Page 150 - Sports
Amir opened up on fixing after Afridi's slap: Razzaq
It was only after Pakistan ODI skipper Shahid Afridi slapped Mohammad Amir that the pacer confessed to spot-fixing while Salman Butt was involved in corruption much before Pakistans infamous tour of England in 2010, claimed former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq.
MI player Rasikh Salam age-fudge under scanner
Mumbai Indians pacer Rasikh Salam Dar impressed all when he made his debut for the franchise in the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League. His ability to bowl fast at 17 was seen as a welcome sign. While he played only one game, he was seen as a budding talent. But all is not well as the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education has informed the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) that the cricketer has fudged his age.
GFI announces Indian team for Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastic Championship
The Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) Wednesday announced the Indian team for the Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from June 19 to 22. Four men and four women senior gymnasts were selected for the prestigious tournament after Sports Authority of India (SAI) agreed to GFI's proposal of holding open trials at IG Stadium here on June 7. The four men's team comprises Rakesh Kumar Patra (rings and parallel bars), Yogeshwar Singh (floor and vault), Debang Dey (pommel horse) and Arik Dey (horizontal bar). Pranati Nayak (vault and beam), Shraddha Talekar (uneven bars), Pranati Das (beam) and Papiya Das (floor) are in the women's team. This Championships will be International debut for Debang Dey in men's and Papiya Das in women's section. "The competition focus would be to qualify for Apparatus Finals and achieve the best possible team ranking for India at Asian Level," said GFI vice-president Riyaz Bhati. "This competition will also be ...
Sania slams 'cringeworthy' TV ads hyping the Indo-Pak World Cup match
Tennis star Sania Mirza on Wednesday slammed the "cringeworthy" TV advertisements hyping the much-awaited World Cup match between India and Pakistan. The advertisement war in run-up to the Sunday's clash between the arch-rivals, has heated up with TV channels in both the countries putting out despicable ads. Pakistan's Jazz TV has produced an ad, which features a character who is seen mimicking Indian Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by the Pakistani military a day after the Balakot airstrike. The 33 seconds ad shows a model in a blue India jersey, sporting Varthaman's trademark mustache. He is seen repeating Abhinandan's viral remarks, "I'm sorry, I am not supposed to tell you this" to the questions asked on India's strategy for the match. India's Star TV, on the other hand, has been running an ad where an Indian supporter describes himself as Pakistan's "abbu" (father), referring to India's domination over their rivals in the World Cup. "Cringeworthy ads on both sides ..
Amir confessed to spot-fixing after Afridi slapped him: Razzaq
Muhammed Amir had confessed to spot-fixing only after then ODI skipper Shahid Afridi slapped the fast bowler while Salman Butt was involved in corruption much before Pakistan's ill-fated tour of England in 2010, claimed former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq. Spilling the beans on the scandal which tarnished the image of Pakistan cricket, Razzaq narrated the Aamir incident while speaking to the GNN news channel. "He (Afridi) told me to leave the room but after a while I heard the sound of a slap and then Aamir told the whole truth," Razzaq said. The all-rounder also blamed the then PCB set-up for bringing bad name to Pakistan cricket. "I thought instead of going to the ICC to prove its efficiency, the PCB should have instead directly taken the three players to task despite their denials and sent them back home on some pretext. They should have banned them for a year or so. In the end by not doing this, the PCB spoilt the image of Pakistan cricket worldwide." Razzaq, 39, also claimed that ...
World Cup's rain woes: ICC says reserve days for every match not possible
Three rained out games and more feared, the ongoing World Cup does seem to be a bit under the weather but the International Cricket Council says there's hardly anything it can do to deal with the "extremely unseasonable" cloud cover in the country right now. Two Sri Lanka games --- against Pakistan and Bangladesh in Bristol have been abandoned without a ball being bowled. The other game between South Africa and West Indies in Southampton was called off after 7.3 overs, leading to calls for a reserve day. The game between India and New Zealand in Nottingham is threatened by cloud cover and it is not even a fortnight into the tournament, which began on May 30 and concludes on July 14. The sport's governing body says it couldn't have possibly gone for reserve days given the long schedule of the event. "Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver," ICC's ...
