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Jadeja, Ashwin anchor India to 208-run win over Bangladesh AsianVoiceNews
Bangladesh fought valiantly on the fifth and final day of the Hyderabad Test but it wasn't enough to stop one of the most successful home Test bowling pairs of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from leaving a telling impact. They combined to snuff out eight Bangladesh wickets, dismissing the visitors for 250 in their second innings and win the one-off Test by a comprehensive 208-run margin. The other two wickets went to Ishant Sharma, who bowled his heart out to pick up two important wickets in the second session. Once that was done, Bangladesh lost their final four wickets for 37 runs. India took their unbeaten streak in Test matches to 20. India have now won six consecutive series since Sri Lanka in 2015 - their best streak ever. They had won 5 in a row between 2008 and 2010. Resuming the day on 103/3, once again Bangladesh's hope of not losing an early wicket was dented by Jadeja in the third over itself. Bowling round the wicket, the ball pitched on one of the footmarks and took off to kiss Shakib Al Hasan's glove and was taken by Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg. With plenty of turn and
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bounce on offer, Virat Kohli brought in five closein fielders around the bat. Fresh off a century in the first innings, Mushfiqur began cautiously before deciding to move his feet to Ashwin. In the past, batsmen have been found guilty of playing him on the backfoot so perhaps Mushfiqur had a plan in mind. When he hit a sublime cover drive for four off him the ploy seemed to have begun well. But two balls later, Mushfiqur offered a leading edge and threw his wicket away. Credit must also go to Jadeja for constantly bowling at Mushfiqur's pads and frustrate him. At the other end, as India applied pressure through Ishant and Umesh Yadav's reverse,
Mahmudullah held his ground. He scored his first boundary off the 46th delivery faced and even that was an edge after Ishant had squared him up outside off. But with the wicket of Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah opted to get a move on. He did so by skipping down to Jadeja and sending him for successive boundaries in the 50th over. Another streaky four past the slips brought up Mahmudullah's 50, while Sabbir Rahman plundered a six and a four to remain not out on 16. A few quick boundaries were scored which took Bangladesh's tally for the session to 99 runs. As India have regularly done in the match, they struck again right at the beginning of a session,
this time thanks to a lively spell from Ishant. He bowled with pace, control and aggression, and first, took out Sabbir out leg before. That was the beginning of the slide. The eighth wicket stand between Mehedi Hasan and Kamrul Islam Rabbi frustrated India, scoring 17 runs in 14 overs and a catch going down, before Jadeja dented them further with the new ball, seeing the back of a defiant Mehedi for 23. The amount of drift Jadeja and Ashwin received was too good for the Bangladesh lower-order. Brief scores: India 687/6 decl. and 159/4 beat Bangladesh 388 all out and 250 all out (Mahmudullah 64; Ashwin 4/73) by 208 runs
Ashwin becomes fastest bowler to claim 250 wickets Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has claimed 250 wickets and became the fastest bowler to reach the milestone. He has surpassed Australian legend Dennis Lillee's record by taking just 45 matches to reach the landmark - three matches quicker than the former Aussie pacer. Ashwin had a record-breaking last year for India as he picked up 72 wickets in 12 Test matches to finish as the highest wicket-taker in the world for the second consecutive year. The 30-year-old reached the milestone on Day 4 of the one-off Test between India and Bangladesh when he
India scored yet another victory against Pakistan in a World Cup match and this time, the Men in Blue delivered in the final of the Blind T20 World Cup. The nine-wicket victory meant skipper Ajay Kumar Reddy and his men avenged the defeat to their arch-rivals in the league phase of the competition, as they successfully defended their trophy in front of an adoring crowd. Pakistan, who came into the title clash at the M
wickets during the first Test against New Zealand in September last year. Ashwin achieved the milestone in his 37th Test match, bettering Waqar and Lillee, who both took Ravichandran Ashwin 38 Tests. claimed the wicket of visitSitting top of the pile is ing captain, Mushfiqur former Australia leg-spinRahim. ner Clarrie Grimmett, who Ashwin had earlier took just 36 Tests to get to beaten Pakistan great the 200th wicket mark. Waqar Younis and Lillee to Ashwin has not just been become the second fastest creating waves with the bowler to take 200 Test ball but also made a big
impact with the bat, scoring 612 runs in 14 innings at an average of 43.71 with two hundreds and four half-centuries in 2016. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the Indian offie is the number one ranked Test all-rounder in the world. Though, it was expected that Ashwin would claim his 250th wicket much sooner in the one-off Test but found stubborn Bangladeshi resistance standing in the way. The Tamil Nadu bowler managed to take just one wicket on Day 3 of the one-off Test but Day 4 proved to be lucky as Mushfiqur became Ashwin's 250th victim.
