Page 1026 - Sports
These heavy losses tough to digest: Holder
West Indies captain Jason Holder conceded that the embarrassing back-to-back three-day defeats against India is "difficult to digest", considering pitches were batsman-friendly. West Indies lost the first Test by an innings and 272 runs and the next by 10 wickets. "Honestly, it's hard to take it. I am trying to understand the reasons why it is happening. It's a case where we all need to put our heads together -- the management, the selectors and the players. The onus must be on the players and we must be responsible for our actions," said Holder. "We got to come together a little bit more and find ways and solutions to deal with the problems that we have at the moment." Asked about the positives, the skipper termed Roston Chase and Sherman Lewis' performance. "It's a tough series and we didn't play our best cricket. We look back in the last two years and we have some good results. India is No.1 team in the world and we expected to be pushed by them. They're quality cricket side, ...
There is a bit of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Lara in Prithvi, says Shastri
India coach Ravi Shastri saw in Prithvi Shaw's batting, glimpses of two of the greatest batsmen of modern era and a non-conformist who redefined batsmanship. An overwhelmed Shastri on Sunday, in one breath, mentioned the names of three legends -- Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag -- while trying to describe the 18-year-old Shaw who accumulated big runs in his first brush with top-flight international cricket. "He (Shaw) is born to play cricket. He's been playing since the age of eight in the maidans of Mumbai. You can see all that hardwork showing. He's a spectator's delight. There's a bit of Sachin there, a bit of Viru in him and when he walks - there's a bit of Lara as well," Shastri said. "If he can keep his head on his shoulders and keep the work ethic, he has a bright future." Shastri was speaking after India completed a 2-0 series sweep over the West Indies with a 10-wicket victory here. Opener Shaw flayed the Caribbean attack during his 52-ball-70 on the second ..
Kohli hopes batsmen replicate home form in Australia
Heaping praise on his bowlers, India skipper Virat Kohli asked his batters to replicate their home form in Australia next month.
Kohli indicates Umesh will be in mix in Australia after 'standout performance'
India captain Virat Kohli says Umesh Yadav's "standout performance" has made the fast bowler a strong candidate for selection in the starting XI when the side travels Down Under, next month. The four-Test series against Australia will begin in Adelaide on December 6. Yadav's 10-wicket haul on a flat track was key in India's 10-wicket win in the second Test against the West Indies. "I think it was a standout performance in his career and something that he can build on," Kohli said at the post-match press conference. "Four Tests in Australia can be brutal because the (Kookaburra) ball does not do much like in England. So you have to come in and run in all day and hit the right area with pace. But I think from that point of view, Umesh is right up there to be featuring in Australia," Kohli said. He further explained: "Because he (Umesh) has got the pace, he has got the fitness levels to run in all day, picks up wickets at crucial times and he gets good bounce as well, so it's a great ...
Shaw has glimpses of Sachin, Lara, Sehwag in him: Shastri
India head coach Ravi Shastri on Sunday lavished praise on Prithvi Shaw, comparing the teenage sensation with Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag.
Gambhir leads Delhi to Vijay Hazare semifinals after Khejroliya hat-trick
Captain Gautam Gambhir smashed 104 off 72 balls after left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya ran through the Haryana batting with a hat-trick to set-up a five-wicket win, sending Delhi into the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here Sunday. Batting first, Haryana were all out for 229 with Khejroliya collecting six wickets for 31 runs in 10 overs, his career-best performance in List A cricket. Navdeep Saini, with figures of three for 39, was a good foil for Khejroliya. Birthday boy Gambhir then ensured his team cantered with a whirlwind knock comprising 16 fours. In the end, Delhi got home with 64 balls to spare and five wickets in hand. The other major contribution from the bat came from Dhruv Shorey (50 off 85). Chasing 230, Umukt Chand (15) and Gambhir gave a good start, putting on 54 runs for first wicket before the former was caught by C N Saini off Arun Chaprana. The skipper was at his furious best against Yuzuvendra Chahal, smashing him for three consecutive boundaries in the ...
Bengaluru FC win Puttaiah Memorial Cup
Bengaluru FC clinched their second Puttaiah Memorial Cup after a 2-1 win over Madras Engineering Group (MEG) in the final of the 2018 edition of the competition at the Bangalore Football Stadium here on Sunday.
