India opener Shikhar Dhawan has admitted to channelling the disappointment of being omitted from the playing XI for the recent T20I series against West Indies into improving his standards. Dhawan had a mediocre outing in the Test series in the West Indies, where he managed only 138 runs from four innings before being dropped for the final Test in Port of Spain.I feel my motivation always increases even when things dont go well for me, Dhawan told reporters after the Duleep Trophy final between India Blue and India Red. Sure, it does hurt me, but I channel the hurt to keep getting better; I dont let it bog me down. Thats how I work.Like, when I was left out for the T20s - of course I wanted to be in the playing XI. So, that required me to do better. So, I thought, OK man, I have to raise my standards. As simple as that. I dont look outside; I look inside and say, I will have to do this, I will do it.Dhawan also said his motivation to do well increased with time, and that age didnt have a bearing on it. It depends on your desire [to do well], how much you love the game and what goals you have.With the emergence of KL Rahul, India have had the luxury of opting for any two of three potential openers - Rahul, Dhawan and M Vijay - and the team used all possible pairings during the West Indies Tests. Dhawans middling returns have coincided with a breakout season for Rahul - he scored 236 runs, including a hundred, from three Test innings, before smashing an unbeaten 51-ball 110 in the first T20I in Florida.Dhawan agreed that the competition for the opening spots had intensified, and that it had kept every player on his toes in the lead-up to a long home season. It is a good thing. Jaan lagaani hai, dum lagaana hai apni jagah rakhne ke liye [One needs to give it ones all to keep ones place in the side], he said.Rahul, anyway has done quite well in Test matches and T20s, so if you look at the bigger picture its very good for India that there are three or four openers pushing one another, as well as openers in the domestic circuit who are also pushing for places. Such competition ensures each individual keeps working hard.With the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur set to begin in a little over a week, Dhawan said he was preparing well and getting physically and mentally stronger. Asked if there was any specific preparation involved, he replied with a laugh: I am batting for 40 minutes [in the nets].Dhawan was also appreciative of head coach Anil Kumbles cricketing smarts, and said he was learning from him the importance of hard graft. Its been great having Anil bhai around. Of course, he is a great legend, he said. He is so well educated and obviously has a sharp brain. He has great cricketing intelligence as well, so you obviously learn a lot for him - be it the dedication and hard grind he brought to his game, or the aggressive mindset with which he played.Dhawan, who turned out for India Red who lost the Duleep Trophy final to India Blue, said the tournament provided useful game-time ahead of a busy season. Its quite useful because I believe practice in the form of matches is always good as it gives you a feel of the pressure, he said. Especially, after you field for two successive days, your body also loosens up and you get a good vibe. So, you take that confidence forward. Shoes Canada Shop .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Shoes Canada Nike . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. https://www.shoescanadaonline.com/ . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Shoes Canada Sale . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Fake Shoes Canada 2020 . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. South African cricket has done it again: arrived in a foreign land with a pace attack to savour. Back in the mid and late 1960s - before isolation - Peter Pollock and Mike Procter led their countrys rout of Australia. They would have done much the same to anyone else, given the chance. The production line continued through the wilderness years as Procters heroic deeds inspired fine men such as Vintcent Van der Bijl and Garth Le Roux - along with an array of variously talented other fast bowlers who would have held South Africas place at the top table of international cricket: think Clive Rice and Rupert Spook Hanley; Stephen Jefferies, Kenny Watson and others less noted.It is remarkable that more than two decades without global exposure did not compromise the quality of cricket in the Republic, never mind the desire - quick bowling is hard yakka and not often truly appreciated as such. The Currie Cup may never have been stronger than during the 1970s and 80s, almost certainly because it was the highest level of the game on offer and the provincial players tore into one another as if they were opponents from another land. Transvaal had a fantastic team; Natal were not so dusty either. The pitches were often spicy and fast bowlers dominated on the hard, bouncy surface at