Indian skipper Rohit Sharma smashed sixes and fours to reach the double century mark. He also became the first player to score an ODI double century both as captain and non-captain.

Rohit had scored his first double century (209) which was against Australia in Bengaluru (2013), while the second (264) was against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, in 2014.

India virtually batted Sri Lanka out of the game by scoring the highest total and surpassing the 351/5 South Africa made against Netherlands in 2011 at Mohali ground.

Another record shattering performance by Rohit was of the highest individual score at this venue, surpassing the 154 score of Virat Kohli against New Zealand last year.

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Rohit Sharma also became the only player in world cricket to hit three double centuries in List A cricket. He has also surpassed the record held by Surrey’s Alastair Brown’s who had two of them in his name. Big name players in cricket like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Martin Guptill are the others who have breached the 200-run mark in 50-over cricket ODI.

The fit-again duo of Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami was on Monday recalled to the 15-member India squad for next month’s ICC Champions Trophy, as the cricket selectors also reposed their faith on talismanic wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s abilities.

BCCI’s chairman of selectors M.S.K. Prasad had no hesitations in calling the former India skipper “the best stumper” in the world despite his erratic run with the willow in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

“We all believe that he is still the best wicket-keeper in the world. He is invaluable to the team in terms of inputs,” Prasad told reporters after BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary announced the Virat Kohli-led squad here.

“He is the best person to guide Virat. In the past 10-plus years that I have seen when he has played for India, he has never had a bad day as far as gloves are concerned. The phenomenal performance he puts in behind the wicket, nobody looks at that,” he added.

Besides Rohit and Shami, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also made his way back after a brief injury lay-off.

Fit-again Rohit Sharma and Mohd Shami recalled

While Rohit sustained a thigh injury during the One Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand in October last year Shami’s last appearance in ODIs was in the 2015 World Cup semi-finals. 

Ashwin, who suffered a sports hernia, was also advised six-to-eight weeks of rehabilitation after a gruelling Test series against Australia.

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With no surprises in the team, Prasad said it was easy to pick the squad as it has shaped up well in the last four months.

“May be, one place here and there. But this is the best side.”

On including Ashwin without testing him in a match situation, Prasad said the Chennai tweaker’s injury was not serious and he merely required some rest.

“The injury was not serious. The (IPL) franchise was magnanimous enough to listen to our request to rest him. Rest is what Ashwin required as the last game that India played, he was there. That shows he is fit and not like others who are getting rehabilitated after surgery,” Prasad said.

The chief selector also responded in the negative when asked if skipper Kohli or all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja needed some rest from the IPL, considering their respective teams are out of the race to the IPL play-offs.

While Virat’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are at the bottom of the standings, Jadeja’s Gujarat Lions are two spots above RCB at sixth.

“Virat didn’t play the last Test (against Australia) and also the first few matches in IPL. The more he plays, it is better for him. We have also given Jadeja a break. (But) considering how fit he is, it wasn’t a problem,” he said.

While an in-form Gautam Gambhir failed to grab the attention of the selectors, the other senior members — Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik — were, however, kept as standby players alongside the young trio of Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav.

“As of now, we have picked Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma as openers and Ajinkya Rahane is the back-up opener,” Prasad replied when asked about Gambhir.

The stand-by players will be issued visas and will practise at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, Prasad said.

Explaining the reason behind Pant and Kuldeep’s omission, Prasad said: “We are completely impressed with Rishabh Pant. But he missed out because of squad combination. We will groom him for the future.”

“We definitely considered Kuldeep. He would have been a surprise package but whether we would have played with two spinners is a question. Since Yuvraj (Singh) and Kedar (Jadhav) can bowl spin, he narrowly missed out,” Prasad added.

Prasad further said that the panel not only banked on the performances in the IPL but also the past year while selecting the squad.

“We respect IPL but in the longer format, we have to also consider the English conditions that we are playing in. Not just IPL but one needs to take into account the performance of last one year also in such a big tournament,” Prasad said.

