EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2019 SPORT 19 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Kohli and Dhoni named captains Kiwis look to stop Aussie juggernaut of Test, ODI teams of decade The two sides have been picked by Australia

Press Trust of India ing scored nine hundreds (six in Tests, three in ODIs) Virat Kohli has been named Down Under. of the Test XI of the Kohli is primed to shatter decade by ’s more records, having ended official news website, while 2019 as the leading Mahendra Singh Dhoni was run­getter. chosen leader of its ODI The others in the Test XI team of the decade. of the decade include Alas­ tair Cook, , No surprise , Steve Will he, won’t he? and will be waiting anxiously on news of It is not a surprise that Kohli Smith, A.B. de Villiers, Ben ’s availability for the Boxing Day Test. * GETTY IMAGES finds himself in both the Test Stokes, , Stuart and ODI teams. The 31­year­ Broad, and Agence France-Presse cricket calendar. zlewood who was injured in old has arguably been the James Anderson, ‘cricket.co­ Melbourne The last time New Zea­ Perth. James Pattinson is set best batsman over the last m.au’ posted. is hopeful of land faced Australia in a Box­ to play alongside Pat Cum­ decade. The website’s ODI team of having pace spearhead ing Day Test was in 1987 with mins and . He has already amassed the decade is led by Dhoni, Trent Boult back to help halt the home side holding on for The teams (from): Australia: 70 international hundreds who captained India to two a rampant Australia in the a draw despite blistering (Capt.), David War- and is only behind Ricky World titles, in 2007 and Black Caps’ first Boxing Day from the legendary ner, Joe Burns, Marnus Labus- Ponting (71) and Sachin Ten­ 2011, respectively. Test at the MCG in more than . chagne, , Matthew dulkar (100). Rohit Sharma, who had a 30 years. What sort of on Wade, , Pat Cum- Kohli, who averages more memorable 2019, which in­ The veteran, suffering a Thursday is the great un­ mins, Mitch Starc, Nathan than 50 in all formats, is also cluded five hundreds in the side strain, was badly missed known. Only a fortnight ago, Lyon, James Pattinson, and . third in the list of leading World Cup, is one of the during the opening Test in play was abandoned during run­scorers of all time with openers in the team along­ Perth, when the visitors a domestic Sheffield Shield New Zealand: Kane Williamson 21,444 runs, behind Ponting side . were thrashed by 296 runs game at the ground due to a (Capt.), Todd Astle, Tom Blun- dell, Trent Boult, Colin de (27,483) and Tendulkar Kohli is the number three, in stifling conditions. dangerous pitch, with errat­ Grandhomme, Lockie Fergu- (34,357). followed by de Villiers, Sha­ But he has been toiling in ic bounce seeing balls rise son, Matt Henry, , The India skipper has kib Al Hasan, Jos Buttler, the nets and expects to be sharply and unexpectedly to Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval, scored runs all around the Dhoni, , Mitch­ ready for a rare appearance pummel the batsmen. , Tim Southee, Leaders par excellence: Cricket Australia has recognised the leadership qualities of M.S. Dhoni world but Australia has been ell Starc, Trent Boult and La­ by his country on one of the Australia goes into the se­ , B-J. Watling, and and Virat Kohli * FILE PHOTO: VIVEK BENDRE a special place for him, hav­ sith Malinga. best­known dates on the cond Test without Josh Ha­ .

