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Babar Azam Recalls Virat Kohlis Advice Which Helped Him Improve His Game

Babar Azam recalls Virat Kohli's advice which helped him improve his game

Pakistan skipper across formats, Babar Azam on Wednesday became the fourth Pakistani batsman to secure the top spot in ICC Rankings for batsmen in ODI cricket. He leapfrogged Virat Kohli to occupy the numero uno position. Babar Azam has been one of the finest young cricketers of the modern generation and time and again experts and fans have compared Babar with Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

With the sort of rivalry, India and Pakistan share both on and off the field, comparisons are bound to come but whenever Babar has been compared with Kohli the former has always said he looks up to Kohli and he has a lot more to achieve which Kohli already has in his international career.

After becoming the No 1 ODI batsman in world cricket, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released a video where Babar can be seen indulging in an interactive session with his teammate Imam-ul-Haq. During that brief interaction, Babar Azam revealed that how a piece of advice from Virat Kohli helped him in his own batting.

“Previously, I used to play at nets with a casual mind but slowly I overcame this. I understood that If I am not taking my sessions seriously, how can I perform in matches?,” Babar said.

“In this regard, I once talked to Virat Kohli and he told me to take net sessions as seriously as matches. If you get out and play rash shots in nets, subsequently you will do the same in a match,” he added.

Babar Azam whose ultimate dream is to become the No 1 batsman in Test cricket said that Kohli’s advice helped him a lot and that has helped him bat with more intensity in the nets.

“His advice helped me and now I don’t get satisfied with my batting at nets. If my net session doesn’t go well, I am disturbed throughout the day,” Babar said.

Babar Azam looked in sublime touch during the recently concluded ODI series against the Proteas. He began the series with a brilliant century and followed it up with a match-winning 94 of 82 deliveries in the series decider. His consistent run helped him get eight points clear of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Meanwhile, he also smashed a match-winning century in the 3rd T20I which helped Pakistan chase down a mammoth target of 205 with utmost ease. His knock of 122 came in just 59 deliveries as Pakistan chased the target down with two overs to spare.

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Coach Simon Katich commends maturity of Glenn Maxwell after win over Sunrisers Hyderabad

Glenn Maxwell has received a lot of praise for playing a match-winning innings against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 14. Maxwell came to bat at the number four position and helped RCB reach a defendable total although big wickets fell around him. Katich commended Maxwell for showing maturity and assessing the game situations perfectly to the RCB’s advantage. "He's shown a lot of maturity, particularly today (against SRH on Wednesday) when wickets were falling around him... He summed up the conditions really well and took the game deep, that's credit to him for his experience for summing it up and then executing right at the end when we needed some quick runs," Katich said in a video posted on RCB'’s Twitter timeline. Katich has hailed Maxwell for his quality as a team man as he has been helping other young players in the preparation for the games. Katich said that Maxwell has helped young guys in developing their fielding skills so that they can make an impact while in the field as well. "He's taken a lot of the young guys under his wing at fielding practice, worked with him on that aspect of our game because we know that's an area we have to keep being good and really open up opportunities for run out and catches." Notably, Maxwell’s innings turned out to be the difference between the two sides as his presence at the crease till the last ball made sure the Royal Challengers were not out of the game in the first innings itself. He scored his first fifty in the IPL since the 2016 edition and looks like he is really flourishing in the RCB camp after enduring a horrendous season last year with the then Kings XI Punjab.

