Indian pacers need to be protected, says Arun
PERTH: The impressive Indian fast bowlers are like race horses, who need to be protected and handled carefully, says India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun, who avowed that the current lot is one of the best the country has seen. The Indian pacers, and the entire attack as a whole, has been impressive on all overseas tours this year.
“I can say that not only now for what they did in Adelaide but what they’ve done over a period of time in South Africa, in England and now in Australia. This is probably one of the best group of fast bowlers India has ever had,” Arun said.
“Fast bowlers are a precious commodity and they need to be taken care of, like what you do with a racehorse and that’s exactly what’s happening,” he said, reflecting on reports that Virat Kohli and his wife vacated business class seats for the pacers on their way to Perth.
LANGER READY FOR PACEY TRACK
PERTH: Australia coach Justin Langer said he expected a pacey wicket at the new Perth Stadium for the second Test against India and declared “pretty boy” captain Tim Paine “ready to go” despite injury. The Test will be the first played at the new stadium and Langer said it appeared the wicket was similar to the WACA.
“I’m really fascinated and can’t wait to see what the wicket brings. There’s only been one four-day game in its history. I went and watched a bit of the NSW versus WA game — there was certainly some pace and bounce there. We’ve also seen some pace and bounce in it during the one-dayers and T20 game,” he said. But he said neither team would know how the drop-in pitch plays in Test conditions. “Time will tell what the wicket brings... If we can get (Waca-style pace and bounce) it’d be a great thing for Test cricket,” Langer said.
‘DHONI MUST PLAY DOMESTIC CRICKET’
NEW DELHI: Former India allrounder and selector Mohinder Amarnath feels MS Dhoni and
other senior players must play domestic cricket to be eligible for selection in the national team.
“Every individual is different but one thing I have always believed in is that if you want to play for India you have to play for your state as well. I think they (BCCI) should change this policy altogether. A lot of senior players don’t play domestic cricket,” Amarnath said.
ICC ‘CONFIDENT’ OF CORRUPTION-FREE WC
NEWDELHI: The head of cricket’s world body said Wednesday he is confident of a corruption-free 2019 World Cup as the sport
works overtime to disrupt criminals who attempt to fix matches. David Richardson, the ICC CEO, also called on national governments to do more to tackle match fixing, which has affected T20 leagues and international matches.
The ICC anti-corruption unit “is trying to be much more proactive in first of all disrupting these criminals who are travelling the world trying to corrupt the game,” said Richardson. “Working hand in hand with the law enforcement agencies will help us do that. So (we are) very confident that we will keep the World Cup corruption free,” Richardson said. BRIEF SCORES
Vidarbha 419 (Y Kadam 131*; A Poojari 5/101, U Khan 3/77) lead Mumbai 177/5 (Divyaansh 82, P Kanpillewar 51; Tekan 3/30, Bhute 2/28) by 242 runs.