Page 2219 - Sports
A transformed India and Kohli will eye history: AB de Villiers
Star South African batsman AB de Villiers says the Indian team and its captain Virat Kohli have transformed completely over the years and will try to create history in the upcoming Test series. India have never won a Test series in South Africa, a 1-1 draw in the 2011 being their best result. The upcoming three- match series begins January 5. De Villiers has been out of Test cricket on a injury- induced exile for almost two years, having last played in this format against England in January 2016. He will return to Test cricket in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe beginning Tuesday before the series against India. The 33-year-old South African said it would be a challenge for his side against a young Indian side led by a highly competitive Kohli. "I'm very excited that they (India) are going to be touring in South Africa. I have not played against India for a while now, so it's going to be a really good series," de Villiers was quoted as saying by 'Sunday Times'. "It will
Shubhankar bags Tour Championship, ends 2017 on a high
Continuing his dream run, Shubhankar Sharma rallied to snatch the Rs 1.5 crore McLeod Russel Tour Championship 2017 here today to sign off the season with three wins . The 21-year-old from Chandigarh, who recently became the youngest Indian to win on the European Tour, prevailed over Delhi's Rashid Khan by one shot in a thrilling finish at the PGTI season-ending championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Trailing by two shots till the 14th hole, Shubhankar turned it around in the final stages to end up with a round of 68 and a winning total of 17-under-271. He thus took home his sixth professional trophy and the winner's cheque of Rs 22,50,000. The 26-year-old Rashid (71) led the last two days but only to finish with a total of 16-under-272. Shamim Khan of Delhi bagged his second PGTI Order of Merit title after finishing tied fourth at eight-under-280 this week. Khan, who had earlier won the title in 2012, closed the 2017 season with earnings of Rs 51,64,233 to finish
Mumbai T20I: India win toss, elect to bowl first
India won the toss and chose to field first in the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka, here at the Wankhede Stadium, on Sunday.Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar will be making his T20I debut for the Indian side, replacing man in form Yuzvendra Chahal.Right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah has also been rested and is replaced by Mohammed Siraj.After winning the toss, stand-in-skipper Rohit Sharma said he opted to bowl first just to take a drift from always batting first. However, Sri Lanka skipper Thisara Perera said he would have chosen to bat first, had he won the toss.For Sri Lanka, Dasun Shanaka has replaced Angelo Mathews, who was ruled out of the final match due to a hamstring injury.In another squad change, Danushka Gunathilaka has replaced Chaturanga de Silva.Having pocketed the three-match T20I series already, India will be looking to whitewash Sri Lanka in the final match.In the previous two matches, Sri Lanka were handed a heavy 93-run defeat in the series opener in ...
Kiwis perform well in their own backyard: Azhar Ali
Pakistan opener Azhar Ali, who has made a comeback to the ODI squad, on Sunday said the upcoming tour of New Zealand would not be easy for Pakistan as the New Zealand team always performs well in their own backyard."The Kiwis always perform well on the home ground, but ours is a decent unit and our performances in the last six months are there for all to see," the 32-year-old told Dawn.Pakistan lost both the ODI (2-0) and T20I (2-1) series when they visited New Zealand during the 2015-16 season.However, the former captain feels that the encounter was much closer than the final scoreline suggested.He also vowed to help his team out in any way possible."I'll try and play the way the team wants me to and according to the situation. It's our job to do what the team wants. I am very focused," he said.Earlier on Saturday, Azhar Ali and all-rounders Aamir Yamin and Mohammad Nawaz made a comeback to the Pak squad for the five-match ODI series against New Zealand.The ODI series between ...
No Kolkata Classic golf in 2018 due to lack of sponsors
In a big blow to the sport in the eastern region, the Professional Golf Tour of India's annual event - Kolkata Classic has been dropped from next season's calendar due to the lack of sponsors. "It is not happening because of lack of sponsors. It all depends on sponsorship," PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy said on the sidelines of the final round of McLeod Russel Tour Championship. The event, that carried a prize purse of Rs 40 lakh, ran for two years with Shubhankar Sharma winning the inaugural edition in 2016 and Shamim Khan emerging champion this year. The PGTI is yet to ink a fresh contract with McLeod Russel whose three-year agreement for the Rs 1.5 crore Tour Championship got over today. The Tour Championship is a much-anticipated last meet of the PGTI calendar involving the top 50 in Order of Merit and 15 invitation entries, an event that has been in the run for six years. Mundy, however, sounded hopeful that the season-ending event will remain intact. "We are working ..
Giles slams immature England
Ashley Giles admits he would have considered sending home some of England's players for bad behaviour during their Ashes tour of Australia. England's poor performances on the pitch, which have seen them lose the series ahead of the start of the fourth Test on Boxing Day, have been compounded by incidents off it. Ben Duckett, who is not part of the full Ashes squad but was in Australia to play for England Lions, was given a suspension and a fine by the England and Wales Cricket Board for throwing a drink over vice-captain James Anderson. England star Jonny Bairstow was involved in a bizarre headbutt incident with Australia's Cameron Bancroft during a night out in Perth. Ben Stokes, an England all-rounder, is out of the international frame while waiting to discover whether he will be charged for an alleged late-night brawl before the Ashes tour in Bristol in September. Former spinner Giles, who played 54 Test matches for England and later worked as a national team selector,
India opt to field against Sri Lanka in third T20I
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field against Sri Lanka in the third and final Twenty20 International (T20I) at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.