The eight-team tournament will be played in June, with defending champions India pooled with South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Group B. 

India will start their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 4.

Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (WK), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajinkya Rahane.

Stand-bys: Rishabh Pant, Suresh Raina, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Dinesh Karthik.

IANS

On a roll after registering their fifth win on the trot, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma said Thursday’s 8-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab, will give the team the kind of momentum they needed heading into the business end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017.

“So hopefully we can continue our winning streak. The good thing we’ve done is focussing on one particular opposition and we are going to do that again,”

The team requires me to bat at No.3: Kolkata’s Uthappa

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Chasing a mammoth 199, Mumbai rode on destructive half centuries from Englishman Jos Buttler and young Nitish Rana to thrash the hosts by eight wickets with more than four overs to spare at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here.

“Incredible game to be part of. Something which reminded me of 2014, when we chased 190 against Rajasthan Royals in 14 overs,” Rohit said after the match.

“To be able to chase this target in 15.3 overs is fantastic. The way Jos and Parthiv batted at the start was magnificent. That’s the kind of firepower we have. Parthiv is coming off a great domestic season and he’s taken that confidence into IPL. That’s the kind of start we required chasing 199.”

Rohit also praised South African star Hashim Amla, who fired his maiden T20 hundred (104 not out of 60 balls) to set the tone for Kings XI Punjab’s mammoth 198/4 in the first innings.

“Amla played one of the finest knocks we would ever see but we finished up really well. When we came back to the change room the talk was that the ground is small and we have the batters to do it. That was pretty evident in the first six overs,” he said.

Rohit, however brushed aside any concerns with the bowlers, who were taken to the cleaners by Punjab skipper Glenn Maxwell and Amla in the later part of the innings.

“Not really it’s something which we have to look into. They are proven match winners and they have done it for years, even in international cricket it’s a lot of pressure, it’s always challenging. It’s just about backing them and the management does that,” he said.

“They will come good. It’s just the first half of the tournament, the second half becomes crucial, the table keeps changing so you have to be on the money, you can’t lose momentum,” he added.

Englishman Buttler, who struck form with a 37-ball 77, said the wicket was perfect for his kind of stroke play and more satisfying as he was desperate to get back among the runs.

“Found really good touch in the tournament, been desperate to kick on, nice to put in a contribution. Striking the ball well, it’s a small ground and a fantastic wicket,” said Buttler, who was adjudged the man-of-the-match.

“Luckily we won the toss, you’d think 200 was a really good score. I think today, chasing that kind of total was great for me because I could go from ball one without thinking. I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself, trying too hard to score the runs. Today, when you’re chasing a big score, you can relax and play your shots. Keep a still base and do the rest,” he added.

IANS

Ranveer Singh was his hyper best at the launch of a adidas shoe with former Wimbledon champion Stan Smith. Watch the Bollywood actor made Smith dance and sing to his tunes. Also present at the event was cricketer Rohit Sharma with his wife.  

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Amit Mishra’s five-for and half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma helped India thrash New Zealand by 190 runs in the final ODI. Chasing 270 runs, New Zealand collapsed for a mere 79 with Mishra returning figures of 5-18. India thus won the five-match series 3-2.

Earlier, half-centuries by Kohli and Rohit helped India post 269/6. Both Kohli and Rohit were off to slow starts before going for the big shots once they got their eye in.

Kohli scored 65 runs off 76 deliveries with two boundaries and a six while Rohit smashed five boundaries and three hits into the stands on his way to a 65-ball 70.

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India’s Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who set up the team’s thumping 178-run win in the second Test against New Zealand at Kolkata, made rapid strides in their respective International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings.

