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I Dont Function That Way Venkatesh Iyer On Being Compared To Hardik Pandya

I don’t function that way: Venkatesh Iyer on being compared to Hardik Pandya

Venkatesh Iyer who received his maiden India ODI call-up when the team was announced for the South Africa tour, said that he is not in the team in anyone’s place, but he is there because he deserves to be there.

Talking to a popular Newspaper, Iyer was asked if he would be able to fill Hardik Pandya’s shoes, as he is basically being groomed as a finisher who could bowl 6-7 overs of fast bowling as well. Answering that, the 27-year-old said, "I'm not here to fill anyone's shoes.”

“I want to contribute to the team's victory, and that's my mindset. I'm not thinking that a certain player would come back or that he's not in the team, that's why I'm in the side. That's not how I function. I believe that I'm in the team because I can bat and bowl,” he added further.

Asked about how he has prepared himself to play on the bouncy tracks of South Africa, Iyer, who shot to fame because of a terrific second leg of the IPL 2021, said, "I think I've played a lot on bouncy tracks. The best thing about playing domestic cricket is that you get to play on a variety of tracks. In India, we have a lot of tracks where there's extra bounce. All my practice procedures are set, and I'm keeping up with them.”

The Madhya Pradesh player was seen bowling a lot in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy and he even picked nine wickets in six games. Asked about whether and how he will convince skipper KL Rahul to bowl him more, Iyer said, "It's not about convincing, but it's at the back of the captain and coach's mind to make me bowl more, and whenever I get the opportunity to bowl, I'll definitely try to give my best."

Rahul will lead the Indian side in the three-match series as Rohit Sharma, the newly appointed ODI skipper was not available for the tour due to injury.

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NZ vs BAN | 2nd Test: Bangladesh coach Gibson disappointed with bowlers but hopeful of comeback

Bangladesh bowling coach Ottis Gibson was disappointed with the performance of his bowlers on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Gibson felt that after the high of Mount Maunganui, where his fast bowlers won them the match, it was a reality check served to them on the first day by the New Zealand batters. "We have to learn from today. We bowled too many four-balls today. Too many balls wide outside the off stump. When we missed our lengths, we got cut or got too full to be driven. You can't allow the batters to score down the ground and both sides of the wicket. One of my mantras is you can't control the scoring if you don't control the length. We didn't control the length today to build pressure on them,” said Gibson in post day one press conference. "We saw the highs and lows of international sport today. Last week, we were on a high. We are, perhaps, still feeling the effects of last week's emotional and physical investment. We didn't hit our straps,” he added further. New Zealand scored 349 runs on the first day itself, with Tom Latham and Devon Conway being the prominent gainers. While skipper Latham remained unbeaten on 186, Conway was just one short of his century at the end of day’s play. Gibson agreed that the pitch didn't do as much as they expected, but also conceded to the fact that his bowlers didn't bowl as well as they could have done either. However, the coach was confident that his young bowling attack will hopefully make a comeback on day two of the match. "The guys have been going forward. Ebadot [Hossain] is our most experienced seamer with 12 games. Taskin [Ahmed] is playing his ninth, Shoriful [Islam] is playing his third. Look at the inexperience of the bowling attack and see where they got to last week in terms of growth and learning, but again, today is a lesson for them," he said.

Cricket South Africa denies NOC to contracted players for PSL 2022

Cricket South Africa, the governing body of cricket in the rainbow nation has denied No-Objection Certificates for its centrally contracted players to participate in the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League. Thus PSL 2022, which was expecting to sign Proteas players in the replacement draft would not be able to do that. "It is true that contracted members of the proteas team had their NOCs for the Pakistan Super League refused due to the Proteas international schedule and domestic competitions which must always be prioritised," Graeme Smith, Director of cricket, CSA was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "With an away tour to New Zealand and a home tour against Bangladesh, our contracted players have to be available for their national team duties first and foremost. The same applies with regard to our domestic franchise tournaments which will be starting up soon,” he added. However, the former Proteas captain, who himself knows how important it is for players to participate in foreign leagues not only to earn money but also to get to know the conditions better, said that CSA would have no issues granting NOCs during non-international ties of the team. "If and when opportunities in other international T20 tournaments arise and the timings and fixtures do not clash with our own, CSA will happily approve NOCs, as we have always done in the past,” he said. Non centrally contracted South African players such as Marchant de Lange, Imran Tahir and Rilee Rossouw would still be available to play in PSL 2022. The 2022 season of the league begins on January 27th, 2022 with Karachi Kings taking on defending champions Multan Sultans at the National Stadium in Karachi.

BBL 11 | Ashton Turner leads from the front as Scorchers thrash Sixers in top of the table clash

Perth Scorchers registered their ninth win in the Big Bash League after they defeated Sydney Sixers in a top of the table clash. With this win, Scorchers maintained their position at the top BBL 2021-22 points table. Ashton Turner, the skipper of the Scorchers was the hero with the bat for the team as he scored a brave 69 off just 41 balls to chase down 152 at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour. Scorchers did not have an ideal start as they lost both their openers Kurtis Patterson and Cameron Bancroft in consecutive deliveries of the third over when the team score was only 17. It was then that Turner got together with Laurie Evans and tried to rescue the chasing act, but Evans perished quickly too. At 42-3, Scorchers were staring down the barrel when Turner turned the leader mode on and put on a match-winning 91 run partnership with Aaron Hardie in just 58 balls. At 135-3, with just 17 runs needed off 18 balls, Turner however was removed by Jackson Bird, but not before Scorchers were well within the reach of their 10th win. The formality was completed by Ashton Agar and Chris Sabburg as Hardie also followed in the footsteps of his captain scoring 35 off 31 balls. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Sixers got off to a decent start, reaching the 50 run mark without losing any wicket in the powerplay. However, that start wasn’t converted into anything big as after the departure of both openers Josh Philippe and Justin Avendano, the latter batters couldn’t capitalise. It was only because of an unbeaten partnership of 50 runs off just 27 balls between Jordan Silk and Dan Christian that the Sixers managed to get past the 150 total. With this loss, the Sydney based side remained at number three in the points table, still four points below cross-city rivals Thunder.

Sri Lanka batter Avishka Fernando tests positive for Covid, doubtful for Zimbabwe series

Avishka Fernando, the man in form for Sri Lanka has tested positive for Covid-19 and hence would most likely miss the three-match ODI series against a touring Zimbabwe side. The series is set to begin from January 16 and the probable players for the Sri Lanka squad for that series have already entered the bubble, although the squad is still not announced. Zimbabwe however reached Sri Lanka on Sunday and would be stationed at Kandy, the place where the three-match series would be played at the Pallekele Stadium. According to Sri Lanka Cricket's medical staff, Fernando has received three vaccinations. The booster dose, however, was administered less than two weeks ago. Only Fernando has returned a positive test so far among all the players tested. Since the ban has been lifted from the trio of Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, and Danushka Gunathilaka, the absence of Fernando might not trouble the team as much as it would have otherwise. In his last two games in the LPL 2021, Fernando struck 100 off 64, and 63 off 41 balls. The three ODIs would be part of the CWC Super League and Sri Lanka currently are sixth on its points table after 15 games. Zimbabwe on the other hand are at the bottom in the 13 team league with only two wins from nine games. Hence the three matches are really important for both the teams. The top eight teams qualify directly for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The other five would go into a qualifier where they will face five associate nations and the top two from there will make the World Cup.