Top Stories: Things that made news in the cricket world today

‘He reminds me of me’ – Sachin Tendulkar heaps praise on Marnus Labuschagne

• Legendary Sachin Tendulkar has paid the ultimate compliment to Marnus Labuschagne, saying that the Australia batsman reminds him of himself.
• Labuschagne has not looked back since getting a chance in Australia’s Test team during last year’s Ashes.
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South Africa vs England: Visitors to support Proteas in Pink ODI at the Wanderers

• The annual Pink One-day International at the Wanderers in Johannesburg is set to be another memorable affair.
• ‘Pink’ International games have been a tradition of sorts in countries like Australia and South Africa.
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Navdeep Saini should play instead of Shardul Thakur in 2nd ODI against New Zealand, suggests Kapil Dev

• Cricket is a cruel leveller. Shardul Thakur was a hero in the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Wellington recently by effecting a number of dismissals in the final over of the game to restrict the opponents who were looking favourites to run away with the game.
• The 28-year-old was adjudged the man of the match after India went on to win the game in the super over.
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‘PCB is clueless’ – Younis Khan agitated after Pakistan’s loss to India in the U19 World Cup

• Younis Khan, the former Pakistan batsman, has severely hit out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for their clueless approach towards the country’s cricket structure.
• Khan’s nasty words came after Pakistan’s humiliating 10-wicket defeat at the hands of India in the semi-final of the U19 World Cup. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s century turned out to be too hot to handle for the Boys in Green.
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Bengaluru Police files charge sheet against 16 for KPL match-fixing including CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi

• The match-fixing scandal in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) has rocked Indian cricket in the recent past and if one goes by the confirmation given by Bengaluru Police on Friday, a charge sheet had been filed against 16 people, including cricketers CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi.
• The duo was arrested last November for allegedly fixing games in the KPL 2019 held in August.
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India’s fielding standard has fallen, admits coach R Sridhar

• India’s performance has been overall good since their premature exit from the ICC World Cup 2019 as they have not lost a single series in this time.
• But the Men in Blue’s fielding has not been particularly good in the ongoing tour of New Zealand though their fielding coach R Sridhar on Friday refused to blame the tight international schedules as the reason for that.
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South Africa players pledge 50,000 Rand to help for the rehabilitation of Solo Nqweni

• South African all-rounder Solo Nqweni is going through horrendous times at the moment.
• The Eastern Cape all-rounder was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome while playing club cricket for Aberdeenshire last July, post which he spent four weeks in an induced coma.
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Reports: Kuldeep Yadav carrying a shoulder injury from the day he landed in New Zealand

• Kuldeep Yadav is going through possibly the worst phase of his international career.
• Once touted as the X-factor of the Indian white-ball set-up and a potential all-format bowler, the stocks of the Chinaman have nosedived in the past 8-10 months.
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Reports: Babar Azam all set to become Pakistan’s new ODI captain

• After Pakistan’s horror show in the T20I series at home against Sri Lanka, PCB announced Babar Azam as their new T20 skipper and Azhar Ali as Test skipper.
• The PCB however, did not replace Sarfaraz Ahmed as the ODI captain, as Pakistan is only going to play a one-off ODI against Bangladesh on April 3.
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When Swami Vivekananda took seven-wicket haul at Eden Gardens

• Narendranath Datta known by the name of Swami Vivekananda was one of the major force, who majorly contributed in the concept of nationalism in colonial India.
• He is arguably one of the best spiritual writers, prolific thinker and great orator in the history of the country. His contribution to the betterment of the country can never go ignored.
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‘2019 World Cup planning was really poor’ – Yuvraj Singh hopeful of India ending their major title drought

• Winning a global title is what every elite International team desires to the hilt. This is because winning a world title helps the team cement their legacy as the best in the world.
• You look at the great Australian teams of the past or even the West Indian sides for that matter, each of them carved out a legacy by winning multiple global titles.
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‘Yashasvi Jaiswal will definitely play for India’ – Shoaib Akhtar hails the youngster after India U19’s victory

• India U19 continued with their imperious run in the ongoing ICC U19 World Cup 2020 when they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan U19 by a comprehensive margin of ten wickets. It was a clinical performance from the young Indian colts from the get-go.
• Their planning was spot-on and the execution was even better as hapless had no answer to the defending champions brilliance.
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Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are in the same league: Mushtaq Mohammad

• Mushtaq Mohammad, the former Pakistan cricketer, reckons that Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are in the same league despite the Indian skipper being better and more experienced.
• It’s been over a decade since Kohli broke into the national team and is currently, its stalwart across all formats. The 31-year-old from Delhi is currently the ICC’s number-one ranked Test and ODI batsman.
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