IPL 2021: Shahbaz Ahmed has proved his worth in the team says Mohammed Siraj

Royal Challengers Bangalore speedster Mohammed Siraj hailed Shahbaz Ahmed for his match-winning performance and feels that the all-rounder has done enough to justify his selection in the playing XI. His three-wicket overturned the game on its head and eventually helped RCB win a cliffhanger by just 6 runs. With SRH requiring 35 in the last 4 overs, captain Virat Kohli handed over the ball to Shahbaz Ahmed. It was a brave call from Virat Kohli and Shahbaz repaid the faith showed in him by his skipper. Jonny Bairstow who is a sensational striker of the ball was at the crease with a well set Manish Pandey. Shahbaz Ahmed was not overawed with the decision and gave the ball a rip and bagged three wickets in the over. He bamboozled Bairstow and Manish Pandey in successive deliveries and then bagged the wicket of hard-hitter Abdul Samad which tilted the scales in favour of Bangalore. “Both Shahbaz Ahmed and Rajat Patidar (who played the last game as Devdutt Padikkal was unavailable) have been brilliant in the practice games,” Siraj said in the post-match press conference. Shahbaz, as an all-rounder, gives us that extra option with his left-arm spin. The wicket was slow and turning also. Shahbaz Ahmed fitted into it for this game and did the job for us,” he added. Siraj said that with two right-handers in the middle Virat Kohli decided to give the ball to Shahbaz Ahmed despite an experienced Washington Sundar having some overs up his sleeve. That call proved to be a masterstroke as RCB eventually won a nail-biter by just 6 runs. “We had overs left of Washington Sundar too. But Virat bhai thought with two right-handers at the crease, a left-arm spinner could be brought." “He created a chance with Manish Pandey in his first over, and that”s why he bowled another, and that changed the game for us,” said Siraj. Mohammed Siraj was himself quite impressive during his four-over spell bagging two wickets conceding just 25 runs. He had a sensational start to his spell beginning with a maiden and followed it up with another tight over. However, he was taken to the cleaners in his 3rd over but came back well in his final over after getting smashed for a six by Rashid Khan. “I just try to swing the ball with the new ball. I got swing the first ball and I thought to do more of that and get a couple of wickets." Siraj said. “The dew factor is also there and we have to overcome that. I always aim to hit back of length and let the batsmen make mistake,” he added.

Supreme Court adjourns proceedings in matter related to Sourav Ganguly -Jay Shah role in BCCI

The Supreme court on Thursday, April 15 adjourned the hearing in the case related to BCCI officer bearers such as president Sourav Ganguly, Secretary Jay Shah and Joint Secretary Jayesh George. A two-judge bench comprising of Justice Justice L Nageshwara Rao and Justice Vineet Saran adjourned the proceedings as the Amicus Curiae of the case PS Narasimha failed to submit his report and sought more time. The case pertains to BCCI’s appeal in the Supreme Court to waive off the ‘cooling period’ clause in the constitution adopted by the Apex court on the recommendations of the Justice Lodha committee in 2018. According to the constitution, the trio of Ganguly, Shah and George were to go through a cooling period of three years as having served as cricket administrators at the BCCI or at the state level for six continuous years. Their tenure had ended in mid last year, but BCCI knocked on Apex court’s door to allow continuity in administration. Recently, Sourav Ganguly had said in an interview that he will decide his next career move on the basis of the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter pertaining to his eligibility as the BCCI president. Notably, Justice Rao has overseen the departure of N Srinivasan and Anurag Thakur from the post of BCCI president in the past and if Ganguly is shown the exit door, he will be the third boss of Indian cricket to have his fate settled by India’s top court.

IPL 2021: Virat Kohli reprimanded for breaking IPL Code of Conduct

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli got reprimanded by the match referee Vengalil Narayan Kutty during the 6th match of the Indian Premier League against the Sunrisers Hyderabad for breaching IPL’s Code of Conduct on Wednesday. Kohli who is always animated on the field was charged with a Level 1 breach of clause 2.2 which relates to "Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during a Match". The match looked done and dusted with SRH looking well on course for a convincing victory until a major collapse allowed RCB to claw their way back into the game and in the end, they registered a 6 runs victory. Meanwhile, television cameras caught Kohli kicking an advertising cushion and also knocking down a chair beside the dugout after he was dismissed by Jason Holder after making 33. It must be noted that former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir also did a similar thing in 2016 against a match against RCB and was docked 15 per cent of his match fees. Royal Challengers Bangalore won their second successive game in the competition after beating SRH by 6 runs. They started off the tournament with a victory against the Mumbai Indians in the curtain-raiser and continued their winning streak against SRH. The victory was largely possible due to a magnificent half-century by Glenn Maxwell and some exceptional bowling by Shahbaz Ahmed and Harshal Patel in the final few overs.