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3 Pak cricketers suspended over corruption charges Asian Voice | 18th February 2017
Just a day after Pakistan national team players Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were provisionally suspended from Pakistan Super League (PSL) as part of an anticorruption investigation, another cricketer of the country has also been sent home from Dubai on the basis of corruption allegations. Left arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan became the third player to be suspended from the league over corruption allegations. All his personal belongings, including his mobile phone, have been seized by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials. The PCB was investigating whether an international syndicate had attempted to influence matches in the Pakistan Super League, it said in a statement. PSL Chairman Najam Sethi said in a statement that they were working with PCB's and International Cricket Council's anti-corruption units to root out corruption. "The investigation of the PCB Anti-Corruption Unit backed by the ICC ACU has been effective in dealing with this case to date and we will continue to work in the closest collaboration as the investigation proceeds," he said. "We are all absolutely committed to relentlessly pursuing anyone who would seek to damage the integrity of our sport." Sharjeel is a regular member of Pakistan's limited-overs team and made his test debut against Australia in Sydney last month. Irfan has played four Tests, 60 ODIs and 20 T20s while Latif has been part of five ODIs and 13 T20 matches.
Lanka recall Lasith Malinga
Sri Lanka pace spearhead Lasith Malinga, who has recovered fully from knee injury has been recalled in the 15-man T20 squad for the three-match series against Australia beginning February 17 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Malinga, who has appeared in 191 ODIs and 62 T20Is for Lanka, played his last match in the Asia Cup held in Bangladesh in February, 2016, and could not make his way back into the team because of various medical reasons. Allrounders Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana and batsmen Dilshan Munaweera, Chamara Kapugedara have also been included in the national side after being dropped against South Africa. Squad: Upul Tharanga (captain), Niroshan Dickwella, Asela Gunaratna, Dilshan Munaweera, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Sachith Pathirana, Chamara Kapugedara, Seekkuge Prasanna, Nuwan Kulasekara, Isuru Udana, Dasun Shanaka, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga, Vikum Sanjaya.
Azhar Ali steps down as Pak ODI captain
Wicketkeeper-batsman Azhar Ali has stepped down from the post of Pakistan ODI skipper in the wake of mounting pressure on his leadership following the 1-4 defeat in the five-match ODI series against Australia. Sarfraz Ahmed, who has led Pakistan in one ODI and four Twenty20 Internationals, will now take over reins of both the sides. Azhar, in a meeting with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan in Dubai, had informed that he wants to quit from the post in order to shift his focus entirely on his batting, following which the PCB immediately appointed Sarfraz as the captain. Under Azhar's leadership, Pakistan won only five out of 10 bilateral series, two of them were against Zimbabwe, and one each against Ireland, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Besides, Pakistan also slipped to a record-low ninth spot in the ODI rankings under him.
Men in Blue retain Blind T20 World Cup
Chinnaswamy stadium with nine wins out of nine, won the toss and decided to bat first. The visitors got off to a modest start with openers Badar Munir and Mu Indian fielders excelled. Munir soldiered on and reached his half-century but he was dismissed for 57, caught by Ganesh Babubhai Mundakar off the bowling of Ketan Patel. The loss of their inform batsman hurt Pakistan as they lost wickets at regular
intervals thereafter. Still, they posted a challenging
197-8 in their quota of 20 overs.
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In reply, India were in no mood to let the opportunity slip away as vicecaptain Prakash Jayaramaiah and Hammad Jamil taking the team past the 50-run mark. However, Jamil was run out for 24 on a day when the Reddy stitched together a first wicket stand of 98 runs. While the skipper was run out for 43, his opening partner scored a fine half-century. No. 3 Ketan Patel chipped in with a handy 26 before he
retired hurt. Man of the Match Jayaramaiah, who fell short of his ton by a run, then helped the hosts seal the deal with nine wickets to spare. An overjoyed Indian team then thanked supporters -some of whom included Sandalwood and reality television star Kirik Keerthi, fellow actors Sabyasashi Mishra and Mayuri Rajguru apart from the other teams involved in the competition -with a lap of honour.