Virat has been aptly rewarded with the vice-captain’s role simply for his performance in Australia and also keep certain aspects of the future in mind. But it does not mean Gautam Gambhir should feel left out just because of that, said Rahul Dravid in an interview to The Times Of India.
“Virat will be the first to realise that he has to still establish himself as a cricketer before he goes another step further in his career. By now, we certainly know that just by being the vice-captain, you’re not going to be the next captain of the Indian team. (MS) Dhoni has been doing a good job. Having said that, it is also an apt recognition of the way Virat performed in Australia and the kind of form he was in,” said Dravid, adding.
On India’s tour Down Under, Dravid said, “When you don’t get results, nothing works and nobody feels good about it, especially when losses keep mounting like this. First England and then Australia — we suffered those string of losses on both the tours and believe me we (players) feel very deeply about it. There is no doubt about the fact that it gets really tough on everybody when such a thing happens and players are no exception. That’s because nobody’s going out there to lose, they’re all out there with only one thought in mind and that is to win.”
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli made a surprise visit to Feroze Shah Kotla and before he sat in the dressing room's balcony and had a chat with pacer Ashish Nehra and coach Sanjeev Sharma, word had already spread of “Chiku's“ (Virat's nickname) presence, writes Hindustan Times.
Delhi coach Sharma knew most of the post-match talk would revolve around the new poster boy of Indian cricket, and before addressing the press issued a disclaimer. “I know you all are going to ask if Virat will play the next game for us. Only he will take a call on it.”
He may have scored a Test and ODI hundred in Australia but for Kohli's former teammates he's still the same old Chiku. “He has always been like this...the only change I could notice was that he's got a cooler head on his shoulders,“ said Delhi's wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma will be the talking point when Mumbai take on Karnataka in perhaps the most intriguing battle in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Tuesday.
A proven giant in the domestic circuit, Rohit will look to get some rhythm going that was missing in Australia. He will have just one hit at the domestic level before heading off to Bangladesh, writes TOI.
With Rohit scheduled to arrive in the Capital late on Monday, the Mumbai team looked relaxed during practice. For skipper Ajit Agarkar, Rohit’s presence would boost his already power-packed batting that boasts of Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Suryakumar Yadav and the hard-hitting Abhishek Nayar. With a heavily-taped finger in his right hand, Rahane generated quite some buzz on Monday. After having a longish knock in the nets, he confirmed that he will betaking the field on Tuesday. The batsman had suffered the injury playing for Indian Oil in the PSPB inter-unit tournament here three days back.
Other news (TOI, HT, Indian Express, The Hindu)
Kallis to donate to Yuvi Foundation: Long serving Proteas all-rounder Jacques Kallis has announced that he will make a special donation to the Yuvraj Singh Foundation. Kallis made the announcement as Cricket South Africa (CSA) declared that Kallis is to be honoured at a special T20 international between India and South Africa at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on March 30.
Aus look to clinch title today: Australia are determined to close out the Tri-Series finals against Sri Lanka, all-rounder David Hussey said on Monday. The top-ranked Australians are one game up into Tuesday’s pivotal match in Adelaide in the best-of-three match finals after a too close for comfort victory in Sunday’s opening game in Brisbane. Australia beat Sri Lanka by just 15 runs despite setting the World Cup finalists 322 to chase for victory and leaving skipper Michael Clarke concerned about his team’s ability to close out ODI matches.
Anjum named skipper: Veteran batswoman Anjum Chopra will lead the Indian women's cricket team in the home series against Australia beginning March 12. India and Australia are scheduled to play three ODIs starting on March 12 and five T20Is from March 18 to 23.
