Gambhir blessed with a baby girl
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir on Thursday became the father of a baby girl as his wife Natasha gave birth to their first child. Gambhir’s IPl franchise posted the news on its twitter handle. “Congratulations skipper Gautam Gambhir and Natasha Gambhir for becoming parents to a beautiful baby girl. Welcome to the family,” KKR tweeted. “From everyone at KKR heartiest congrats and best wishes to Gautam Gambhir and Natasha Gambhir on the birth of a baby girl,” team CEO Venky Mysore wrote on his twitter handle.
‘Any team can make a comeback’
Bangalore: Senior Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh on Thursday said though Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings are sitting at top of the table, the seventh edition of IPl is still wide open and there is chance for every team to stage a comeback. “This is the time when teams leading would like to consolidate, teams like ours’ would like to recover the lost ground and sides like Mumbai Indians would like to change their fortunes. As far as my experience says, everything is possible in this game,” he said in an article on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) website. The Punjab southpaw said the Bangalore outfit believe they can be return back to winning ways if they play to their potential and use home conditions to their advantage. “We know this for a fact, that if we play to our full potential, we can be back to winning ways. Everyone in the group believes this very strongly and are aspiring to make things better. And that’s what we aim to do when we get back to Bangalore,” he said. “Before getting back to Bangalore, we have two days to recharge our batteries and channelise our energies. Hopefully, the familiar surroundings of our home ground can make this recovery a little easier,” he added.
Inside the brain of virat kohli
Bangalore: Giving an insight into his cricketing mind, Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli today said that he prepares for a match by training his brain even while travelling in a bus. “Even when I am going to the ground in the bus, I keep thinking about the shots I am going to play and to which bowler .. Once you train your brain what to do then obviously when you go out there... You find that perfect zone,” he said in an interview to RCB’s official website. Kohli said he visualises how to play certain bowlers before the match. “I visualise a lot. I sit and think before a game. I visualise the bowlers whom I am going to face the next day or on the game day,” he said. Talking about his strength, Kohli said “My strength is a lot of intensity on the field. My strength is aggression, but controlled-aggression now. I try to channelise that as much as I can in the things I want to do on the field,” he said. “Every time I start scoring everyone says he is in the form of his life. So, I don’t pay attention to that. It is just that even if you are not doing well, just one or two good matches can change things around for you,” he said. “I don’t think about what I have done in the past. How well I have performed in the recent matches I played. For me it is always the next game and my focus is to do well,” Kohli added.
‘My role was to lay foundation’
Dubai: Having vindicated the team management’s decision to promote him to the number three spot, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s young batsman lokesh Rahul said he was pleased to have played the sheet anchor’s role in his side’s win against Mumbai Indians in the IPl here. “The team management showed a lot of faith in me by promoting me up the order. They told me yesterday that they were planning to send me one-down, although I felt that I have been scoring at a run-a-ball and it is not enough in the T20 format and so I will be pushed further down the line-up. But the coach told me it is okay for me to play my game and take my time,” lokesh said. Batting at No.3 my role would be to rotate the strike and help the team lay a solid foundation so that people like Warner and Sammy can build on it.
Australia back as top test side
Dubai: India’s dismal performance in the international season gone by pushed them down the ladder in the ICC Test rankings with the team finishing fifth in the annual updated list issued on Thursday. Australia have gone top in both the formats for the first time since December 2008. Australia last held the number-one Test ranking in August 2009, when they were displaced after losing 2-1 to England. India, who were thrashed during trips to South Africa and New Zealand in their most recent Test assignments, have slipped from third to fifth in the table after dropping 10 ratings points. In the ODIs list, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men held on to the second spot. India’s 2010-2011 victories against Australia, New Zealand and West Indies (away), as well as a drawn series against South Africa, no longer count to the rankings.
India regain No.1 position in T20s
Dubai: India on Wednesday climbed up a position and regained its number one ranking in Twenty20 Internationals after the annual update of the ICC Rankings, which was announced here on Thursday. The Indian side has swapped places with 2014 ICC World T20 champions, Sri lanka. In the past 12 months, India have lost just one T20I against Sri lanka in the recent ICC WT20 final in Bangladesh, while Sri lanka lost four matches. The 2013-2014 results are weighted at 100 per cent whereas, the results in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are now weighted at 50 per cent. Therefore, Sri lanka’s strong performances in those two earlier years now count for less. In another major move in the table, the West Indies have slipped two places to be at seventh position. This drop has helped Australia and New Zealand up by one place each to be at fifth and sixth spots, respectively. In all 14 countries have played sufficient T20I matches to be ranked on the table.
Gooch axed as batting coach
london: Former England skipper Graham Gooch has been forced to step down as the national cricket team’s batting coach, as skipper Alastair Cook and newly appointed head coach Peter Moores are keen on having a new set-up. Gooch, who joined as a part-time batting coach in 2009, informed that the decision was taken after consultation with Cook and Moores. England’s most prolific run-getter, Gooch said, “Alastair informed me that he was in favour of change. Although this was sad news, I respect his and new coach Peter Moores’ right to implement this change of direction.”