Page 481 - Sports
Gavaskar slams MCC proposal of one ball in Tests, says unfortunate it's being taken seriously
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar Thursday slammed the MCC's recommendation that single-make balls be used in Test cricket, saying that it would be "unfortunate" if the suggestion, which will take away the challenge of playing in overseas conditions, is considered seriously. The World Cricket Committee of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), called the custodian of the game's laws, has proposed the use of a standard ball in the inaugural World Test Championship, which takes place after the World Cup in May-July. "Now we are hearing that they (MCC) are taking about standardising the ball, you might as well standardize the pitches, you might as well standardise the bat, you might as well standardise everything...What's the big deal in playing cricket... (there is this) whole idea of going overseas and winning... because you are playing in different conditions," said Gavaskar at the launch of 'So Sorry Gully Cricket' app. "That (MCC) World Committee is like Cricket Club of India or the ..
Ridhima shoots under par, keeps 4-shot lead
Ridhima Dilawari shot a second successive under-par round to ensure a four-shot lead in the sixth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Thursday. Ridhima, who already has one win against her name this season, carded one-under 71 to get to seven-under 137, the lowest two-round aggregate this season. She now leads by four shots at the end of Round 2 over amateur Anika Varma, who shot a second straight 71 to reach three-under 141 and now sits two shots clear of the third placed Gaurika Bishnoi (73) at the Jaypee Greens. Siddhi Kapoor (72), Anisha Padukone (76) and Amandeep Drall (75) occupy the next three places, while Ananya Datar (75) and amateur Asmitha Sathish (82) are lying tied-seventh. Asmitha, who had the first day's second best score of 68, slipped to 82 on the second day as she lapsed into a series of errors including a triple bogey and a double bogey. Amateur Nayanika Sanga (76) and Afshan Fatima (78) complete the Top-10. Experienced Gursimar Badwal (81-73) and Neha ...
Never underestimate importance of Dhoni: Clarke
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke on Thursday warned critics to "never underestimate" the importance of veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Indian limited overs teams. Clarke tweeted after the Australian team beat fancied India in the fifth and final ODI at the Feroz Shah Kotla for a stunning come-from-behind 3-2 series win here Wednesday. "Never underestimate the importance of MSD - experience in the middle order is so important," Clarke, a World Cup-winning captain, wrote on his twitter handle about the seasoned player who has also led his country to two World Cup triumphs. India surrendered a 2-0 lead in the just-concluded five-match series even as the Australians made a remarkable comeback by winning three consecutive matches. Incidentally, Dhoni did not feature in the last two games with young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant struggling to fill in the former India captain's shoes. Under Dhoni's captaincy, India won the inaugural World T20 in 2007 and the ICC World Cup in 2011, ...
Rift in East Bengal widens over Super Cup pullout
The rift within the East Bengal ranks is out in the open. While Quess East Bengal has decided to withdraw its team from the Super Cup -- set to be played in Bhubaneswar from March 15 -- club secretary Kalyan Majumdar has said no final decision has been taken in this regard.
SC appoints PS Narasimha as mediator to resolve disputes of cricket administration in BCCI
The Supreme Court Thursday appointed senior advocate P S Narasimha, who is assisting the apex court as an amicus curiae in the BCCI matter, as mediator for resolving various disputes related to cricket administration in the country. A bench of Justices S A Bobde and A M Spare was informed by Narasimha that former apex court judge Justice (retd) D K Jain has assumed charge as the ombudsman of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "The game must go on," the bench said, asking Narasimha to act as mediator in the cricket administration disputes. It also asked Narasimha to look into the dispute relating to release of funds by the court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) to various cricket associations. Besides, it restrained all other courts in India from entertaining or proceeding with any matter pertaining to BCCI and state cricket associations. The apex court had on February 21 appointed its former judge Justice Jain, as the first court-appointed ombudsman for ...
Kohli, Dhoni among 9 athletes featured in the World Fame 100 list
This year's ESPN World Fame 100 list, an annual list of the most famous athletes on the planet. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list, followed by former Basketball player Lebron James and FC Barcelona captain Lionel Messi.As far as Indian athletes, Indian cricket team Captain Virat Kohli, former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni were among eight Indian cricketers who found a place in the list. Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, stands on the seventh position and is the only Indian athlete in the top 10 club, whereas Dhoni is placed on the 13th position.Interestingly, all Indian men mentioned in this list were from the cricketing fraternity, including Yuvraj Singh (18), Suresh Raina (22), R Ashwin (42), Rohit Sharma (46), Harbhajan Singh (74) and Shikhar Dhawan (94).This list was prepared by looking at three aspects, namely- Search Score, Endorsements and Social Following. No athlete was able to sway the top three contenders, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lebron James and Lionel Mess, as
Sony Networks to broadcast 2020 Olympics in Indian subcontinent
The Sony Pictures Networks India has been awarded the broadcast rights in the Indian subcontinent for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Thursday. The Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), an established pay-television network in India, has also acquired media rights for the 2020 Lausanne Winter Youth Olympic Games. It will provide comprehensive coverage across its broadcast and digital platforms in the Indian subcontinent. In addition to the coverage on Sony's digital platform, SonyLIV, the Olympic Channel and other IOC digital platforms will feature highlights and replays of key events to supplement SPN's coverage of the Olympics. The IOC and SPN will collaborate on creating a permanent Olympic Channel home within the SonyLIV service. Programming will feature year-round coverage of Olympic athletes and sports, highlighting locally relevant original content produced by SPN and Olympic Channel.
