Page 417 - Sports
Toss: Delhi opt to bowl against Gayle-less Punjab
Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field against Kings XI Punjab in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the PCA I.S. Bindra Stadium here on Monday.
Pogba has 'big part' to play at Man Utd - Solskjaer
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Paul Pogba has a "big, big part" to play at Old Trafford despite speculation linking the French World Cup winner with a move to Real Madrid. Real boss Zinedine Zidane is expected to be busy in the summer transfer market as he tries to reinvigorate a side that crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16 and are lagging 12 points behind leaders Barcelona in La Liga. United midfielder Pogba last week described Madrid as a "dream club for every player" while on international duty with France and Zidane on Saturday hailed him as "a player who knows how to do everything". But Solskjaer is determined that Pogba, one of the world's most marketable players, will not be a part of Zidane's rebuilding plans and believes the midfielder simply gave a straight answer to a question. "I don"t like to talk about other teams' players," the Norwegian said ahead of his side's Premier League match against Wolves on Tuesday. "That is one of the ...
Victorious Hamilton defends rival Vettel
A victorious Lewis Hamilton moved to defend his rival Sebastian Vettel as the four-time champion's recent form came under scrutiny following another costly spin in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton, who was gifted the 74th win of his career when Ferrari new boy Charles Leclerc's engine lost power in the final 10 laps, said Vettel's achievements dwarfed his disappointments. As Ferrari packed up to travel home after a bitter-sweet weekend in which they demonstrated dominant pace and the arrival on the grand prix podium of their new star Leclerc, Vettel faced another Italian inquest over his failings. His spin at the Bahrain International Circuit, where Hamilton led his team-mate Valtteri Bottas home for a second straight season-opening Mercedes one-two, was his fourth in 10 races. "I looked at the replay and we didn't touch," said five-times champion Hamilton, reflecting on the incident in which Vettel spun while the pair battled for second place. "It was really windy ...
Mason Crane 'just wants to get on the field'
Mason Crane became England's youngest leg-spinner when he made his Test debut in 2018 against Australia. The player, who has been perturbed by two back fractures and a nine-month stretch out of the game, says he "just wants to get on the field.""I just want to get on the field. I have had enough now, I just want to get back out there," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Crane as saying.It has been nine months since Crane played his last match in professional cricket. After making his debut at the age of 18, he has become a forgotten name after sustaining injuries at regular intervals."I have had the definition of an up-and-down time of it, if you go back 18 months, I have been on an Ashes tour, and ended up in New Zealand where [the injury] happened. It was difficult to come to terms with it at the start. It took a lot of getting used to - not playing cricket, not being able to do pretty much anything," Crane said.Crane failed to leave a mark in his debut match as he picked up just one wicket and ..
Cristiano Ronaldo has difficulty in proving his fitness, says Juventus manager Allegri
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has said that Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo is facing difficulty to prove his fitness ahead of Juventus' Champions League clash with Ajax."Cristiano is working to get back, we hope to have him ready for Ajax, but it will be difficult," Goal.com quoted Allegri, as saying."Today's exam is much better, the leg is much better, then there is a clinical examination and the player's symptoms. There are still nine days to go. So we still have time to evaluate things together," he said."He is doing things he can do right now, it is normal that you have to be careful in everything and evaluate pros and cons," he added.Ronaldo is struggling with a thigh injury which he picked up while he was playing for Portugal against Serbia which ended up on a 1-1 tie.Juventus will compete with Ajax in the Champions League quarter-finals on April 11.
Delhi Capitals opt to bowl, Avesh Khan gets look in
Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to field against Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match on Monday. Delhi had one change from their last game and fast bowler Avesh Khan has been brought into the playing XI in place of out-of-form veteran Amit Mishra. Teams KXIP: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, R Ashwin (capt), Hardus Viljoen, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, M Ashwin, Mohammed Shami Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Colin Ingram, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Chris Morris, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada.
Why can't BCCI produce good umpires? (Column: Just Sport)
Sundaram Ravi, an umpire on the elite panel of the International Cricket Council (ICC), is considered good by world standards. Just like all the umpires, Ravi also made some outstanding decisions and fumbled at times.
Another T20 league: Euro T20 Slam to comprise Irish, Scottish and Dutch cities
There is good news for Twenty20 freelancers like Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell with the inaugural edition of Euro T20 Slam starting from later year. The August 30-September 22 tournament will comprise six teams -- two each from Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands. The six cities are Dublin & Belfast from Ireland, Edinburgh & Glasgow from Scotland and Amsterdam and Rotterdam from the Netherlands. However, the games will only be played in Dublin, Edinburgh and Amsterdam in 2019. The league consists of 33 matches across all three countries that include semi-finals and a final and each team will play in the round-robin format. As per the tournament rules, each city will have nine domestic players and up to seven overseas players within their squads. The rules will also have the mandate to play six domestic players in the playing 11 in every match. Gurmeet Singh from GS Holding, who is also the promoter of the league said: "We are extremely happy with the cities ...