India win toss, elect to field against Sri Lanka in 3rd T20I
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field against Sri Lanka in the third and final Twenty20 cricket International here today. India have made two changes, replacing Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal with Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar, who will make his T20 debut. Sri Lanka also made two changes, bringing in Danushka Gunathilaka and Dasun Shanaka in place of Chaturanga de Silva and Angelo Mathews, who is injured. Teams: India: Rohit Sharma (C), Lokesh Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, MS Dhoni(WK), Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj. Sri Lanka: Thisara Perera (C), Niroshan Dickwella (WK), Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Asela Gunaratne, Dasun Shanaka, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Pradeep.
AB de Villiers fit to make Test comeback
South African batsman AB de Villiers has declared himself fit for the inaugural day-night Test match against Zimbabwe, beginning at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth on the Boxing Day.The wicketkeeper-batsman had earlier withdrawn from the three-day warm-up match due to a stiff lower back.The 33-year-old said he was excited to make a comeback to the Test fold after nearly two years and was wishing to contribute."I want to contribute," Sport24 quoted De Villiers, as saying.He added, "I want to play knocks, have my say in the field with my experience and take some catches that can win games of cricket. We would like to be No.1 in the world, we are not far away. We know if we win a few series in the next three months against tough opposition we canachieve that. We will take it one step at a time that will be nice to achieve, to be the No.1 team in the world and to maintain it for a few years."de Villiers, regarded as one of the best batsmen of his generation and also as one of the ...
Kolkata Classic golf meet to shut shop from next year
Due to lack of sponsors, the Kolkata Classic Golf Championship will not see the light of day next year, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) said here on Sunday.
'Amorous White' wins the main race
Three-years-old, 'Amorous White' ably ridden by AkshayKumar won the R Raghupathi Reddy Memorial Cup, chief event of Hyderabad Winter Races held here today. Winner Was trained A Vatsalya. Jockies AkshayKumar scored a treble and G Naresh scored a double. Two first favourites obliged in a card of eight events.
Juventus keep pressure on Napoli, Milan clubs lose in Serie A
Record defending champions Juventus edged past Roma 1-0 to sit one point behind Serie A league leaders Napoli, who beat Sampdoria 3-2 on a day which saw both AC Milan and Inter Milan suffer losses.
Mourinho lashes out at Man U players
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has lashed out at his players' poor on-field decision making for missing out on the full three points in their English Premier League (EPL) clash against Leicester City.
Had to raise the bar against Vettel: Hamilton
Four-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said the 2017 season was a key year for him and he worked hard to raise the bar against arch-rival and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.
Indian boxers strike gold at Kazakh tourney
Indian boxers dominated the ring at the Galym Zharylgapov Boxing Tournament in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, claiming three gold, a silver, and a bronze medal at the event which concluded today. Three-time King's Cup gold-medallist and a reigning national champion from the Railways K Shyam Kumar (49kg), world youth championships' bronze-medallist Naman Tanwar (91kg) and Asian Games bronze-medallist Satish Kumar (+91kg) claimed gold medals. To add to it, the 19-year-old Tanwar, seen as a bright prospect for the future, was also adjudged the best boxer of the tournament. The silver medal was claimed by national champion Manish Kaushik (60kg). Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra, competing in his maiden international tournament in the middleweight (75kg) category had to be content with a bronze medal after going down in the semifinals. Jangra is also the reigning national champion in this weight category. The season-ending tournament featured five international and
New rules for South Africa's 4-day Test with Zimbabwe
The one-off day-night Test between South Africa and Zimbabwe, starting on Tuesday, will be staged under experimental playing conditions. The International Cricket Council gave permission to Cricket South Africa to stage a four-day Test. There are several variations from standard Test playing conditions. Play will be scheduled for six-and-a-half hours each day, half an hour more than in five-day games, with 98 overs due to be bowled in a day, instead of 90. As in five-day games, an extra half hour can be added in order to complete the overs. The first two sessions of play will be two hours 15 minutes each, instead of two hours, with a 20-minute tea break instead of a lunch break after the first session. There will be a 40-minute dinner break after the second session. There is no provision for time lost to be carried over to subsequent days. The follow-on can be enforced with a lead of 150 runs, compared to 200 runs in five-day games. Play will start at 1.30pm (1130 GMT) ...
Man City first EPL club to score over 100 goals since 1982
Manchester City became the first English Premier League (EPL) club to score over 100 goals in a calendar year since Liverpool achieved the feat in 1982.
Gilchrist calls Ponting, Waugh 'fighting' Koalas for Big Bash League commentary
The Big Bash League is a war and the players battle it out on 22 yards to clinch victory and respect for their respective sides. But according to former Australian skipper Adam Gilchrist, this time the war has been taken to the commentary box.The Aussie wicket-keeper on Sunday posted the already viral 'Koala Street Fight' video on Twitter, saying that the two Koalas are his former teammates, Ricky Ponting and Mark Waugh."Punter and @juniorwaugh349 sorting out who gets the last sweat vest for commentary @bowlologist @tensporttv #BBL07," wrote the former captain.The trio of Gilchrist, Ponting, and Waugh are commentators for the Big Bash League and are seen exchanging light moments with each other, from time to time.The adorable video of the two Koalas wrestling in the middle of a street not only interrupted traffic in South Australia but also became the butt of jokes as it was shared almost 200,000 times on Facebook.As the two cuddly Koalas sweat it out on the road, we can only hope ...
Australia captain Smith cleared of hand injury
Australia captain Steve Smith has been cleared of injury after he was struck on his hand in the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Sunday during the practice session ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
Real Madrid president says 2017 was club's best year
The president of Real Madrid on Sunday said that with regard to the number of titles won, 2017 has been the best year in the Spanish club's 115-year history.