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Tag: Dubai cricket

Champions Trophy: Virat Kohli headlines six Indians in ICC’s ‘Team of the Tournament’
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Champions Trophy: Virat Kohli headlines six Indians in ICC’s ‘Team of the Tournament’

The talismanic Virat Kohli was the biggest name among six Indian players picked in the 12-member ‘Team of the Tournament’ for the Champions Trophy.India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final here on Sunday to win the tournament for the third time after 2002 (joint winners) and 2013. India have been runners-up twice in 2000 and 2017. Besides Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy and pacer Mohammed Shami featured in the playing XI, while all-rounder Axar Patel was named the 12th man. Story continues below this ad The Black Caps have four members of their squad making the team, including Player of the Tournament Rachin Ravindra, with Mitchell Santner being named captain. The much-awaited Champions Trophy Team of the Tou...
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ICC Champions Trophy: Why India should be wary of New Zealand in the final
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ICC Champions Trophy: Why India should be wary of New Zealand in the final

In Sunday’s ICC Champions Trophy final, India will face New Zealand, a side that will give them a stiff challenge. Having already played India at the venue last Sunday, New Zealand know what to expect in terms of conditions, which South Africa wouldn’t have had, if they had made it. The Indian Express takes a look at the reasons that make New Zealand a strong side to overcome in the final. Spin in the tale If there is any team in the Champions Trophy that could match or come close to India in terms of spin bowling resources, it is the Kiwis. Led by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, they have three other spin bowling options in Michael Bracewell, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra. So in terms of variety in the spin department, they have their bases covered. In their group match, India cam...
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Champions Trophy controversy: Why ‘advantage India’ criticism from Pat Cummins and Michael Atherton about Dubai pitches is valid
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Champions Trophy controversy: Why ‘advantage India’ criticism from Pat Cummins and Michael Atherton about Dubai pitches is valid

These are still early days of the Champions Trophy, but the prefix ‘neutral venue’ before Dubai for India’s matches is already inviting chuckles. In a tournament hosted by Pakistan, it is India — thanks to the conditions in Dubai — which is feeling more at home, with teams in Group B already sweating at the prospect of playing their semi-finals here on March 4. It’s somewhat akin to suddenly land up in Chennai to play on carefully-curated sluggish tracks that abet Chennai Super Kings. What’s more, here India don’t have any ‘away’ game. With the match between Australia and South Africa washed out at Rawalpindi on Tuesday, the Group B is now wide open with Wednesday’s fixture between England and Afghanistan at Lahore being a knockout clash. Once that happens, the calculators would be out of ...
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It’s beyond a game, that’s the beauty of India-Pakistan cricket, says Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed
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It’s beyond a game, that’s the beauty of India-Pakistan cricket, says Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed

If one thought Pakistan coming to Dubai could ease the pressure of them playing in front of home fans, in a must-win contest against India, their head coach Aaqib Javed seemed more intent on treating Sunday’s clash as ‘beyond a game’. He wouldn’t stop there, and even claimed: ‘If you remove this pressure, what’s left in the Pakistan-India game? Passion and pressure is what is needed to show a player his performance.” Already facing pressure of expectations of doing well in the first ICC event they are hosting in 29 years, they go into the game against India with the added pressure of this being a must-win fixture. “There is no game you can say you play without pressure. The first game we lost, okay. New Zealand is a very strong team. They have good balance… After losing a game there is ano...
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Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, and spinners star as India beat Bangladesh in spin-friendly conditions
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Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, and spinners star as India beat Bangladesh in spin-friendly conditions

It was the start that India needed to kick off their Champions Trophy campaign. Despite having all the arsenal that makes them a formidable white-ball outfit, there were a few doubts coming into the tournament especially against a spin-heavy attack. And through the course of their six-wicket win against Bangladesh, India went about ticking all the boxes, showing their blueprint could after all be foolproof in these conditions in Dubai where other teams are likely to struggle to get used to the nature of the surfaces. More importantly, in the afternoon Mohammed Shami rediscovered his rhythm and their spin formula showed it would work wonders in these slow conditions, more so if they get a chance to bowl first. In the evening, a fluent Shubman Gill scored his second successive century in as ...
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