Ian Chappell praises Ajinkya Rahane for his captaincy skills

Ajinkya Rahane earned lots of accolades from cricketing fraternity around the world as he guided India to a victory over Australia at Dharamsala in the last test match, thus completing a series win and helping India regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

©BCCI

India were without Virat Kohli who suffered a shoulder injury in the previous test at Ranchi and was not fully fit for the last test. 

So, Rahane was given the opportunity and he displayed remarkable trait of captaincy with his cool yet aggressive instinct.

He took India across the finishing line.

Former Australian skipper, Ian Chappell was pretty impressed  and full of praises for the stand-in captain of Indian Cricket Team.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo the legend shared his views.

India are very very lucky to have a stand in captain like Rahane. I thought he did a fantastic job," the former Australian captain told ESPNcricinfo.

"It is not easy to do the job of a fill in because you know the actual captain has a got a certain style. So (in that situation), you think 'what do I do? Do I try to copy that style or do I just be myself', and Rahane did the right thing. He captained in his own way," said Chappell.

Rahane performed the duties in his own quiet way, a contrast to the usually animated Kohli on the field.

"I would say Rahane is aggressive in his own quiet way.

You know you don't have to be a gung ho captain to have the whole team behind you. You just need to do a good job and have the guys have faith in what you are doing.

"And if you are making the right moves, the aggressive field placing moves that Rahane was making, that sort of ting brings the right behind the captain.

"They (Kohli and Rahane) do it totally different. But I thought Rahane did a good job and had the team right behind him because of the way he captained," added Chappell.

Rahane surely has shown the character and maturity needed for the job of captaincy. Hopefully he can captain Team India in future.

©sportskafun.blogsot.com

Joe Root has his say on Virat Kohli

After Virat Kohli's 'Virat' innings today at Vishakhapatnam in the second test against England, everybody heaped praise on him.
The charismatic Indian batsmen and skipper of the test format, hit his seventh century today as a captain and 15th overall.


He put up a 226 run stand with another centurion Cheteshwar Pujara and took India to a commanding position.

Virat who is often been compared English batsmen Joe Root proves why he is one of the best time and again.
The quartet of Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith are termed as Fab Four of Modern Day Cricket.

In an interview with bcci.tv today, Root said, " I think he is always looking to improve his game. You see his form in white ball Cricket. His record has been phenomenal over the last 12 months. In test cricket he has already done some special things while captaining the side. He is a great leader on the field and he is a good person to learn from, from an opponent's point of view as well."

"I think he is obviously a fine player. The way he can construct the innings in white and red ball cricket and make contributions across the three formats, is really impressive. That's the way I try to do and hopefully I can emulate that and take it forward for rest of the years," he added.

Virat Kohli struck his first century against England in this test. He remains unbeaten at 151* at the end of day's play.

Also read: Test 2 Day 1 review

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India vs England Second Test Preview

England's performance in the last test match in Rajkot was more than alarming bell for India.
An envious home record was put to some threat in the last test, that certainly made Indian team put on their thinking hats, to better their strategy and tactics.

England have clearly shown their intent that they are up for a challenge. And as England skipper Alastair Cook said,  "We are here to give India a run for their money." It's time for Indian team to tighten up their belts.

Five test series is a long journey so each team has to be vigil in every department not leaving any loophole.

Spinners friendly pitches will be there but the stats from the last test tells a different story. Indian spinners only managed 9 wickets giving out 521 runs in total.
Also the fact that Indian batsmen are good players of spin bowling, Indian team only had two centuries while England got four.

But a new day means a new start and Indian team knows the importance of this test. With KL Rahul coming into the side, Gambhir may have to surrender his place.
Virat Kohli will have to lead this young Indian side with all his diligence as they will be up against the only team whom they have not managed to beat in the last few years.


Second Test starts at 9:00am IST in the beautiful city of Vishakhapatnam.