Gold Cup: Jugraj shines as Indian Navy defeat Hockey Bhopal
Drag-flicker Jugraj Singh was in his elements as he scored four goals to pilot Indian Navy, Mumbai to a convincing 5-2 win against Hockey Bhopal in a Group-B league match of the 14th PMC Bank-All India Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup hockey tournament here on Sunday. Navy enjoyed a 2-0 half-time lead. Indian Navy enjoyed smooth sailing from the start, but they had to wait till the 17thminute to forge ahead when Jugraj, with a direct hit attempt, beat Bhopal goalkeeper Abdul Samad from a penalty corner. Nine minutes later, he scored from a penalty stroke, which was awarded by umpire Javed Shaikh after Amit Goswami was stick checked by a Hockey Bhopal defender. After the change of ends, Navy earned another penalty stroke when Pawan Rajbhar's shot from a penalty corner struck the foot of a defender on the goal-line and umpire Keerthi Muthappa awarded a penalty stroke in the 40th minute. Ten minutes later, Hockey Bhopal reduced the deficit when Vikas Choudhry combined nicely with
Surya Varathan wins JK Novice Cup
Chennai's Ashwin Datta moved a step closer to his maiden Euro JK title in the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship as a dramatic Round 3 -- replete with ups, downs and upsets -- came to an end here on Sunday.
Djokovic wins record 4th Shanghai Masters, closes in on world No. 1
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic defeated Croatia's Borna Coric 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to claim a record fourth Shanghai Masters title, closing in on the world No. 1 spot in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings currently held by Spain's Rafael Nadal.
Ashwin leads by six points after dramatic day
Ashwin Datta made the most of close rival Nayan Chatterjee's DNF to take a step closer to his maiden Euro JK title as a dramatic Round 3 of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship concluded here on Sunday. Ashwin (74 points), had just a narrow two-point coming into today's race, but Nayan's (66) DNF in the first race widened his lead. Karthik Tharani (68) surprised by winning two races and coming back to title contention. The final race of the weekend, however, saw a totally new set of winners, with Nirmal Uma Shankar, Brayan Perera and Yash Aradhya claiming the podium places. Ashwin finished fourth, though, ahead of his key competitors to be 6 points ahead of the field. The JK Tyre Novice Cup too saw a dramatic turn of events, which led to Surya Varathan claiming the championship and Tijil Rao taking the second place. Hashim EKP, who had won all three races over the weekend to move ahead, was disqualified as he had contravened the competition norms.
Gambhir leads Delhi to Vijay Hazare semifinals
Captain Gautam Gambhir smashed 104 off 72 balls after left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya broke the backbone of Haryana batting to set-up a five-wicket win, sending Delhi into the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here Sunday. Batting first, Haryana were all out for 229 with Khejroliya collecting six wickets for 31 runs in 10 overs, his career-best performance in List A cricket. Navdeep Saini, with figures of three for 39, was a good foil for Khejroliya. Birthday boy Gambhir then ensured his team cantered with a whirlwind knock comprising 16 fours. In the end, Delhi got home with 64 balls to spare and five wickets in hand. The other major contribution from the bat came from Dhruv Shorey (50 off 85). Chasing 230, Umukt Chand (15) and Gambhir gave a good start, putting on 54 runs for first wicket before the former was caught by C N Saini off Arun Chaprana. The skipper was at his furious best against Yuzuvendra Chahal, smashing him for three consecutive boundaries in the 16th ...
Kohli expects batsmen to replicate home form in Australia
India captain Virat Kohli has no issues with the team's bowlers but wants his batsmen to replicate their home form when they travel to Australia next month. While the bowlers have done the job for India, both home and away of late, batsmen have let the team down time and again. After hammering the West Indies 2-0 in the short-Test series, Kohli said the batsmen must keep delivering to compliment the good work of the bowlers. "I'm really happy to see these guys fit and hungry. It's up to the batsmen to do the rest of the job. I think this game was tougher for the batsmen. This first innings was more challenging than the last one (in Rajkot)," said Kohli at the post-match presentation. Compared to Rajkot, the batsmen had it tougher against the West Indies pace attack comprising Jason Holder and Shanon Gabriel. India were put under a little bit of pressure in their first innings before Rishabh Pant and Ajinkya Rahane steadied the ship with a 152-run partnership. "Jinx has been batting ...
There is a bit of Tendulkar, Sehwag and Lara in Prithvi, says India coach
India coach Ravi Shastri saw in Prithvi Shaw's batting, glimpses of two of the greatest batsmen of modern era and a non-conformist who redefined batsmanship. An overwhelmed Shastri on Sunday, in one breath, mentioned the names of three legends -- Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag -- while trying to describe the 18-year-old Shaw who accumulated big runs in his first brush with top-flight international cricket. "He (Shaw) is born to play cricket. He's been playing since the age of eight in the maidans of Mumbai. You can see all that hardwork showing. He's a spectator's delight. There's a bit of Sachin there, a bit of Viru in him and when he walks - there's a bit of Lara as well," Shastri said. "If he can keep his head on his shoulders and keep the work ethic, he has a bright future." Shastri was speaking after India completed a 2-0 series sweep over the West Indies with a 10-wicket victory here. Opener Shaw flayed the Caribbean attack during his 52-ball-70 on the second ..