Kadhe, Bhosale are No. 1 in MSLTA 2018 year-end rankings
Maharashtra internationals Rutuja Bhosale and Arjun Kadhe emerged as number one tennis players in the women and men's categories, respectively, in the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) rankings released here. Mumbai's Aryaan Bhatia, Aarav MehtaPune players Arjun Gohad, Ira Shah, and Solapur's Nainika Reddy were the other players to emerge No. 1 in different categories, a media release issued here said Monday. The MSLTA's annual rankings for 2018 were announced by its secretary Sunder Iyer, the release added. The players are part of the MSLTA vision programme and apart from scholarships, the top ranked players will also be rewarded withinternational trainingprogrammes in the USA, Spain and Thailand in the coming year, said Iyer. The Pune region took the honours by finishing with nine No. 1 players in Maharashtra in 2018, which included Arjun Kadhe (Mens Singles), Rutuja Bhosale (Womens Singles), Arjun Gohad (Boys Under 14), Vaishnavi Adkar (Girls Under ...
Karunaratne issues apology over drunk driving fiasco
Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka's Test captain was arrested in Colombo on Sunday for drunk driving, following which the player has issued a public apology on Monday and has described his own attitude as "utterly unbecoming of a Sri Lankan national cricketer".The player was involved in an accident in Colombo on Sunday, following which he was arrested and subsequently bailed, while a driver of the other vehicle was admitted to the hospital with minor injuries.Karunaratne issued his apology on Monday in which he apologised to the owner of the other vehicle who was harmed in the accident on Sunday.The player tweeted his full apology which reads:"You may be aware of some disturbing news which occurred last morning! The vehicle I was driving back home, unfortunately, met with a minor accident in Colombo. I firstly need to apologize to the owner of the other vehicle who had a few very minor injuries and was absolutely decent in his manner to very amicably sort out the matter directly with me. .
Finch terms his performance against Pak 'most consistent series as a batter'
Australia whitewashed Pakistan in a five-match ODI series in the UAE with the help of their limited-overs captain Aaron Finch's scintillating form, who called his performance in the series 'most consistent with the bat.'"It was probably my most consistent [series] as a player, as a batter," International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Finch, as saying.Player of the Series, Finch scored 451 runs at an average of 112.75 but fell just 27 runs short of George Bailey's record for most runs in a bilateral series for Australia.Australia selectors are set to pick their squad on April 9. Finch said: "I think that would be down to what's best for the team. What fits best, what looks best on paper to start with, and then you go from there.""Everyone who has had an opportunity over the last couple of months has really put their best foot forward and played some great cricket.""Again, there will be a lot of conversations, with players, with myself, with JL [Justin Langer, the coach] about pros and ..
Ghosal becomes first Indian male to enter top-10 in PSA rankings
Saurav Ghosal on Monday became the first Indian male squash player to enter the top 10 in the latest PSA world rankings. Indian women squash players -- Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal -- had earlier reached top-10 in the world rankings. Riding on his recent performances, Ghosal has moved up two places to a career-high ranking of 10. Ghosal made it to the quarter-finals of the 2018-2019 PSA World Championships in Chicago, USA for the first time in his career. He was also a quarter-finalist at the prestigious Grasshopper Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. Egypt's world champion Ali Farag, meanwhile, maintains his position at the top of the ladder. In the women's rankings, Joshna continued to be the best-ranked Indian, moving up to the 15th position.
IIT Kharagpur to develop training module for Gopichand Academy
IIT Kharagpur has collaborated with the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy and will develop training programmes, focussing on happiness and well-being of players. A delegation from IIT Kharagpur led by Director Prof P P Chakrabarti met Gopichand in New Delhi on March 30 in this regard. "Players and coaches from PGBA will benefit from these programs. Further the coaches will also be trained on how to use that knowledge while training players," a statement from IIT-KGP said. Under the collaboration, IIT-KGP will also set up a Sports Academy in collaboration with Gopichand. "I am also very happy to know of a Sports Academy that is coming up at IIT Kharagpur and look forward to contributing to its development," Gopichand said in the statement.
As the years went by, cricket developed quickly in PNG: Norman Vanua
Papua New Guinea have made their presence felt in the cricketing fraternity, after they cleared the ICC Men's T20 World Cup qualifier in March. Norman Vanua, the team's bowler on Monday said that there was a time when this feat just looked like a big dream."[Facilities were] a big issue back then, we have done tours where we had four or five bats in a team, in the junior set-up. As the years went by, cricket developed quickly in PNG, and it just went on from there," International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Norman Vanua as saying.The village I grew up in, I have lived there for about 17 years now ... it is a fun village. It is just cricket-mad. Cars have to stop so that the kids can bowl and run through. My family has always played cricket in local compounds. And I was always engaged in sport - football, rugby - but my mum did not want me to play any contact sport. So cricket's always been there," he added.The sport has been witnessing a rise in the country since 1973 when they were .
