Even as the teams get ready for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Michael Hussey has predicted that spin will not play much of a part in the mega-tournament, and only "mystery spinners like Saeed Ajmal and Sunil Narine have a chance of succeeding.
Getting his team composition right will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's primary aim as Rising Pune Supergiants meet an out-of-sorts Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Sunday.
India rode on Virat Kohli's brutal unbeaten 115 and Shikhar Dhawan's 100 to pull off a sensational six-wicket victory over Australia in the do-or-die sixth One-Day International and level the seven-match series 2-2, in Nagpur, on Wednesday. Chasing a mammoth 351, the Indians blazed away on a belter of a track at the VCA stadium in Jamtha to overhaul the target with three balls to spare.
"(The loss) Just shows we can make mistakes as well. We lost two games in a row. If we pick up momentum and win the next three, then you will be asking how is the championship feeling," he retorted when asked how back-to-back losses could affect the team going into the play-offs.
Robin Uthappa and Sunil Narine played lead roles as Kolkata Knight Riders booked a berth in the play-offs of the Indian Premier League after beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 30 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list IPL 2020's 50 Most Valuable Players after the league phase.
Te MVP of IPL 11, after Week 4, is young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant.
'Kohli is the kind of ethereal athlete who can not only help Elon Musk discover life on Mars, but also test out its gravitational parameters by stroking hundreds in the red dirt.' 'But when playing for India, he needs assistance,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Barring Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, all players have declared their allegiances to IPL franchises over their respective countries' domestic sides ahead of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20.
'When cricketers, coaches, captains, managers, franchise owners focus on the prize, they forget the process.' 'You can't win every game. Getting better is all about making mistakes.'
'Judging by the formbook, both sides are an equal chance to win. Pakistan has the better-balanced attack, offset by a batting line-up that oscillates between the brilliant and the bwahahaha, sometimes in the space of the same over.' 'As for India, 'bowling attack' is an oxymoron and the batting line-up is still struggling to memorise its lines.'
Strangely, despite four wins on the trot, none of India's players have even figured in the top 20 of the MVPI table.
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