Raina picks his No.4 for WC, Kohli backed to break Sachin's record and more - Cricket News Today, 20th February 2019

Welcome to Cricket News Today - a segment which offers a concise compilation of all the important developments from the world of cricket every day.

Among the major headlines today, India batsman Suresh Raina has put forth the name of a long-time teammate for the all-important number four slot in the Men in Blue's lineup for the 2019 World Cup.

Meanwhile, a former coach who played a key role in his journey has backed India captain Virat Kohli to break a coveted record held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Here are all of today's top news from the cricket world.

---

Ross Taylor becomes New Zealand's all-time leading run-scorer in ODIs

Ross Taylor moved past Stephen Fleming to surge to the top spot in New Zealand's all-time list

Ross Taylor has become the all-time leading run-scorer for New Zealand in ODI cricket. The right-hander went past former skipper Stephen Fleming's tally of 8007 runs during the third ODI against Bangladesh at the University Oval in Dunedin.

When he took a single off Mehidy Hasan Miraz during the 33rd over of New Zealand's innings, Taylor moved past Fleming's tally and rose to the number one spot. After he was dismissed for 69, the right-hander swelled his tally to 8026 runs from 218 matches.

Although Fleming has 8037 ODI runs to his name, 30 of those runs had come for ICC World XI. During the course of his half-century earlier today, Taylor also became only the second batsman to amass 8000 ODI runs for New Zealand.

KSCA removes pictures of Pakistan legends in Bengaluru stadium

The images of Imran, Inzamam and Wasim were pulled down in the Chinnaswamy Stadium

In order to show solidarity with the slain CRPF personnel at Pulwama, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has removed the pictures of former Pakistan captains at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The pictures of Pakistan's World Cup-winning captain & current Prime Minister Imran Khan, iconic batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq and legendary pacer Wasim Akram were taken down from the wall of the stadium.

Read more on KSCA's decision to remove the images of Pakistan cricketers here

A statement from KSCA read, "We at Karnataka state cricket Association to show our solidarity and support to our armed forces; and to express our strong protest against the recent terrorist bombing at Pulwama, we have brought down all photographs of Pakistan Cricketers including Imran Khan."

Former coach backs Kohli to break Sachin's record of most ODI centuries

Virat Kohli has already accumulated 39 ODI centuries

Munish Bali, who was India's assistant coach during the 2008 U-19 World Cup, has backed star batsman Virat Kohli to break batting icon Sachin Tendulkar's record of most ODI centuries.

India won the 2008 U-19 World Cup under Kohli's captaincy. The tournament, which was held in Malaysia, is widely considered as the launchpad of one of the most memorable careers in the modern era.

"The way he (Kohli) is going, he can break Tendulkar's ODI centuries record. One thing I would say about Virat is he has changed the face of cricket. He is as aggressive as he was in his early days. With his fitness level, hunger for runs and hunger to win, Virat has taken cricket to another level. He grabbed all the opportunities he got with both hands. He scored runs when his team needed them. He is a god gifted talent and he realized it and worked on it", Bali told TOI.

At present, Kohli has 39 ODI centuries to his name. He is second on the all-time list of batsmen with most tons in the 50-over format. Tendulkar leads the charts with 49 hundreds.

Raina believes Dhoni can be India's ideal number four in World Cup

Raina feels Dhoni's experience of playing many global tournaments will help Kohli's captaincy

India batsman Suresh Raina has urged the team management to move former skipper MS Dhoni to the number four spot during the 2019 World Cup.

With the top three of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Kohli scoring the bulk of the runs, there has been a gaping hole in the middle-order for quite some time. Interestingly, Raina himself was one of the contenders tried for the crucial number four spot.

Although Ambati Rayudu has all but sealed the number four slot with his resilient efforts in the last few series, Raina believes Dhoni's experience of playing under pressure as well as his return to form make him an ideal candidate to bolster the batting fortunes after the top three.

Read more on Raina's views on Dhoni's batting spot for the World Cup here

"The amount of runs Dhoni has scored recently in Australia and New Zealand and the kind of guidance he gives to the youngsters in the team, especially the bowlers, that augurs really well for the boys. He has seen a lot of ups and downs, he has been a part of quite a few World Cups and has also been there in IPL finals and that is why he is the go-to-man for skipper Kohli. Dhoni has been batting really well and scoring runs. For me, I feel he is India’s number four for the World Cup", Raina told Hindustan Times.