Maybe Brexit will prevent Kolpak deals from happening: South African pacer Dale Steyn
New Delhi [India], April 01 (ANI): Dale Steyn, South Africa's 35-year-old pacer is widely regarded as the greatest fast bowler the country has produced. The pacer's accuracy and speed have been his biggest strength on the cricketing field and despite his battle with constant injuries, his comeback trail on the pitch has been nothing short of remarkable.The pacer has taken 439 wickets in the Test format which made him the leading wicket-taker in the format for South Africa. Steyn has 196 and 61 wickets in the ODI's and T20I format respectively.In an exclusive chat with ANI, the pacer talked about what can possibly stop the Kolpak deals and he opens up about his possible future in the game and what is he seeking out of the Cricket World Cup which is scheduled to be played later this year.South Africa were recently given a major setback as Duanne Olivier, their key performer in the recent series against Pakistan opted to end his South African career and opt for a Kolpak deal with ...
India retain top-spot in ICC Test rankings
India have retained the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship Mace as they secured the number one spot on the ICC Test Team Rankings while New Zealand have ensured second place.India secured 116 points and under the captaincy of world number one Test batsman, Virat Kohli, obtaining the top position was never really a doubt. While New Zealand's consistent performance over the past year helped them climb from the third position and are just eight points behind India."Retaining the ICC Test Championship Mace once again is something we are all really proud of. Our team has been doing well across formats but it gives us extra pleasure to come out on top of the Test rankings. We all know of the importance of Test cricket and of how only the best can prosper in the format," ICC quoted Virat Kohli as saying."Our team has a lot of depth and I am sure this will stand us in good stead once the ICC World Test Championship commences later this year. That is again something we are ..
India finish with 16 gold medals at Asian Airgun C'ships
Indian shooters continued their dominance claiming half a dozen gold medals on the final day of the Asian Airgun Championships to sign off with a total of 25 medals in Taoyuan, Taipei. India finished with 16 gold, five silver and four bronze. On the last day of the competition, Yash Vardhan and Shreya Agrawal bagged three gold medals each. Yash finished on top in 10m Air Rifle men's junior event. He then clinched the yellow metal in Team competition with his partners -- Keval Prajpati and Aishwary Tomar. Yash scored 249.5, while Keval and Aishwary shot 247.3 and 226.1 for silver and bronze respectively. Earlier Vardhan and Shreya combined to win the Mixed Team Rifle junior event. Shreya won the gold in the 10m Air Rifle women's junior event. She also won the Team gold along with Mehuli Ghosh and Kavi Chakkaravarthy. Shreya's gold winning 24-shots ended on an impressive 252.5, while Mehuli settled for individual bronze with an effort of 228.3. Kavi was fourth. Indian shooting's next ...
Federer goes fourth in rankings after Miami triumph
Roger Federer jumped up one spot to fourth in the ATP rankings released on Monday after capturing his 101st career title with his victory over John Isner in Miami. The Swiss great switched places with Austria's Dominic Thiem, who had briefly climbed to fourth after defeating Federer in the final at Indian Wells two weeks ago. Rising Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas moved up to a career best of eighth, while Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov cracked the top 20 for the first time following his run to the Miami semi-finals. Felix Auger-Aliassime, 18, soared 24 places to 33rd after matching compatriot Shapovalov's run to the last four in Florida before losing to defending champion Isner. Novak Djokovic remains comfortably clear at the top despite crashing out in the last 16 in Miami, with Rafael Nadal still well ahead of third-ranked Alexander Zverev as the Spaniard targets a return from injury for the clay-court season. ATP rankings on April 1: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 11,070 pts 2. Rafael .
Guardiola says pressure will bring out best in Man City players
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes the pressure of needing to win every one of their remaining Premier League matches to finish ahead of Liverpool will boost their quadruple bid. City, with the League Cup already in the bag, are chasing an unprecedented clean sweep, with the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup also in their sights. They can return to the top of the table if they win their game in hand against struggling Cardiff on Wednesday. City play an out-of-sorts Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-finals next week and Brighton in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday. Liverpool, seeking their first English top-flight title since 1990, beat Spurs in a dramatic finish on Sunday to restore their two-point lead. "For the semi-final and for the Champions League, being in the position in the Premier League where you know if you don't win you are going to lose the Premier League, maybe that's going to help us for the other competitions," said Guardiola. "If you are .
Royals skipper Rahane fined for slow over-rate
Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane was on Monday fined Rs 12 lakh as his side maintained a slow over-rate during their narrow loss to the Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk Stadium here.