'Let's Play Football' kicks off in J-K
Let's Play Football, an initiative under the Central government's ambitious 'Khelo India,' has begun here.This 5-day long event is the second edition of the initiative, the first one held in 2018 in which a total of 60,000 players from every district of the state participated.As many as 1,200 of them were selected to play in the current edition of the competition.Eighty-eight teams -- 44 of girls and 44 of boys -- are participating in the event in two categories -- Under-17 and Under-19. "Players who do well will get national level coaching," said Saleem Ui Rehman, Director, Department of Youth Services and Sports, while talking to the reporters here."The motto is to ensure holistic development of the children. Playing games has become a necessity. It has a role in character building and also creates a cohesive environment where youths interact and learn more," added Rehman.He further said the Department of Youth Services and Sports is organising another event involving around 12 lakh
Would love to see a player like Yuvraj get a proper farewell: Kapil Dev
World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev Wednesday said a player of Yuvraj Singh's stature should have got a farewell from the ground and the stylish southpaw will command a place in his all time XI as and when he comes up with it. Neither Yuvraj nor the BCCI has spoken on why the 2011 World Cup hero did not get a farewell game. The 37-year-old on Monday announced his retirement after 17 years in international cricket. "Yuvraj will be in my all time eleven whenever I sit down to make my team. I would love to see a player like him get the farewell from the ground than he saying 'I am retired'," said Kapil at the launch of fantasy sports platform 'Apne11'. "The way he played his cricket. The way he is looked up to, what he has gone through in his life (battling cancer). I wish him even better than what he achieved on the cricket field," said the legendary all-rounder. Yuvraj is among the Indian greats who did not get a farewell game after contemporaries Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS ...
Pakistan opt to bowl against Australia (Toss)
Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to field against Australia in their league clash of the ongoing World Cup at the Cooper Associates County Ground on Wednesday.
Sarfaraz wins toss, elects to bowl against Australia
Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss and elected to bowl against Australia in their ICC World Cup match, here Wednesday. Australia have left out spinner Adma Zampa and replaced him with fast bowler Kane Richardson while Shaun Marsh came in for injured Marcus Stoinis. Pakistan too have included paceman Shaheen Afridi, leaving out leg-spinner Shadab Khan. Teams: Australia: Aaron Finch (C), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Kane Richardson. Pakistan: Aaron Finch (capt), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Amir.
FIH reschedules Friday's morning game due to sweltering heat
The severe heatwave conditions on Wednesday forced the organisers to allow extended breaks to players and officials during a classification match of the FIH Series Finals while the world body has advanced the start of Friday's classification by 45 minutes, here. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) informed that Friday's morning match will now commence at 08:00 am instead of 08:45 am. "In order to adjust to the current high temperatures affecting Bhubaneswar and considering the welfare of athletes, fans, volunteers, officials and everyone involved, the FIH has decided that Friday's 5th place match of the FIH Series Finals will start at 8 am (IST) instead of 8:45 am as initially planned," the world body said in a statement. With the temperature hovering above 40 degrees and humidity level rising to 50 per cent, the seventh-eighth place classification match between Mexico and Uzbekistan witnessed extended breaks between quarters. The tournament officials allowed the players to take
Injured Shikhar Dhawan shares cryptic message
India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who is nursing an injury on the back of his left hand in the region between the index finger and thumb, on Wednesday shared a cryptic message.The 33-year-old took Twitter to post pictures of him being attended by the medical staff and captioned it, "Kabhi mehek ki tarah hum gulon se udte hain... Kabhi dhuyein ki tarah hum parbaton se udte hain... Ye kainchiyaan humein udne se khaak rokengi... Ke hum paron se nahin hoslon se udte hain..."Earlier on Tuesday, the BCCI released a statement, saying that Dhawan is currently under observation after sustaining an injury. The opening batsman will stay in England and his progress will be monitored by the Indian board."Team India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan is presently under the observation of the BCCI medical team. The team management has decided that Dhawan will continue to be in England and his progress will be monitored," BCCI said."Dhawan sustained an injury on the back of his left hand in the ...