Dhoni's experience important for India, says Clarke
Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has warned critics not to underestimate the importance of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the Indian team following their 2-3 One-Day International (ODI) series loss to the men from Down Under.
Joshna goes down fighting in Black Ball Open
Joshna Chinappa's memorable run in the Women's Black Ball Squash Open came to an end after she went down fighting against world number five Joelle King in the quarterfinals of the PSA gold event here. Seeded three, King won the 64-minute engrossing match 7-11, 12-10, 2-11, 11-5, 11-8 to become the only non-Egyptian to enter the last four on Wednesday. It was a tight match with Joshna leading 2-1 at one stage. But as the experienced New Zealander was to admit, she had to dig deep into her reserves to ensure that the Indian was not going to have it easy. As the contest wore on, Joshna's lost the earlier grip and that turned the match firmly in King's favour. Earlier in the tournament, the Indian beat the legendary Nicol David and sixth seed Sarah-Jane Perry.
Moved on from Asian Cup disappointment, says India goalkeeper Gurpreet
The Asian Cup ouster, after coming so close to qualifying for knockouts, was a bitter pill to swallow, but India's top goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has moved on and is hoping to win the Indian Super League with Bengaluru FC. The 27-year-old remains the first ever Indian to play a competitive match for the first team of a top-division European club. "The Asian Cup was an incredible experience, winning our first game in 55 years and making it a close fight in the next two. It was disappointing to bow out but we gave our best. I have moved on from that and looking forward for the next challenge," Gurpreet told PTI, ahead of the ISL final against FC Goa. In January, India crashed out of the AFC Asian Cup with a heartbreaking 0-1 defeat against Bahrain, who scored in the injury time, after starting the tournament with a 4-1 drubbing of Thailand in Group A. The national team's heartbreak came months after his club lost to Chennaiyin FC in the final of last edition's ISL. "Last year's ...
Long-standing strife for GOAT status continues
Since the Fifa World Cup 2018, a debate, which every soccer fan is aware of, has been going on as to who is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time)--Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?A commendable performance shown by Lionel Messi has proven to exacerbate the nemesis between the fans of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.Messi's two goals and two assists helped Barcelona to secure a dominating 5-1 win over Lyon on Wednesday (local time).Earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a magical hat-trick the day before against Atletico, gave his fans a chance to overpower him over the Barcelona player.With this hat-trick, the Portuguese player helped Juventus dismantle the other side to have a 3-0 win and reached into the quarter finals and as far as the Twitter was concerned, he immediately became the "GOAT" for his fans.Ronaldo's family was also seen cheering for his impeccable performance and his girlfriend, Georgina Rodríguez, cried with tears of joy.But Messi gave his fans a chance to have a ...
'We are going on the same path', says Lasith Malinga
South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the fourth ODI of the five-match series on Wednesday at Port Elizabeth. The Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga expressed his frustration on the defeat"We are going on the same path, the wicket was very suitable for the bat, but the batsmen did not realise the value and the opportunity to play long innings. And with the ball, we could only get four wickets," International Cricket Council quoted Malinga as saying.Sri Lanka could only post 189 runs on the board and at one stage they were staring down the barrel as they were six down for just 71 runs."Being six down inside 18 overs, it is very hard to come back, we always talk about taking responsibility and putting our hands up to bat through the full fifty overs, but the last few years, we have been struggling to do that," Malinga added.Quinton de Kock, South Africa's wicket-keeper batsman continued to take advantage of his good form and he scored a breezy knock of 51 runs to make the ...
