Australian cricket team always possessed deep reserves of batting talent over the years. For instance, a player of the calibre of Brad Hodge played in the shadows of Australia’s talismanic captain Ricky Ponting.

Moreover, Hodge turned out to be a legend of Australia’s domestic cricket. The Victorian is fondly remembered for his blistering knocks in the Big Bash League (BBL), representing the Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades.

Hodge also displaye??d his utility with the bat in the IPL while donning the colours of Kolkata K??night Riders (KKR), Kochi Tuskers Kerala and then Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Now, former RR captain and?? mentor, Rahul Dravid has explained the rationale behind convincing the franchi??se owners to go for Hodge during the IPL auctions.

Hodge played a few scintillating cameos, coming lower down the order, finishing the innings f??or the Royals.

“After RCB, I moved on to RR and I got into more of a captain-coach-management role and we were looking through a lot of data and stats. At RR, we were literally a Moneyball team. We had to compete with the top teams with 40-60 per cent of the budget. It’s not easy in an environment where everyone has a lot of data and knowledge,” Dravid said on the Insights vs Insights panel discussion.

“One of the things we noticed was Brad Hodgeâ€?had a phenomenal T20I record in Australia and had probably played 5-6 IPLs, and had a very average or poor record in India. Once we looked at the data closely, we sort of realised why he was struggling in India. He was clearly a player who was very good against fast bowling but wasn’t very good against, say, left-arm spin bowling and leg-spin. But he had an incredible strength of being good against fast bowling.” he added.

Looking at Hodge’s weakness against spin, Dravid’s masterstroke involved him sending him lower down the order, against death bowlers.

“One of the things we looked at was, which is the position of the game where someone like Hodge will play only fast bowling, and we sort of looked at the last four-five overs where everyone brings their best death bowlers back into the game. We decided at that stage that we will buy him in the auction, and bat him in the last 5-6 overs in the match,” Dravid concluded.

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

The all-star Sri Lankan team handed ?the Australian legends a seven-run defeat in the second match of t?he Road Safety World Series, held at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, opening with Romesh Kaluwitharana, gave a t?rademark flying start against the domestic legends of Australi??a. Classical batsman Marvan Attapatu came in to bat after Lankans lost Dilshan in the fourth over.

Contributions from Chamara Kadup?egara and Farvez Maharoof down the order helped Sri Lanka post a total of 161/8 on the board.

Off spi?n trio of Jas??on Krejza, Xavier Doherty, and Brad Hodge were the picks of the bowlers as they picked a couple of wickets each.

Coming out to bat, it was only a one-sided effort from the Australian stalwart Nathan Reardon. The rest of the batting order tum??bled around him as the southpaw held one end up.

Reardon single-handedly ran the Lankans close without any support at the other ??end, playing a sensational knock of 96 off just 58 deliveries.

Unfortunate to mi??ss out on his ton, and not to get his team across ??the finishing line, Reardon smacked nine boundaries and five maximums in his knock.

The Aussie batsmen yet again displaye?d their inefficacy against spin in subcontinental conditions. They had no answer to Dilshan, Rangana Herath, and Sachitra Senanayake, who shared six wickets amongst themselves.

Eight of the batsmen glaringly could not get into double-figures. In the end, despite Reardon’s heroics, Sri Lanka legends ended up on the winning side by a narrow 7-run margin.

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka Legends 161/8 (20)
Romesh Kaluwitharana 30(26), Chamara Kapugedera 28(18)
Xavier Doherty 2/28, Brad Hodge 2/18

Australia Legends 154/10 (19.5)
Nathan Reardon 96(53),
Tillakaratne Dilshan 3/35, Rangana Herath 2/5

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

The highly-anticipated Road Safety World Series is all set to begin from March 7. The opening game of the tournament will take place between India Legends and West India Legends at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Apart from the teams, as mentioned earlier, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Sou??th Africa will also feature in the series full of legendary cricketers.

A tota??l of eleven matches will be played, where Wankhede Stadium w??ill host two games, and MCA Stadium in Pune will host four.

Four matches will ?be played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, whereas the final will take place at the Brabourne Stadium on March 22.

The second game will be played between Australia Legends and Sri Lanka Legends, at Wankhede. Sri Lanka Legends have announced their squad, now let’s?? have a look at the Australia Legends team.

Bowling phenom Brett Lee will captain the A?ussie line-up. Apart from him, players like Brad Hodge,? Clint McKay, and Xavier Doherty will also feature in the team.

Right-arm pacer Ben Laughlin will also be a part of the team. Lee’s brother Shane, who played 45 ODIs for Australia, will also exhibit his all-round skills.

Here is Australia Legends squad:

Brett Lee (c), Brad Hodge, Brett Geeves, Clint McKay, George Green, Jason Krejza, Mark Cosgrove, Nathan Reardon, Rob Quinney, Shane Lee, Travis Birt, Xavier Doherty, Ben Lau?ghlin.

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

Amidst the reports of the Indian Premier League (IPL)? franchises making changes in their respective supporting staff, a report in The Mumbai Mirror has suggested that Brad Hodge, head coach of Preity Zinta co-owned Kings XI Punjab, ha??s been asked to leave his position.

The news comes as a big surprise as the former Australian batsman was handed a contract for a period of three years but after just ??one year in service, he has been asked to leave.

