Page 182 - Sports
Kapil Dev expresses desire of India winning World Cup
Ahead of India's first ICC Men's Cricket World Cup match, Former Indian cricket Kapil Dev, on Wednesday, urged the team to play with full dedication and win the premier Tournament."I want the team to play with their full dedication and win the World Cup," Dev told ANI.Dev led the team during India's 1983 World Cup triumph. India defeated West Indies in the final by 43 runs. In this edition of the premier tournament, the team will be led by Virat Kohli, who atop the ICC ODI rankings.The team also features 2011 World-cup winning MS Dhoni. Moreover, the squad includes Hardik Pandya, who was at his devastating best in Indian Premier League as he scored 402 runs in the league and hammered the fastest half-century, 17 deliveries, in the league.Pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead the bowling department and will get support from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to thwart opponent's batting line-up.In the first match, India will compete against South Africa, who are displaying a woeful performance as they lost ...
Ex-UEFA chief Lennart Johannson dead
Former UEFA President and former FIFA Vice President Lennart Johansson has died after a "short illness", Sweden's football association said on Wednesday. He was 89.
Mighty Aussies to face stern Windies Test (Preview)
Riding on confidence after their emphatic win over Afghanistan, Australia will face an uphill task against the buoyant West Indies when the two teams meet in their World Cup fixture at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Champions League football architect Johansson dies aged 89
Lennart Johansson, who oversaw the introduction of the Champions League during a 17-year reign as president of European soccer's governing body, has died. He was 89. Sweden's soccer association said the former UEFA president died Tuesday after a short illness. "Lennart Johansson was our biggest international football leader of all time, no Swedish has had a similar influence on football in the world," Swedish Football Association president Karl-Erik Nilsson said Wednesday. "He was deeply respected as UEFA president and vice president of FIFA, his leadership has aroused admiration worldwide." Johansson was elected to lead UEFA from 1990 to 2007 when he was beaten in the presidential election by former France great Michel Platini. Johansson also served as vice president of FIFA, but lost a divisive contest for the presidency to Sepp Blatter in 1998. Blatter rejected allegations of vote-buying, and the two never saw eye to eye after that. Johansson said creating the Champions League to ..
Bowlers did not take responsibility: Gulbadin Naib after defeat against Sri Lanka
Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib has expressed unhappiness over the performance of his bowlers, after they faced a 34-run (DLS method) defeat against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, saying that the bowler did not take the responsibility."The wicket was suitable for the seamers, but we did not bowl in the right areas, especially in the start of the innings. I think the bowlers didn't take the responsibility at the start of the day, so maybe we missed something," ICC quoted Naib, as saying.Sri Lanka, who faced a humiliating 10-wicket defeat during their opening match of the World Cup against New Zealand, refined their batting against Afghanistan as they racked up 92 runs on the board for the opening wicket.However, Afghanistan made a strong comeback in the middle overs as Sri Lanka were all out on 201 runs. Mohammad Nabi contributed a lot in Afghanistan's lethal bowling attack as he got hold of four Sri Lanka batsmen and conceded just 30 runs in his nine overs.Rashid Khan's spell also ...
Indian hockey team starts its quest for Olympic berth in FIH Series Finals
The Indian men's hockey team embarks on a new journey under recently-appointed chief coach Graham Reid as the eight-time champions start its quest for 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualification with the FIH Series Finals which begins here Thursday. Eight teams from Asia, Europe, Africa and North America will battle it out for two places in the FIH Olympic Qualifiers scheduled to held in October-November later this year. Besides top-ranked India, the other participating teams in Pool A are Poland, Russia and Uzbekistan while Pool B consists of South Africa, Asian Games champions Japan, USA and Mexico. Placed fifth in world rankings, India will start the tournament as overwhelming favourites, given the vast gap between the hosts and other teams in terms of quality, skills and stature in world hockey. South Africa at 16 and Japan at 18 are the next closest sides in the tournament in terms of rankings. India will open its campaign against minnows Russia and expected to win the encounter by a huge .