Stumper Wriddhiman, who scored half centuries in both the innings of the Test rose 18 spots to be positioned at No.56 in the ICC rankings for batsmen. His teammate Rohit, who rescued India’s second innings with a brilliant 82, gained 14 spots to find himself at the No.38 spot. In addition, middle order bat Cheteshwar Pujara, who remains the highest scorer so far in the series, also gained a spot to be placed at No.15. However, opener Murali Vijay slipped five spots to be No.21 after a poor outing in both the Tests against the Kiwis.

Among others, New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi and Tom Latham gained 12 and three places respectively to be placed at No.40 and 33, while B.J. Watling, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson slipped in their rankings. Australia skipper Steve Smith continues to lead the batsmen’s list followed by England’s Joe Root, who rose one spot to unsettle Williamson.

In the bowler’s list, medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who claimed his maiden five-wicket haul at home to guide India to an emphatic victory in the second Test, gained nine places to be placed at No.26 while his new ball partner Mohammed Shami also rose two spots to occupy the 23rd spot.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also gained one spot to be spotted at No.6 while his spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin slipped one place to find himself at No.3.

New Zealand pacer Matt Henry took giant leaps in the rankings chart gaining 16 spots to be placed at No.61 while his new ball partner Trent Boult exchanged places with his teammate Neil Wagner to take the No.9 and No.10 spots respectively.

South African veteran Dale Steyn continues to lead the bowler’s list with England’s James Anderson exchanging spots with Ashwin at the second and third spots respectively.

Among all-rounders, Jadeja slipped one place to No.4 with Ashwin continuing to lead the chart.

Popular cricketer Rohit Sharma has launched a Rohit Cricket Championship mobile game for his fans in association with Nazara Games.

Mobile game publisher Nazara Games has partnered with Cornerstone Sport, the agency which has the digital and gaming rights for Rohit, for the new launch. According to the deal, Rohit will work exclusively with Nazara Games as part of a multi-year partnership to develop unique digital gaming experiences for his fans, extending his engagement in a new interactive format.

“It is really exciting to have the first ever cricket game on me coming out in the market. I look forward to the game and encourage all cricket fans to download and play the game,” Rohit said in a statement.

The game Rohit Cricket Championship involves the cricketer guiding every cricket fan with his insights and helps players become a cricketing star. With tournaments, mini challenges, leaderboards and achievements, Rohit Cricket Championship is a social cricketing experience and has simplistic controls clubbed with features like shot variety, running between the wickets, rewind the ball and in-game challenges.

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Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Games, said: “We at Nazara are really thrilled to announce our exclusive mobile gaming partnership with the ‘Hit Man’ of Indian cricket and are confident that the game Rohit Cricket Championship would give millions of his fans joy of enacting Rohit’s real world flair of hitting the shots outside the boundary line.”

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Earlier, Nazara had brought out Virat Kohli cricket game and Chhota Bheem games for children.

(With IANS inputs)

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test of the three match series against New Zealand at Green Park stadium here on Thursday.

India in its historic 500th Test is playing with six batsmen, two fast bowlers and two spinners while the visiting New Zealand are playing with three spinners and two fast bowlers.

India has won 10 tests under Kohli’s captaincy.

Teams:

New Zealand : Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi, BJ Watling (wicket keeper), Mitchell Santner, Mark Craig, Neil Wagner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

India: Murli Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

IANS

Not long ago the 5 wise men of Indian cricket met again and picked the team for the upcoming home series against the Kiwis. And if you are one of those who get pregnant with the expectation of controversies every time the selection committee meets , you would have necessarily had an off day, for the selection was more or less in expected lines and devoid of jaw-dropping inclusions or exclusions!

You would probably want to point out the absence of a back-up spinner in the squad, if you want to be very critical, but then you would also know that it’s certainly not a matter worth playing up. Yes, there were a few players hoping to get a look-in with Manish Pandey leading that pack with some compelling performances but only eleven men can take the field!

So, was the selection an absolutely fair and just one? Well, you might have a different view if you are either a member of the ‘Gautam Gambhir Club’ or you belong to the group of people who have lost their patience with the contemporary mystery in Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma!

