Indian Premier League 2017: Afghanistan players Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan create history

Mohammad Nabi became the first Afghanistan player to be bought in an Indian Premier League auction. He was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 30 lakh. Nabi's countryman Rashid Khan fetched Rs 4 crore from SRH.

Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi will become the first Afghan cricketer to feature in the Indian Premier League after he was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for his base price of Rs 30 lakh.
Five out of the 352 players listed for the auction in Bangalore were from Afghanistan, who have made a rapid progress in international cricket.

Their players had won hearts in the 2015 World Cup and in the qualifying matches of the World T20 held in India last year.

Nabi's family had moved to Pakistan's Peshawar from Afghanistan during the peak of the Soviet War. It is there that a 10-year-old Nabi took up cricket and honed his skills to become one of Afghanistan's most reverred cricketers over the years.

Having made his ODI debut in 2009, Nabi quickly made a name for himself. He has so far played 72 one-day internationals and 52 T20Is.

In T20 Internationals, Nabi is a name to be reckoned with. His accurate off-spinners have so far fetched him 56 wickets and he boasts of a decent economy rate of 6.96.
And do not forget, Nabi ranks fourth in the ICC's all-rounders list for T20 Internationals.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Hyderabad also gunned for Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan and shelled out Rs 4 crore for him.

The 18-year-old has played 21 T20 Internationals already and has snared 31 wickets. The leggie has an impressive economy rate of 6.14 which shows that he is extremely difficult to get away. David Warner, his skipper at SRH, should be thrilled with these two latest acquisitions.

India team selection for Australia Test series: Unchanged India squad announced

The BCCI retained the same India cricket team squad that had featured in the Bangladesh Test in Hyderabad. Rohit Sharma and Amit Mishra were not considered for selection. Relive all highlights of the selection meeting here.

13:47 hrs IST: Rohit Sharma will get a chance to prove his fitness for the Tests in Ranchi and Dharamsala as he plays the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Mumbai. Mohammed Shami and Amit Mishra will also get a chance to showcase their fitness.

13:24 hrs IST: No major surprises in the Indian squad. Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav along with Kuldeep Yadav and Abhinav Mukund retained. No Rohit Sharma or Amit Mishra.

13:13 hrs IST: Steven Smith and the Australian cricket team had their first media interaction and he said that they had no specific gameplan to stop Virat Kohli.

12:52 hrs IST: In the 2013 series, Ashwin picked up 29 wickets while Ravindra Jadeja picked up 24 wickets. With Ashwin and Jadeja in prime form this time around, the task does not get any easier for Australia.

12:40 hrs IST: India are going to play three out of the four Tests against Australia in new venues. Pune, Dharamsala and Ranchi have hosted ODIs and T20Is but never Tests. In the England series, Rajkot was the new Test venue while for New Zealand, Indore was a new Test venue.

12:33 hrs IST: What will be the composition of the Indian attack for the Australia series? Will they pack their line-up with spinners or maintain the three pacers two spinners composition which they did in the Bangladesh Test?

12:14 hrs IST: With a settled middle order and with a settled bowling combination, the onus is on the top. While Murali Vijay has been consistent, KL Rahul has experienced peaks and troughs.

12:05 hrs IST: According to early reports, the team selected might not have any major changes. Perhaps, Mohammed Shami will come back but he has not had many opportunities to prove his fitness.

12:01 hrs IST: Will Rohit Sharma get a surprise call to the Test team? Considering he has not played much cricket since injury, he might get a nod for the last two Tests should he perform well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

11:52 hrs IST: The selectors are meeting at noon to decide the squad for the upcoming four-Test series against Australia. The first Test will begin in Pune on February 23.

The selection committee, headed by MSK Prasad, will meet in the BCCI office at noon and chances are that it will announce the retention of the entire Hyderabad squad. At least for the first two Tests against Australia – in Pune from February 23 and in Bangalore from March 4. However, there is one case for the committee which should make their travelling to Mumbai worthwhile. They will need to apply their minds over the right time to recall Rohit Sharma into the squad.

