Melbourne, March 18 (IANS) Former India pace spearhead Javagal Srinath on Wednesday compared off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to Anil Kumble, considered one of the best tweakers the sport has produced.
In a column for the International Cricket Council (ICC) website, Srinath, who is India’s most successful bowler in the World Cups along with seamer Zaheer Khan (44 wickets) wrote: “Irrespective of what happened in the Zimbabwe game where Brendan Taylor played a memorable innings, Ashwin remains a key player of the Indian side, no matter who the opposition is.
"He is turning out to be one of the very few spinners in the competition commanding tremendous respect from every team. He is very much like Anil Kumble. Dhoni is happy using him in the first 10 overs, in the batting Powerplay and at the death too. That’s because Dhoni sees him as a wicket-taking bowler not as someone who will only look to contain the opposition.”
Now a match referee, Srinath has bet on India winning the quarterfinal against Bangladesh on Thursday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), saying “they have mastered the art of winning crunch games".
“I back India to come through unscathed. I know that every time India meet Bangladesh in the World Cup, everyone goes back to 2007 and what happened in Port of Spain," he said.
"This Indian side bears no resemblance to that team whose morale was so low right from the start of the competition. Even though Bangladesh are playing their best cricket, this is a happy Indian side that has mastered the art of winning crunch games.”
The 45-year-old added that from now on there will be no room for mistakes as each team will try and outdo the other.
“From now onwards, this is almost an entirely new tournament, therefore the approach will also be different from all the teams. From here on, there are no second chances. It’s a do-or-die situation and everyone will look to up the tempo further. There simply is no room for mistakes or slip-ups,” he wrote.
The former right-arm pacer said that while the responsibilities of carrying the team forward rests with the batsmen, the bowlers need to deliver to allow Dhoni to think about other aspects of the game.
“At this stage of the competition, I can’t see too many pitches favouring the bowlers. Consequently, the batsmen must embrace the responsibility of carrying the team on their shoulders. If the bowlers can restrict oppositions to less than 300, then great credit to them. It is important that they continue to keep up the good work,” Srinath said.
“When the bowlers do well, it allows the batsmen to go in with a positive frame of mind. It also allows Dhoni the freedom of thinking with a clear mind about things like the batting order, like his own batting. This wonderful balance of spirit between the bowling and the batting must be sustained for India to go all the way and retain the Cup.”
Tytler defamation case: Delhi HC restrains trial court hearing
New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday restrained a trial court from taking
Twitter accounts of several celebrities and companies were hacked on Wednesday, including Microso
The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered its fifth month. Russia is constantly attacking Uk
Shares of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike closed with a big drop on Friday. The drop was recorded
Australia's Steve Smith has once again shown why he is regarded as one of the best batsmen of the
The second and last match of the two T20 International series between India and Ireland will be p
OnePlus 10T: Will get 16GB RAM! You will be surprised to know the features
OnePlus 10T Specifications Leaked: Gaming enthusiasts need a phone with heavy RAM. There is great
Alert in Ladakh, India-China 'eye' on Galvan river area, witness to 1962 war
New Delhi
Three days before the Corona crisis, there was news of India-China tension on b
The fourth edition of the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue began on Wednesday. This dialogue will r
The United States on Thursday declared monkeypox a public health emergency. According to US Healt
