Page 709 - Sports

Kuldeep comes into World Cup mix big time: Shastri

Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav's sensational show at his maiden Test on Australian soil makes him India's first-choice spinner when it comes to selecting the playing XI for the upcoming World Cup in England, feels team coach Ravi Shastri. Kuldeep returned with a five-wicket haul in the first innings of the drawn fourth Test in Sydney against Australia and the wrist-spinner received huge accolades from the India coach. "Kuldeep comes into the mix big time now (in the World Cup)," Shastri told 'India Today' TV channel. "He might be in every Indian XI that plays (in the World Cup) because he has the advantage of a wrist spinner. We might need to choose between the other two finger spinners because wrist spinner now is the priority." Young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant also impressed by scoring 350 runs at an average of 58.33 to emerge as the second leading run-scorer for India during the four-match Test series against Australia. India won the contest 2-1 to clinch their maiden Test ...

Uttarakhand on top against Mizoram, inch closer to quarterfinal

Uttarakhand enforced a follow-on against Mizoram after bowling out the visitors for 198 to inch closer to grabbing the solitary quarterfinal berth from Plate Group in Ranji Trophy here Tuesday. Taruwar Kohli remained unbeaten on 96 on day two after Mizoram were bowled out for 198 in their first innings in reply to Uttarakhand's first innings total of 377 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here. Asked to bat again, Mizoram were 32/1 at stumps, still needing 147 runs to avoid an innings defeat. Earlier the visitors were 31 for no loss but they slipped to 67/4 with Sunny Rana (2/46) striking twice. Dhanraj Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 3/49. Taruwar found some support at the other end from Lalhruai Ralte (30) as the duo added 57 runs to repair the damage. But Mayank Mishra dismissed Ralte to break the partnership before they folded in 75.2 overs. Brief Scores: In Dehradun: Uttarakhand 377. Mizoram: 198 in 75.2 overs (Taruwar Kohli 96 not out; Dhanraj Sharma .

PWL a great platform for young wrestlers, says Bajrang

Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medallist Bajrang Punia on Tuesday said the upcoming Pro Wrestling league (PWL) will provide young Indian grapplers a great platform to learn from the international wrestlers. The fourth edition of the PWL will be held from January 14-31. The event offers a purse of Rs 1.9 crores for the winning team and Rs 1.1 crore for the runners-up team. "It's indeed helpful to see and learn from their (international wrestlers) style of training and preparing before a game. Apart from the high competitive level among wrestlers young wrestlers are also exposed to high level of training and competition," Bajrang said in a PWL release. Bajrang, who competes in the 65kg category, also credited the league for helping him understand the game better. "For me, personally, PWL has been an amazing platform to train with some of the best wrestlers in the world. "It really helps to get a better understanding of the game while competing and practising with some of the top ...

All Indian goals against Thailand were brilliant: Shyam Thapa

Former India player Shyam Thapa Tuesday described the second goal scored by Sunil Chhetri during the 4-1 thrashing of Thailand in the Asian Cup as a "masterclass" even as he praised the whole team for the impressive show in that match. Chhetri scored a brace in that match with India pumping in three goals in the second half which left Thailand, who were dominating the first session, shell-shocked. "All the goals were brilliant. The composure showed by Sunil before the penalty was terrific. The second goal was a terrific example of the team game. Udanta's pass was perfectly finished by Chhetri. Truly masterclass," Thapa said. Anirudh Thapa and second half substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua scored the other goals for India. It was India's first win in the Asian Cup after 1964. It was also India's biggest victory in the Asian Cup, surpassing the 3-1 win against Hong Kong in 1964. Talking about Anirudh, he said, "The bachcha (Anirudh) showed the right attitude and chipped it in. The future is ...

