Sachin Tendulkar credits IPL for developing India’s bench strength | Cricket News – Times of India

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RAIPUR: Batting great Sachin Tendulkar on Friday credited the IPL for helping develop India’s bench strength, saying the current lot has benefitted by constantly playing against world-class performers in the lucrative league.
Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who play for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, have produced stunning knocks against England in the ongoing T20 series and Tendulkar attributed their success to the league.

“Yeah, both Surya and Ishan are ready to play, because you know, I have always felt that IPL’s introduction has helped players,” Tendulkar, who is captaining the India Legends in the ongoing Road Safety World Series, told PTI.
“Because earlier when we played, I hadn’t played against a Wasim (Akram), when we played in Australia, I hadn’t played a (Sharne) Warne or (Craig) McDermott or Merv Hughes. We went there and we had to figure out what has happened.”
Tendulkar said the IPL has provided the players the opportunity to run shoulders with the top stars and compete against the best.

“With the help of IPL, I mean, yesterday I was watching the game, and Surya was batting and (Jofra) Archer bowled to him and Ben Stokes and the commentator said that it is nothing new for Surya because he has already played against Rajasthan Royals,” he said.
“Both Archer and Stokes play for Rajasthan Royals, so it is nothing different and he (Surya) knows what they do and he has played against them already. So, it wasn’t the first time.
“That’s the only reason I am saying that both these guys are ready to play for India and that just shows the bench strength of our team, it is really strong. So that’s the beauty of our cricket now, that there are a number of players, who are ready to go out.”
Back in the field for the Road Safety World Series, Tendulkar said, “It’s a special feeling to be back (in) the dressing room.
“Like I said that sport unifies everyone, no matter which part of the country you come from, which caste, creed, nothing, your bank balance, sport doesn’t recognise anything, it only recognises the way you play,” he said.
“It is a fairground for everyone and we have always believed that when we are there in the dressing room, it is one team, we are together. We have always taken pride in representing the nation, it is a huge honour.”
The Indian Legends have already made it to the summit clash, which will be played on Sunday and according to Tendulkar, all the players are playing for a specific cause.
“It is fun to be out there in the middle for a cause, and I would like to applaud all six teams that include India and I am taking India’s name here also. All the players have come here for a cause and they want to go out and give their best and.
“Players are diving around and trying to stop the ball, trying to bowl fast. So, we are here for a cause and it is a message that we are trying to give to everyone, create that awareness on road safety, which is sometimes taken for granted.”
Tendulkar stressed on wearing helmets while driving.
“The message is that we lose almost 1.35 million people globally every year because of road accidents and out of which 1.5 lakh lives are lost in India because of road accidents. It could be because of not wearing a helmet.
“When we talk about not wearing a helmet, not just for the rider but also the pillion… The stats show that from the age of 18-35, that age group 50 per cent of the lives are lost because of not wearing helmets and not taking precautions.”
“The message we are trying to give everyone is when you are riding a scooter/bike/two-wheeler wear a helmet, if there is a pillion travelling with you make sure that the passenger also wears a helmet.
“If you are driving a car, wear a seatbelt, don’t jump signals, don’t drive on the wrong side of the road.”

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Road Safety Series: Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Brian Lara Star as India Legends Reach Final Beating WI

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Road Safety Series: Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Brian Lara Star as India Legends Reach Final Beating WI

Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh starred as India Legends survived a scare from Brian Lara and Dwayne Smith to beat West Indies Legends in the semifinal of the Road Safety World Series T20 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Wednesday. Batting first, India Legends posted 218 for 3 in 20 overs with Sachin Tendulkar smashing 65 off 42 and Yuvraj Singh blasting an unbeaten 49 off 20 balls.

Road Safety World Series: Vintage Yuvraj Singh Smashes Four Sixes in an Over Again – Watch Video

Earlier, For the second time in two matches, Yuvraj Singh smashed four sixes in an over – three of them consecutive – to turn back the clock.  Playing for India Legends, Yuvraj smashed West Indies Legends legspinner M Nagamootoo for four sixes in the 19th over, almost threatening to repeat his 2007 heroics of six sixes at one stage.