Weather Gods conspire as Kohli & boys prepare for Kiwi test
The unpredictable English weather has struck the 2019 edition of the World Cup. While ICC Chief Executive David Richardson has made it clear that having reserve days in the group stages would have been a logistical nightmare, the current scenario has dampened the spirits of the teams as incessant rain has washed off three games already. And even as India prepare to take on New Zealand in Nottingham on Thursday, the rain threat looms large once again.
CWC'19: Players to watch out in India-NZ clash
Both India and New Zealand would aim to build on their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 matches win so far when they clash on June 12 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. The battle will start at 3The then Indian team, Kapil Dev's devils declined the Clive Lloyd-led West Indies treble in the 1983 World Cup final at the Lord's, registering India's first-ever victory at the marquee event. 28 years later, former skipper MS Dhoni re-created history in 2011 edition at home against Sri Lanka.Now in its 12th edition, all eyes are fixed on Virat Kohli to lift the trophy. India won both its first two World Cup 2019 matches, defeating South Africa by six wickets and Australia by 36 runs.New Zealand, known as BlackCaps, are considered dark horse along with the West Indies in the 50-over tournament. Australian legends like Mark Waugh and Brett Lee picked up the Kiwis, the 2015 World Cup runners-up, as the fourth team to enter the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup.The Kiwis heavily rely on their ...
Odisha wants to host more international sports events, including Olympics
A hockey hub right now, Odisha is now looking to organise international events of other sports as well to eventually become a front-runner city should India's bid to host the Olympics comes through, a top state government official said Wednesday. Odisha Sports-cum-Tourism Secretary Vishal Dev said besides the 2020 FIFA U17 Women's World Cup, Bhubaneswar is also the front-runner to host the FIH Olympic Qualifiers in October-November this year if India qualifies for the event. "Yes, we have plans to host (hockey Olympic Qualifiers). If we are offered we will definitely host it," Dev told PTI. "Next month, we are hosting the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships and in November we are also hosting the Asian Rugby Championships. We also submitted a bid (to AIFF) to host the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup. Hosting international events is our priority," he added. The Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra has recently expressed his ambitious plan to bid for the hosting rights of .
WBBL: Elyse Villani to play for Melbourne Stars
Member of the ICC Women's World T20 winning team and Australia batter Elyse Villani has been signed up by Melbourne Stars for the fifth edition of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).Villani, who is preparing for Australia's Ashes tour to England, will move out from Perth Scorchers where she featured in 58 matches and scored 1706 runs in four seasons."It's exciting to come home to Melbourne for the WBBL. I feel as though the Stars is a good fit for me as I really like the culture they have developed. I can't wait to join up with the entire squad come the start of the season," Villani said in a statement."I am eager to see where this team can go, both on the field and how we can continue to build on a strong culture off the field. I'd really like to thank the Perth Scorchers for the past four seasons and am now looking forward to the next stage of my career," she added.The 29-year-old is currently league's third highest run-scorer, sitting behind Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney.Melbourne ..
Indian cricket team enjoys 'Bharat' in England
Despite having a busy schedule for the 2019 World Cup in England, the Indian cricket team took out time to watch superstar Salman Khan starrer "Bharat".
India junior men's hockey team loss 2-3 to Netherlands
India's junior men's hockey team lost a hard fought game 2-3 to the Netherlands in their group stage encounter at the 8-Nations U-21 Invitational campaign.
'We put men on the moon, why can't we have reserve days'
Bangladesh were left dissapointed after their 2019 World Cup match against Sri Lanka was washed out in Bristol. This was the third time match of the tournament to be abandoned due to rain and the second consecutive time such an incident had happened.
Rishabh Pant comes in as cover for injured Dhawan
Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was Wednesday brought in as cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan in India's World Cup squad. Pant, whose omission from the original squad became a topic of heated debates given his stupendous form in the past one year, will reach here Wednesday. His arrival will be a day before India's game against New Zealand and he won't be considered a replacement till the time the team management takes a final call on Dhawan's availability for the rest of the tournament. "Rishabh Pant is being flown in from India as cover at the request of the team management," a senior BCCI official currently in England told PTI. The 21-year-old is one of the most exciting players to have emerged in Indian cricket. He impressed with Test hundreds during the tours of England and Australia earlier and was in fine form during the IPL last month. Several former players such as Sunil Gavaskar advocated for his inclusion in the squad if Dhawan fails to recover quickly enough for .