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By Paritosh Pramanik
FINALLY, his hard work and perseverance has paid off, though partially. Niyaz Rahim, an excellent hockey player of city, has been selected in the 60-member squad which will be part of the Senior Men’s National Hockey Camp to be conducted by Hockey India.
The 12-day camp is going to be held at SAI Centre, Bengaluru from April 8 to 20.
The 60 campers will be pruned to 33 core probables who will continue with the camp which will be held from April 21 to May 5 after which Indian team for World Hockey Series will be picked.
This is for the first time in several decades that a player from Nagpur has been included in the national camp.
Niyaz, an enterprising midfielder as well as a quick forward has been included after his consistent performance in the national championships.
Niyaz is presently working with the South Central Railways as a TTI at Secundrabad.
Hailing from a hockey playing family, Niyaz, son of former national-level player Mumtaz-ur Rahim, fondly called as ‘Rabbani chacha’ in hockey circle, learned the tricks of trade playing with his school Tidke Vidyalaya. At the same time he joined Bright Club and then Police Boys before settling with Dhyanchand Sports Academy, one of the best clubs of the region.
After passing out from Tidke in 2005, the fleet-footed Niyaz did his graduation in Bachelors in Physical Education in 2011.
He started playing all over the country and was selected by SAI, Mumbai. Later he got a job with the South Central Railways on the basis of his unbeatable performance.
A few years back, he was also shortlisted for the Hockey India League (HIL) Auctions but as luck would have it, was not picked by any franchise.
“Bhaiyya, we need a Godfather. Only performing on the field is not enough,” he had said to this newspaper then.
“But I will continue to do what I have to... perform...that’s the only thing in my hand,” Niyaz had said.
Today, Niyaz is proud winner of five national gold medals. He is an integral part of Indian Railways (RSPB) team for more than six years and has won Hockey India Nationals on three successive seasons.
Niyaz was part of the history-making Railways team that won three straight Hockey India organised senior nationals at Pune (2015), Saifai, UP (2016) and Lucknow (2017). The team won bronze last year. They bettered their performance with another gold earlier this year at Gwalior, of which Niyaz was vice-captain.
While representing Mumbai in 2010, Niyaz had won gold at Bhopal nationals.
Niyaz was also selected by now defunct Indian Hockey Federation for Under-16 IHF Centre Talent Hunt held at Amritsar in 2005.
“It is a very proud moment for our family. Niyaz has been working hard for several years to see this day. We are very happy for him,” said his elder brother Imtiyaz who himself was an excellent forward before a knee injury cut short his career.
With medals dangling around his neck, Niyaz never lost hope of making it to national camp. He has rubbed shoulders with almost all the current India players during All India or Hockey India national championships, some of which are his Railways-mates.
Niyaz has partially fulfilled his dream by making it to the list of 60. His continued hard work for next couple of weeks will see whether he fulfils his long pending dream of donning India colours.
By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 6
AUSTRALIAN pace spearhead Pat Cummins might have taken four wickets for his side including that of Virat Kohli but the seamer felt that the innings of Indian captain made the difference in the second One-Day International on Tuesday night.
India posted 250, thanks to Virat Kohli’s responsible 116 and then the bowlers bowled out Australians in last over to win the match by eight runs at VCA Stadium in Jamtha on Tuesday night.
“I think he (Kohli) was the difference, for sure. We had a couple of really good partnerships, Marcus got 50-odd, couple of guys got really good starts but we didn’t have that one guy who got on with it. We knew the longer the game went on, the harder it was going to be to score. So for them to have someone like Virat in at he end, facing lots of balls, he was probably the difference between them getting low-200 or 250.”
“He batted beautifully and he didn’t give any chances. If someone bowls well he’s happy to wait on them and cash in later. But Kohli doesn’t miss out on too many bad balls. It was really good innings. That was the difference today.”
The seamer also praised Kohli’s chanceless innings.
“Really good innings, chanceless. He just played really good shots. I think for the most part we bowled quite well to him but especially the way he played some of the spin, which looked quite tough to play on that wicket, was certainly the difference,” admitted Cummins during a press conference.
Cummins took positives from the lost battle and said that would help them in future.