Yuvraj smashed the first three balls for six before Nagamootoo managed a dot ball in the fourth delivery. The fifth ball went over the ropes again before another dot ball ended the over. In the next over, Yuvraj sent Suliemann Benn for a couple of sixes to finish on 49 off 20 as India Legends finished on 218 for 3 in 20 overs.

Prior to Yuvraj’s heroics, Sachin Tendulkar had turned back the clock scoring 65 off 42 balls including three sixes and six fours. Virender Sehwag made 35 off 17 to give the team a quick start while Mohammed Kaif (27) and Yusuf Pathan (37) chipped in too.

Yuvraj had hit four consecutive sixes in India Legend’s previous match, against South Africa Legends on Saturday.

“I was looking to hit the fifth consecutive six because I remember that there was one dot ball in the over. And I was waiting for the bowler to bowl in my areas. So after the fourth six, I was looking for the fifth six but there were also two overs to go so I decided to rotate the strike and bat till the end to have a big score. The wicket was really good and South Africa had won the last game. So I wanted to bat till the end and I am happy to do that,” Yuvraj had said then in the post-match press conference.





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Road Safety World Series: India Legends celebrate 9th anniversary of Tendulkar’s 100th ton | Cricket News – Times of India

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RAIPUR: Former Indian cricketers featuring in the Road Safety World Series T20 on Tuesday celebrated the ninth anniversary of legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 international centuries.
Tendulkar on March 16, 2012, became the only batsman in the history of cricket to register 100 international centuries. He had achieved the feat against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan on Tuesday shared a picture from the celebration. In the picture, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan can be seen along with Tendulkar in the cake cutting ceremony.

“I had the best seat in the house when @sachin_rt paaji scored 100th International and today as well:),” Irfan tweeted.

Sent in to bat first, India had witnessed a bad start as the side lost opener Gautam Gambhir pretty early in the innings. However, Tendulkar found support in Virat Kohli and the duo formed a 113-run stand. After Kohli’s dismissal, Suresh Raina came out in the middle.
Continuing his brilliant form, Tendulkar brought up his 100th ton in the 44th over of the innings. The Master Blaster went on to play a knock of 114 runs from 147 balls and took India’s total to 289/5 in the allotted fifty overs. However, Bangladesh managed to chase down India’s total in the final over of the innings to register a victory by five wickets.
Last week, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh turned back the clock and took Raipur by storm in their inimitable style as India Legends registered a thumping 57-run win over South Africa in the Road Safety World Series T20. With this win, India Legends also qualified for the semi-final of the event.



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On this day in 2012, Sachin Tendulkar scored his 100th international ton | Cricket News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Batting great Sachin Tendulkar scripted history on this day in 2012 when he scored his 100th international century while playing in the Asia Cup for India.
It was Tendulkar’s 49th and final century in ODI cricket and, interestingly, only his first against Bangladesh in the format.
Tendulkar was 38 years old at the time and he had to wait for over a year between his 99th and 100th international ton. His 99th century came against South Africa in Nagpur in the 2011 World Cup.

But Tendulkar’s 100th ton went in vain as India went on to lose the match against Bangladesh by five wickets in Dhaka.
Tendulkar scored 114 runs off 147 balls with 12 fours and one six, helping India to 289/5.
Bangladesh chased down the target with four balls to spare, with Shakib Al Hasan‘s 49 in 31 balls helping them reach 293/5. Opener Tamim Iqbal (70), Jahurul Islam (53) and Nasir Hossain (54) all scored half-centuries. India were knocked out in the group stage. Bangladesh reached the final where they lost to Pakistan by two runs.
“I can’t think of anything at this stage, it has been a tough phase for me,” Tendulkar said after his innings.