Woakes hopes England's fielding woes a one-off
Chris Woakes was adamant England's surprise World Cup defeat by Pakistan was "no car crash" but accepted they would have to raise their fielding standards after a sloppy display contributed to a 14-run loss at Trent Bridge. England, the world's top-ranked one-day side, came into the World Cup on the back of a 4-0 series thrashing of Pakistan. But it was a different story in Nottingham on Monday as Pakistan complied a challenging total of 348 for eight. Even though Joe Root and Jos Buttler made hundreds, England could only reach 334 for nine in reply. Warwickshire paceman Woakes, fast bowler Jofra Archer and leg-spinner Adil Rashid were all expensive they were not helped by a poor fielding effort that saw numerous runs given away in mis-fields and over throws Jason Roy's extraordinary drop that reprieved Mohammad Hafeez on 14 pretty much summed up England's fielding. The batsman went on to top-score with 84. Woakes, who showed England the way with four catches, was at a loss to explain
Australia set to go unchanged against Windies
Australia will field an unchanged XI against Windies in their second game of the ongoing World Cup to be played at Trent Bridge on Thursday with head coach Justin Langer suggesting they will resist the temptation of playing another spinner in the form of Nathon Lyon.
Prayers offered for India's success in opening WC match
India is all set to play the first match of this edition's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup against South Africa on Wednesday and the people here offered prayers in the temple for the team's success in the match.'Vedic Mantras' were chanted in the temple of Varanasi so that team perform well in the premier tournament and also for bowlers' lethal attack in the World Cup, which will help India to have a good start in the tournament."We are praying that 'God gives strength to team India so that team, under the leadership of Virat Kohli, win a one-sided match.' Not only this we prayed that India beat all the teams and win the World Cup" Acharya Pandit Rajendra Trivedi, one of the fans who offered prayers, told ANI.Ramesh Verma, another fan, said: "We have taken blessings from Bholenath for India's success. We will win all the matches and I think we will win the World Cup for the third time. India is the strongest team with good batsmen and bowlers."This is India's first match in the tournament
Yusuf Pathan confident of India doing well in World Cup
Ahead of India opening match in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, India batsman Yusuf Pathan has expressed his confidence in the team, saying that team's performance in the last many years has been really good and players are in good form."I wish 'Eid Mubarak' to everyone. Indian team's preparation has been very good and they have been playing very good cricket in the last many years and also all the players were in good form during the IPL. It is a big tournament. Inshallah, they will do good," Pathan told ANI on Wednesday.India's first match in the premier tournament will be played against South Africa, who are playing their third match of the tournament. However, South Africa are on a dismal run as they have lost both the matches. During the opening match of the World Cup, South Africa faced a massive 104-run defeat at the hands of England, followed by a 21-run defeat against Bangladesh.Therefore, South Africa will be aiming to make a strong comeback in the tournament, but nothing ..
Sri Lanka's experienced bowling unit key to victory, says Thisara Perera
Sri Lanka were far from perfect after yet another batting collapse against Afghanistan, but all-rounder Thisara Perera said the team always had faith in their "experienced bowling unit" to pull off the win. Sri Lanka registered their first win of the World Cup against Afghanistan after facing a massive defeat at the hands of New Zealand in their tournament opener. After being put into bat, Sri Lanka could only manage to put 201 on the scoreboard before Nuwan Pradeep (4/31) and Lasith Malinga (3/39) starred with the ball to bundle out Afghanistan for 152. "We all believed in ourselves and we knew we have an experienced bowling unit, which is why we had five fast bowlers as we have that experience," Perera said after the victory. "We had to take wickets otherwise we would have lost. So that's why we had to stick to our basic plans and not do anything extra." Having crumbled to 136 all out against New Zealand three days ago, Sri Lanka made a strong start with the bat against Afghanistan .
President Macron angers UEFA over Champions League outburst
French President Emmanuel Macron angered the head of European football on Tuesday by using a speech at a FIFA reception to denounce a proposal to transform the Champions League into a largely closed competition. Macron's criticism at an opening event for the Women's World Cup was delivered in front of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who told The Associated Press it was "clear interference of politics in sports." Macron's comments, based on Ceferin's account, echoed a public intervention by the French leader earlier Tuesday when he urged UEFA to abandon the concept being championed by elite clubs determined to lock in their positions in the Champions League from 2024. The media was not invited to the reception and the address by Macron at the Grand Palais in the French capital. "During his speech he was mentioning UEFA and saying that we should be careful about changes of the Champions League and that solidarity is important," Ceferin told the AP from the event. "The president's ...
