Page 774 - Sports
Indian arrows stun Gokulam Kerala FC in I-League
Captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam's second half penalty strike helped Indian Arrows stun eighth placed Gokulam Kerala FC 1-0 and register only their second win in the ongoing Hero I-League here on Friday. With this win, Indian Arrows have jumped up a place to be in the ninth position while Gokulam Kerala FC are placed eighth in the points table. Gokulam Kerala FC, as expected, started on an attacking note but the Indian Arrows stood strong to hold their fort. On the contrary, the hosts made their way past into the Kerala box quite a few times, but they were undone by lack of creativity inside the box. Rahul KP, Boris Singh and Rahim Ali all played interesting football but could not maintain the tempo of their runs once inside the Kerala box, losing the ball more often. Both the teams fought hard but failed to break the deadlock in the first 45 minutes. The second half began with Gokulam Kerala FC showing intent to take the much-needed lead but Indian arrows defence stood tall to deny the ...
Ind vs Aus: Perth pitch receives 'average' rating
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has given the 'average' rating to the pitch of the newly-built Perth Stadium where India and Australia played their second Test of the ongoing four-match series.The rating, which was given by match referee Ranjan Madugalle, is the lowest possible pass mark provided by the ICC while evaluating the pitch and outfield of a Test ground, Cricket.com.au reported.The Perth wicket was highly criticised during the India-Australia clash as there was an uneven bounce on the track throughout the five days of the match. Many batsmen had suffered some nasty blows as well, due to its uneven bounce.The Adelaide pitch, where the two teams played their opening Test, was rated as 'very good' by the ICC. As far as the venue for the third Test (Melbourne Cricket Ground) is concerned, the pitch curators are putting their effort to make it lively as the heavy rain showers had hit the area making it a difficult task to maintain the quality of the wicket.In order to ...
Jason youngest player to score BBL half-ton
Australian cricketer Jason Sangha has become the youngest batsman ever to score a half-century in the Big Bash League (BBL).The 19-year-old, who plays for Sydney Thunders, played a knock of 63 runs off 36 balls in their match against Melbourne Stars to help his side put a total of 181 runs on the board. His innings included four sixes and four boundaries.Sangha walked onto the crease when Thunders were in trouble as they had lost three wickets at the end of eight overs with just 59 runs on the scoreboard. His crucial 40-run partnership with teammate Joe Root gave an edge to Thunders in the match.The game was, however, spoiled by the rain. Applying the Duckworth Lewis method, Thunders registered a 15-run victory over Melbourne Stars.The ongoing eighth edition of the Big Bash League, which started on December 19, will go on till February 17.
Gunneswaran, Ramanathan get wild cards for Tata Open Maharashtra
India's number one singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran was on Friday handed a wild card entry into the main draw of the Tata Open Maharashtra ATP tournament, to be held here from December 31 to January 5. Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan will be the two wild card entrants while S K Mukund and Saket Myneni will have to go through the qualifiers. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate the upcoming Tata Open Maharashtra to be played at the Mhalunge Balewadi Stadium. "Tata Open Maharashtra is one of Asia's best ATP World Tour event and we want to continue to grow to become the best by having the best players, providing best infrastructure and give a platform to upcoming talents from the country like Prajnesh who has rightfully earned the wild card entry for the event," said tournament director Prashant Sutar. The organisers have also announced that the tournament will be broadcast on Star Sports. "The event has brought great value to all stakeholders. According to
Rangaswamy feels women's cricket being used to target me: Edulji says in mail to Rai
India's first women's cricket captain and member of the panel that picked the new coach, Shantha Rangaswamy feels the issue of women's cricket has been used to attack her former teammate Diana Edulji, the dissenting COA member has said. The 64-year-old Rangaswamy, who played 16 Tests and 19 ODIs for India, was part of the three-member committee that chose W V Raman as the new women's coach on Thursday. The entire process was marred by a war of words between Committee of Administrators (COA) chief Vinod Rai and Edulji. While Edulji wanted incumbent Ramesh Powar to continue, Rai advocated the initiation of a fresh process as Powar's interim tenure had ended last month. Edulji, who was accused of bias by ODI captain Mithali Raj following a bitter fallout with Powar, said Rangaswamy has backed her in an email that was sent to the COA as well as BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary. "Shantha Rangaswamy has also on an e-mail addressed to us and the Acting Secretary mentioned that the issue of ..