Sri Lanka Cricket asks head coach to return home from South Africa
Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe was on Thursday told to return home from South Africa in the middle of the ODI series and fielding coach Steve Rixon will take charge of the team for the subsequent T20 series. "Hathurusinghe has been asked to return from South Africa after the final ODI. Steve Rixon will take charge for the T20 series," Shammi Silva, the Sri Lanka Cricket President said on Thursday. Hathurusinghe will be returning to Sri Lanka after the final ODI game in Cape Town on March 16. South Africa are leading the series 4-0. Rixon, the fielding coach, will take charge of the team for the three T20 games between March 19 and 24, Silva said. Silva said the SLC will ask Hathurusinghe about his plans for the World Cup in England from May-July. Hathurusinghe became Sri Lanka's head coach in December 2017 after leading Bangladesh to success. However under him, Sri Lanka have slipped in the ICC rankings and failed to secure an automatic qualification for 2020 T20 World ...
Subhankar, Lahiri to lead India's challenge in Hero Indian Open golf
Ace golfers Subhankar Sharma and Anirban Lahiri will spearhead India's challenge at the 55th edition of the Hero Indian Open to be held at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram from March 28 to 31. Considered as the sport's national championship, Hero Indian Open will offer a prize opurse of USD 1.75 million. Other Indian golfers to feature in the tournament are SSP Chawrasia, Shiv Kapur, Rahil Gangjee and youngsters like Ajeetesh Sandhu, Viraj Madappa, Khalin Joshi and S Chikkarangappa. But all eyes will be on Asian Tour No.1 Subhankar and 2015 champion Lahiri to put up a good show in front of home fans. The tournament, co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tour, also boasts of strong international field featuring 2018 Scottish Open champion Brandon Stone, last year's runner-up Andrew Johnston and Bernd Wiesberger, who has four European Tour wins to his credit. Last year, Johnston came within a whisker of winning the tournament, rallying from a two-shot deficit in the final ...
Vettel fired up to return Ferrari to the top
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel Thursday vowed to shrug off a "disaster" 2018 and topple arch-rival Lewis Hamilton, with his refreshed team passionate about returning Ferrari to the top. The German won the opening race of the season in Melbourne last year and backed it up with victory at the next in Bahrain. But Hamilton roared back to sweep 11 of the remaining 19 Grand Prix and the 31-year-old is desperate to turn the tables. "There is a lot of passion inside this team willing to get out and to express ourselves through winning I think is the best we can do," he said. "So that's the target. So far the atmosphere is good, the spirit is right within the team and we will try to carry that into the season." Vettel is a winner and having to settle for second in the drivers and constructors championship last year was tough to take. He said it was normal for Ferrari fans to consider finishing runner-up a "disaster". "You know the winner takes it all. Lewis has been in that ...
IPL: Mumbai aim for fourth title (Team Profile)
The only team to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) thrice, defending champions Mumbai Indians will be gunning for their fourth title and make up for a poor run in the last season when the 2019 edition gets rolling later this month.
Experts concerned about No.4 slot, Kohli positive
The riddle over India's no.4 batsman needs an immediate fix.
IPL 2019: Delhi Capitals rope in Ganguly as advisor
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly will join the Delhi Capitals as an advisor for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the franchise announced on Thursday.
Delhi Capitals appoint Sourav Ganguly as advisor
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was Thursday appointed advisor of Delhi Capitals for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). In his new role, Ganguly will work closely with the team's head coach Ricky Ponting. "I am very pleased to come on board with the Delhi Capitals," Ganguly said, on his association. "Having known the Jindals and the JSW Group for years, I am now excited to be a part of their latest sports venture. I am really looking forward to working with the players and the support staff." Delhi Capitals have never won the IPL. "Sourav is one of the most astute minds in world cricket. A lot of what we see in Indian cricket today was born because of Sourav. His aggression, positivity and never say die attitude are traits we want the Delhi Capitals team to imbibe. It is truly an honour that Sourav has chosen Delhi as his IPL team. "I have no doubt that our team will benefit immensely from his experience, guidance and advice. Sourav has been like family to me and
AFC Cup 2019: Chennaiyin FC enter Group stage
Chennaiyin FC have become the first entrant from the Indian Super League (ISL) to reach the group stages of the Asian competition as they defeated Sri Lankan champion Colombo FC 1-0 here.The first leg match in Colombo between these two sides was a goalless affair. In the second leg match, Chennaiyin FC had to find a goal to progress ahead and they did so, courtesy an opportunistic strike from Jeje Lalpekhlua in the 68th minute of the match.The match got off to a sedate start which saw Chennaiyin largely feeling Colombo out who were looking to prioritise their defence.Colombo FC frustrated the 2017-18 ISL champions through their pertinent defence. They almost sprung a surprise when Isaac Addevu ran through Chennaiyin's defence but he was not able to capitalise on the opportunity allowing Chennaiyin to strike first in the match which resulted in their win.Chennaiyin FC will now join Minerva Punjab FC (India), Abahani Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Manang Marshyangdi Club (Nepal) in Group E of ..