Resurgent Dutch threaten to keep England waiting for a tournament triumph
England's long wait for a first international trophy since 1966 could be just days away at the Nations League finals in Portugal, but Ronald Koeman's resurgent Netherlands present a hazardous hurdle for the Three Lions in Thursday's semi-final in Guimaraes. A run to the semi-finals of last year's World Cup and memorable victories over Spain and Croatia to make the last four of another tournament within 12 months have raised expectations that Gareth Southgate in coaching the generation to finally end England's wait for glory. By contrast, the Dutch have had a lean few years after failing to make it to Russia last year or qualify for Euro 2016. Even though the Dutch lost a thrilling opening Euro 2000 qualifier 3-2 to Germany in March there are no fears they will miss out for a third consecutive major tournament. The side captained by the imperious Virgil van Dijk is also blessed with the core of an Ajax side that were seconds away from facing Van Dijk's Liverpool in the Champions League
Australia unchanged for second WC clash despite spin temptation
After bundling out Afghanistan in their debut World Cup clash, Australia will stick to the same playing XI for their next against West Indies, despite coach Justin Langer suggesting that there is temptation to play spinner Nathan Lyon.Lyon played both warm-up matches for his team but did not feature in their opening World Cup match.It was apparent that the Aussies will face such a difficulty in choosing their playing XI given the 'tough calls' made while picking their 15-member ICC Men's Cricket World Cup squad.However, this time, the conundrum does not revolve around batting, but the bowling department, specifically choosing spinners.Australia displayed an impeccable performance in their first World Cup clash against Afghanistan. Spinner Adam Zampa shined as he bundled off three Afghanistan batsmen which helped his side in restricting them to just 207 runs which Aussies chased easily and registered a seven-wicket victory."There is (temptation to play Lyon) because there are the ...
Gulbadin blames poor bowling in first 10 overs for WC loss to SL
Skipper Gulbadin Naib admitted Afghanistan struggled in English conditions and blamed wayward bowling in the first 10 overs for their 34-run loss to Sri Lanka in the World Cup here. Electing to bowl, Afghanistan bowlers couldn't exploit the conditions initially to allow Sri Lanka amass 79 in the first 10 overs. They pulled things back in the middle but Sri Lanka posted 201 all out in 36.5 overs after a rain interruption. Afghanistan bowlers conceded 35 extras, which hurt them in the end. Chasing a rain-revised target of 187 to win, Gulbadin's men could never recover after being 57 for five to eventually suffer a 34-run loss, their second defeat in the tournament. "We didn't start well with the ball and didn't bowl enough in the right areas in the first 10 overs. I think maybe the bowlers didn't take enough responsibility," Gulbadin said. "We were better in the middle and credit must go to how Rashid Khan, Hamid Hassan and Mohammad Nabi bowled. "But we missed something at the start and
UEFA says few tickets left for Nations League semifinals
UEFA says only a few tickets are available for the semifinals of the inaugural Nations League in Portugal. UEFA says less than 200 tickets remain on sale for Wednesday's match between Portugal and Switzerland in Porto, and less than 150 are available for the game between England and the Netherlands on Thursday in Guimaraes. Tickets remain on sale for Sunday's final in Porto, but UEFA says they are expected to be sold quickly after the finalists are decided. UEFA said Tuesday tickets for Sunday's third-place game in Guimaraes also remain available. Portugal earned the right to host the competition's first final four after winning its group. UEFA created the Nations League to try to give national teams more meaningful games and reduce the number of friendlies.
Brat to being responsible, role model Kohli turns new leaf
With great power comes great responsibility and no one knows it better than India skipper Virat Kohli. Not just a national heartthrob, cricket fanatics across the world look to emulate Kohli. And the once angry young man is definitely cooling down with each passing day.
Got to condition your brain to be rally driver: Gill
Dubbed as the "Grand Prix on Gravel", Rally Finland is the fastest event on the World Rally Championship and is known for its smooth and wide gravel roads, numerous big jumps and blind crests.
Need to improve our batting: Dimuth Karunaratne
Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne admitted the fact that their batting has been not been up to the mark in the first two games of the ongoing World Cup and they need to work on it to improve their overall performance.
Langer prepares Australia for West Indies World Cup pace test
Justin Langer has hailed the West Indies' "Calypso cricket", admitting they were his heroes when he was growing up as he prepares Australia to face their current battery of fast bowlers. The two teams, who have won seven out of the 11 World Cups so far between them, meet at Trent Bridge on Thursday after both cruised to comfortable opening victories. Head coach Langer said defending champions Australia would need to adjust their mindset to take on the West Indies quicks and other fast bowlers at the tournament in England and Wales. "We've probably spent four months thinking and playing against spin bowling," he said on Tuesday. "We have to adapt to West Indies no doubt, who have got a number of good, fast bowlers. South Africa will be same. England will be the same. Have to adapt our game plan and adapt pretty quickly. "Obviously a very dangerous team the way they bat and aggressive bowling, but they've got weaknesses as well and we're playing pretty good cricket." West Indies, who ...