Ganguly hails Ashwin Kumble happy with KXIP’s new acquisitions Tata Open 2020: no Vijay Lokapally top-20 player in the fray Says his efforts go unnoticed at times NEW DELHI Experts believe that Kings XI Sports Bureau Karlovic (finalist 2019) and PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Punjab appears the strongest PUNE Czech Jiri Vesely. German NEW DELHI and most balanced team, on The long­running streak of Peter Gojowczyk is the last BCCI president and paper, in IPL 2020. at least one top­10 player direct entrant at 117. The former India skipper For , KXIP di­ turning up for India’s only top­two Indian singles Sourav Ganguly, on rector of cricket operations, ATP 250 event, the Tata players, Prajnesh Gunnes­ Tuesday, hailed R. Ashwin the presence of West Indies Open Maharashtra (Aircel waran and Sumit Nagal, are for finishing the decade as left­arm fast bowler Sheldon Open till 2017), is ranked 124 and 130. the highest wicket­taker in Cottrell and hard­hitting Aus­ set to be snapped. Other than the 19 direct international cricket, but tralian could The 19­player direct ac­ acceptances, there will be feels his achievement has be the crucial factor, along ceptance list announced on two special exempts, 3 wild not got the recognition it with Rahul being at the helm. Tuesday for next year’s cards and four qualifiers in deserves. event (February 3 to 9) the 28­player field. There Ganguly’s tweet came Covering the bases doesn’t feature a single may yet be a possibility of a after the International “The auction went well. The top­20 player, let alone big star picking up a wild Cricket Council (ICC) idea was to cover all bases top­10, whereas in the last card for the tournament, listed the top wicket­ and make sure you have few years the competition but the chances appear

takers of the decade. enough to take care of any sit­ Glenn Maxwell. * GETTY IMAGES . * AP Anil Kumble. * RAJEEV BHATT has had at least two top­20 slim. Ashwin is on top with uation, any opposition, any players. “During our discussions 564 scalps and is the only R. Ashwin. surface. So I think, it has a in the past,” Kumble told The have to play play for In the earlier avatar, the with some of the top players

spinner in the list. * V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM blend of raw talent, expe­ Hindu. that role. In a T20 game, play­ the same team (Bengal). tournament occupied the we wanted to bring, there England duo James rience and some wonderful On the foreign players, ing at No. 5 or 6 is never easy “Then we have Arshdeep coveted season­opening slot was an indication that the Anderson and Stuart @bcci .. what an effort .. young players who have per­ Kumble said, “The four fo­ but he has the potential. We Singh. We wanted a young all­ but this year it will be sand­ Europeans will return to Eu­ Broad followed him with just get a Feeling it goes formed at the highest level. reigners we have will comple­ also have Mandeep (Singh) rounder and that’s why we wiched between the Austra­ rope after the Australian 535 and 525 while unnoticed at times .. super “We are happy that we ment the others — Mujeeb Ur and Sarfaraz (Ahmed) along picked (Darshan) Nalkande. lian Open and the hard­ Open,” said Prashant Sutar, New Zealand’s Tim stuff .. (sic.),” Ganguly were able to get Cottrell and Rahman, with Karun Nair.” is a good wrist­ court swing in the the Tournament Director. Southee (472) and Trent tweeted. ( James) Neesham, who will and, of course, the ‘Universe The bowling, insisted Kum­ spinner. We wanted to give a Americas. “Having said that, the Boult (458) are fourth and Ashwin lost his place in be the all­rounder and has the Boss’ ().” ble, looked healthy too. “Ish­ chance to (batsman) Simran Frenchman Benoit Paire, players who will come to fifth. white­ball cricket in 2017 experience of not just playing Kumble was pleased with an Porel has shown a lot of Singh, wanted to promote lo­ ranked 24, leads the pack, Pune have produced some “Most international after the rise of Kuldeep international cricket but also the Indian contingent too. promise in domestic cricket, cal talent. Have heard good the next highest being Lith­ outstanding results recently wickets for ashwin this Yadav and Yuzvendra in India. We were also able to “We have picked those with has a mature head. We expect things about him and looking uanian Ricardas Berankis and we are confident that decade @ashwinravi99 Chahal. get (Glenn) Maxwell back be­ experience who can play No. him to do really well. The oth­ forward to working with all of (66). Other notable names the tournament will be of a cause he’s done well for KXIP 5 or 6 and also bowl a bit. We er advantage is that he and them.” include the 40­year­old Ivo high level.”

