london: Relishing a dramatic turnaround of fortunes in the series against India, England captain Alastair Cook has said it was his wife who convinced him not to give up captaincy when his team was on a losing streak. “Without my wife, I don’t think I’d be standing here as captain. You don’t often say things like that — I don’t know why I just have — but it’s the way I feel,” an emotional Cook told BBC Test Match Special after his side steamrolled India in the fifth and final Test to clinch the series 3-1. Cook said it was his wife Alice who convinced him to remain as captain and lead England to victory over India. “You can bare your soul quite often to Alice and she’s very good at getting me back on the straight and narrow. That fourth night at Headingley was a tough place because we had let a winning position slip. lord’s was also very tough — the way we lost there in conditions that were suited to us,” Cook said. “But I’m quite stubborn — I believe in my ability. I stuck in there through the tough times. Sport tests your character and to bounce back as a team is testament to our character,” he said.
Vaughan posts Picture of ‘White Indian cricket flag’
london: Michael Vaughan took criticism to another level after the former England skipper posted a ‘white flag’ (in pic) on his twitter handle, terming it as the new Indian cricket flag after MS Dhoni and Co’s abject surrender at the Oval. “Indian cricket fans just accept it’s banter.... Your team haven’t performed,” tweeted Vaughan. Even during the ‘procession’, Vaughan kept on tweeting his celebrations. “England fantastic... India clearly have sight seeing trips booked in for tomorrow...”, he wrote.
India will have tough time during Oz tour: McGrath
New Delhi: Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath feels that India will have a tough time during its upcoming tour of Australia at the end of this year after their disastrous show in England. “I think Indians are going to have a very tough time in Australia. last time, when the two teams met, it was in India and we lost 0-4. But we have come a long way since then,” McGrath told NDTV on Monday. “Australia has also defeated this same England squad 5-0 last year in the Ashes. So now you can well understand that how much tough it can be for India playing over there,” he opined.
Gavaskar questions work ethics of Indian cricketers
New Delhi: Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar on Monday questioned the work ethics of some of the Indian cricketers following team’s awful and dejecting show in England. Gavaskar did not take names but felt that some players were not putting in enough number of hours in the nets to overcome their shortcomings. “Questions will be asked. Because of the love for the game, people, fans can question what’s going on in the team. It’s fans who spend their hard-earned money to watch the team play. Work ethics (followed) under Gary Kirsten (former India coach) is not the same now,” Gavaskar told NDTV.
Dhoni fined for slow over-rate
Dubai: There seems to be no end to Indian’s team’s woes as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was docked 60 per cent of his match fees while his teammates were handed a 30 per cent fine for being guilty of maintaining a slow over-rate during the fifth cricket Test against England at the Oval.