Rohit ‘Enigma’ Sharma

I have strongly believed that Gautam Gambhir was shown the door at a time when he should have been representing the country in all three formats. Still there is fire left in the diminutive southpaw’s belly and that’s heartening to see! And GG would know that he is running three races simultaneously; one against the younger horses, another against time and perhaps a third one against a few in the establishment itself!

And now on to the most unfulfilled talent in Indian cricket in recent times..If there was no substitute for talent, Rohit Sharma should have been the Usain Bolt of Indian batting! But sadly, he continues to be the Rohit ‘Enigmatic’ Sharma for a frustratingly long period now, breathtakingly sublime one day and despairingly clueless the next, someone who sits on an exasperatingly big heap of undelivered promises! Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties, one might argue! But on a more serious note, the man himself would know that he is a few notches lower than where he should have been at this point!

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An average of 42.08 in ODIs decorated by two double hundreds and an average of 31.72 in T 20 Internationals is not bad for any player, not at all! To go with it is his stature as one of the ‘IPL legends’! And it’s his performances in the longest format which has disappointed the fans no ends. A test career which had an unusually late start to it given his talent, promised a lot initially but has failed to deliver ever since.

At a time when a lot of cricketers are happy making a living travelling the world wielding their big, broad T 2O bats, it’s also interesting to see many talented young cricketers rate test cricket as their top most priority. Some sound genuine and some, a bit like the swim suit clad beauty pageant contestants claiming Mother Theresa to be their role model! Once touted as the heir to the great Sachin Tendulkar’s throne, anything less than a consistently good performance in test cricket from Rohit was always going to be unacceptable. The flip side of talent, one might say!

Rohit, no longer the ‘next big thing’

Such was his talent and grace when he burst on to the international scene in 2007 that in no time he was seen as the ‘next big thing’ in Indian cricket! He could pull quality pacers over square leg with absolute ease and drive down the ground with class written all over it as we watched – with a mix of joy, appreciation and disbelief! So, where did this incredible talent lose the plot?

Well, it could well be between his ears! And that’s perhaps the reason why Rohit also saw the second in the list of the ‘next big thing’ eclipsing him to be the superstar of Indian cricket! Virat Kohli, at some point in the past few years, seemed to have done something which allowed him to productively channelise his energy and aggression which had once threatened to consume him! Rohit, on the other hand, seems to be content taking things as they come!

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To conclude, there are divided opinions on Rohit Sharma’s selection. Some look at it as a fair call of a supreme talent being given an extended run where as a few others feel he is in also because he has the knack of finding himself on the right side of the right people! But there is little doubt even in the minds of his hardest critics that should Rohit manage to beckon his talent at the right opportunity, there are very few players around more valuable than him!

My crazy imagination likens him to someone who reaches the airport well in time for his travel, goes through the formalities smoothly and somehow manages to miss the flight despite having a business class boarding pass! This could just be the last and final test call for Rohit Sharma. And let’s hope he boards comfortably this time! And that would be great news for Indian cricket!

It was a big treat for cricket and Bollywoof fans as cricketers Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Ishant Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Mohd Kaif walked the ramp for Yuvraj Singh’s new fashion brand as Bollywood stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Kajol clapped sitting at the front row. Indian Hockey captain P R Sreejesh and Olympic silver medalist Sushil Kumar also walked the ramp.

YWC Fashion comes out of Yuvraj’s venture YouWeCan. Talking to the media Yuvraj was at his wittiest best as he said that MS Dhoni will come and support this cause once only picks up his phone. Yuvraj also disclosed that he’s getting married his fiancee Hazel Keech on the first week of December.

Yuvraj Singh has launched YWC Fashion in collaboration with designers Shantanu and Nikhil. The cricket star said that all the profits from his clothing line will be used for the treatment of cancer patients through his NGO YouWeCan (YWC).

Watch Kareena, Rabir, Ileana, Bipasha scorch the ramp on LFW final day