Kohli stays on top, Unwritten books to mull over Rahane slips as the year winds to a close

dekar and Bishan Bedi were at logger­ history of the politics and principles (or heads, two players went at each other lack thereof ) since the BCCI was with cricket bats. Sunil Gavaskar wrote, formed in December 1928. “It was a totally disastrous series and Taking What Was Left — The Story of the tour was one of the worst I made.” Vijayakrishna: Bharamaiah Vijayak­ The Philosophy of Cricket: There rishna, who turned 70 this year, was a have been recent books on the subject left­arm spinner and batsman who BETWEEN WICKETS by Mike Brearley (On Form), Gary Cox played a key role in Karnataka’s first ( ), while other philosophers Ranji Trophy triumph. He played 80 suresh menon Cricket Ball have written on the game including Da­ matches, and picked up 194 wickets, vid Stove, David Papipeau, Samir Cho­ which was remarkable in a team which Jadeja, the No. 2 As the year draws to a close, and lists of pra and Edward Craig. Yet the definitive for the most part relied on Erapalli Pra­ all-rounder. * FILE PHOTO the best and worst books are compiled, book is yet to be written. sanna and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar. He let us look at a third category : books The Real : Is India’s was a maverick, and the focal point of Press Trust of India that haven’t been written yet. greatest batsman the perfect man all of some excellent anecdotes. Dubai In A League of Their Own : The story us have made him out to be? Did he How I Invented the Doosra by Saq­ India skipper Virat Kohli of great clubs in leagues around the have no weak spots as batsman or per­ lain Mushtaq: The Pakistani off­spinner will end the year as the top­ world, teams often inspired by the for­ son? What corners did he cut, and what is credited with inventing the doosra, ranked batsman while Ajin­ midable club cricketer rather than the was the impact when he stepped out of the off­spin bowler’s variation which kya Rahane slipped a rung international. his public persona? Not so much tear­ spins from leg to off. Saqlain chanced to be seventh in the ICC The Many Ups and Downs of Venka­ ing down a national hero as introducing upon it while playing with a table tennis Test rankings issued on traghavan: India’s great off­spinner had some balance. No genius existed with­ ball, and has claimed it can be delivered Tuesday. a fascinating career. He was a student of out a touch of madness, the philosoph­ with a legitimate bowling action if one Kohli (928) remained 17 the game and could have been one of er Aristotle told us. What about a touch masters it. The previous ‘new’ points ahead of Australia’s India’s best captains. But he led in just of frailty? for spin, the googly, was invented by Steve Smith who occupied five Tests, and had the mortification of Bradman v Fingleton, Gavaskar v Bernard Bosanquet who also developed the second spot while New hearing of his sacking from the pilot on Bedi: Personality Clashes in the Game: it from a table­top game called Twisti­ Zealand captain Kane Wil­ the flight home from the England tour There are books on the former, not on Twosti. The object was to bounce a ten­ lamson (864) ends the year of 1979. He first led against the West In­ the latter. Some clashes can be put nis ball on a table so that it could not be at No. 3. dies in 1974­75 following much drama down to the ego, others to the result of caught by an opposing player. (791) ahead of the Delhi Test, and was made grown men spending days and weeks The Complete Story of Match­fixing retained his fourth spot. 12th man in the next Test. Post­retire­ together on tour when what’s bubbling at the Turn of the Century: How many and Ro­ ment, he took up umpiring to serve the beneath can often come to the surface. players were involved besides Hansie hit Sharma wrapped up the game he loved. He became secretary of Teams win without team spirit — its use­ Cronje and Mohammad Azharuddin? top 20, occupying the 12th the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, ful to be reminded of this. How deep did the malaise go? When did and 15th spots. and played league cricket well into his Hypocrisy as Art — The story of the it all start? Which are the fixed games retained forties. BCCI: India’s governing body has been we know nothing of? Who was pulling his sixth spot in the bow­ What Really Happened in 1974: It is called out on many occasions, most the strings from the outside? How did lers’ list headed by Austra­ 45 years since that tour of England, notably when the Supreme Court at­ the various actors in the drama lia’s . when India lost all the Tests, were bow­ tempted to clean it up recently. Yet communicate? Among Test all­roun­ led out for 42 at Lord’s, were chided by there is something about the air the ad­ I Am a Woman, Sue Me: Women are ders, the High Commissioner, had to deal ministrators breathe that seems to no longer second class citizens of the stayed at No. 2 behind West with a shop lifting case, all apart from make them impervious to criticism, cricketing world. How and when did Indies’ . the personnel issues. Skipper Ajit Wa­ and even the law. What is this magic? A this come about, especially in Asia?

CM M ND-NDE YK