Heena Sharma Blog

India skipper Virat Kohli has insisted that young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant -- who is seen as the successor to M.S. Dhoni -- is the future of Indian cricket and he needs to be given the space so that he can use his skills well and perform on a consistent basis for the team. Pant, who had attracted criticism for his shot selection in the first two T20Is, on Tuesday showed some spark in the final match which India won by seven wickets to clean sweep the three-match series. The left-handed batsman played a winning knock of unbeaten 65 off just 42 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes as India chased down the target of 147 with four balls to spare. "We are looking at him (Pant) as the future. He has got a lot of skill and a lot of talent. It is about giving him some space and not putting too much of pressure," said Kohli -- who shared a 106-run stand with Pant -- after the match. "He's come a long way since he's started. It's about winning and fi

Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni escaped a ban and was let off with a 50 per cent fine on his match fee for an unprecedented confrontation with the on-field umpire during the IPL encounter against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. In a rare instance, Dhoni, who was not even meant to be on the field of play, lost his cool and rushed out of the dug-out to challenge umpire Ulhas Gandhe after he flip-flopped on a no ball on Thursday night. "MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, was fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the VIVO Indian Premier League's (IPL) Code of Conduct during his team's match against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur," the BCCI stated. Gandhe had tried to rule a waist-high full toss as no ball by RR all-rounder Ben Stokes. But he reversed his decision after square leg umpire Bruce Oxenford did not signal for it. "Dhoni admitted to the Level 2 offence 2.20 of the IPL's Code of Conduct and accepted the sanction