Spoke to club, Lucas about the defender's future, says Simeone
Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone spoke on Friday about the future of his French defender Lucas Hernandez, best known as Lucas, amid reports that Bundesliga's Bayern Munich was interested in signing the player.
Hosts Chennai look to get back to winning ways vs Real Kashmir (Preview)
I-League leaders Chennai City FC will look to get back to winning ways at home when they take on a buoyant Real Kashmir FC here on Saturday.
We can expect miracles from blue tigers in Asian Cup: Former goal-keeper
Former Asian All-Star Goalkeeper Atanu Bhattacharya, who was a part of India's squad in the AFC Asian Cup in 1984, feels that the current Indian team squad "looks confident" and can "pull off some miracles" in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019."What I really like about the current setup is that there is good chemistry amongst the players. The current batch is a tightly-knit group and most of them are of a similar age. So that helps the team chemistry. The good thing is that these players are relatively young, and they are expected to be in the team for the next few years, so you have some level of continuity," Atanu stated in an interview to AIFF."The advantage that Stephen Constantine's team has is that they have had a lot of international exposure having played in so many friendlies. That was a rarity during our days. The draw against China, in front of such a big home crowd, was certainly a big positive. That has added to the confidence of the team and it is bound to help in the .
Women cricket coach selection process unconstitutional, sham: Edulji
The process of appointing women's cricket coach in India is unconstitutional, and sham, said the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji on Thursady.The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed former Indian cricketer WV Raman coach of the national women's cricket team.In a hard-hitting mail to CoA head Vinod Rai before the coach's appointment, Edulji termed the entire selection process for appointing women's coach as "unconstitutional" and "sham." The former women's team captain said that such "unilateral" steps are not going to help the women's cricket in any way."The entire process of selecting a qualified coach for Women's Cricket team is unconstitutional. I once again reiterate that we have been assigned the role of implementing the Lodha reforms which say the Coach of the Indian Team can only be the appointment by the CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee). Your unilateral decision of appointing the ad hoc committee is not only ..
World Cup final drew global audience of 1.12 billion
A combined global audience of 1.12 billion watched the World Cup final between France and Croatia in July, FIFA, the governing body of world football, said on Friday. In total, FIFA said, a "combined 3.572 billion viewers - more than half of the global population aged four and over - tuned in to world football's ultimate competition" for at least a minute, over the course of the World Cup's from June 14 to July 15. A survey it had commissioned by FIFA found that 3.04 billion viewers caught at least three minutes, a 10.9 per cent increase on Brazil 2014, and 2.49 billion watched at least 30 minutes, or one third of one match, up on 2014's 1.95 billion. FIFA calculated that the average live audience for each of the 64 matches was 191 million. The survey estimated that 9.5 per cent of that audience, or 309.7 million people, watched no coverage at home but "caught the action on digital platforms, in public viewing areas or in bars and restaurants." That proportion was higher for the final
Perth pitch rated 'average': Reports
The Perth Stadium pitch, which hosted India's second Test against Australia, has been rated "average" by the ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle. Australia beat India by 146 runs to square the four-match series 1-1. According to a report in Cricket Australia website,"It is understood that match referee Ranjan Madugalle rated the pitch at the new Perth Stadium as 'average', which is the lowest pass mark provided by the ICC when they rate the pitch and outfield of Test grounds." "The Perth verdict is presumably related to the uneven bounce that resulted in a couple of nasty blows," it stated. The global body introduced a rating system at the start of the year in its bid to improve the standard of pitches very good, good, average, below average and poor when rating Test venues. "It is understood the Adelaide Oval pitch used in the first Test received a 'very good' rating," the website claimed in its report. Incidentally, Madugalle had rated MCG pitch "poor" when Australia and England ...