“It was another close one. Just like the first game. We just couldn’t close out. I thought there were lots of good things we did. To bowl them out obviously is a good thing to get 250 from the position they were win was a pretty good result for us. Then a couple of partnerships were really good. But just — it’s happened a couple of times, we’re just off the mark a little bit,” felt Cummins.
Marcus Stoinis batted well for his 52 runs and the Australians had a chance until he was there in the middle. Cummins praised his innings.
“Yeah when Marcus is there, you always feel like you are in for a chance. He’s been the closer for us the last couple of years, played some unbelievable knocks and assesses the game really well. So with him out there I thought we were a massive chance. He played it beautifully, the way he just counted down the balls, chose the bowlers. To have 11 off the last over against probably their fifth bowler is a pretty good position from where we were. He set it up beautifully (but) just wasn’t his day that last over,” Cummins explained.
Cummins said he loves bowling with the new ball.
“I love bowling with the new ball. Especially in One-Day cricket on these sort of wickets, the ball deteriorates quite quickly. So I love getting the brand new ball and try to swing it around, get a bit of pace and bounce out of the wicket before it tends to go soft. I enjoyed that and am really happy with how I landed pretty much my whole 9 overs.”
Despite two losses Cummins believed that they had some excellent match winners in the side and others are learning how to cope in close games.
“I think we’ve got match-winners in the side. It’s maybe yeah — games like today, we are trying to learn off those guys who won it for the opposition and try to do it. It’s one of those things. When you’re one of the best sides in the world, you do finish those close ones.”
Cummins lauded the innings of their out of form captain Aaron Finch.
“He (Finch) batted really well with Usman at the start there. I think he has played a beautiful innings today. You see how effective he is – one he gets going, the field goes back. He’s one of those batsmen, I know bowling in domestic cricket against him, you do feel under pressure if he’s firing. It’s good to see him (back among runs). He’s such a class player. His record is great in ODI cricket so runs were always going to come around the corner. It was a good innings from him today, I’m sure he’ll keep cashing in,” said Cummins.
India take on Australia in second ODI today
By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 4
ON THE eve of the second One-Day International, Shikhar Dhawan had a long stint in the batting nets. He batted for more than two hours facing net bowlers and India spinners. At times, coach Ravi Shastri went to him and the two had lengthy discussions. Dhawan was not given any respite. He had to even face the throw downs from the support staff.
Last Saturday, the opener had spent maximum time in the Indian dressing room when the hosts chased down the Australian target to go one up in the five-match series at Hyderabad.
A duck in the series opener after failing to make much of an impact in the second T20 (scored 14 of 24) and that too two months ahead of the World Cup might have concerned the Delhi batsman in general and team management in particular. India are in search of a second opener for the World Cup and Dhawan’s
lack of form would put more pressure on the side while picking the final 15.
The second ODI against Australia here at Jamtha Stadium would give another chance to the left-handed opener.
KL Rahul has done exceptionally well in the two T20 Internationals he has played with a half century in the first game and a 26-ball 47 in the second. He would be keen to grab the opportunity, if given, in the coming games.
India, with a morale-boosting win after the T20s loss, would be eager to stretch the gulf with another good show at the venue where they had a good record against the same side. Rohit Sharma, who had scored 125 last time when the two sides met, would love to do an encore.
Captain Virat Kohli is among runs and will continue to do the good work. But he will have to be cautious while negotiating Australian spinner Adam Zampa to whom he has given wicket twice in the series.
“Virat’s wicket is always big but there are also other big wickets,” Zampa said during the pre-match presser.
The little bit of clamour of a “finished Dhoni” has suddenly, and rightly, died down after the responsible innings from the Indian stumper. His match-winning undefeated stand with Kedar Jadhav has forced all the doubters to eat crow. It would be interesting to see how Australian seamers — Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile — and spinner Zampa attack the most matured player of the Indian side. Jadhav has done a world of good just head of World Cup selection. His morale would be high in the second game as well.
Indian bowling looks perfect. They are on the spot. Though Jasprit Bumrah was tad expensive in the first game, he would be a dangerous customer to deal with. Mohd Shami is peaking at the right time and would love to continue in the same vein. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and part-timer Jadhav bowled exceedingly well but how much assist from this wicket they could get would remains to be seen.
