TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2016 SPORTS

Kohli masterclass prompts Tendulkar comparisons

NEW DELHI: Indian great Sachin Tendulkar against Australia in a 1998 one-dayer at ed overs under tremendous pressure. as the “best timer of a ball” that he has mature match-winner. remains the gold standard of batting in the Sharjah dubbed “desert storm”. He middled every ball, timed his shots seen. At 27, Kohli stands on the brink of bat- Kohli hates the idea of an on-field con- post-Bradman era but Virat Kohli’s latest mas- Shane Warne was at the receiving end of with surgical precision and found gaps with ting greatness with 36 international centuries frontations that doesn’t include him and terclass in Sunday’s World shootout Tendulkar’s wrath in that match and 18 years eerie regularity to stamp his class. against his name and averages of 44 in tests, Dhoni argued it suits the player who suc- against Australia has prompted comparisons since the contest, the Australian spin great “Of the modern players, I’ve always 51 in one-dayers and 55 in Twenty20 match- ceeded him as India’s test . with his famous compatriot. saw Tendulkar’s shadow in Kohli’s latest thought that Brian Lara was the best placer of es. It has been a fascinating transformation of “He will always be the same,” Dhoni said Not for the first time in the tournament, it knock. “Great knock by @imVkohli Reminded the ball,” former Australia captain Ian a Delhi cricketer perceived initially as yet after the victory in Mohali. “He will be an took Kohli’s masterly knock to get India me of one of your many special innings bud- Chappell told www.espncricinfo.com. “I think another brash brat from the streets of a city aggressive character who will be ready to across the line in a virtual quarter-final dy,” Warne tweeted to his great rival I have got Brian in second spot now.” long accused of inculcating aggression in its take on challenges and he will be aggressive against the reigning 50-overs world champi- Tendulkar after Kohli secured India a place in youth. Since Kohli’s international debut in a on the field. “But he will also improve. He is ons. Kohli remained unbeaten after a sublime the semi-finals on Sunday. LARA’S PRAISE one-dayer against Sri Lanka eight years ago, shifting in the right direction but he is a 82, burnishing his reputation as arguably the Kohli bejewelled his knock with two sixes The West Indian batting great was also Mahendra Singh Dhoni has closely watched tremendous character. He should not lose best chaser in limited-overs cricket with a and nine boundaries and sprinted tirelessly bowled by what he saw and requested the tattoo-wearing, blunt-speaking, heart- his character because that’s what his knock that reminded many of Tendulkar’s 143 between wickets in a flawless display of limit- videos of Kohli’s early days, hailing the Indian on-his-sleeve youngster transform into a strength is.” —Reuters

NEW DELHI: A spectator cheers for South Africa ahead of the T20 cricket tournament match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at The Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Stadium in New Delhi yesterday.— AFP Stokes revels in role as England death bowler