Ranji: Mumbai to miss Dhawal Kulkarni against Saurashtra
Mumbai will miss the services of senior pacer Dhawal Kulkarni who has dropped out after being named in the squad to take on zonal rivals and table toppers Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A game beginning here from Saturday. "He has dropped out. He practised yesterday, but I think he wasn't 100 per cent. We will miss him in this match," said Mumbai wicket-keeper batsman Aditya Tare on the eve of the crucial game for the 41-time champions. The hosts, struggling in the 13th position with eight points from five matches in the combined table of Groups A and B in comparision to Saurashtra who are on top, are not certain of the availability of batsman Eknath Kerkar, too, who has suffered an injury and underwent a fitness test. "He had his test. We will check tomorrow again," said Tare. "It is a crucial game for us. We have to win all our games starting from tomorrow. Our focus is on tomorrow's match and we will try to get the best result that we can," he ...
Rayudu not worried about lack of match practice ahead of Australia tour
Ambati Rayudu's sudden retirement from first-class cricket before the start of the Ranji season would leave him short of match practice ahead of twin ODI series against Australia and New Zealand but the Hyderabad cricketer is unfazed. Rayudu plays only one format for India and his decision to quit Ranji Trophy and play ODIs and IPL raised a few eyebrows but the Hyderabad right-hander called it his method of managing the workload. "I mean...the only thought process was to preserve my body as far as possible. I am 33. I have had surgery to my knee in the past. I really wanted to make efficient use of my body in terms of the amount of cricket I play," Rayudu said on the sidelines of launch of the Junior Super Kings inter-school T20 championship 2018. When asked that his decision would lead to reduced match practice now that he will get into the Australia series having not played a single match for two months, Rayudu couldn't come up with a convincing reply. "No, I mean definitely match ..
Madrid's Asensio ruled out of Club World Cup final
Real Madrid midfielder Marco Asensio is set to miss the FIFA Club World Cup final against home favourite Al-Ain after sustaining a right leg muscle injury that could sideline him for a month, the Spanish powerhouse said on Friday.
T10 League increases popularity of new format
Success is where preparation and opportunity meet, and this was evident once again at the recent T10 Cricket League conducted by T10 Sports Management. The unique cricket format pushed many boundaries and set many world records.
Over 3.5 billion people watched 2018 FIFA World Cup
More than 3.5 billion people watched the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia on TV at home, either on home televisions or on digital platforms, FIFA revealed on Friday.
Perth pitch receives 'average' rating
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rated the pitch for the second Test between India and Australia at Perth as "average", which is the lowest pass mark provided by the ICC when they rate the pitch and outfield of Test grounds.
Need to continue the momentum in Boxing Day Test: Head
Fresh from a series-levelling 146-run win in the second Test at Perth, Australia batsman Travis Head wants his side to continue the momentum when they face India in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here.
Mithali, Harmanpreet remain ODI and T20 captains; Veda Krishnamurthy dropped
Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Friday retained as captains for the Indian women's ODI and T20 team respectively while out-of-form Veda Krishnamurthy was dropped from both the squads picked for the New Zealand tour beginning next month. India will play three ODIs in New Zealand beginning January 24 as part of the ICC Women's Championship before playing three T20 Internationals. The New Zealand tour will be the team's first assignment after its controversial exit from the World T20 last month when it lost to England in the semi-finals. The 15-member squad for ODIs and T20s was announced a day after WV Raman was appointed as the head coach. Gary Kirsten was ahead of Raman in the pecking order but the former India men's coach was not ready to give up on his role with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. The BCCI had invited fresh applications after Ramesh Powar's term ended on November 30, following the World T20 loss in which he and Harmanpreet had collectively decided to ..
Banned Smith eyes comeback in 2019 ICC World Cup
Banned for a year for his role in the ball tampering scandal earlier this year, former Australia skipper Steve Smith is eyeing a return to the side as the Kangaroos prepare to defend their title at the upcoming 50-over ICC World Cup in England and Wales next year.