“The wicket here looks on the slower side. It will be a challenging game,” said Yadav ahead of the match.
As for the Australians, their biggest worry is the form of captain Aaron Finch on this tour. The opener has just eight runs from three innings.
“Finchy is worried about his form but the atmosphere in the dressing room is great,” Zampa tried to play down the issue.
Usman Khawaja, with a half-century in the first game, will look to building on the same confidence while Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb will have to shoulder the middle order.
Kohli has lost all the three tosses in this series and would pray the coin falls on his side. The wicket looks to assist the batsmen and it would be interesting to see how Dhawan bounces back.
Teams (FROM)
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant, Siddarth Kaul, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja.
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), D’Arcy Short, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins, Andrew Tye, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Nathan Lyon.
Kohli hits 40th ODI ton as India make 250
By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 5
IT WAS not a colossal innings. Neither was it a hurricane knock. What Virat Kohli produced was an innings filled with responsibility, stitched with calmness and driven by sheer control.
The Indian captain slammed a responsible century but other batsmen faltered as India posted 250 against Australia in the second One-Day International here at VCA Stadium in Jamtha on Tuesday.
It was an innings of substance from Kohli who slammed 116 from 120 deliveries and 10 boundaries. His fourth wicket partnership of 81 runs with rookie Vijay Shankar (46, 41b, 5x4, 1x6 ) gave India stability after the hosts were reeling at 75 for three.
Kohli, who entered the field as early as in the second over of India’s innings, frustratingly saw wickets fall from the other end but used all his mental toughness to carve out another best effort. The Kohli-Shankar partnership gave India some edge. More than that, it gave more confidence to Shankar who was playing only his sixth ODI.
India had a poor start with Rohit Sharma (0) and Shikhar Dhawan (21) failing with the bat.
Sharma, who had a century at the venue in 2017, got out for a duck as tried to slap-cut the ball towards third-man only to see Adam Zampa collecting an easy catch off Pat Cummins.
Dhawan started with a couple of boundaries but failed to convert it into big. He flicked one to fence off Nathan Coulter-Nile and then pulled one towards long on to open up his arms. With captain Kohli, the duo added 38 runs for the second wicket. But Dhawan’s innings was cut short by Glenn Maxwell who trapped him in front. Australia asked for DRS after umpire turned down their appeal. However, TV replays showed that the ball was hitting the leg stump and Australia retained their review.
Ambati Rayudu (18) and Kohli tried to resurrect the innings but boundaries dried up. There was a passage of time when not a single boundary was scored for 51 deliveries.
But in the 15th over Rayudu played a beautiful cover drive to hit his first four off Maxwell. In the next over, a Zampa full toss was sent to mid-wicket fence as India started gaining the momentum.
Kohli started well but had to contain his shots after Dhawan’s fall. Occasionally he punished the loose deliveries but most on the times, he played for singles and twos. The Rayudu-Kohli partnership too did not last long. Rayudu was trapped by Nathan Lyon in his first over. After Rayudu’s departure, the Indian captain continued to absorb pressure and hit two successive boundaries off his nemesis Zampa. The first one was between fine-leg and square-leg and the second was through covers giving no chance to the boundary fielders. Shankar, on the other hand, started with a couple and a few singles. He then slapped a boundary in the next Coulter-Nile over breaching three off-side fielders as India reached 100 in the 21st over.
Shankar, who did not get chance in the first ODI, grabbed the opportunity and played some breathtaking shots which even Kohli acknowledged. He once glanced a ball to fine leg boundary and then in the 25th over hit a straight boundary off Coulter-Nile to pace up the innings.
Though Kohli did not entertain the crowd with his huge hits, he cleverly stitched his innings to inch closer to his 40th century.
The incredible Indian captain finally completed his century with a backward point boundary off Coulter-Nile. The innings was totally an unlike Kohli. It did not had even a single six. Most of his shots were carpet driven. The captain achieved personal milestones but wanted to take India miles ahead of the Australians.
But he lacked in partners. Two quick wickets put pressure back on India. Last match’s heroes Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni failed to produce heroics as they were sent back on successive deliveries by Zampa.
