Page 474 - Sports
Arjun Tendulkar puts his name in auction pool for T20 Mumbai League
Legendary Sachin Tendulkar's son Arjun is all set to make his transition from junior to senior cricket after putting his name in the auction pool for the T20 Mumbai League. A left-arm medium fast bowler, Tendulkar junior has represented the country in two U-19 'Tests' against Sri Lanka last year, where he got three wickets. Arjun's presence in the auction pool will surely keep fans interested as the franchise that picks him is certain to grab eyeballs with a novelty factor that is associated with a great surname. The 19-year-old had recently played in the DY Patil T20 tournament and has also made it to the U-23 Mumbai team. He has remodelled his action working with bio-mechanics expert Atul Gaekwad. He has also worked with his father's one-time India teammate and former Vidarbha bowling coach Subroto Banerjee.
Shah falls 2 short of maiden ton as Afghanistan take upperhand against Ireland
Rahmat Shah fell just two short of his maiden century as Afghanistan produced a commanding batting display to take the upperhand over Ireland on the second day of the one-off Test here Saturday. Coming on to bat at no.3, Shah scored a patient 98 off 214 balls while Asghar Afghan (67) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (61) hit their maiden half-centuries to propel the 'home team' to 314 all out in 106.3 overs in reply to Ireland's paltry first innings score of 172. At stumps on the second day, Ireland were 21 for one in 12 overs. The Irish still trail Afghanistan by 120 runs. Resuming at an overnight score of 90 for two, Shah and Shahidi shared 130 runs for the third wicket to set the platform for a 300-plus total. Shah struck 15 boundaries during his knock while Shahidi hit six boundaries. Skipper Afghan's 67 came off 92 balls with the help of six boundaries and four hits over the fence. Medium-pacer Stuart Thompson (3/28) was the pick of the bowlers for Ireland, while George Dockrell (2/63), .
Canadian teen Andreescu to face Kerber in Indian Wells WTA final
Canadian sensation Bianca Andreescu toppled sixth-ranked Elina Svitolina 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 on Friday and will face Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber for the WTA title in Indian Wells. Germany's Kerber, ranked eighth in the world, ended Belinda Bencic's 12-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-2 victory to reach the final in the California desert for the first time in her third semi-final appearance. Kerber won the last four games of the opening set and the last three games of the second to subdue Bencic, who was coming off her first WTA title in four years in Dubai. The 22-year-old Swiss, whose career was disrupted by a string of back and wrist injuries, had beaten six top-10 players in her winning streak, including world number one and defending Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka in the fourth round here. But she couldn't find a way past Kerber, who broke Bencic from 30-0 down in the final game of the opening set. Kerber dropped her serve in the opening game of the second set, but broke ...
It will take time to overcome Christchurch horror, says Bangladesh's Tamim
Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal said he believes it will not be easy for the national cricket team to overcome the shock of narrowly escaping Friday's shooting in a New Zealand mosque. At least 49 people died in attacks on two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers, in what appeared to be the worst act of terror against Muslims in a Western country. "It will certainly take some time for us to get out of it (the state of shock) after the experience we had here," Tamim told reporters at Christchurch airport moments before the team left for Bangladesh on Saturday. At least 17 members of the Bangladesh cricket team, including Tamim, drove up to the Masjid al Noor in a bus to join Friday prayers when the mosque came under attack by a gunman. Team manager Khaled Mashud said the players and staff on the bus watched as blood-soaked victims staggered from the building. They stayed in the bus for eight to 10 minutes before leaving it sensing danger, according to ...
ONGC Para Games 2018-19: Tournament ends on an inspiring note
The second edition of ONGC Para Games 2018-19 concluded on Friday, 15 March 2019 at Thyagraj Stadium in New Delhi.The ONGC Para games were organised under the international format issued by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and this year's edition saw active participation by some Kargil War Heroes as well.Around 150 PWD (Person with Disabilities) employees of ONGC took part in different events like Athletics, Badminton and Table Tennis. Every sport was evenly contested and all the events went down to the wire. Over 50 Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were handed out to the winners .Subhash Kumar, the ONGC Director (Finance) and Alka Mittal, ONGC Director (HR) were present during the events to cheer the participants and distribute the medals on the final day."In the next ONGC Para Games, all efforts will be made to augment the participation to 80 per cent of the PWD employees of ONGC, from the current level of around 50 per cent," Alka Mittal HR Director of ONGC said.Over 150 PWD ..
Dipa aggravates knee injury during vault final, to skip Doha World Cup
Ace Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar's hope of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics suffered a jolt after she aggravated her knee injury during the vault final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup here Saturday, forcing her to withdrew from next week's Doha World Cup. The 25-year-old from Tripura had performed a higher-difficulty Handfront 540 vault , scoring 14.466 and 14.133 points in the two qualifying round for an average of 14.299 to qualify for the vault final at the third position. But she was left crestfallen after aggravating a knee injury while landing during the first vault final. "She had some problems in her knee before today's final. She was feeling some pain yesterday but felt better after working with physio. She attempted the vault finals today but fell on her first vault, aggravating the injury due to undesired landing," Gymnastic Federation of India (GFI) vice president Riyaz Bhati told PTI. "She did not attempt the second vault due to the injury and finished her ...
