Page 2210 - Sports
Next 18 months will define this Indian cricket team: Shastri
After dishing out dominating performances during the long-stretched home series, the Indian players are set to be challenged in overseas conditions in 2018 and chief coach Ravi Shastri says the next 18 months will define "this Indian cricket team". Shastri said the team is aware what lies ahead for them on the tours of South Africa, England and Australia. The coach reckons that the nucleus of the team has remained the same in the last few years and that will help players in embracing the challenges ahead. "The fact that they have been together for the last four five years, that experience will stand them in good stead, that's for sure. The conditions will be testing, but like I have said before, this one and half years will define this Indian cricket team and the whole team is aware of that," Shastri said. "With the tours of South Africa, Australia and England coming up, all I can say this will be better cricket team after those 18 months," Shastri said at the ...
Shastri urges team to embrace South African challenge
India chief coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday urged the squad to embrace the challenges awaiting them in the tour to South Africa, as he insisted that they have prepared well.
Was away from cricket for something more important: Kohli
Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday said that he had been away from cricket "for something which was much more important" to him than the sport.Kohli said that it was not difficult for him to switch back to cricket after his marriage as the sport lies in his blood."I was away for something which was much more important, switching back to cricket is not difficult at all, cricket is in my blood," said Kohli, while addressing the media in Mumbai before India Team leaves for South Africa tour.Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, tied the knot in a private ceremony on December 11 in Italy and held their first wedding reception in Delhi recently, which was graced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.After the Delhi reception, the newlywed hosted their second star-studded marriage reception in the Astor Ballroom of St Regis, which saw the bigwigs of cricket and high-profile celebs of Bollywood, yesterday.Virat, who had missed India's ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka ..
Right time for Bumrah to get into Test squad: Shastri
India cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday said the South Africa tour is the perfect time for pacer Jasprit Bumrah to be included in the squad after having already proved his mettle in limited overs.
Shuttler Ashwini backs BWF's 2018 schedule (Lead, correcting intro) (IANS Interview)
Indian doubles star Ashwini Ponnappa on Wednesday backed the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) decision to make it mandatory for top shuttlers to play at least 12 tournaments in a revamped schedule for 2018.
Vijay Shankar to lead TN in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tourney
All-rounder Vijay Shankar will lead Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 cricket tournament to be held at Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram from January 8 to 14. The state selection committee picked the team after two practice games among the probables here. Vijay, who was picked in the India Test team during the recent series against Sri Lanka, had led the state to victory in Vijay Hazare Trophy and Deodhar Trophy last season. Baba Aparajith has been appointed his deputy, said a release today from the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. The squad includes international cricketer Dinesh Karthik, who was part of the national ODI team in the recent series against Sri Lanka and young all-rounder M S Washington Sundar. Sundar made his ODI and T20 International debut in the matches against Lanka. Tamil Nadu plays its first match against Andhra Pradesh at Vishakhapatnam. Squad: Vijay Shankar (captain), B Aparajith (vice-captain), K Bharath Shankar, M S Washington Sundar, Abhinav .
Anisa wins women's 25m pistol with new national record
Experienced Haryana shooter Anisa Sayyed won the women's 25m pistol gold with a new record at the ongoing 61st National Shooting Championship Competitions (61st NSCC), here today. Anisa shot a new finals national record score of 33 to prevail over the Maharashtra duo of Shital Shivaji Thorat and Rahi Sarnobat, who won the silver and bronze medals respectively at the National Games Shooting Range. Shital shot 30 in the eight-woman final to also claim a new finals national record while Rahi finished with 28. The other highlight of the day was upcoming talent Manu Bhaker's 10th and 11th gold medal at the Nationals. After sweeping the women's 10m pistol events and the junior mixed team air pistol gold for a total of nine gold medals over the last weekend, Manu won the junior team and junior team civilian 25m women's pistol events today to add more glitter to her 61st NSCC sojourn. In the junior women's 25m pistol, another Haryana shooter Chinki Yadav won gold with another ...
