No doubt on Dhoni’s captaincy: Kapil
Kuala lumpur: Calling MS Dhoni one of the best finishers in limited-overs game, cricket legend Kapil Dev on Tuesday backed the Indian captain to continue leading the team in all three formats and said there shouldn’t be any question about his replacement. The 55-year-old Kapil said Dhoni is the ideal man to lead the team in upcoming Test series and defend the crown when the 2015 ODI World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand. “If Dhoni’s fit enough there should be no doubt because he’s one of the finest batsmen we’ve and coming in at number 6-7 and averaging more than 50, why should we’ve any doubts. Somebody who has won us the World Cup, the T20 World Cup... Why do we even talk about it and bring doubts in people’s mind,” Kapil said.
West in Deodhar final
Visakhapatnam: Dhawal Kulkarni returned with a four-wicket haul after Cheteshwar Pujara and Yusuf Pathan hit twin half-centuries to guide West Zone to a 42-run victory over Central Zone in the second semi-final of the Deodhar Trophy here on Tuesday. Electing to bat after wining the toss, West Zone rode on Pujara (60) and Pathan’s (70) half centuries to post a competitive 233 for nine in their stipulated 50 overs at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here. Defending the total, West Zone dismissed Central Zone for 191 in 44.3 overs to set up a summit clash against North Zone on Thursday.
South Africa fined
Chittagong: South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was on Tuesday fined 40 percent of his match fee while his teammates copped a 20 percent fine each for maintaining a slow over-rate during their World Twenty20 match against New Zealand here on Monday. ICC Match Referee Javagal Srinath imposed the fines after Plessis’ side was ruled to be two overs short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration.
‘Virat can be better than Tendulkar’
Kuala lumpur: Former captain Kapil Dev on Tuesday said that Indian batting’s mainstay Virat Kohli will rewrite more records than anyone else in world cricket and believed the Delhi batsman has realistic chances of “bettering” even Sachin Tendulkar’s career graph if he remains injury-free. “Without any doubt Kohli will make more records than anybody else. I don’t compare, there cannot be a second Don Bradman, and there cannot be another Sachin Tendulkar. But yes, Kohli has got amazing talent, it’s huge for a 24-year-old, and maybe, he can be better than Tendulkar. The next generation has to be better than the previous one,” Kapil said. PNS/Agencies