Mumbai on brink of maiden win of season against Chhattisgarh

Hosts Mumbai, who are already out of contention for a quarter-final berth, are on the cusp of registering their first win of the season against Chhattisgarh in their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game here. At the end of day two of the four-day game at the Wankhede Stadium, the 41-time champions needed 14 runs more to notch a consolation victory. Mumbai ended the second day at 77 for 0 in their second innings, chasing a target of 91, with their openers Jay Bista (36 not out) and Vikrant Auti (32 not out) at the crease. Mumbai, who had bundled out the opposition for 129 in the first innings on Monday, replied with 188 after starting day two on 118 for three. The hosts then shot out the visitors for 149 in the second innings to place themselves on the cusp of their maiden outright win of the season. First innings wreckers-in-chief, pacers Shardul Thakur (4-47) and Tushar Deshpande (4-53) were again the main destroyers in the visitors second innings. Only Vishal Singh (47) ...

Khelo India: Odisha, UP register wins in U-17 men's hockey

Odisha and Uttar Pradesh Tuesday posted victories in their respective second Pool A matches of the Under-17 men's hockey competition in the Khelo India Youth Games 2019 here. Haryana, Odisha and Punjab also emerged triumphant in the Under-21 men's category. Men's hockey matches of the Games began at the Mumbai Hockey Association Stadium here from Monday. In the Under-17 men's category, Odisha defeated hosts Maharashtra 7-0 and registered their second win in as many matches. The match saw Odisha's Sudeep Chirmako score four goals (5th, 38th, 50th and 53rd minute), while Sunil Jojo (14'), captain Sunit Lakra (19') and Prasant Lakra (52') also chipped in with a goal each, a media release from Hockey India stated. Uttar Pradesh registered their first win of the competition as they defeated Delhi 6-0 to overcome the opening day 1-3 defeat to Odisha. Goals for Uttar Pradesh were scored by Ajay Yadav (50', 56'), Pankaj Yadav (9'), Suraj Singh (29'), skipper Saurabh Anand (36')

Central Secretariat beats Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-0

Central Secretariat continued its good run, beating Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-0 for a second straight win in Pool 'C' in the 9th Hockey India Senior National Hockey Championship 2019 (Men) B Division here Tuesday. The second day of the tournament also Hockey Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, Hockey Gujarat and Hockey Jharkhand emerging victorious in their respective matches. Central Secretariat, which had overwhelmed Gujarat 20-0 on Monday, had to fight hard to get the better of Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-0. Dharambir Yadav (7th minute) and Pardeep Mor (60th) scored the goals. In another Pool C match, Hockey Gujarat edged out Hockey Mizoram 3-2. The evenly fought match saw Hockey Mizoram take the lead in the first minute with a goal by Lalhlimpuia. In the 22nd minute Chintan Patel equalised for Hockey Gujarat while Vanroluaha's penalty stroke helped Hockey Mizoram take 2-1 lead in the 33rd minute. However, goals in the 51st and 57th minutes through Ajay Thakor and .

Indian team donates Rs 50,000 to Indian Blind Football Federation

The small amounts collected from the Indian footballers as fines for minor breach of discipline are being put to use for a noble cause as the team decided to donate Rs 50,000 to the Indian Blind Football Federation. The fines were collected from the national team members over the past few years for breach of discipline like arriving late for training sessions, carrying mobile phones for meals, wearing the wrong attire. This money donated by the 'Blue Tigers' will be used by the IBFF to buy footballs. Head Coach Stephen Constantine said "it's important to give it back to the community". "The footballs which the blind footballers use cost USD 50 each. So we are helping them busy some balls," he said ahead of India's Asian Cup group match against hosts United Arab Emirates on Thursday. "We collectively agreed among everybody within the national team -- the players, and the staff -- that any money collected from fines or any misdemeanours will be donated for a good cause. It's just a very

Late strikes help TN seize advantage against Delhi

: Two late strikes helped Tamil Nadu seize the advantage against Delhi at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' match at the M A Chidambaram stadium here Tuesday. Delhi ended the day at 35 for 2 in reply to Tamil Nadu's massive first innings score of 422 built on Abhinav Mukund's superb 134 (319 balls, 13X4) and half-centuries by captain Baba Indrajith (86) and debutant Pradosh Ranjan Paul (78, 129 balls, 12X4, 1X6) and M Shahrukh Khan 55 (139 balls, 4X4, 1X6). For Delhi, Vikas Mishra was the best bowler, picking up 5 for 142 from 45.4 overs while Shivam Sharma took 4 for 105 from 44 overs. R Sai Kishore struck the first blow for the host, dismissing opener Shivam Sharma (7) before Vijay Shankar effected a superb run-out to send back the other opener Kunal Chandela for 27 in the 13th over. Earlier in the morning, Tamil Nadu resuming at 215 for 3 made slow progress with both Mukund and Vijay Shankar (17, 68 balls, 1X4) content to play the waiting ..

