In a rare spectacle, batting greats Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting found themselves training for the same team with the former Australian captain glued to the batting grind of his Mumbai Indians teammate ahead of their side’s IPL campaign.
Tendulkar had a two-hour long batting stint at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore with captain Ponting keeping a close watch on him ahead of MI’s IPL campaign opener against Royal Challengers on April 4.
Tendulkar spent the longest time at the nets while Ponting, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik batted for under 45 minutes.
Ponting’s scared?
Ponting meanwhile ruled out bowling, saying the grounds in India are too small for him to bowl in match situation. He had bowled a bit during the Big Bash T20 back in Australia.
“I am not in the league of Ravichandran Ashwin. We haven't have enough spare balls for me to come and bowl.”
Learning at KKR
Kolkata: England batsman Eoin Morgan said the friendly environment in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) provides a better environment for learning.
“We are good friends and so the environment makes it easy to learn. There are no qualms in asking any questions relating to cricket,” Morgan said.
{{/usCountry}}“We are good friends and so the environment makes it easy to learn. There are no qualms in asking any questions relating to cricket,” Morgan said.
{{/usCountry}}‘Can’t kill the spirit’
Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper, Kumar Sangakkara, feels keeping the Sri Lankan players out of the Chennai matches is not going to “curtail” the spirit of the game.
“Politics in this case has affected/restricted our presence, our belief to play in every part of India. But I don't think, sports and spirit of cricket is ever going to be curtailed by such prejudice,” he said on the sidelines of an event in Hyderabad.