First, Jadhav gave a regulation catch to Finch at short cover and then Dhoni nudged one back to Usman Khawaja at first slip for a first ball duck.
Ravindra Jadeja and Kohli added a valuable 67 runs for the seventh wicket which helped India reach 249.
Cummins was the most successful bowler for Australia with four wickets which included the prized wicket of Indian captain. Zampa was the most expensive bowler and took two wickets while Coulter-Nile, Maxwell and Lyon took one each.
Kohli, Shankar give India thrilling win in second ODI
By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 5
PRESSURE brings the best out of this Indian team. Put under pressure in the last game, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav came out victors with their match-winning effort. Here at VCA Jamtha Stadium, Virat Kohli and Vijay Shankar first took the total to 250 and then the latter bowled over of his life taking two wickets in space of three deliveries that helped India beat Australia by eight runs.
In the edge of the seat encounter which went to the last over, Indian bowlers complemented captain Kohli’s responsible century (116; 120b, 10x4) with sharp bowling and thinking to take 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Australia needed 11 from the last over but Shankar took two wickets from his first and third balls to crush their dream.
Seamer Jasprit Bumrah once again proved why he was rated among the top bowlers in the world with figures of 10-0-29-2. Spinner Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Jadhav shared five wickets amongst them which shut the door on the Australians.
After putting up 250, thanks to Kohli’s knock, bowlers strangulated Australia with tight and accurate bowling.
An impressive Bumrah bowled an excellent ninth over picking wickets on his second and fourth deliveries to strengthen the grip. This after Yadav had sent back dangerous-looking Alex Carey (22), after being hit for a four in the same over.
Indian bowlers delivered what their captain demanded. Despite defending a meagre 250 and with Australia starting off well with an 83 runs first wicket partnership between Aaron Finch (37) and Usman Khawaja (38), India never lost hope.
Boundaries flew thick and fast as the Aussie openers raced to 50 in just 9.2 overs. Shankar was hit for 13 runs from his first over with Finch picking up two boundaries and Khawaja one.
But introduction of spinners put brakes on the flow of runs. India managed to halt scoring with two quick wickets.
By 15th over, both openers were back in hut. Yadav trapped Finch in front and exactly after six deliveries, Jadhav bowled a beautiful delivery to force Khawaja give a simple catch to Kohli at short covers.
Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb added 39 runs for the third wicket but never looked comfortable against spinners. Dhoni showed agility behind the stumps taking a sharp catch off Yadav to see the back of Marsh. Dangerman Glenn Maxwell was kept quiet as he consumed 18 deliveries before being bowled by a Yadav delivery which kept low.
Handscomb waged a lone battle scoring 48 runs but was sent back by Jadeja who ran him out with a direct hit.
Marcus Stoinis kept Australian hopes floating with a gritty half century (52) but his departure in the last over sealed the deal.
Earlier, Kohli’s was not a colossal innings. Neither was it a hurricane knock. What he produced was an innings filled with responsibility, stitched with calmness and driven by control.
The Indian captain slammed a responsible ton but other batsmen faltered as managed 250.
It was an innings of substance from Kohli who slammed 116 from 120 deliveries and 10 boundaries, the last one being his 1000th four. His fourth wicket partnership of 81 runs with Shankar (46; 41b, 5x4, 1x6 ) gave India stability after the hosts were reeling at 75 for three.
Kohli, who entered the field as early as in the second over, saw wickets fall from the other end but used his mental toughness to carve out another best effort. The Kohli-Shankar partnership gave India the edge. More than that, it gave confidence to Shankar playing only his sixth ODI.
Apart from the 81-run stand, Kohli also had a very important 67 runs partnership with Jadeja (12) which was instrumental in India reaching 250 mark.
Kohli started well but had to curtail his shots. Occasionally, he punished loose deliveries but most of the times he played for singles and twos.
His innings was unlike Kohli. It did not have a single six. Most of his shots were carpet driven. The captain achieved personal milestones but wanted to take India miles ahead of the Australians. But he lacked in partners.
Two quick wickets put pressure back on India. Last match’s heroes Jadhav and Dhoni were sent back on successive deliveries by Zampa.