Ashwini Ponnappa calls for change in mindset on double tournaments
Indian badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa on Wednesday stressed on the need to change the mindset of people when it comes to doubles tournaments for the players to excel in the field.Ponnappa emphasised on giving enough importance, support and encouragement to the double players so they willingly opt for doubles tournament and perform well in it."I think the most important thing is the mindset that needs to be changed when it comes to doubles and singles. And people need to understand that singles player or most of us have been playing the single from very young age. All of us started off as singles players and towards the end of your juniors' years is when you kind of split in and start playing doubles," she said."One needs time and encouragement for double's players, one needs to encourage peers to take doubles and one way of doing so is not differentiating between the events from the junior level," she addedPonnappa's comment came ahead of the Premier Badminton League (PBL) where ...
Aizawl FC stops Minerva's unbeaten run in I-League
Reigning champions Aizawl FC ended table-toppers Minerva Punjab FC's five-match winning streak in the Hero I-League with a crucial 2-1 victory, here today. Kareem Omolaja (72nd) and Andrei Ionescu (85th) scored one goal apiece for Aizawl FC while Girik Khosla (90+5 minutes) pulled one back for the away side. Meanwhile, it was the first defeat for the Punjab-based side following their five-match unbeaten run. The home side made four changes in the starting eleven as David Lalrinmuana, Andrei Ionescu, William Lalnunfela and newly recruited Laldinliana started the game in place of Lalrinzuala, K Lalthathanga, Yugo Kobayashi and Lalbiakthanga. David and Ionescu, alongside captain Alfred Jaryan, manned the midfield and William Lalnunfela played the lone striker upfront and Leonce Dodoz and Lalmuankima flanked from opposite sides of the pitch. League leaders Minerva made no changes from their last match. Paulo Menezes' boys started the game on a upbeat mode as they forced the ..
Great if some can make it to India A in next 8 months: Dravid
His tunnel vision on the "process" is legendary in Indian cricket and U-19 chief coach Rahul Dravid's next aim is to see a few of the World Cup-bound colts included in the 'A' team within the next six to eight months. "The World Cup is an exciting challenge and provides a good opportunity for all these guys. There is a process now in place in Indian cricket - U-19 cricket to first-class cricket and then to India A and then the India national team, when the opportunity arrives," Dravid said at the pre-departure press conference of the India U-19 team. "I have been talking to these players about other formats as well. If they can make it to the India A team in 6-8 months, it will be great. We see this as a stepping stone," the former India captain said. The current India U-19 captain Prithvi Shaw has already played for the India A team during warm-up games against New Zealand. Dravid however refused to predict that who among the current batch has the potential to make it ..
Bravo, Razzaq new joinees in St Moritz Ice Cricket
West Indies' Dwayne Bravo and Pakistan's Abdul Razzaq are the latest cricketers to join a host of former stars for the inaugural St. Moritz Ice Cricket to be held in Switzerland from February 8-9. The other big names confirmed for the event are Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Shoaib Akhtar, Mahela Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Daniel Vettori, Nathan McCullum, Grant Elliot, Monty Panesar, Shahid Afridi, Graeme Smith and Owais Shah. The unique two-day event is set against the serene and breath-taking backdrop of the Swiss mountains which will host two matches in two days. The lake freezes into an extremely thick layer of ice which then gets covered by the soft falling snow, enabling the lake to withstand more than 200 tons of weight, which makes it the perfect area to construct a pavilion village and grandstands to watch and support the festivities. The cricketers have been divided into two teams -- Badrutt's Palace Diamonds and ...
Fast-tracked Pandya making most of rare talent: Dravid
The paucity of pace-bowling all- rounders in Indian cricket played a role in Hardik Pandya being fast-tracked into the senior team but he deserves credit for making the most of his rare talent, says former captain and under-19 coach Rahul Dravid. Dravid said having fast bowling all-rounders was always a luxury for the Indian team and Pandya has grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The 24-year-old Pandya, with his big-hitting ability down the order and effective medium-fast bowling, has become a regular feature in India's short format teams. Since making his debut at the beginning of 2016, Pandya has played 32 ODIs and 27 Twenty20 matches and has taken 35 and 23 wickets respectively apart from scoring some useful knocks. "Hardik came into the team because of himself. He is the one who has put in the performances and he is the one who has that x-factor. When you are a fast bowling all-rounder in India, there aren't many to compete with and that's the reality," Dravid
I-League: Aizawl FC look to make strong comeback
Aizawl FC will look to make a strong comeback when they play their third home match of the I-League against high flying Minerva Punjab FC here at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium today.Reigning champions Aizawl FC had the last laugh last season in this tie, courtesy the own goal by Loveday Enyinnaya.Minerva Punjab FC are coming to the tie from an unbeaten home run which has earned them 13 points from five matches.Aizawl FC, on the other hand, kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 win over Churchill Brothers but they slumped to a defeat at the hands of Shillong Lajong in their second game.Minerva Punjab FC coach Khogen Singh is well aware of their position in the league and he stressed on keeping the focus on the match but nothing else.He opined, "We will try to continue this form until the end of the season. But our fixtures will be tougher as playing in away matches and I have experienced this as a player myself. Aizawl will be a tough opponent but i hope we can end the season in our current .
