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Will Focus On Bowling Dots Against Kane Williamson Mohammed Siraj

Will focus on bowling dots against Kane Williamson: Mohammed Siraj

India pacer Mohammed Siraj has said that he will try to “frustrate” New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson with dot balls and force him to play some shots during the final of the inaugural World Test Championship slated to take place in Southampton from June 18.

"I will try to bowl in a particular spot tirelessly. I will focus on bowling dots against Kane Williamson, the best batsman in the New Zealand line-up, to create pressure on him. It will provoke him to go for shots and there will be a high chance of getting him out," said Siraj.

The right-arm fast bowler who was one of the key members of the Indian team that defended the Border-Gavaskar trophy earlier this year suggested that the tracks in Australia offer much more pace and bounce while the pitches in England are favourable for swing bowling.

Siraj further stated that he would try to make the batsmen play on the front foot. "Australian pitches offer more bounce and pace. I used to bowl back of good length there. But in England, there will be more swing. So I will try to make the batsmen play on front-foot," Siraj told ABP News.

The quick bowler admitted that the New Zealand side who have already reached the UK and will play a two-match Test series against the English team ahead of the WTC final will get more time to adjust to the conditions.

“New Zealand will play a Test series against England and they have reached there much before us. So they will not only be among matches, they will also get more time to adjust to English conditions,” Siraj said.

The Indian team will play a five-match series against England after the completion of the WTC final.

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Mohammed Siraj

Our main focus is on completing this edition of IPL: Rajeev Shukla

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajiv Shukla has cleared that the IPL 2021 won’t face any issue even if some of the overseas players are not available. Shukla further added that the board is focused on completing the tournament and would go ahead with the players who can be available to feature in the remainder of the cash-rich league. "We have discussed that (availability of foreign players) issue also. Our main focus is on completing this edition of the IPL. It should not be left halfway through. So whichever foreign players are available is fine. Whoever is not available, it is not going to stop us from hosting the tournament," Rajiv Shukla told Khaleej Times on Sunday. "The Indian players are there, foreign players are there, but few foreign players will not be available. As I said, we have to complete our tournament.” "So the franchises will definitely look for other players. Whoever is available, we are going to have the tournament with them. That's our policy," Shukla added. The vice-president further said that the BCCI office-bearers will have a discussion with Emirates Cricket Board before they finalise the schedule. "We will be having discussions with the cricket board here and the other authorities. And accordingly, the schedule will be made, so the tournament happens in a very smooth manner as it happened here last year (in 2020)," he said. The IPL 2021 was suspended on May 4 after there was a rise in cases within the franchise teams.

Never claimed to be vegan, always maintained that I'm vegetarian: Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli is known for his strict diet and his workout regime. But the right-handed batsman’s fans and followers were left in some confusion after he said that his diet includes vegetables, some eggs, 2 cups of coffee, quinoa, and lots of spinach during a Q/A session on Instagram on Tuesday, when Kohli was asked about his diet. "Lots of vegetables, some eggs, 2 cups of Coffee, quinoa, lots of spinach, love dosas too. But all in controlled quantities," the Indian skipper said. The fans were left wondering as to how Kohli has eggs in his diet after he has claimed to turn a ‘vegan’. The captain has now made the clarification for the same and said that he never claimed to turn ‘vegan’. "I never claimed to be vegan. Always maintained that I'm vegetarian. Take a deep breath and eat your Veggies (if you want )," he wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. Kohli will be travelling with the Indian team to the UK for the final of the inaugural World Test Championship which would be followed by a five-match Test series against England. India made it to the final of the WTC after beating Australia 2-1 in a four-match Test series away from home and then carried the form against England to thrash them 3-1 in a series comprising four matches. The Kohl-led side will now meet Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in Southampton where the final is scheduled to begin on June 18. New Zealand have already reached England as they will be taking on the home side in a two-match Test series ahead of the WTC final.

Trent Boult hopes to create 'bit of history' in WTC final against India

The spearhead of the New Zealand bowling attack, Trent Boult has shared his excitement leading up to the big World Test Championship final and has put his weight behind his teammates to ‘create a bit of history.’ Although he found the qualification process far too difficult to understand, he is excited to move the ball around in the fresh air of England to help side get over the line this time after missing out narrowly in the ICC World cup 2019. "The way the group has travelled and performed around New Zealand and the world, the boys are in a great place to hopefully create a bit of history," he said. "I've taken a while to understand the process with qualifying, how everything works with the points, still think no one knows how that actually works, but to get into that final the excitement is ramping up now. Once I step foot in the UK, get that chance to smell the English fresh air and see the ball move around a little bit I'll definitely be excited." The WTC final, like the Test matches in England, will be played with the Duke ball and Boult backed his bowling partners to move it around and entertain the crowd and fans over the time they will be in the UK. "I haven't had too much experience with it, played a handful of Tests over in England. It reacts a lot differently, then you have to weigh in all these different venues," he said. "I'm sure the boys are very excited to get it in their hands and see it move around, hopefully we can entertain you a little bit over the next wee while,” Boult added. Boult has not reached England yet and will miss the entire Test series against England starting June 02 at Lord’s. He will play straight in the WTC final and the Blackcaps would be hoping for his best performance if they have to stand any chance of creating the history against India.

Asghar Afghan removed as Afghanistan captain

The Afghanistan Cricket Board has removed Asghar Afghan as the captain across all the formats after an investigation conducted by ACB's Investigative committee. Hashmatullah Shahidi will now be taking up the Test and ODI captaincy. Rahmat Shah will be his deputy. The call on the T20I captaincy "will be taken soon” while spinner Rashid Khan will continue to be the vice-captain of the team in shorter format. "The decision to remove Asghar Afghan from captaincy was taken based on an investigation conducted by ACB's Investigative committee which concluded that some of Afghan's decisions as the captain of the team resulted in Afghanistan's loss to Zimbabwe in the first Test of the series between both sides in Abu Dhabi in March," ACB said in a release. Afghanistan managed to draw the two-match Test series against Zimbabwe earlier this year in Abu Dhabi. Zimbabwe won the first match by 10 wickets while Afghanistan made a comeback in the second to beat the Zimbabwean team by 6 wickets. They followed it with a 3-0 clean sweep win in the T20Is. Asghar had faced the sacking earlier as well before the start of the 2019 World Cup in England and the captaincy was handed over to Gulbadin Naib under whom the team fared poorly to end up the tournament at the bottom and without a single win. Rashid who was the then skipper of the T20I team was also given the captaincy for the ODIs and Tests before Asghar returned back to lead the side.