Oust Kohli, Oust India –Windies Win

Sreshth Shah, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 27 October 2018, where the title is “Shai Hope and Ashley Nurse help West Indies draw level”

This really must be how opponents of Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan felt back in the day. It didn’t matter whether you neutralised the influence of the other eight New York Yankees batters or the other four men in the Chicago Bulls roster. But if you could negate the effect that Ruth or Jordan single-handedly brought to the game, then you were definitely going to win the contest. Simple.

Virat Kohli must give opposition teams the same feeling. After posting 283, West Indies were against the ropes all evening despite only one India batsman going past 35. That one batsman was Kohli, and as long as he was in the middle, West Indies looked unlikely to win. That’s when Jason Holder took his biggest gamble in the 41st over.

West Indies’ Ashley Nurse, right, celebrates the dismissal of India’s Ambati Rayudu during the second one-day international cricket match between India and West Indies in Visakhapatnam, India, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018. On the left is India’s captain Virat Kohli. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

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Pulsating Test Cricket in England says Joe Root

Vipin Darwade in Cricket Age, 3 September 2018, with this title “India-England series shows Test cricket is alive and kicking”

The hard-fought five-match series against India shows that Test cricket is still alive and kicking, said skipper Joe Root after England secured a 60-run win in the fourth rubber to take a series-clinching 3-1 lead. “I think it’s a really good sign for Test cricket. It shows that for me Test cricket is still alive and kicking — very much at the pinnacle of the sport,” Root said.

“Credit to India — they’ve played some really fine cricket throughout, not just this game but the whole series. It must have been great viewing for people at home to see the way that especially the first game and this one, how tight they’ve been, how it swung both ways.”

Pic from Getty Images

“A Floating Allrounder” — That is My Role and Goal says Ashton Agar

Sruthi Ravindranath, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 26 August 2018, where the title is

Ashton Agar wants to be as good as he can at everything. He wants to be adaptable, to be able to pad up at any time for his side, and be the floater who can go bang from the first ball.

Agar introduced himself to the world in 2013 as a 19-year-old left-arm spinner who smacked a 98 on Test debut, while batting at No. 11, on an Ashes tour. His career didn’t quite take off from there as expected. He has played only 26 international games so far, and has only become a limited-overs regular in recent times.

Ashton Agar played a solid innings Getty Images

Chop-Chop Kohli Selection Policy

Aakash Chopra, in Cricket Age, 14 August 2018, where the title is “Virat Kohli’s Team Selection Policy Bewildering”

As much as Virat Kohli is revered and will be remembered as one of the finest batsmen to grace this game, he’ll also be remembered as a captain who didn’t play an identical XI in two consecutive games for 37 games and counting, and also as someone who made some interesting choices!

A Miracle at Lords: England Down India in Thriller … Now, Now Where were you Then?

Melinda Farrell in ESPNcricinfo, 24 July 2018, “Where were you?”

Where were you when England won the World Cup?

Where were you on Sunday morning when the queues to get into the ground, half of them women and girls, stretched along Wellington Parade almost the entire way to St John’s Wood station? Were you in the excited, buzzing throng, ignoring the touts? Who could have imagined they would ever hear the slightly seedy muttering of “Buy or sell any tickets? Buy or sell any tickets?” on their way to a women’s match?

 Alex Hartley enjoys taking the wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur AFP

Ganguly criticises proposed new Ranji Trophy Structure

News Item in Cricket Age, 26 July 2018, …

Sourav Ganguly feels that the Ranji Trophy structure released by the BCCI for the upcoming domestic season can somewhat devalue first-class cricket. Ganguly heads the BCCI technical committee, which approved the inclusion of the North-Eastern states, Puducherry and Bihar during its meeting back in April. But the structure proposed by the technical committee wasn’t adhered to, when the domestic calendar was released.

The IPL Roller-Coaster: Many IFs … Now, 19th May

S Rajesh of ESPNcricinfo, May 2018 –-where the title is  IPL playoff qualification scenarios – Five teams fight for two spots

With four league games to go, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings have already qualified for the playoffs, while five other teams are fighting for the last two spots. ESPNcricinfo looks at how the qualification scenarios will be affected by the results of Saturday’s games between Rajasthan Royals (12 points, -0.403 Net Run Rate) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (12 points, 0.264 NRR), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (18 points, 0.319 NRR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (14 points, -0.091 NRR).