Ashwini backs 15-point PBL scoring; organisers prepone match timings
Indian doubles badminton specialist Ashwini Ponnappa on Wednesday hailed the new 15-point scoring system in the Premier Badminton League (PBL), saying it gives ample time to the players to get back at the opponent even if they go down at the start.
I-League: Defending champions Aizawl end Minerva's unbeaten run
Reigning champions Aizawl FC have given their supporters a reason to smile, having registered an important win against table-toppers Minerva Punjab FC in the I-League contest at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday.
Bravo, Razzaq to take part in St. Moritz Ice Cricket 2018
West Indian star Dwayne Bravo and former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq have been roped in for the first edition of the St. Moritz Ice Cricket 2018 event, it was announced on Wednesday.
No motivation for youngsters to take up doubles: Ponnappa
Unhappy with the step-motherly treatment meted out to doubles in the country, ace shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa today said there is no motivation for the youngsters to choose a career in the format. "India is a country which does not focus on doubles. Singles players are doing really well in our country but in doubles it's different, the encouragement is different," said Ponnappa, who had won a bronze at 2011 World championship alongwith Jwala Gutta in women's doubles. "You are working against the system where even if you do really well your performance is not highlighted, you don't get as many sponsors as a singles player and if that's the case whats the motivation for youngsters to pick up doubles?" Ponnappa said. Ponnappa along with some other doubles players had earlier criticised the Badminton Association Of India for rewarding the Junior Nationals singles title winners with cars while neglecting the doubles winners. "In the Junior Nationals, the singles title winner ...
Cook's unbeaten ton puts England in charge of Boxing Day Test
England opener Alastair Cook broke his shackles in vintage fashion as he smashed a sparkling unbeaten century to steer his side to a dominating position at stumps of the second day of the fourth Ashes Test here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Wednesday.England, who are playing for pride after having already lost the Ashes urn to Australia, bundled out the hosts for 327 in their first innings just after the lunch of Day Two.In reply, the Joe Root-led side were reduced to 80-2 after opener Mark Stoneman and James Vince were dismissed cheaply for 15 and 17 respectively.However, Cook finally found some form after weeks of misery and struggle as he not only notched up an unbeaten knock of 104 but also combined with Root (49) to share a stubborn third-wicket partnership of 112 to put England in a rare position of strength.At stumps, England had reached 192-2, trailing by 135 runs from Australia's first-innings total.The left-hander had struggled to make his mark at the top of the ..
ISL 2017: Jamshedpur's dogged defence ready for leaders Chennaiyin
Steve Coppell's robust defensive organisation has made Jamshedpur FC a tough, if not the most exciting, team in their debut Indian Super League (ISL) season.The Englishman's side is currently sixth on the table with nine points. And such is the congestion at the top of the standings that a positive result against Chennaiyin FC on Wednesday will leave them only a point behind the league leaders.Jamshedpur FC haven't scored many goals but, at the same time, they have been really miserly at the back. They have only lost once so far, and have grinded out three draws to go with the two wins.Considering the fact that Jamshedpur FC are playing their first ISL season, head coach Coppell has been very pragmatic in his approach.Talking about his team's inability to score too many goals and their style of play , Coppell said the team has to think of long-term goals and make sure it doesn't end up in a disastrous position at the end of the season."It is obvious from the number of games we have ...
ISL: Jamshedpur's dogged defence ready to face league leader Chennaiyin
Jamshedpur, Dec 27: Steve Coppells robust defensive organisation has made Jamshedpur FC a tough, if not the most exciting, team in their debut Indian Super League (ISL) season.