48 teams to participate in Asia-Pacific soccer Cup

As many as 48 teams will take part in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Soccer Cup 2019 to be hosted by Barca Academy India at Gurugram from January 24- 27.

PBL-4: Hyderabad take on Delhi; Awadhe face North East in last doubleheader (Preview)

The Premier Badminton League (PBL) has been witnessing some nerve-wracking close matches and with the season 4 reaching the penultimate stages, defending champions Hyderabad Hunters will take on bottom-placed Delhi Dashers in the citys Kanteerava stadium on Wednesday.

Anmolpreet's unbeaten ton puts Punjab on top

Anmolpreet Singh cracked an unbeaten century as Punjab grabbed a firm grip over Bengal, taking a 170-run first innings lead, in their must-win Ranji Trophy Elite Group B clash here Tuesday. Anmolpreet was unbeaten on 124 from 288 balls (13x4, 1x6) in his first century of the season as he guided Punjab to 357/7 on the second day, in reply to Bengal's first innings total of 187. Talented 19-year-old Shubman Gill (91) seized the initiative earlier in the day, hitting at brisk pace all around the ground with Anmolpreet playing second fiddle. But the youngster missed his century by nine runs when he tried to step down to Bengal seamer Mukesh Kumar only to mishit to midoff in the first session. Gill and Anmolpreet put together 89 runs in quick time to set the tone for Punjab before the latter anchored Punjab's innings and stitched two more fifty-plus stands with Mandeep Singh (44) and Gitansh Khera (42). The winners of the match are set to make the quarterfinals. The Jadavpur University ...

Squash meet: Tandon shocks Englishman Masters to enter round 2

Former junior national champion Ramit Tandon pulled off a surprise by ousting 9/16 seed Joshua Masters of England in three straight games to enter the second round of the USD 70,000 CCI International JSW Indian Squash Circuit 2019 here Tuesday. The 26-year-old finance professional-turned squash pro from Kolkata, currently ranked 68th on the PSA and a member of the countrys Commonwealth Games squad last year in Gold Coast, Australia, stunned the 52nd-ranked Masters 11-9 11-6 11-8 in 36 minutes at the Cricket Club of India. However, the Indian challenge got diluted when former national champion Harinder Pal Sandhu pulled out of the PSA event citing an injury. He was drawn to take on Ben Coleman of England, who got a walkover into round two. In some other first round match-ups, Egypts Youssef Ibrahim got past Welshman Peter Creed 11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 11-6 in 47 minutes, his compatriot Mohamed Reda ousted Dimitri Steinmann of Switzerland 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 in 55 minutes ..

I-League: East Bengal edge past Indian Arrows

East Bengal won a hard-fought I-League game defeating Indian Arrows 2-1 at the Kalinga Stadium here on Tuesday.

Ranji: Baroda prevail over Karnataka to keep quarterfinal hopes alive

Deepak Hooda and Bhargav Bhatt cliamed five wickets each to help Baroda register a nail-biting win against Karnataka in a Group A Ranji Trophy match and keep their quarterfinals hopes alive here on Tuesday. On a day when as many as 16 wickets fell, Baroda almost lost the match, but ultimately won by two wickets, chasing down a 110-run target in their second innings. After this win, Baroda are now placed third with 26 points from eight matches. They had won three matches, lost one and drew the remaining matches. On the other hand, Karnataka retained their second place with 27 points from eight matches. They have won three matches and lost two. Yet, both Baroda and Karnataka's fortunes of qualifying for the quarterfinal depend on other match results. Batting first, Baroda dismissed Karnataka for 112 before the hosts scored 223 runs, riding on Sonalki's 69 and a 60-ball 51 by Hooda, to take a crucial lead. In the second innings, Karnataka were bowled out for 220, leaving Baroda to get ...

