All Article Properties:
{
"access_control": false,
"status": "publish",
"objectType": "Article",
"id": "1071086",
"signature": "Article:1071086",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-10-18-indias-kohli-banks-on-priceless-kumar-and-fearless-ashwin/",
"shorturl": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/1071086",
"slug": "indias-kohli-banks-on-priceless-kumar-and-fearless-ashwin",
"contentType": {
"id": "1",
"name": "Article",
"slug": "article"
},
"views": 0,
"comments": 0,
"preview_limit": null,
"excludedFromGoogleSearchEngine": 0,
"title": "India’s Kohli banks on ‘priceless’ Kumar and fearless Ashwin",
"firstPublished": "2021-10-18 14:59:41",
"lastUpdate": "2021-10-18 14:59:41",
"categories": [
{
"id": "30",
"name": "Sport",
"signature": "Category:30",
"slug": "sport",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/sport/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
}
],
"content_length": 4832,
"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going by the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates, swing bowlers could struggle to get any movement on the low and slow pitches in the UAE.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kumar has built his reputation around his ability to swing the ball, but Kohli said the 31-year-old had other tricks up his sleeve.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“His economy rate still continues to be top notch, something that he’s always been known for, and his experience comes to the fore under pressure,” Kohli said at a pre-tournament media session on Saturday.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“(It’s) his understanding of hitting the areas according to the dimensions of the field, and what balls to bowl and at what line. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m sure with the new ball he’ll definitely get some kind of assistance, and whatever little is there on offer, Bhuvi knows how to make the maximum use out of that. His experience is going to be priceless.”</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1071136\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli5-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" /> Ravichandran Ashwin of India – pictured during the Victoria Bitter One Day International Series against Australia at the WACA in Perth on 12 January 2016 – is '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bowling with a lot of courage in white-ball cricket', says captain Virat Kohli. </span>(Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ashwin is also back in the Twenty20 fold after a two-year gap and Kohli said it was a just reward for the bowler, who had reinvented himself in the game’s shortest format.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“One thing that Ashwin has really improved on is bowling with a lot of courage in white-ball cricket,” the captain said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“If you see the IPL in the last couple of years, he’s bowled the difficult overs, he’s bowled against the top players in the IPL, the likes of Polly (Kieron Pollard) and other power-hitters.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two-time champions West Indies will begin their title defence with a 23 October match against reigning 50-overs world champions England.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skipper Pollard said that while six-hitting prowess was their strength, the West Indies are no one-trick pony.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1071135\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli4-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> Virat Kholi and Ravichandran Ashwin celebrate the dismissal of George Bailey of Australia during the Victoria Bitter One Day International Series at the WACA in Perth on 12 January 2016. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A lot of analysts keep harping on dot balls, (lack of) ones and twos,” the all-rounder said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“For us, everything is important but we still have to play to our strengths.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We continue to work on our weaknesses and continue to keep our strength as our strength, and let’s see what happens. We have a lot of powerful guys in our line-up, but we also have guys who are able to manoeuvre the strike, run between the wickets.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We’re looking forward to trying to play complete games of cricket… Then the results take care of themselves.”</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Wickets could be good for seamers – Southee</b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Zealand’s Tim Southee, one of only two quicks in the top 10 of the T20 bowling world rankings, believes sluggish wickets at the World Cup could work out well for seamers.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southee joined the Black Caps squad for his fourth T20 World Cup at the weekend after playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the recent conclusion of the IPL, also in the United Arab Emirates.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It was a great experience and no better preparation leading into the World Cup here in the same conditions we’re going to be faced with,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The wickets have been slightly different to what you’d usually expect in the UAE, a touch on the slow side. The seamers have actually done a reasonable job with a lot of cutters and banging away into the wickets.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Encouraging signs for the seamers but with the weather starting to cool down a bit, the wickets I’m sure will improve.”</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1071137\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1629\" /> Tim Southee of New Zealand in action during game two of the International T20 series against Bangladesh at McLean Park in Napier, New Zealand on 30 March 2021. (Photo: Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)</p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southee said each of the grounds at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai have different characteristics, and there were added variations depending on whether matches are played in the day or at night.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Zealand will play at all three grounds in their Super 12 group matches, which include clashes with India and Pakistan, but Southee believes the Black Caps have the personnel to deal with the changes.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A strength of this side is adapting to conditions… and it’s about coming up with a plan that suits our side,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southee said the shortest international format had changed considerably since his first T20 World Cup in 2010, and not just for swashbuckling batsmen and mystery spinners.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Seamers (have been) developing different kinds of balls over that time as well,” the 32-year-old said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“When you go back to the start, you’d just have a yorker and a slower ball and sort of bang away at length. Now, you’ve got so many different types of balls.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Zealand open their campaign against Pakistan in Sharjah on 26 October. </span><b>DM/Reuters</b>",