Shankar played perhaps the best match of his just-started career. Batting with Kohli, flourished. He did exactly that while bowling the last over of the match.
By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 6
CRICKET fans all over the country as well as pundits of the game might have selected Vijay Shankar in the final 15 for the upcoming 50-overs World Cup after his match-winning performance in the second ODI against Australia on Tuesday. However, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder is not losing any sleep over his selection. He is well aware that there is still plenty of cricket to be played before the first ball is bowled in the World Cup.
Shankar first produced an 81 runs partnership with captain Virat Kohli in which he slammed a quickfire 48 off 41 deliveries and then bowled the final over in the pressure situation to take two wickets in three balls to bowl out the Australians.
When asked what was going through his mind during that final over Shankar said, he was mentally prepared for it and was not under any pressure.
“I was just ready for the challenge because I knew I had to bowl that one over. And I was just telling after the 43rd-44th over, I’m going to bowl anytime. Maybe the last over and I should be ready to defend a total of 10 runs or 15 runs. So, I think basically I was mentally prepared for that,” said the match winning all-rounder. Shankar who was criticised for his slow batting during the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka late last year said that tournament has taught him a lot.
“To be honest the Nidahas Trophy has taught me too many things. I learnt to how to stay neutral after that. Be it high or low, it doesn’t matter. I need to stay calm and neutral all the time. I’ve told previously also that I never think about the selection or World Cup thing because it’s a long way off from now and we have too many matches to play after this. Every game is very important. I just look to giving my best and win a game for the team,” added Shankar.
Shankar, who was hit for 13 runs in his first over during the second ODI, said he is working hard on his bowling
“Every session, I work very hard on all aspects of my game, especially bowling. I know I need to keep working on it. Sometimes, in the last two games that I played, I might not have bowled much, I might have gone for runs in the overs that I bowled. Last over was much-needed over for me and to defend that... this will give the team some confidence that I can do it. Only when I start doing it (bowling well), the team will start trusting me a lot more and I’ll start bowing a lot more. It’s all in my hands. I need to keep delivering wherever I get the ball,” Shankar explained.
Shankar said his is not goading over the two wickets he got in the last over and also played down his freak run out during the match.
“I am just pretty neutral. Just because I got the two wickets in the last over does not make me feel really high or happy. I am happy about that but I am not so high and all. I am trying to enjoy the moment and then go ahead with that.
“Of course, when you get run out like this, I won’t say unfortunate, that was struck and he (Kohli) hit the ball so hard and I didn’t have much time to get back in (to the crease) but then these things happen in cricket. As long as I bat well and as long as contribute to the team’s win, I will be happy.”
It was his seam partner Jasprit Bumrah who guided him after the 48th over was bowled. Bumrah gave only 1 run in that over which put more pressure on Australia.
“After the 48th over, Bumrah came up to me and said that the ball is reversing a bit and he told me that I need to hit the right length on this wicket, where I give myself a chance to hit the stumps. When he told that, I was mentally clear and I thought I should do that.
“The only way to defend those runs is (by) picking wickets, if I can bowl straighter, (I’ll) give myself a chance to take wickets, I’ll have more chance to hit the stumps,” said Shankar.
The all rounder said it was difficult to bat on the wicket which was slow and had low bounce.
“It was little bit difficult in the morning, I felt it was coming a bit slow and the bounce was also not that much. It was bit low when compared to other normal wickets. It’s a challenge for us to adapt ourselves quickly to it (the pitch) and do it for the team, whatever the team needs at that point of time…. We had good communication in the middle, me and Virat had a good partnership and it was very important for me as well, so I enjoyed playing (in) that situation and did reasonably well,” he added.
This was not for the first time that Shankar had bowled the last over of the innings.
“I have bowled the last over for my club or for my team that I play for. But, this is something, everyone would love to take that challenge, because you are representing your country and it is an opportunity for you to win the match for your country, so as I said I was (prepared).
“The preparation which I did after the 40th over helped me a bit to stay really calm. To be honest, I was not under any pressure, because to defend 10 runs, it is going to be a challenge but the good thing was they were (down) for eight and I had the opportunity to pick those two wickets and give myself a chance to win it for the team,” Shankar concluded.