Sunrisers unveil Coolwinks as principal IPL sponsor
Last year's Indian Premier League (IPL) runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad have unveiled a stellar line-up of sponsors for the forthcoming season of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
Can't rate us as favourites, both are equal: Bengaluru head coach
They have defeated FC Goa twice in the league stages but last year's runner-up, Bengaluru FC head coach Carles Cuadrat feels Sunday's Indian Super League final against FC Goa would be an even contest. Cuadrat doesn't consider his side as favourites to lift the fifth edition of the ISL despite holding an edge over their opponents in the league stages. "I don't see our team as favourites (in the final). There are a lot of factors involved in finals, and both these teams (Bengaluru and FC Goa) have arrived with very similar numbers," Cuadrat told reporters on the eve of the ISL final between the two sides here. "Both teams had the same number of wins, draws and losses. They have scored more goals, but we missed Miku with whom we may have had more goals. "I think both the teams are favourites for this title and that is because both teams have quality players and play good football," the Bengaluru coach insisted. According to Cuadrat, the battle on Sunday at the Mumbai Football Arena will .
Indian women aim to maintain winning momentum
After pumping in half-a-dozen goals past Maldives in their first match, the Indian women's team takes on Sri Lanka in the SAFF Women's Championships here Sunday, aiming to finish top of Group B. The Indian women go into the encounter on the back of a three-day break, and head coach Maymol Rocky feels her wards have "fully recovered" and "eager to head into battle". "The players are ready for the next match. There were slight injury concerns for a couple of players after the previous game but they have recovered fully," she informed. The coach maintained the focus has been on keeping the morale levels high, and working on a few tactics on the field. "We have prepared well in these three days. We did recovery post-match, gave the players some time to rest, and there was a team-building session as well," she stated. "In the last two days, we have worked on our attacking play. The sessions have been intense, with each player coming up with an excellent output." While playing away from ...
Perceptions have played a role in my exclusion from one day set-up: Ishant Sharma
Fighting perceptions in Indian cricket is quite a task and India's most experienced paceman Ishant Sharma has learned it the hard way having played the last of his 80 ODIs more than three years ago. The 30-year-old, who has played 90 Test matches, has been dubbed a long-form specialist, something that doesn't amuse him. "Yes I think perception has played a big part in me not being in limited overs set-up. I still don't know where these perceptions come from," Ishant said while answering a question from PTI during a media round table organised by the Delhi Capitals. Cheteshwar Pujara, with a 50-plus List A average, has also dealt with the tag of a Test specialist and Ishant can relate his situation to that of the Saurashtra batsman. "It is something that players have been dealing with to be honest but I don't know frankly that from where these perceptions emerge. They give us tags like "he is a Test bowler", "he is a T20 bowler", white ball bowler, red ball bowler and so on," the ...
Full IPL schedule likely on Monday: BCCI official
With the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to get underway in Chennai from March 23, the BCCI has released the schedule for only the first 17 games till April 5. The complete schedule is expected to be out on the sidelines of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) meeting in Mumbai on Monday.
Special Olympics: A special place for those conquering disability
Rajesh Yellappa Adekar is overjoyed to be at the Special Olympics, a place where athletes like him are not treated as a rejected lot but everything is screaming aloud - 'Autism Rocks'. At the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), 24-year-old Rajesh is one of the 289 Indian athletes who are getting the mandatory check up ahead of their competitions at the Special Olympics. There music playing in the background and kiosks peppered all around are saying just one thing - 'Autism Rocks'. "I am so happy to be here. I made friends with people from Australia," he says ecstatically. Son of daily wage labour from Goa, Rajesh will be participating in 200m and 400m athletics event. His mind did not develop much but the fire to excel is there. "I used to run really fast as a child. I love running. I want to win gold here. Coach sir is very good, he takes care of me," Rajesh says quickly, probably trying to express every thought in his mind. His coach Siddhant Naik just smiles seeing the ..
Guingamp's run to final belies poor Conforama form
Guingamp's incredible run to their maiden Coupe de la Ligue BKT final has belied their poor Ligue 1 Conforama form and provided some magical Phil Collins-esque moments for French football fans. While the threat of relegation continues to loom for the Breton side, the Coupe de la Ligue BKT has offered a refreshing alternative to the club that lifted the Coupe de France in 2009 and 2014. This latter success was achieved under current coach Jocelyn Gourvennec, a Brest-born tactician who was reappointed for a second stint at the helm in November 2018, replacing Antoine Kombouar. Under Kombouar, Guingamp had already cleared the first Coupe de la Ligue BKT hurdle by seeing off Angers on penalties and since then, their charge has thrilled the Stade du Roudourou faithful. Famously, Guingamp's population of around 7,000 could be accommodated more than twice over in the charming and atmosphere-filled Roudourou. Guingamp take pride in being a provincial club, as evidenced by the unveiling of ...