"teaser": "India’s Kohli banks on ‘priceless’ Kumar and fearless Ashwin",
"externalUrl": "",
"sponsor": null,
"authors": [
{
"id": "243349",
"name": "Amlan Chakraborty",
"image": "",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/author/amlan-chakraborty/",
"editorialName": "amlan-chakraborty",
"department": "",
"name_latin": ""
}
],
"description": "",
"keywords": [
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "2122",
"name": "India",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/india/",
"slug": "india",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "India",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "5918",
"name": "Cricket",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/cricket/",
"slug": "cricket",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Cricket",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "16979",
"name": "Virat Kohli",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/virat-kohli/",
"slug": "virat-kohli",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Virat Kohli",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "17449",
"name": "Tim Southee",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/tim-southee/",
"slug": "tim-southee",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Tim Southee",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "49120",
"name": "sport",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/sport/",
"slug": "sport",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "sport",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "228972",
"name": "T20 World CuP",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/t20-world-cup/",
"slug": "t20-world-cup",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "T20 World CuP",
"translations": null
}
}
],
"short_summary": null,
"source": null,
"related": [],
"options": [],
"attachments": [
{
"id": "87196",
"name": "NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND - MARCH 30: Tim Southee of New Zealand in action during game two of the International T20 series between New Zealand and Bangladesh at McLean Park on March 30, 2021 in Napier, New Zealand. (Photo by Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going by the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates, swing bowlers could struggle to get any movement on the low and slow pitches in the UAE.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kumar has built his reputation around his ability to swing the ball, but Kohli said the 31-year-old had other tricks up his sleeve.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“His economy rate still continues to be top notch, something that he’s always been known for, and his experience comes to the fore under pressure,” Kohli said at a pre-tournament media session on Saturday.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“(It’s) his understanding of hitting the areas according to the dimensions of the field, and what balls to bowl and at what line. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m sure with the new ball he’ll definitely get some kind of assistance, and whatever little is there on offer, Bhuvi knows how to make the maximum use out of that. His experience is going to be priceless.”</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1071136\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1707\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1071136\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli5-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" /> Ravichandran Ashwin of India – pictured during the Victoria Bitter One Day International Series against Australia at the WACA in Perth on 12 January 2016 – is '<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bowling with a lot of courage in white-ball cricket', says captain Virat Kohli. </span>(Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ashwin is also back in the Twenty20 fold after a two-year gap and Kohli said it was a just reward for the bowler, who had reinvented himself in the game’s shortest format.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“One thing that Ashwin has really improved on is bowling with a lot of courage in white-ball cricket,” the captain said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“If you see the IPL in the last couple of years, he’s bowled the difficult overs, he’s bowled against the top players in the IPL, the likes of Polly (Kieron Pollard) and other power-hitters.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two-time champions West Indies will begin their title defence with a 23 October match against reigning 50-overs world champions England.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skipper Pollard said that while six-hitting prowess was their strength, the West Indies are no one-trick pony.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1071135\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1071135\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli4-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> Virat Kholi and Ravichandran Ashwin celebrate the dismissal of George Bailey of Australia during the Victoria Bitter One Day International Series at the WACA in Perth on 12 January 2016. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A lot of analysts keep harping on dot balls, (lack of) ones and twos,” the all-rounder said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“For us, everything is important but we still have to play to our strengths.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We continue to work on our weaknesses and continue to keep our strength as our strength, and let’s see what happens. We have a lot of powerful guys in our line-up, but we also have guys who are able to manoeuvre the strike, run between the wickets.