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Gautam Gambhir Urges Media To Stop Comparing Rishabh Pant To Ms Dhoni

Gautam Gambhir urges media to stop comparing Rishabh Pant to MS Dhoni

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has asked the media to stop comparing Rishabh Pant and his qualities to MS Dhoni. Gambhir who has won two IPL titles as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders said that the talks about his similarity with Dhoni put Pant under immense pressure and he starts modelling his game in accordance to MS Dhoni. He suggested that Pant is no Dhoni and that he too should accept himself as a different player and stop thinking about it after listening from people.

“First of all, you have to stop saying that Rishabh Pant is the next MS Dhoni. That is one thing which media needs to stop doing it. The more media talks about it, the more Rishabh Pant starts thinking on those chances. He can never be MS Dhoni. He has to be Rishabh Pant,” Gambhir said on ESPNCricinfo's post-match show after another poor outing by Rishabh Pant in the Delhi Capitals’ loss against the Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier.

Gambhir also went on to decipher the difference between MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant in terms of the range of shots they had at the time of making an entry into international cricket. Gambhir said that Pant has a lot to work on both in keeping the wicket and batting if he has to do well in international cricket for a long period of time.

“MS Dhoni probably had so much of range when he came on to international scenes. With Rishabh Pant, only because he could hit those big sixes and stuff, people started comparing him with someone like MS Dhoni. Rishabh Pant has a lot to improve, especially from the keeping point of views and from the batting point of view as well,” he added.

Pant has had an abysmal season with the bat in the ongoing edition of the IPL as he could manage to accumulate only 285 runs from the 12 matches he has played so far.

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Brian Lara heaps praise on Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer

India and Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah and English seamer have been running riots in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League and the duo has earned praise from one of the best batsman to have ever played the game. Brain Lara, who is commonly known as the Prince of Trinidad, has said that both Jasprit Bumrah and Archer possess the quality that would have earned them a big reputation in any era including the 70s, and 80s when the West Indies were running through teams on the back of superlative quartet of pacers in an interview to Hindustan Times. On the question of whether he would have relished the challenges of falling Archer or Bumrah in his heydays, Lara did not shy away from expressing that he would have loved to take on these ace pers of the modern-day game. Notably, Jasprit Bumrah has been in menacing form and with every game, his stocks have only risen. Having made his debut in Test cricket back in 2018, Bumrah has grown massive steps to become the spearhead of the Indian bowling line up across formats. On the other hand, Jofra Archer has been the go-to man for English cricket since the time he made his debut last year. He played instrumental roles in England clinching the ODI World Cup last year and proved to be one of the glimmers of hope for the English cricket team after a not-so-good Ashes series at home.

West Indies' Rovman Powell eager to take on Kiwis in front of crowd

West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell has expressed his excitement on the prospect of the chance to perform in front of crowds in the upcoming series against the Kiwis after the New Zealand government has allowed the entry of fans into stadiums after effectively eliminating the virus. "It has been a while. I think it's the longest cricket has gone without playing in front of crowds. So it's good that New Zealand has dealt with their COVID situation the way they have so we will be able to play in front of crowds,” Powell said about the possible presence of cricket fans in the stadium during the upcoming series. West Indies cricketers who are not part of the ongoing Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates are counting down days as they are spending their quarantine period in New Zealand. They are set to face the host New Zealand for a three-match T20 series and two-match Test series starting November 27. Windies have tested negative for coronavirus upon their arrival in the country and will be released from isolation after another round of negative tests.

Jasprit Bumrah not thinking of wickets; happy at executing role given by team

Having judged the Man of the Match in the qualifier 1 against the Delhi Capitals, Jasprit Bumrah has said that he is not at all worried about the outcome of a game and rather being focussed on executing the plans in the best way possible. Bumrah was sensational with the ball and uprooted the Delhi Capitals’ batting order right from the start to the end. "I am okay with not getting wickets and winning the tournament, I have been given a role so I just want to execute that role. I am always ready when the captain wants me to bowl. I don't focus on the end result. When I have done that it's always gone downhill,” Bumrah said in the post-match presentation ceremony after helping his side in earning a spot in the IPL final. Bumrah was assigned a somewhat different task by Rohit Sharma in the Qualifier as he was being held back in the past game to control the momentum of the game in the middle overs. However, ending an in-form Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit decided to team up Bumrah with Boult with the new ball and it worked wonders for the team as the Delhi’s top order was down to the drain even before opening the score. Bumrah showed his impeccable presence of mind by bowling a fast and swinging yorker to Shikhar Dhawan who seemed to be late on the ball as he must have been expecting a fuller ball in on the off stump line. The fact that the yorker came out well on the night and it dismissed Dhawan left Bumrah pleased with his efforts. "Opening yorker was really important. I decided I will do that early in the game and when it comes off it's always nice," Bumrah said of his searing yorker to Dhawan in the second over of the Capitals’ chase. The Qualifier game was nothing short of sensational for both Bumrah and the Mumbai Indians as the two bowlers achieved an outstanding feat of double-wicket maidens. Trent Boult bowled the first over of the inning and scalped out the big wickets of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane on consecutive balls followed by Bumrah’s efforts of a double-wicket maiden in the 16th over by dismissing Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams. It was the first time in the history of the IPL that two bowlers of the same team achieved double-wicket maidens in a game. It was a second double wicket-maiden for Bumrah for the season as the purple cap holder this year had already taken two wickets in an over without conceding any runs in a match against the Royals Challengers Bangalore.

Virat Kohli flags concerns on life in 'repetitive' bio-secure bubbles

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has flagged the concerns about the mental health of players in current situations when they are travelling from one biosecure bubble to another in order to play cricket in the covid-free environment. In a video interaction with his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, Kohli suggested that the longevity of the tour must be considered keeping the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent protocols imposed by it in the near future. However, he suggested that if the bunch of guys living together are comfortable and give good vibes to each other, the life inside a biosecure bubble is not that difficult. "It's repetitive, it's not as tough when the group of guys is amazing, which we have. Everyone part of that bio-bubble is really nice, the vibe has been so good. That's precisely why we've enjoyed playing together, just enjoyed our time in the bubble as well. But it does get difficult at times because it is repetitive," Kohli said to RCB’s Youtube channel. Kohli has been a vocal supporter for the discussion of the impact that too much of competitive cricket leaves on certain player’s mental capacity and hence the admission as the Indian team is all set to embark on the tour of Australia immediately after closure of IPL is a significant development.