Relief for Dhoni Fans; The Skipper Has No Plans of Retiring
India’s limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made it clear that he is not retiring from international cricket anytime soon.
The 34-year-old Dhoni had called time on his Test career in the middle of the away series against Australia in December 2014, however on Friday, he said he was in no hurry to sign off from other formats.
“After the Asia Cup T20 and World T20 there is the Indian Premier League. And then the team is mostly playing Test cricket and about five to six ODIs, which will be over quickly,” Dhoni said on the sidelines of a launch of a lifestyle apparel brand.
Pacer Shami Ruled out of Asia Cup
Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the Asia Cup scheduled to start on February 24, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Friday.
“The BCCI medical team confirms that Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of Asia Cup, 2016.The decision has been taken to give him more time to recover from the Grade II injury to his left hamstring,” a release from BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said.
Shami sustained an injury to his left hamstring during a training session in Australia during the limited overs series last month, and missed two warm-up games before flying back home. He was originally said to be out for around four to six weeks, but the medical staff feel that he will need more time to recover.
Right-arm seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been roped in as Shami’s replacement.
BCCI to Move SC Against Lodha Panel Recommendations
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to approach the Supreme Court against the recommendations in the report submitted by the Justice R.M. Lodha committee.
The BCCI had convened a special general meeting at its headquarters on Friday in which the members authorised secretary Anurag Thakur to file an affidavit in the apex court on the board’s behalf, pointing out the anomalies and difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Lodha committee’s recommendations.
Dutee Sets New National Record in Asian Indoors’
Indian sprinter Dutee Chand set a new national record while winning the 60m heats at the 7th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.
Dutee clocked 7.28 secs, the best by an Indian to date, that also bettered the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships record. She was the fastest qualifier for the final at the Aspire Dome.
The earlier best timing by an Indian in women’s 60m race was the 7.81 secs in the name of Arjina Khatun set during the Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2009.
Tendulkar is the Greatest After Bradman: Ponting
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has rated Sachin Tendulkar as the all-time best batsman after Sir Donald Bradman, saying the maestro truly deserves to be called “great” at a time when the word is “bandied” about often.
“For me, he’s the greatest batsman after Don Bradman. While I hold Brian Lara in high regard because of his match-winning ability, I don’t think any batsman can achieve more out of the game than Sachin has,” Ponting wrote in his forward for a book titled ‘Tendulkar in Wisden: An anthology’.
The word great is often bandied about, but great is something that’s achieved over a long period of time. Sachin played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs (and one Twenty20 International), scored 34,357 runs and 100 international hundreds -- that is great. Younger players may reach No.1 over a period of 12 or 18 months -- that’s not great. That’s having a good year. If you can do it as long as Sachin did, only then you be considered great.Ricky Ponting on Sachin Tendulkar
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)