2nd Test: India crush West Indies by 10 wickets, seal series 2-0
India registered their tenth consecutive Test series win at home as Virat Kohli's men crushed the West Indies by 10 wickets in the second and final cricket Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday.
Sethu, Shetty return without points
Indian racers -- Rajiv Sethu and Anish D Shetty -- endured another disappointing point-less result even as Indonesia's Awhin Sanjaya and Rheza Danica savoured a 1-2 in the second race of the fifth round in the Asia Road Racing Championship, here Sunday. Competing in the Asia Production 250cc class, Sethu and Shetty, representing Idemitsu Honda Racing India, finished 21st and 24th. It was marginally better than the first race, where Sethu finished 23rd and Shetty had claimed the 25th spot. Sanjaya and Danica helped their team -- Astra Honda Racing Team -- clinched the overall championship with 193 points at the Sentul circuit. In the SupersSport 600cc class, Japan's Taiga Hada of Honda Racing India team, brought his bike in 10th place to earn six points. He had finished sixth in race 1. The race was won by Indonesia's Andi Farid Izdihar (Astra Honda Racing) ahead of compatriot Ahmed Yudhistira (Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing). In a closely contested second race in the APC 250 cc ...
Azhar admits pressure will be on Pakistan to beat Australia
Senior batsman Azhar Ali admitted Pakistan will be under pressure of expectations in the second Test against Australia starting in Abu Dhabi from Tuesday. Pakistan dominated much of the first Test in Dubai but failed to get the last two wickets as Australia finished at 362-8. Set a daunting 462 runs Australia's fightback was led by opener Usman Khawaja's 141, ably assisted by Travis Head (72) and skipper Tim Paine (61 not out). "I can't say if the pressure will be more on Pakistan or Australia but we are the home side and obviously people expect us to win and so there is pressure," said Azhar on Sunday. "However, having said that these are favourable conditions for us and we have to make the most of it. "Pressure is always different in every match and obviously this is a decider. Being the home team we have to win it and we will enter the field thinking that. We will look to play positive cricket and hopefully the result will go our way." Pakistan will be forced to make a change after
2nd Test: India crush West Indies by 10 wickets, win series 2-0
India won the Test series 2-0 by registering a comfortable 10-wicket victory over the West Indies in the second Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here on Sunday.
India complete Windies rout as Umesh takes maiden 10-wicket haul
A clinical India completed one of the most ruthless clean sweeps in recent times, demolishing a listless West Indies by 10 wickets in the second Test, inside three days, to clinch the series 2-0 on Sunday. Umesh Yadav's maiden 10-wicket haul (6/88 and 4/45) on a decent track was the highlight as India reached the meagre victory target of 72 in 16.1 overs, courtesy unbeaten partnership between openers Prithvi Shaw (33) and KL Rahul (33). While any Test series victory is welcome, it hardly was an ideal preparation for the big away-series against Australia, starting December 4 in Adelaide. West Indies were back to their worst despite showing signs of fight in the first innings as they couldn't last two full sessions and were bowled out for 127 in only 46.1 in their second innings. Out of the four innings in this series, West Indies couldn't cross the 200-run mark thrice which was a testimony to their plight during the series. For India, it was their 10th series win at home since their ...
Djokovic wins Shanghai to close on world no.1
Novak Djokovic is within touching distance of Rafael Nadal's number one ranking after winning the Shanghai Masters with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Borna Coric on Sunday. The 14-time Grand Slam champion broke the 19th-ranked Croatian -- a good friend and sometime-training partner -- in the sixth game of the first set on the way to another no-nonsense victory. The end was anti-climactic, with the Serb winning the championship point after a video review. Djokovic buried his head in his hand at the absurdity of it. The 31-year-old will leapfrog Roger Federer into second in the world when the rankings are released on Monday and is in imperious form as the season reaches its climax. Red-hot Djokovic has now been victorious in 18 ATP matches in a row and in recent months won Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Masters, the US Open and now Shanghai. The last four months had been "fantastic" and "tremendous", he said. "I'm cherishing every moment of it," he told the crowd, calling Shanghai "a special ...