Cricket News Today: Virat Kohli praises KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma breaks another record and more - 18th January, 2020

Hello and welcome to the daily round-up of the myriad storylines dominating the cricketing circuit on the 18th of January, 2020.

There were several interesting news that came to the fore on Saturday, with those ranging from two Indians breaking records against Australia whereas South African batsman, AB de Villiers reiterated his desire to represent his nation in international cricket.

Furthermore, another former South African cricketer, Morne Morkel signed up for the Perth Scorchers as a replacement while there were also snippets from Virat Kohli’s press conference after the Men In Blue’s series-levelling victory against the Aussies.

Without further ado, here is a look at them in detail.

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#1 Virat Kohli praises KL Rahul and provides an update on Rohit Sharma’s injury

KL Rahul

At Rajkot, on the 17th of January, India eventually held their nerve to emerge victorious by 36 runs. The encounter saw Kohli get back among the runs whereas Shikhar Dhawan also compiled a crafty knock of 96. Most impressively though, KL Rahul conjured a sublime innings of 80 off 52 deliveries, despite batting at No.5. Unsurprisingly, the skipper was all praise for the wicket-keeper, quipping,

It's very important to figure out the best team you can put on the park and when you see how KL was batting today, it's very difficult to leave someone like that out. That knock showed maturity and class. We know exactly what we're doing in the change room.

Additionally, he also provided an update on Rohit’s injury, mentioning that he expected the opener to be fit for the decider at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on the 19th of January, despite jamming his shoulder in an attempt to stop a boundary on the fence.

I asked Rohit briefly just now. It's that left shoulder that has popped out a few times. There's no tear so hopefully he should be back for the next game.

Read the full article: India vs Australia 2020: Rohit Sharma becomes fastest player to reach 7,000 ODI runs as an opener

#2 Rohit Sharma breaks another record

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma hasn’t been in the best of form recently, especially considering he hasn’t managed a substantial score against Australia in the ongoing season. However, that didn’t stop the opener from scaling another monumental peak as he became the fastest batsman to reach 7,000 ODI runs as an opener against Australia at Rajkot.

In the process, he comfortably beat Hashim Amla’s previous record, a feat that the South African had achieved across 147 innings, as compared to Rohit, who took only 137 of his own.

With the Mumbai Indians skipper expected to feature at Bengaluru on the 19th of January, plenty of Indian fans would be hoping that he celebrates his achievement with a telling contribution.

Read the full article: India vs Australia 2020: Rohit Sharma becomes fastest player to reach 7,000 ODI runs as an opener

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#3 Kuldeep Yadav becomes fastest Indian spinner to 100 ODI wickets

Kuldeep Yadav

After an indifferent start to the series, Kuldeep Yadav roared back into form on Saturday as he scripted a new chapter in Indian cricketing folklore, thereby becoming the quickest spinner to 100 ODI wickets.

In the 38th over, Kuldeep scalped the prized wickets of Alex Carey and Steve Smith. The breakthroughs dealt the Aussies a gigantic blow in their 341-run pursuit and ultimately, morphed into the decisive tilting scale.

Courtesy the wicket of Carey, Kuldeep also became the fastest Indian spinner and the 3rd fastest Indian to 100 ODI wickets when he achieved the feat in his 58th ODI. In the process, he went ahead of Harbhajan Singh, whose record stood at 76 matches.

At this juncture, only Mohammed Shami (56) and Jasprit Bumrah (57) rank ahead of the left-arm spinner when talking about the quickest Indians to 100 ODI wickets.

Read the full article: Kuldeep Yadav breaks Harbhajan Singh's record and bowls India to victory

#4 AB de Villiers hopes to play ODI cricket for South Africa

AB de Villiers

Over the past few days, AB de Villiers has been enthralling the audiences in Australia courtesy his displays for the Brisbane Heat in the BBL. However, after one such innings, the South African admitted that he retained the desire to turn out for the Proteas in 50-over cricket, although he mentioned that playing Test matches might not be a possibility. In a conversation with Adam Gilchrist, he stated,

I would love to be involved, I'm going to have to go score some runs and stay fit and hopefully they pick me. I would love to be involved, I'm going to have to go score some runs and stay fit and hopefully they pick me.

Furthermore, he talked about how he was in constant contact with CSA’s Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith and Head Coach, Mark Boucher, with the batsman hoping for a favourable outcome to accrue soon.

Read the full article here: AB de Villiers wishes to play ODI cricket for South Africa

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#5 Morne Morkel signs for Perth Scorchers

Morne Morkel

On the 18th of January, Perth Scorchers announced that they had reached an agreement to bring Morne Morkel on board for the remainder of the BBL season. The fast bowler, who bid adieu to international cricket in 2018, would replace Chris Jordan, who has selected for England’s upcoming ODI series against South Africa.

Though Morkel would only be available for the Scorchers’ final league game against the Sydney Thunder on the 26th of January, the Perth-based outfit are hopeful that the new play-off format would allow the fast bowler to feature in the latter stages, especially with the Scorchers currently occupying 5th spot in the table.

Read the full article here: BBL 2019-20: Perth Scorchers rope in Morne Morkel for remainder of the season