NEW DELHI: Ice-cool allrounder Ben Stokes said yesterday he was revelling in GOOD OMEN his role as England’s death bowler after his “Colly actually did say that at the start of nerves of steel once again kept his side in the tournament that we got beaten by the the World Twenty20. West Indies in the first game. It’s a good With Sri Lanka needing 15 runs to win omen because that’s what happened to MPHALI: India’s Virat Kohli plays a shot during the World T20 cricket tournament match between India and Australia. —AFP and their captain Angelo Mathews hitting him,” Stokes told reporters in New Delhi. England’s bowlers around the park in Under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan, a Saturday’s crunch match in New Delhi, young England side is developing a reputa- Stokes was handed the ball at the start of tion for aggressive strokeplay which has India hails ‘genius’ Kohli the 20th over. surprised many observers. But after spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Stokes is one of the more seasoned Rashid were clattered for 21 in their final members of the team after making his overs, Stokes bowled a string of near per- international debut in 2011. after stunning Aussies fect yorkers and conceded only four runs to He said that as “one of the least experi- secure England’s place in the semi-finals. enced teams out here”, England have an Stokes also held his nerve in England’s opportunity to “prove a lot of people MOHALI: Virat Kohli was hailed as a batting previous match against , taking wrong”. genius yesterday after his brilliant innings led the final over as the minnows fell 16 runs Stokes was born in Christchurch on New India to an improbable victory over Australia and short of their target. Zealand’s South Island and his father was a sealed a semi-finals berth for the hosts at cricket’s Australia praises World While other England bowlers have come New Zealand rugby league international. World Twenty20. unstuck on the global stage-including But while admitting that he might have Kohli hit an unbeaten 82 off 51 balls that mixed T20’s ‘Virat show’ Stuart Broad who was hit for six sixes by dreamed of playing for New Zealand as a classic strokeplay with raw power in Mohali on India’s Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 World T20 youngster, he rejected any notion of split Sunday night, as India chased down Australia’s MOHALI: Australian commentators were full like Virat Kohli,” Horne said in a podcast. — the 24-year-old Stokes is relishing the loyalties. total of 160-6 in a pulsating final group match. of praise for Virat Kohli’s thrilling batting yes- Writing in The Australian newspaper, Gideon responsibility. “Ever since I made a choice of having a With three overs to go, India were still 39 runs terday, even though his heroic 82 sent Steve Haigh said Kohli’s unbeaten 82 off 51 balls had “I would much rather be doing that last career of a professional cricketer, ever since short of their target but they cantered home with Smith’s team crashing out of the World T20. “made an awkward chase look like simplicity over thing rather than hoping that whoev- getting picked for the England under-15s, five balls to spare as Kohli and skipper Mahendra India triumphed in the do-or-die showdown in itself”. “Not a stroke, by the way, would have er is bowling it gets us through. I’d rather I’ve just wanted to play for England.” Singh Dhoni laid into the Australian attack. Kohli Mohali as they successfully ran down looked out of place in a Test match,” he wrote. be the man doing it,” he said in the build-up Stokes insisted England would not hit four boundaries in the penultimate over off Australia’s 160 for 6 to win with five balls to “Much as the marketers would like to take to Wednesday’s semi-final against New underestimate the unheralded Black Caps, Nathan Coulter-Nile before Dhoni finished the job spare as Kohli put on a batting masterclass. the cricket out of T20, Kohli keeps putting it Zealand. but pointed out that they did beat them in with another four. Had India been knocked out, it “Steve Smith called it the ‘Virat show’ and back.” While Geoff Lemon, writing for the “Yes, I love being involved in the game a World T20 warm-up. could well have been Dhoni’s last innings amid he was right,” wrote Chris Barratt in The Sydney Australian Broadcasting Corporation said it and being in high pressure situations. I “They’re obviously the in-form team, widespread expectations that he will call it quits Morning Herald, acknowledging the dejected was hard to feel disappointed at being think it probably brings the best out of me they haven’t lost a game yet. We played after the tournament. Kohli, 27, has already in terms of my cricket. I enjoy getting into them in a warm-up game and beat them replaced the 34-year-old Dhoni as Test captain but skipper’s post-match remarks. knocked out by such an impressive innings. the big moments of the game.” and we still take confidence from that and his regard for the older man was underlined when “With one of the greatest ever Twenty20 “It is hard to feel anything but awe,” he England’s passage to the semis was we obviously beat them in the English he paid tribute to India’s “Captain Cool” for helping international innings India’s batting maestro wrote. Cricketing greats also heaped praise on hampered by defeat to the West Indies in summer when we had the series against him keep his head at the finale. “MS in the end all but single-handedly sent Australia home Kohli, who with skipper Mahendra Singh their opening match, meaning they had to them,” said Stokes. kept me calm, I could have got over-excited,” said from the 20-overs world championship.” Dhoni put on 67 runs to take the team to the win all of their other three games against “So we just know that if we play to our Kohli after being named man of the match. “One man wins it,” agreed The Daily finish line. “Wow, that was absolute class from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and South Africa. capability like we did against Sri Lanka, no “Trust me, you don’t like these situations very Telegraph’s Ben Horne as he described the Virat. Congrats India on your win,” tweeted The West Indies also beat England in matter who we face, we can give any team much, (but) they improve you as a cricketer.” match which crushed Australia’s hopes of a spin master Shane Warne. 2010 but Paul Collingwood’s side went on a good run.” Dhoni said Kohli, who was also the match-win- World T20 title and puts India through to the Former Australia captain Michael Clarke to win the tournament in the Caribbean, While it will be the fifth different venue ner in a high-octane clash against Pakistan earlier semi-finals. “I think it’s safe to say there is no added: “Looked like a class performance from the first time that the team had ever won a for New Zealand in the tournament, in the tournament, was learning how to stay calm talent in world cricket at the moment quite @imVkohli#T20WorldCup”. — AFP major international tournament. England should have an advantage by in pressured situations while not losing his natural Collingwood, who has captained Stokes playing their third match in a row in Delhi, aggression. back home in Durham, is currently in India with Stokes saying that “it’s a home game as a consultant for the England team. even if we are in India”. — AFP ‘GENIUS’ “I think it was an incredible innings, especially the fact that the wicket was not easy to bat on,” said Dhoni. “A lot of things pop into your head at that point of time (the last overs) and when you’re calm it just helps you to pick the right one... and not be too impulsive”. “He will always be the same. He will be an aggressive character who is willing to take on challenges and he will be aggressive on the field, but he will also improve,” Dhoni added. Kapil Dev, who captained India to victory at the 1983 World Cup, praised Kohli for resisting the temptation to slog, instead playing orthodox shots that would have graced a Test match. “Hats off to this genius with a bat,” Dev wrote in the Mail Today newspaper. “I have always believed that T20 cricket is not just about slamming the ball or indulging in ambi- tious shots. You can play your normal cricket strokes and win your battles against the bowlers. Virat’s exhibition proved it.” India, who now play the West Indies in the second semi-final in Mumbai on Thursday, are hoping to become the first team to win the World T20 twice, and the first on home soil. Former all-rounder Ravi Shastri, who is now India’s coach, said that Kohli’s “fabulous” NEW DELHI: England’s Ben Stokes (L) watches as Afghanistan’s Shafiqullah Shafaq innings had proved that the team was hitting its AMRITSAR: Indian cricket fans pose with a flag of India as they celebrate in a hotel in successfully reaches the crease during the World T20 cricket tournament match stride at the crucial moment. “From India’s point of Amritsar after India beat Australia in a World T20 cricket tournament match. India reach- between England and Afghanistan at The Feroz Shah Kolta Cricket Stadium in New view, I think they’ll get stronger as this tourna- es in the World T20 cricket semi-finals. — AFP Delhi. — AFP ment progresses,” said Shastri. —AFP