Rajasthan rout Tripura to enter Ranji quarters; Chahar shines

Rajasthan trounced Tripura by an innings and 77 runs to book a berth in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals from Elite Group C here Tuesday. Led by pace spearhead Deepak Chahar, the Rajasthan bowlers bundled out Tripura for 106 in the second innings to guide their team to a massive victory and enable it to storm into the last eight of the national championship. With this empathic win, Rajasthan became the first team from the group to qualify for the knockout rounds by topping the pool with 51 points, having won 7 of their 9 matches. After bowling out Tripura for a paltry 35 in their first innings, Rajasthan took a dominant 183-run lead by scoring 218 in their first essay. Tripura resumed the second day on 4 for no loss at the MBB stadium in Agartala, but Rajasthan pacer Chahar wreaked havoc as he returned with figures of 5-17 in just eight overs. Chahar was well supported by pacers Aniket Choudhary (2-18) and T M Haq (2-21). Tripura skipper S K Patel was declared "absent ...

IPL 2019 to be held in India from March 23

The 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in India from March 23.The decision, which was made by the IPL governing council and the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), came amid speculations that the tournament might get shifted abroad due to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls."Based on the preliminary discussions with the appropriate central and state agencies/authorities, it was decided that the 12th edition of the world's most popular and competitive T20 tournament will be scheduled to be played in India," the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement.The detailed schedule of the IPL will be released after consultation with the "appropriate authorities". The CoA will then have detailed discussions with all stakeholders before releasing the schedule, the statement read.

Hopefully, I have got few more in me: Taylor after hitting 20th ODI ton

New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor, who smashed the 20th ODI ton of his career and became the first cricketer from his country to achieve the mark in this format, hoped that he would continue to give many such performances for his team.The 34-year-old expressed joy on getting to the 20th ODI hundred, adding that things worked out pretty well for him on the field."It was nice to get the 20th hundred. I would have taken that at the start of my career. I'm getting old, so hopefully, I've got a few more in me," ICC quoted Taylor, as saying."I felt okay out there, I've been hitting the ball alright, and it felt nice to get three figures," he said. "More often than not in New Zealand conditions you've just got to give yourself a bit of time and you can catch up as we did today. It doesn't always work but it's nice when it does," he added.Left-hand batsman Henry Nicholls played a stormy knock of 124 runs in their last ODI against Sri Lanka and stitched a 154-run partnership with Taylor, who ..

Fund crunch hits Pakistan hockey yet again, team mulls withdrawing from Olympic qualifier

Financial woes continued to trouble Pakistan hockey with the sport's national body now considering withdrawing from the FIH Pro Hockey League, a qualifying event for the 2020 Olympics. The Pakistan team, which almost missed the 2018 hockey World Cup in India last December due to lack of funds, is scheduled to play its first phase matches of Pro Hockey League next month, starting with the game against Argentina in Buenos Aires on February 2. The team will have to travel to Australia and New Zealand to play the matches there in the later part of next month. For the second leg matches, the Pakistan team will have to travel to Europe. An official source told PTI that PHF was seriously considering withdrawing from the Pro-League because of the fund crunch and this could lead to a two-year suspension of Pakistan from international competitions. "The PHF has set up a training camp in Lahore for the matches against Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. 45 players have been invited but until ..

Injured Neesham ruled out of Kiwis T20 squad

New Zealand batting all-rounder James Neesham has been ruled out of the upcoming one-off T20I against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury.The 28-year-old sustained the injury during the final ODI of their recently-concluded three-match series against Sri Lanka, which New Zealand won 3-0.Giving out more details, New Zealand's physio Vijay Vallabh said the left-hand batsman felt some tightness in the right hamstring during the final ODI and left the field for treatment. The injury will be assessed over a couple of days, he continued."He's iced and compressed the injury and will be reassessed in a couple of days," ESPNcricinfo quoted Vallabh, as saying.The injured all-rounder will be replaced by Doug Bracewell in New Zealand's 13-member T20I squad for their match with Sri Lanka.Neesham had made a smashing international return after a gap of more than a year when he hit five sixes in an over against Sri Lanka in the first ODI of their recently-concluded three-match series. Overall, he has