Under the tutelage of Hodge, KXIP made a phenomenal start to ?the IPL 2018 season by winning five of their first seven games before a break of one week. The break turned out to be a nightmare for KXIP franchise as they just managed one win in the next seven games, which saw them cra?shing out of the tournament.

Hodge had earlier coached the Gujarat Lions in IPL (2016 and 2017) ?ahead of KXIP. He performed the role of head coach for a peri??od of two years that the franchise participated in the league.

However, there is no news over Virender Sehwag, who has been associate??d with the team since 2014. He earlier played for the franchise before joining the backroom staff as Mentor and Director of cricket operations of the team.

During IPL 2018, a report in The Mumbai Mirror had suggested that there was a fallout b?etween Sehwag and Preity Zinta.

“Against Rajasthan Royals, skipper Ravichandran Ashwin was sent in at number three, ahead of more accomplished batsmen such as Karun Nair and Manoj Tiwari. The move backfired as Ashwin fell for a duck, and Preity launched into Sehwag for the decision. However, when Preity continued to blame him, saying ‘unnecessary’ tinkering with the playing XI had led to a spate of defeats, Sehwag tried to reason with her,” a source was quoted as saying by the paper.

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

Australia’s Brad Hodge has been appointed as the coach of the Kings XI?????????????????????????? Punjab team ahead of 20??18 IPL, the team management confirmed to Pune Mirror.

In spite of the franchise giving him the role of head coach, it has been revealed that he will report to Virender Sehwag, who is the br?and ambassador, mentor and the Director of Cricketing operations of the Kings XI Punjab.

The rep?orts further added that Sehwag will be heading all the cricketing affairs of the franchise. Interestingly, this is not the first time that Brad Hodge will be associated with the IPL. He was a prominent playe??r in the Rajasthan Royals camp earlier.

In the last two editions ?of the tournament, Hodge served as the head coach of the Gujarat?? Lions franchise. Under his supervision, the Lions had made it to the playoffs in the 2016 edition of the tournament.

While Brad Hodge is a new addition to the Kings XI Punjab camp, there have been a few deductions too. R. Sridhar, who served as the fielding coach of KXIP till now, will not be part of the team anymore due to conflict of interest as he serves the Indian Cricket Team. The same is applicable for physio Patrick Farhart as well.

In addition to these two, video analyst Ashish Tuli will also discontinue his services with the KXIP due to conflict of interest. Amidst this backdrop, it is being expected that the team man?agement could soon name the players they would re??tain for the upcoming edition of the IPL.

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

Former Australian cricketer and current Gujarat Lions head coach Brad Hodge has issued a public apology for the comments against Indian skipper Virat Kohli, which he gave a few? days back.

Before the Dharamsala Test, Hodge questioned Kohli’s sportsmanship by saying: “Because if you miss one game of Test match cricket and you’re fronting up the next week for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) versus whoever â€?you’d be pretty dirty if he didn’t front up to a Test match and try and win a valuable series against Australia.”

These remarks sparked a big controversy as Indian fans criticized Hodge for his u?ninformed remarks.

Bu??t, on Friday, Hodge took to his Twitter account and wrote an apology letter, stating that he never intended to cause any harm or criticize anyone and he only meant those words in a light-hearted sense.

Here’s what Brad Hodge wrote in his apology letter:

As a professional sportsperson who has represented his country, I certainly understand what it means to step out on a cricket field donning your nation’s colours. It is the highest honour a sportsperson can ask for.

Keeping that in mind, I ta??ke this opportunity to apologise to the people of India, cricket fans, the Indian national cricket team and particularly Virat Koh??li for my previous comments. My intention was never to harm, criticize or be derogatory towards anyone. They were intended to be light-hearted comments with the utmost respect to the Indian Premier League which I have thoroughly enjoyed through the years.

The public & fans have every right to be upset, and the backlash I have received has certainly driven the point home.

Again I am deeply apologetic to the country which has bought me so, much joy and its inspirational leader in Virat Kohli, to whom I mean no ill-intention & respect highly as a professional.

Regards,

Brad Hodge

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

Member of India’s World Cup 2011 winning team Gautam Gambhir has come to the rescue of Indian skipper Virat Kohli over Brad Hodge‘s comments.

The former Aussie cricketer recently said that K??ohli had skipped fourth Test against Australia to regain full fitness for the upcoming India?n Premier League (IPL) season.

“You’d hope as a sportsman that he’s seriously injured,” Hodge was quoted telling Fox Sports News’ Gameday Live.

“Because if you miss one game of Test match cricket and you’re fronting up the next week for RCB [Royal Challengers Bangalore] versus whoever … you’d be pretty dirty if he didn’t front up to a Test match and try and win a valuable series against Australia.”

Kohli injured his shoulder in the Ranchi Test in an attempt to prevent the ball from crossing the boundary line during ??the Australian first innings.

Now, Kohli’s Delhi team-mate Gautam Gambhir threw his weight behind him saying that there was no way Kohli could have done that.

“I feel someone who is playing for the country and captaining India would never want to miss a Test match and would definitely want to play for India more than any other tournament. That has always been the case and knowing Virat, he would have never done that,” the left-hander told CNN News 18.

Further, Gambhir slammed Hodge saying that such statements are given by individuals?? only to make headlines.

“Look if you just want to be in headlines you can say anything you would want to. It’s just about making a headline or trying to get your name in the press, you could make such statements as well. But if you don’t know the person, you don’t know the extent of the injury, you should not be talking about it,” Gambhir added.

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.