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Warner reveals how text messages to Finch during IPL might have sparked skipper’s return to form

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David Warner’s text messages to teammate Aaron Finch might have done the out-of-form white-ball skipper a world of good as the 35-year-old scored his second successive half-century for the country in the 10-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the opening T20I here on Tuesday night.

Australia romped to a huge win after a stunning Sri Lanka collapse, which saw the hosts manage just 128 batting first. Warner (70 not out) and Finch (61 not out) stitched together a 134-run stand in 12 overs to win the opening game of the three-match T20I series.

There has been a question mark over Finch’s form from even before the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE, which Australia won defeating New Zealand. During the white-ball component of Australia’s tour of Pakistan in March-April this year, the white-ball skipper managed just one half century — in the one-off T20I.

He had miserable scores of 23, 0 and 0 in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan prior to the one-off T20I.

And coming into the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, Finch didn’t have much to show in terms of runs — the 35-year-old managed just 86 runs at 17.20 in five matches for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022.

Prior to the T20I against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Finch was averaging 19.90 with a strike-rate of 107 in 21 innings across both limited-overs formats, according to cricket.com.au.

Warner revealed post-match that the text messages sent to Finch during IPL may have “helped spark his return to form”, according to the report.

“I just kept in touch with him (during the IPL), we always do,” Warner said. “We always support each other as much as we can. If we see little things, we always try help each other out by dropping him a message.”

Poining out Finch’s shortcomings, Warner said that the white-ball skipper was moving into the line of the delivery too much, which was hindering his access to the ball.

“I just said to him not to walk out into the ball, let the ball actually do its work in the air. And if they want to bowl nice and full and you stay still and keep that leg stump line, you’re going to get full contact with the ball, and if it swings late, it’s going to go down leg.

“He was probably moving a little too much, he was walking straight into the line of the ball and was still moving at the time of the delivery, and when you’re a batter you don’t want to really do that unless you’re actually physically charging.

“For Finchy, it’s about keeping it simple and not moving too much around the crease. We saw that tonight (against Sri Lanka), he played some nice shots, he timed the ball well and when he’s nice and still, that’s when he’s at his best. He looked to hit everything down the ground (in the first T20), when the ball was in his area, he hit his slog sweeps which he is very good at… and you could just see the energy was a lot different with him running between wickets and he was up and about, and it was great to see,” added Warner.

International

PM Narendra Modi Lays Foundation Stone For Rs.451 Crore International Cricket Stadium In Varanasi 

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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the new International Cricket Stadium in Varanasi on September 23rd (Saturday). The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Sunil Gavaskar were also present for the ceremony. The Prime Minister also went on to present an Indian team jersey to Tendulkar.

The state government, led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has remitted a whopping ₹121 crore for the purpose of land acquisition, while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shall put in ₹330 crore from their side for the iconic stadium’s construction. Some of the notable features that the stadium would have are trishul-shaped floodlights, drum-shaped media center, and crescent moon-shaped roof.

Meanwhile, the stone-laying ceremony witnessed some of the most top figures from the BCCI, including President Roger Binny, Vice-President Rajiv Shukla, and Secretary Jay Shah. This will also be the third international stadium in Uttar Pradesh, with Kanpur and Lucknow already having one.

“The sportspersons here will benefit from the construction of an international stadium” – Narendra Modi

Speaking at the ceremony, Modi stated that sports are no longer prohibited by the elders, unlike before, as it acts as an incentive in several ways. He said, as quoted by The Indian Express:

“This stadium in the city of ‘Mahadev’ will be dedicated to ‘Mahadev’ himself. The sportspersons here will benefit from the construction of an international stadium in Kashi. There was a time when parents used to scold their children for playing sports, but that is no longer true. When sports infrastructure is built in an area, it acts as an incentive not just for young sporting talent but also spurs the local economy.”

The stadium has a seating capacity of approximately 30000 and the construction of the same is likely to finish by December 2025.

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Legends Including Sachin Tendulkar And Ravi Shastri Leave For Varanasi For Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony For New International Stadium In UP

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Legendary Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, and Dilip Vengsarkar on Saturday headed for Varanasi for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the international cricket stadium in Uttar Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the International Cricket Stadium in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Saturday afternoon.

The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has spent Rs 121 crores on land acquisition for the construction of the International Cricket Stadium in Varanasi. Moreover, the BCCI will spend Rs 330 crores on the stadium’s construction.

The former India head coach Shashti on Saturday took to social media ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote in a post, “Varanasi bound. Great to be amongst Greats and colleagues for Mumbai and India. Just a few international runs and wickets there. Pic of a lifetime. Gr8 memories.”

The thematic architecture of this stadium draws inspiration from Lord Shiva, with designs developed for crescent-shaped roof covers, trident-shaped floodlights, ghat steps-based seating, and Bilvipatra-shaped metallic sheets on the facade. The stadium will have a capacity of 30,000 spectators.
Veteran players like Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Shastri, Vengsarkar will be present at the foundation stone laying ceremony.

Uttar Pradesh to have its 3rd international stadium:

The event will also have the presence of key figures from the BCCI, including President Roger Binny, Vice President Rajiv Shukla, and Secretary Jay Shah, the release stated. Furthermore, many veteran players are expected to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony. After Kanpur and Lucknow, this will be Uttar Pradesh’s third international cricket stadium. 

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IND vs AUS: ‘Always Well Looked After And Well Protected’ As David Warner Feeling ‘Great’ To Be Back In India

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The Australian cricket team has landed in India ahead of what will be their final dress rehearsal for the 2023 World Cup. Veteran Australian opener David Warner took to his official Instagram handle and expressed their gratefulness at landing in India. He also thanked GMR Aerocity for making their transit easy.

Warner will be one of the few players most in focus ahead of the ODI series, especially due to his inconsistency in the preceding rubber against South Africa. The left-hander made only two fifty-plus scores in five innings and threw away starts consistently.

The five-time World Champions will be keen to get back in the groove after missing an opportunity to win the series in South Africa despite a 2-0 lead. The middle-order batters, including Alex Carey and Marcus Stoinis will be under pressure for consistently failing against the Proteas. With Steve Smith back in the side and Australia set to field a full-strength attack, they should be in a good stead.

The 36-year-old took to his Instagram handle and wrote:

“Always great to be welcomed back to india. We are always well looked after and well protected. Thanks so much. @gmraerocity always makes our transits so easy.”

Australia won the three-game ODI series in India earlier this year:

Pat Cummins and co. should draw confidence from their success against the Men in Blue in their backyard earlier this year under the captaincy of Steve Smith. Nevertheless, India are an in-form team, having won the Asia Cup 2023.

However, the men’s team’s chief selector Chief selector Ajit Agarkar has announced resting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the first two ODIs. KL Rahul will captain India in Mohali and Indore,

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