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We’re looking forward to trying to play complete games of cricket… Then the results take care of themselves.”</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Wickets could be good for seamers – Southee</b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Zealand’s Tim Southee, one of only two quicks in the top 10 of the T20 bowling world rankings, believes sluggish wickets at the World Cup could work out well for seamers.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southee joined the Black Caps squad for his fourth T20 World Cup at the weekend after playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the recent conclusion of the IPL, also in the United Arab Emirates.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It was a great experience and no better preparation leading into the World Cup here in the same conditions we’re going to be faced with,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The wickets have been slightly different to what you’d usually expect in the UAE, a touch on the slow side. The seamers have actually done a reasonable job with a lot of cutters and banging away into the wickets.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Encouraging signs for the seamers but with the weather starting to cool down a bit, the wickets I’m sure will improve.”</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1071137\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-1071137\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1629\" /> Tim Southee of New Zealand in action during game two of the International T20 series against Bangladesh at McLean Park in Napier, New Zealand on 30 March 2021. (Photo: Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southee said each of the grounds at Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai have different characteristics, and there were added variations depending on whether matches are played in the day or at night.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Zealand will play at all three grounds in their Super 12 group matches, which include clashes with India and Pakistan, but Southee believes the Black Caps have the personnel to deal with the changes.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“A strength of this side is adapting to conditions… and it’s about coming up with a plan that suits our side,” he said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southee said the shortest international format had changed considerably since his first T20 World Cup in 2010, and not just for swashbuckling batsmen and mystery spinners.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Seamers (have been) developing different kinds of balls over that time as well,” the 32-year-old said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“When you go back to the start, you’d just have a yorker and a slower ball and sort of bang away at length. Now, you’ve got so many different types of balls.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Zealand open their campaign against Pakistan in Sharjah on 26 October. </span><b>DM/Reuters</b>",
"focal": "50% 50%",
"width": 0,
"height": 0,
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg",
"transforms": [
{
"x": "200",
"y": "100",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/3VSuijsmYnoeMF6Z8MRhKd8xD-o=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg"
},
{
"x": "450",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/9OswrtD55SqBHhI6qCc11Fo7Gxs=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg"
},
{
"x": "800",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/b4zHexS3jL5Bu04IPeeUuCZo34M=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1200",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/OkO4QECgCZBLLw5FaiGqnRn4PCg=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1600",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/BbLReyZHT_DeNAbNNm2R-ZZz-hs=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg"
}
],
"url_thumbnail": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/3VSuijsmYnoeMF6Z8MRhKd8xD-o=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg",
"url_medium": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/9OswrtD55SqBHhI6qCc11Fo7Gxs=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg",
"url_large": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/b4zHexS3jL5Bu04IPeeUuCZo34M=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg",
"url_xl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/OkO4QECgCZBLLw5FaiGqnRn4PCg=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg",
"url_xxl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/BbLReyZHT_DeNAbNNm2R-ZZz-hs=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OD-Cricket-T20-WORLD-CUP-Kohli3.jpg",
"type": "image"
}
],
"summary": "India captain Virat Kohli believes swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar will prove quite a handful with the new ball in the T20 World Cup beginning on Sunday, and said off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s fearless bowling will boost their title hopes.",
"template_type": null,
"dm_custom_section_label": null,
"elements": [],
"seo": {
"search_title": "India’s Kohli banks on ‘priceless’ Kumar and fearless Ashwin",
"search_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going by the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates, swing bowlers could struggle to get any movement on the low and slow pitches in the",
"social_title": "India’s Kohli banks on ‘priceless’ Kumar and fearless Ashwin",
"social_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going by the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates, swing bowlers could struggle to get any movement on the low and slow pitches in the",
"social_image": ""
},
"cached": true,
"access_allowed": true
} 
Ravichandran Ashwin of India – pictured during the Victoria Bitter One Day International Series against Australia at the WACA in Perth on 12 January 2016 – is 'bowling with a lot of courage in white-ball cricket', says captain Virat Kohli. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Virat Kholi and Ravichandran Ashwin celebrate the dismissal of George Bailey of Australia during the Victoria Bitter One Day International Series at the WACA in Perth on 12 January 2016. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Tim Southee of New Zealand in action during game two of the International T20 series against Bangladesh at McLean Park in Napier, New Zealand on 30 March 2021. (Photo: Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)