©sportskafun.blogspot.com

INDIA vs ENGLAND 1st TEST REVIEW

England came India after losing to Bangladesh and India began the series after sweeping aside New Zealand. Moreover, we are the No. 1 ranked team in the world. Though we knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park, but you expect more from your team when they are the best ranked side in the world. Credit goes to England, the way they played Ashwin & co. it looks pretty clear that in next match India needs to be more sharp in their strategies and tactics.
Test ended in a draw, but England will be oozing with confidence after the performance they gave in  this Test.

ENGLAND OWNED THE DAY

It was English domination over India. They began the day with a lead of 163 runs, without any fear of losing the match both the openers played confidently. Hameed reached his fifty yesterday and Alastair Cook began the day on 46*. As the play started, Cook completed his fifty. They showed real character against the Indian spinners not giving them any chance. There were some half hearted appeals but nothing happened. Indian team desperately wanted a wicket, their desperation was visible when they reviewed some clear not-out instances. Both the batsmen were scoring runs at almost similar pace. It was Amit Mishra's delivery which Hameed hit hard and straight into his hands thus giving India the first breakthrough. He got dismissed at well played 82. The motto was clear, England wanted to score quick runs and give India a target with significant number of overs remaining. After Hameed, Joe Root gave away his wicket trying to sweep the ball. Mishra took two in quick succession.

                                                                                                                                                                 
                                 

But it was Alastair Cook's show on the fifth day of the Test match as he completed his 30th century in Tests, going past Alan Border, also most by an England batsmen. He has scored five tons against India, he completed 1000 runs against India in India and 2000 runs overall. Cook's temperament and self confidence was remarkable.

England finished first session on 211/2. 

England came out firing after lunch. Both Stokes and Cook scored quick runs. Cook hit 3 boundaries in Mishra's over. He got out trying to hit Ashwin out of the park. Jadeja took his catch and with his wicket England declared the innings at 260/3 and gave India a target of 310 runs.

INDIA WOBBLED BUT SOMEHOW GOT THROUGH

Indian team knew the pressure was on them and they have to bat sensibly. As feared, India lost their first wicket without opening the scoring as Gambir edged the ball to slips off a Chris Woakes' delivery. England thought if they could pick another wicket quickly they could give themselves a chance of an unlikely win. Pujara and Vijay continued the innings at a slow pace. Just before tea, Pujara was given lbw off a Rashid ball. He missed the leg spinner and was caught right in front. He had the chance to review it but he didn't.
 On came Virat Kohli. India were 49/2 at tea.

After tea India had to play another 30 overs. Virat Kohli knew the importance of his wicket and so he was not taking any risks. Just 19 runs were added to the total, Murali Vijay misjudged the line from Adil Rashid and edged the ball with Hameed taking the catch. Boy, Hameed having some debut.
Just 8 balls later Ajinkya Rahane played an awful shot to give away as his wicket to Moeen Ali. He got bowled, again.

India were in real danger after losing two quick wickets.
R. Ashwin came out to accompany skipper Kohli in the middle with 25 overs still left to play.
Cook set up an attacking field not giving India any space to breathe. Ashwin and Kohli remained calm and kept their cool not giving England bowlers any chance.
There was an appeal when Ashwin was caught in front of his wicket, as the original decision was not-out they reviewed but it was turned down as it was umpire's call.
Cook tried different tactics to get Indian batsmen out.
In 39th over of the match, Ashwin hits 3 fours to Zafar Ansari, all he had to do was defend but played an awful shot and was caught by Joe Root, thus opening the door for England again.
But as long as Virat Kohli was there, England chances faded away. Even after losing Saha as 6th wicket. Jadeja and Kohli kept hanging themselves in the middle to play out a draw.
India finished 172/6 in 52.3 overs and both captains shook hands.

The first test ended in a draw but it has set up the series nicely. Beware India, this England team will not be your cup of tea.


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