Author: Newsdesk

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said that he was lucky enough to have been brought up as a white-ish middle class in a multi-racial society and play his cricket in a multi-cultural club like Essex that ensured that he experienced very little racism.

“I encountered very little racism at Essex. Growing up as a young boy in Ilford having been born in India and having a surname of Hussain and a first name of Nasser I did encounter some name-calling due to ignorance,” Hussain told PakPassion.net

“I was lucky enough to play at a club like Essex where we had a middle-order of Nadeem Shahid, Saleem Malik and myself. We had a very multi-cultural county in the south of our county at Ilford where I grew up with my dad and his cricket school where we had a British West Indian net, British Indian net and a British Pakistani net and we would all take the mickey out of each other when India were playing Pakistan, or England were losing to the West Indies. It was great banter and it was fun,” he said.

Hussain said he was fortunate enough to have come from a white-ish middle-class, privileged background.

“I grew up in that multi-cultural environment and I was very fortunate. But I understand that I was a white-ish middle-class, public school educated boy so I can’t put myself in the shoes of some of the British Asians that are growing up in certain parts of the UK,” he said.

Hussain also said that Pakistan batting mainstay Babar Azam has the potential to end up as one of the greats.

“Babar has what it takes to become one of the greats. In white-ball cricket he is up there with the best of them. He is up near the top of the rankings in T20Is, and in fifty over cricket he is exceptional too,” Hussain pointed out.

“He did okay in the Test series against England bearing in mind England is not an easy place to come and play Test cricket. He just needs that consistency in Test cricket to be up there with the likes of Virat Kohli. Babar’s done that for six to nine months so far. He just needs to be consistent for a longer period of time.”

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Delhi Capitals (DC) will need a strong mindset when they play Qualifier 2 on Sunday, having suffered a 57-run thrashing at the hands of the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the first Qualifier, said captain Shreyas Iyer.

“I don’t want to speak negatively about the team, but going forward it’s important to come with a strong mindset. It’s never too late, and we’ll see to it that we come back strongly,” said Iyer after the match.

Chasing a target of 201, DC were reduced 0/3 by Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult in the first two overs of their innings and could not recover from the early blows.

DC looked capable of restricting MI to a par score in the middle overs before Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya smashed more than 70 runs in the last five overs.

“I think we were on top when we got two quick wickets, and they were 102-4. We could have capitalised more at that time, and gotten two more wickets — maybe we could’ve chased around 170, but it’s part and parcel of the game. Every night can’t be yours,” said Iyer.

“We keep talking about the opportunities that we get and it’s important to have a good mindset. It’s not easy to be in the bubble and follow the same routine, but the practice we have done over the last few days, I’m really happy with the boys and their preparations.”

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Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma said that their performance against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Thursday in the first Qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was probably their best so far. Their 57-run win helped seal passage to a second consecutive IPL final.

“I guess this was our best so far. The way we came out with the intent. The way de Kock and Surya batted after we lost a wicket in the second over, the way we closed out, and then the clinical bowling. We never had any target in mind because we are a different team, and we want to play in a different way,” said Rohit at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya’s late charge helped MI score 200/5 in their 20 overs after which DC were torn apart by Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult to be restricted to 143/8.

“In T20 we always talk about momentum. We never want the momentum to shift towards the opposition. Ishan has been in great form so we wanted him to be positive. So the message was clear to him in the timeout. Please don’t be afraid to put the pressure back. Back your instinct,” he said.

Boult and Bumrah are two different kinds of bowlers and have done well to adapt to the way MI want them to play, said Rohit.

Boult had to leave the field after his first two overs but the MI captain said that the New Zealand pacer should recover in time for the final.

“I have not seen Trent yet but he looks okay. It is a big game coming up but we just wanted him to be okay for the next game. He looks okay. I am sure he will be on the park on the 10th. When you have bowlers like Bumrah, it makes your life easy. And Bumrah and Boult are in top form. When they play for different countries and franchises, they have different plans. Hats off to them for buying into our plans and executing them so well,” he said.

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Virat Kohli on Thursday turned 32 and social media was flooded with birthday wishes for the Team India skipper.

Kohli, who made his international debut in 2008, has so far represented India in 86 Tests, 248 ODIs and 82 T20Is, scoring 7240, 11867 and 2794 runs, respectively. In ICC ODI rankings for batsmen, the Indian skipper holds the numero uno spot. In Tests, he is ranked second while in T20Is he is placed at the ninth spot.

“2011 World Cup-winner, 21,901 runs, 70 centuries in international cricket, most Test wins as Indian captain, leading run-getter in T20Is (Men’s). Wishing Team India captain Virat Kohli a very happy birthday,” BCCI wrote on its official Twitter handle.

“To someone that has set the bar in fitness standards and work ethics at an all-time high and achieved greatness at such a young age. Wishing you a very happy birthday. God bless Virat Kohli,” tweeted Team India head coach Ravi Shastri.

Suresh Raina tweeted: “Happy birthday Virat Kohli. Best wishes & lots of success ahead.”

“21,901 international runs, 70 centuries 56.15 average, ICC World Cup 2011 and Champions Trophy 2013 winner Top, No.1 batsman on the ICC ODI Rankings. Happy birthday to the extraordinary Virat Kohli,” tweeted the official handle of ICC while putting out some stats.

On Wednesday, Kohli found a mention in ICC’s throwback video-tweet wherein the then U-19 captain can be seen giving his introduction in the U-19 World Cup in 2008. He described himself as a “right-arm quick bowler”, something which went viral on social media.

“Many more happy returns of the day Virat Kohli. May you find ever more joy, success and love,” said VVS Laxman while extending birthday wishes for the India captain.

“I wish you a very happy birthday. May you have many more years of success and happiness ahead!” said Mohammad Shami.

“Happy Birthday Virat Kohli! To all the amazing times we’ve had together this year, & here’s to many more! Wishing you a wonderful birthday…lots of love and good-wishes!” said Wriddhiman Saha.

Kohli is currently leading Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 13th IPL edition where his team has managed to reach the playoffs. RCB will be facing SunRisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator on Friday.

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