ICC T20 World Cup

T20 WC: India Eye Summit Clash With Pak, England Aim To Deliver Their Best

The stage is set for a high-octane second semifinal clash between India and England at the ICC T20 World Cup in Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

India finished their Group Stage at the top of their group’s table, winning four out of their five Super 12 matches. A defeat to South Africa was the only blip in Men in Blue’s consistent performances during the group stage.
Indian batters have been solid for the most part. Suryakumar Yadav (225 runs in five matches with three fifties), Virat Kohli (246 runs in five matches with three fifties) have carried the line-up.

KL Rahul has gained form, scoring two consecutive fifties in his previous two matches, bringing his run tally to 123 runs in five. Rohit Sharma has largely been inconsistent and only 89 runs have come out of his willow in five matches, with his best being 53 against the Netherlands. These two will have to be at the top of their game to lessen the pressure on the middle order.

All of India’s frontline pacers, Bhuvneswar Kumar (4 wickets), Mohammad Shami (6 wickets), and Arshdeep Singh (10 wickets) have been impressive so far. The spin veteran Ravichandran Ashwin and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (six and eight wickets respectively) have delivered well with the ball, though Pandya has not found much success with the bat, other than his knock of 40 against Pakistan.

Axar Patel is Men in Blue’s sole concern in bowling, with his economy rate exceeding nine. It would be interesting if Yuzvendra Chahal gets a chance in the high-stake semifinal.

England has had an up-and-down journey in Super 12. After a win over Afghanistan, their qualification chances dimmed after a loss to Ireland, and the match against Australia was abandoned. But strong showings against New Zealand and Sri Lanka brought them back into the competition and now they’re set to take on India.

England’s deep batting line-up, running down to number 10 is their strength. Their lineup has some power hitters like Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, and Harry Brook who can whack bowlers from ball one. They can be lethal at Adelaide, where batting-friendly conditions prevail and boundaries are short.

England’s bowling unit has stepped up drastically, despite not being rated high initially. Sam Curran is England’s leading wicket-taker with 10, while Mark Wood has nine. Ben Stokes has also proved to be useful, having picked up five scalps at an economy rate of 5.90 per over.

They do have some concerns though, be it the fitness of left-hander Dawid Malan or pacer Wood or the performance of Chris Woakes, who has been expensive throughout the tournament. Spinners have also been disappointing. Though Adil Rashid has been a miser while bowling, he has taken only one wicket in four matches. (ANI)

Kohli post workout selfie

Absolute Invasion Of Privacy: Kohli On Hotel Room Leaked Video

Star Indian batter Virat Kohli on Monday expressed shock at the “appalling” video of his Perth hotel room that surfaced on social media and said he was disappointed by the “fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy.”

“I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favorite players and get excited to meet them and I’ve always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all??” Virat posted on his Instagram account.

He also shared the video that has been circulated on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms and said that he is “not okay with this kind of fanaticism”.

The video shared purportedly takes a tour of Virat’s room with shoes, suitcases, a visual of the room’s washroom, and some personal belongings.

At one point in the video that was titled ” King Kohli’s hotel room,” a man who is apparently filming the video opens the wardrobe where the viewer gets to see an iron box.

Virat said: “I’m NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment.”

Fans and celebrities took to slam offenders and posted on Virat’s wall in the comments section to express their disgust.

Australian opener David Warner commented while tagging the hotel, “This is ridiculous, totally unacceptable. Was this @crownperth.”

“Whosoever is responsible for this blunder should be shameful, a man who is dedicated towards the country and giving his maximum amount of time amongst the crowd should at least have some peaceful time in his own hotel room. This type of fanaticism is sick and should not be appreciated anywhere,” commented a fan.

“This is completely wrong. We have to respect the privacy of any human even if that person is our favourite player. We do love him but we should respect his private space too,” another fan commented.

“Omg …why would anyone do that and how did the hotel staff even allow this … really not civilized behaviour …,” added another fan.

Another fan commented, “What the hell! Give this guy some space at least. Come not done this is.”.

Notably, Virat is having a fine ICC T20 World Cup so far. The batter has scored 156 runs in three matches so far with two half-centuries, including his instant-classic match-winning 82* against Pakistan. He is the third-highest run scorer in the tournament so far.

He also completed 1,000 runs at ICC T20 World Cup events on Sunday, becoming only the second player to do so.

However, he did not have a great outing against South Africa as he could score only 12 runs and dropped a crucial catch of batter Aiden Markram.

He will be next seen in action against Bangladesh on November 2. (ANI)

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Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa Announces Retirement From All Forms Of Cricket

Indian batter Robin Uthappa announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket on Wednesday.

The batter, who last represented Team India in 2015, took to social media to make the announcement through a letter.
Uthappa shared a heartfelt post announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket on the Koo App.

The right-handed batter said it has been the “greatest honor” to represent India and Karnataka during this illustrious career.

“It has been my greatest honor to represent my country and my state, Karnataka. However, all good things must come to an end, and with a grateful heart, I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket. Thank you all,” Robin Uthappa said on the Koo app.

“It has been 20 years since I started playing professional cricket, and it has been the greatest honor to represent my country and state, Karnataka, in a wonderful journey of ups and downs; one that has been fulfilling, rewarding, enjoyable and has allowed me to grow as a human being,” Uthappa added.

Uthappa played for the 2004 Under-19 World Cup team for India.

Uthappa made his Team India debut in April 2006 against England in ODIs. Since then, he has played 46 ODIs for India, across which he has scored 934 runs in 42 innings at an average of 25.94. Six half-centuries have come out of his bat.

He has also played 13 T20Is for India, scoring 249 runs at an average of 24.90. He has scored one half-century in the format, with the best score of 50.

The stylish batter was a part of the Indian side which lifted the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa. The batter from Karnataka has won two IPL trophies– one for Kolkata Knight Riders and one for Chennai Super Kings in 2014 and 2021, respectively. (ANI)