it is not easy to perform. If it was in mind or if I am coach or captain I will be on his head that he has to play. I am not saying he doesn’t perform he has to play. He is the first guy who will raise his hand and say I am retiring if he is not performing. But I personally feel we should leave at MS Dhoni and let him play cricket,” Nehra said.
“He is one guy who is very honest with himself and the country. So, he should definitely play. I see him even to play T20 World Cup in 2020. If I can be a fast bowler at the age of 39. So, with MS Dhoni and his fitness, he can definitely play,” he added.In Rajkot T20I, Dhoni entered the ground at the start of ninth over when India was batting at 67/4. He started slowly and ended up with 49 of 37 balls.
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