“I started off the season well but was luckless. It does not matter how many hundreds you score, you still have to grind it out.”
His last match in ODI cricket also came in the Asia Cup. Interestingly, it was against Pakistan, which was also the team Tendulkar faced in his first ODI in December 1989. Tendulkar scored 52 in that match but it is better known for Virat Kohli‘s 183 off 148 balls, which remains the current Indian captain’s highest score in ODIs.
Kohli’s astonishing knock helped India chase down a target of 330 with six wickets and more than two overs remaining.

Tendulkar, meanwhile, announced his retirement from ODIs in December that year having scored a whopping 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83 in 463 matches. He went on to retire from Tests, and thus international cricket, in 2013 with 15,921 runs at an average of 53.78 in 200 matches.
He has scored 51 centuries and 68 half-centuries in his illustrious Test career.
The former India captain remains the only batsman with 100 international tons with former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting second on the list with 71.
Kohli follows closely behind on 70 international centuries.
All pics credit: AFP via Getty Images

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Sunil Gavaskar felicitated on 50th anniversary of Test debut | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: Former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was on Saturday felicitated by the BCCI on the 50th anniversary of his Test debut.
The 71-year-old former skipper received a commemorative Test cap from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah during the lunch break on day three of the fourth and final Test between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium here.
“Celebrating 50 glorious years of the legendary former #TeamIndia Captain Mr. Sunil Gavaskar’s Test debut today,” the BCCI tweeted.

Shah also posted pictures of the brief ceremony on his official Twitter handle.
“Join me in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Shri Sunil Gavaskar Ji’s Test debut for India. It is indeed a momentous occasion for all Indians and we are getting to celebrate it at the world’s largest cricket facility Narendra Modi Stadium,” he wrote.

A veteran of the game, Gavaskar featured in 125 Tests, 108 ODIs between 1971-1987, amassing 10,122 and 3,092 respectively. He was also a part of the 1983 World Cup-winning side.
Gavaskar held the record for scoring most tons in Test cricket until Sachin Tendulkar surpassed his tally in 2005.
In his debut match against the West Indies, Gavaskar notched up half centuries in both innings, scoring 65 in the first and remaining unbeaten on 67 in the second essay.
India won that game by seven wickets and the went on to win the series 1-0.



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India vs England: Rohit Sharma finally gets ‘consistent’ run after seven years | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: Rohit Sharma has been considered one of the stalwarts of Indian batting for over a decade, but quite surprisingly this is only the second time in his 13-year international career that he has played six Tests in a row that India have played.
The first time this happened for Sharma was in late 2013 and early 2014 when he had made his Test debut after playing limited-overs cricket for six years.
Sharma played two Tests against West Indies in India, then flew to South Africa for two Tests and then went to New Zealand for two Test matches in 2013-14. After that, however, the batsman had been in and out of the Test side due to inconsistent performances.

Sharma’s first two Tests in 2013 produced centuries and set him on track to achieving greater heights, i.e. one who was ready to replace one of the Indian batting greats — Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly — who had dominated the previous two decades.
However, things didn’t go the right way for Sharma and his next Test century came four years and 19 Test matches later in 2017 as he was in and out of the Test side.
Even that 2017 ton didn’t help Sharma cement his place in the Test side until the 2019 home Tests against South Africa saw him racking up big scores in a new role. He made 176 and 127 in Visakhapatnam and 212 in Ranchi against South Africa in three Tests.
Immediately after that, Sharma played a couple of Tests against Bangladesh and was almost looking like he would get to play six Test matches in a row when injury ruled him out of the New Zealand tour.
Sharma also couldn’t play the first two Tests in Australia in December but returned for the last two Tests and has now played in all four matches against England at home. The series has re-established him as India’s top batsman as he has handled tricky surfaces very well in the second and third Tests and helped India win.
As of now, Sharma is India’s leading run-scorer in the ongoing series with 304 runs and he could overtake Joe Root (338) on Friday as the leading scorer in the series for both teams.
“Rohit got runs because his shot selection was good. He played sweep shots, he played cover drive, he lifted the ball, played square cuts,” former India batsman and chief selector Anshuman Gaekwad told IANS.

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