48-team World Cup 2022 feasible: FIFA president
FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants to enlarge the tournament from 32 to 48 teams in the next World Cup if certain conditions are met.Qatar will be hosting the next FIFA World Cup in 2022 and expansion would mean adding at least one more country in the Gulf to host football matches."We will move to the next stage, we will explore the possibility of who could potentially be hosting some of the Games in the Gulf regions," CNN quoted Infantino, as saying.So, for the expansion of teams, some neighbouring countries would require to share the hosting duties. The possible World Cup venues for the expansion of teams for the World Cup 2022 will be Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.The decision will be made in June and then the final call will be taken by the Council and the Congress, "And if we come to some conclusions in June we will make a proposal to the Council and to the Congress, who is our ultimate decision making body, who will provide the final decision on this topic," he .
These are rumours and I will let it go: Prithvi on 'indiscipline' speculations
Young batsman Prithvi Shaw dismissed speculations that indiscipline forced his premature return from the Australia tour and insisted that it was only because of slow recovery from an ankle injury. Prithvi had sustained the injury while fielding in a practice game and initially it was said that he would be available from the third Test onwards. However the 19-year-old was sent back and it was widely believed that it was because the youngster was losing focus. "These are rumours, so I will better let it go," Prithvi said during an open media session of Delhi Capitals on Saturday. When he was probed about him not working hard enough during his rehabilitation, Prithvi's answer was curt. "No one told me anything about not working hard. I wanted to play but got injured. I thought I could play the third Test (in Melbourne) but then progress of recovery was slow," said the Mumbai opener, who hit a hundred on his Test debut. "If you have had a look at my ankle, you would have known that it was
The bond that helps conquer disability
Rajesh Yellappa Adekar is overjoyed to be at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) here, surrounded by so many athletes like him with upbeat music playing in the background and kiosks, saying "Austism Rocks" peppered all around. "I am so happy to be here. I made friends with people from Australia," he says ecstatically. Disability may have left Rajesh with the mind of a child but it couldn't stop the 24-year-old from participating in the Special Olympics here. Rajesh is one of the 289 Indian athletes who are getting the mandatory check up at ADNEC, the venue where several indoor sports of the Special Olympics will be taking place. Son of daily wage labour from Goa, Rajesh will be participating in 200m and 400m athletics event. "I used to run really fast as a child. I love running. I want to win gold here. Coach sir is very good, he takes care of me," Rajesh says quickly, probably trying to express every thought in his mind. His coach Siddhant Naik just smiles seeing the ...
Dhoni saved me from getting dropped: Ishant Sharma
From being a part of the pack under M.S. Dhoni, Ishant Sharma is now the leader of the bowling attack in India's Test team under Virat Kohli. While he was always known as someone who had the talent, converting that into performance has seen him not just rise in stature, but also helped India win more games on foreign soil.
Hamilton snatches pole position for Australian Grand Prix
Mercedes' world champion Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off last year to reassert his authority and snatch a record-extending eighth pole position at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday. The Briton clocked a fastest lap of one minute 20.486 to narrowly pip team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel third, but well off the pace on 1:21.190. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fourth and Ferrari newcomer Charles Leclerc fifth. The 34-year-old is the pole master in Melbourne, claiming it eight times and every year since 2014, although he has only twice, in 2008 and 2015, won a race at Albert Park. He knocked out his rivals with a blistering lap at the death to claim an 84th career grid-leading time in his 230th race. "I'm shaking, it was so close out there," said Hamilton. "Coming from testing we had no idea where we would be, but the guys in the factory have been working so hard towards this weekend. "Valtteri did an exceptional job, it was so ...
My life isn't interesting for a biopic: Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar, one of India's iconic cricketers, says his life is not interesting enough for a biopic.
ISL final: Past record gives Bengaluru edge against in-from Goa
Pipped at the post by a common nemesis in the past, Bengaluru FC and FC Goa will take another shot at glory when they square off in the final of Indian Super League here Sunday. Both the teams made it to the summit clash, to be played at the Mumbai Football Arean, in rather contrasting manner. Bengaluru had sealed their place in the final for the second successive year with a 3-0 win against NorthEast United FC in the second leg of the play-off, recovering from a 2-1 defeat in the first leg. Goa, despite a 1-0 loss to Mumbai City FC in the second leg semi-final, made it to the final on better aggregate, having won the first leg 5-1. Goa were the runners up in 2015, while Bengaluru ended up second best last season. Coincidentally, both the teams had lost to Chennaiyin FC in their respective summit clashes. Going by history, Bengaluru have edge against Goa. In four meetings between the two teams, Bengaluru have won thrice while Goa's only win came in a tight clash (4-3) last season, in .