Virat Kohli, SKY, Hardik Pandya in ICC T20 Team of 2022
Dubai, Jan 23: Former India captain Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and shortest format's number one batter Suryakumar Yadav were on Monday picked in ICC 'Men's T20I team of 2022'.
The ICC also announced the Women's Team of 2022 with four Indians in the lineup -- Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Singh.
Kohli returned to his vintage form in 2022 and took the Asia Cup by storm, finishing as the second-highest run-getter with 276 runs in five games.
He also brought an end to his century drought of close to three years with a magnificent century against Afghanistan.
Kohli played one of the greatest T20I innings of 82 not out in India's heist against Pakistan in the World Cup opener in Melbourne.
Kohli ended the tournament with three more fifties and finished as the highest run-scorer with 296 runs.
Surya became the only second batter to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year. He ended as the top-run getter (1164 runs) with two hundreds and nine half-centuries while striking at a stunning 187.43.
In the World Cup, he amassed 239 runs at a strike rate of 189.68 and finished the year as the No 1 batter in the T20I Rankings.
On the back of leading Gujarat Titans to their IPL title in their maiden appearance, Hardik came into his own as the all-rounder.
He enjoyed his best year by numbers in the Indian colours, scoring 607 runs while also picking up 20 wickets.
The 11-member side is led by World Cup-winning England skipper Jos Buttler and has runners-up Pakistan's Mohammed Rizwan as the opener, and Haris Rauf as one of the two pace spearheads.
India's batting superstar Smriti Mandhana finished the year as the fourth highest run-scorer with 594 runs at an average of 33.00 and a strike-rate of 133.48.
She also made two half-centuries and played a key role in India winning a historic silver at the Commonwealth Games.
Off-spin all-rounder Deepti had a standout year and was the Player of the Tournament in India's Asia Cup triumph.
She finished the year with 29 wickets, the joint third highest. She also made 370 runs averaging 37 with a strike-rate of 136.02.
Richa was named the wicketkeeper-batter following a stupendous year that saw her accumulate 259 runs in 18 matches.
With 22 T20I wickets at an average of 23.95 and an economy rate of 6.50, Renuka had a standout year and was one of the nominees for the ICC Women's Emerging Cricketer of the Year.
Men's Team: Jos Buttler (c/wk), Mohammed Rizwan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Sikandar Raza, Hardik Pandya, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Haris Rauf and Josh Little.
Women's Team: Sophie Devine (c), Smriti Mandhana, Beth Mooney, Ash Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Nida Dar, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Inoka Ranaweera and Renuka Singh.
The ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year 2022 is here 👀
— ICC (@ICC) January 23, 2023
Is your favourite player in the XI? #ICCAwards
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