the Wanderers and the zippy greentops at Kingsmead. The international rebel sides that visited from 1981 through to 1991 were astonished by the intensity of the cricket and the ferocity and consistency of the quicks. So rewarding was life for the fast men that Sylvester Clarke, the huge Barbadian, signed up for Transvaal and completed the make-up of a unit that became known as the Mean Machine.When apartheid was finally broken down and the ban on South African sport lifted in 1991, briefly Rice and then Kepler Wessels led competitive teams with terrific pacemen. First out of the blocks was Allan Donald; close behind him were Fanie de Villiers, Brian MacMillan, Brett Schultz, Corrie van Zyl, Craig Matthews and Eric Simons. They soon won in England and drew a thrilling three-match series in Australia. Were it not for a memorable explosion of raw power and emotion from Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh in Barbados, they would have collared the West Indians too.Since then, Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn have been at the head of bowling attacks that have included Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. As Kallis has long pointed out, batting in South Africa is no sinecure. The pitches are mainly kind to bowlers, who lick their lips. By this he means the fast men, for South African spin has mainly gone missing. Steyn is in Perth tomorrow, 12 years since he first showed promise on debut against England in Port Elizabeth. There have been few better in the history of the game. He is a terrific athlete with a smart brain and an alarming streak that might otherwise be interpreted as a cry to battle. Like Malcolm Marshall before him, the outswinger is his stock in trade and the inswinger a wicked, inside thigh-stinging addition to his arsenal. He need not break the speedometer to create an impression: he does so with a mad look in his eye, the killer zeal of his boddy talk, and that chainsaw celebration.dddddddddddd Steyn relishes the Australian frontier more than any other and knows that he is running out of years. The present tally is 416 wickets at 22 each. Expect him to ride the threat of a shoulder niggle and play a key part in Perths first encounter of three.Alongside this leader of the band are some worthy players. Morkel loves Perth like the deserts love the rain. The trick will be to keep his length fuller than is obvious or, indeed, than looks exciting. Ball after ball flies through at the WACA but many are wasted in macho expression. Morkel took key wickets last time around; he is a good bet for the same again. Moreover, he has married an Australia girl, once a brave television sports journalist in her own country, and will be eager to confirm the bragging rights.Philander is a fine exponent of the old arts and subtle variations. On the exterior there appears to be little either to him or to his work, but hidden beneath is a craftsman in swing and seam. Perth may not be his venue, unless he can find the strength of a shire horse and operate into the Fremantle Doctor that plays its part each afternoon. That job may be awarded to Kyle Abbott, as willing a shire horse as any captain might find.Last in Steyns merry band is the most important of them all. Like Ntini back in the day, Kagiso Rabada bowls for a nation. He is the governments cause celebre and Cricket South Africas route to justification. But there is no tokenism in Rabadas selection - far from it. He has rare talent, a joyous spring of step, and lets rip at serious pace. With youth on his side, Rabada maintains his performance until the umpires pull the stumps from the ground each day. His eight Tests have yielded 29 wickets at 24 each and a strike rate of 38.9. Only Procter is ahead of him among South Africans who have taken 25 wickets or more. He bowls a natural off-stump line, and earlier this year forced England to nibble away at deliveries they would have chosen to leave alone. In the Centurion Test and at just 20 years of age, he claimed 13 for 144, the second best figures in his countrys history. Sure, this is only the beginning of a young mans life in the game, but the pedigree is clear.These bowlers could be the difference between the sides over the coming five days. Last years pitch for the Test against New Zealand was a drab thing that drew the teeth of every bowler in the game. Almost 1200 runs were scored in the first innings of the match as double-hundreds and mere hundreds were sprinkled around like confetti. The curator will not want a repeat, and thus, the surface should reveal some of its famed character this time around. It is hard to see the South Africans not making best use of it. How AB de Villiers, injured and watching from home, must be pining for this rivalry and the chance to fire such heavy artillery at the Australians. That is now a privilege belonging to Faf du Plessis. No one here can wait. The juices are running. Expect three crackerjack games between old enemies and many good friends. ' ' '