Rohit’s plan is to play the domestic one-day matches, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, from February 25 in Chennai to prove his fitness.Mumbai play three back-to-back matches on Feb 25, 26 and 27, against Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which will be as good as playing a three-day first-class game. If everything goes well and the selectors are convinced, then Rohit will be available for the second Test.

Virat Kohli’s Indian team has a settled composition and have dominated the home season. Kohli has not lost a single Test in 2016 and has not tasted defeat at home yet. India have not tasted defeat in a home Test for 20 matches while Kohli has not suffered a loss for 19 Tests since the loss in Galle to Sri Lanka in 2015.

Virat Kohli Says Captaincy Has Made Him A Better Batsman

Virat Kohli scored fourth double ton in Test cricket on Friday, with all four of them coming after he became Test captain
Team India skipper Virat Kohli has credited his prolific run of form with the bat to his captaincy, saying that the added responsibility has left no room for complacency in his batting. Kohli on Friday completed a double century on the second day of the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, scoring 204 to help India reach a commanding total of 687/6. This was the captain's fourth double ton in Test cricket, with all four of them coming after he was given charge of the team in the longer format of the game.
"I don't know, I think it is because of captaincy that you tend to go on more than what you usually would as a normal batsman. I think the room for complacency is no more present when you become captain. So, that has something to do with me playing long innings," the 28-year-old right-handed batsman said.

"I have always wanted to play long innings and my first seven or eight hundreds were not even 120 plus scores. After that I made a conscious effort to bat long and control my excitement or not be complacent at any stage," he was quoted as saying by 'bcci.tv', when asked about his hunger for big scores.
With his 204-run knock, Kohli became the first batsman in the history of Test cricket to claim four double hundreds in as many series. In the process, he surpassed the legendary Sir Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid, both of whom had three double hundreds in successive series.
Kohli's four double hundreds have come against West Indies (200), New Zealand (211), England (235) and now Bangladesh.
The Indian captain said that he's is no longer satisfied with Test hundreds and his fitness level allows him to play for longer innings and eye bigger scores.
'Worked on fitness over the years'
"I worked on my fitness level over the years and I feel I can go for longer periods now. I don't get tired as much as I used to before. Definitely, I don't get satisfied when I get a Test hundred which used to be before, because I used to give too much importance to Test cricket separately. Now I have started to treat it as any game of cricket and I have to keep going on till the time the team needs to," said the Delhi batsman.
Asked how he has been able to maintain consistency across the three formats, he said, "It is not easy to do especially with the amount of cricket we play nowadays. It is more of a mental thing. I don't necessarily focus too much on practice because sometimes you might not get to practice so much.

India Vs Bangladesh, Hyderabad Test, Day 2: Virat Kohli declares innings at 687/6

Skipper Virat Kohli slammed another brilliant double hundred to surpass Sir Don Bradman's record by achieving record fourth 200 in 4 successive series.

 Hyderabad, Feb 10: Another brilliant double hundred from skipper Virat Kohli and a shining century from Wriddhiman Saha enabled hosts India declared their first innings at 687/6 against Bangladesh on second day of the one-off Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Friday (Feb 10).

 Earlier, resuming the day at a personal score of 111, Kohli completed his career's fourth double hundred immediately after lunch to become first Indian skipper to hit four double tons.

 Unbeaten on 191 till the lunch session, Kohli quickly completed his fourth double ton as he surpassed the record set by Australian legend Don Bradman (1930-32) and compatriot Rahul Dravid (2003-4). Prior to this one-off Test, Kohli's double tons were 200 against the West Indies away in July, 211 vs New Zealand at home in October and 235 against England in December. He fell after being dismissed with a leg before decision by left-arm spinner Taijul Islam. His innings was studded with 24 fours out of the 246 deliveries he faced. The wicket, however, didn't come as a relief for the visitors as Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin punished them with a quickfire stand of 74 runs in 15.2 overs. With the team pushing for a huge score before the declaration, Ashwin made most of the occasion by scoring 34 runs in 45 deliveries. Read more at: