Page 814 - Sports
Ranji: Hardik named in Baroda squad for game against Mumbai
All-rounder Hardik Pandya, out of cricket since September due to back injury, has been named in the Baroda squad for their Group A Ranji Trophy game against Mumbai commencing in Mumbai on December14. Snehal Parikh, secretary in-charge of the Baroda Cricket Association, confirmed to PTI Pandya's inclusion in the Baroda squad Monday. 25-year-old Hardik, who suffered a back injury during the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates, was undergoing rehabilitation and was not available for the ongoing Test series in Australia. Hardik has replaced Babashafi Pathan, also an all-rounder, in the Baroda Ranji squad to take on hosts Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. Apart from Hardik, former India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan is also there in the 15-member squad along with other regulars such as pacers Lukman Meriwala, Rishi Arothe and captain Kedar Devdhar. This season, Baroda have played five games. They have drawn three, won one and lost one. In the combined Group A and B standings, they .
Ganguly predicts hard-fought series Down Under
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly Monday said Virat Kohli and Co will have to fight hard to win their maiden series in Australia. India took a 1-0 lead against Australia on their soil for the first time in 70 years after clinching a 31-run win in the opening Test. Australia's lower order led by Nathan Lyon had sniffed victory before being eventually bowled out for 291 on the final day. Congratulating Team India, Ganguly said: "It's a great win. This will be a hard-fought and highly competitive series. All the matches will be result-oriented." India's best finish in Australia has been a 1-1 draw under Ganguly in 2003-04. The second Test of the four-match Test series will begin at Perth from December 14.
Real Kashmir seek third home win on trot in match against Lajong
A confident Real Kashmir FC would look to notch up their third straight win at home and remain in the top half of the points table when they take on struggling Shillong Lajong in an I-League match here on Tuesday. Real Kashmir will go into the game after wins in their two previous matches -- against Indian Arrows and Aizawl FC -- while Lajong are coming off a home loss to Neroca FC. Real Kashmir will be playing their sixth home match on the trot before bracing up for away games. They return to the cold Kashmir valley in January end (January 28) after six matches on the road. At home, they have notched up two wins, one draw and two defeats out of the five games. Overall, Real Kashmir are at ffth spot in the league table with 10 points from six matches. Lajong, on the other hand, are placed 10th out of 11 teams after collecting a mere four points from seven matches. The Shillong-based side, who do not have any foreign player in their squad, are more dangerous than their position would ..
England beat New Zealand 2-0 to set up quarterfinal date with Argentina
A dominant England sailed past New Zealand 2-0 in the first cross-over match to book their place in the quarterfinals of the men's hockey World Cup here on Monday. England scored through Will Calnan's (25th minute) field strike and penalty corner conversion by Luke Taylor (44th) to register the comfortable win. England will face Olympic champions Argentina in the first quarterfinal on Wednesday. World no. 7 England were by far the better side against New Zealand in the opening two quarters, creating more goal scoring chances than their ninth ranked opponents. England had the first scoring chance in the fifth when they earned their first penalty corner but they failed to utilise the opportunity. After a barren and eventless first quarter, England drew first blood in the 25th minute when Will Calnan deflected in a high ball from skipper Phil Roper from the left flank. Two minutes later, a Liam Ansell strike from close range went just went inches off the target as England wasted a golden
Hope no one gets treated the way Smith and Warner were: Kohli
India captain Virat Kohli says he was sad to see the public backlash faced by Steve Smith and David Warner for their role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year. Smith and Warner are currently serving one year bans after being found of guilty of ball-tampering during the Cape Town Test in March. "Well, it was sad to see. As big a thing as it became, you never want to see anyone go through that because I have known David and I have known Steve as well," Kohli told former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist in an interview on Fox Cricket. "Apart all the competitiveness on the field and all the battles that you have, you never want to see such a magnitude happen to two sportsmen and what happened after was, I felt, very bad. I felt like that the things happened after shouldn't have happened," he said. Besides Smith and Warner, Cricket Australia also handed a nine-month ban to Cameron Bancroft for playing his part in the infamous incident that rocked the ...
Goa itching to claw back against resurgent Pune
A resurgent FC Pune City will look to continue their winning momentum and stay alive in the competition when they clash with FC Goa in an Indian Super league fixture here Tuesday. Pune, who made it to the play-offs last season, received a morale boost when they beat Kerala Blasters FC in the previous clash but their chances of qualifying for the play-offs are hanging by a thread with eight points from 11 games. The hosts now face a trial by fire against a well-rested FC Goa, who are placed at the fourth spot with 17 points. "FC Goa were top scorers last season and the way they are set up to play, they score a lot of goals. They are an attacking team. We've to deal with their threat and at the same time, we have to pose a threat," said Pune interim coach Pradyum Reddy. "Sometimes putting the other team on the backfoot is the best way to defend." Reddy should know how dangerous FC Goa can be. When he took over from Miguel Angel Portugal, FC Goa were the first team he faced and his side .
I-League: Real Kashmir aim for better outing in 6th home game (Preview)
Debutants Real Kashmir FC will look to make the most of an extended home run when they take on a young and dangerous foreigner-less Shillong Lajong in an I-League encounter here on Tuesday.
ISL: Goa itching to claw back against Pune (Preview)
FC Pune City did well to register a win in their last Indian Super League clash but facing FC Goa will be an entirely different ball game at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Tuesday.
Lukaku confident he is over post-World Cup slump
Romelu Lukaku believes he has finally emerged from his post-World Cup slump, with the Manchester United striker revealing he had to shed muscle to adapt to the demands of the Premier League. After a promising first season at Old Trafford the 25-year-old has strugged to make an impact in front of goal amid what has been a largely frustrating second campaign under Jose Mourinho. But Lukaku is belatedly showing positive signs again, having ended his 12-match goalless streak for United at Southampton last weekend and netted at Old Trafford for the first time since March in Saturday's 4-1 win against Fulham. The Belgium striker said he did not allow the external scrutiny to get him down. "I think I just need to keep working hard," he said. "Me and the manager had good conversations in the last couple of days, where really he told me what he wanted from me. "And I know from my side I have to do better and I just keep looking forward and improving, trying to add into my game and help the ...
Ponting suggests Australia not change team combination for Perth Test
Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has suggested his side to go ahead with the same playing eleven in their upcoming second Test against India despite losing the opening game of four-match series in Adelaide.The 43-year-old reasoned that making changes to the squad after losing one Test would be "really reactionary.""Why wouldn't they do that for this game if that's their best line-up? I just think that'd be really reactionary. The selectors have made a decision, or whoever is setting the batting order, that they think Aaron Finch is the right guy to be opening the batting for Australia," Cricket.com.au quoted Ponting, as saying."When you start moving guys around, it just creates more uncertainty. Finch would potentially train differently next week than he had this week because he's not opening, and Usman has to train differently because he is opening. Little things like that would come into their minds. If I was them, I'd be tempted to keep it the same way," he added.While ...
Gomez signs new long-term Liverpool deal
Defender Joe Gomez has signed a new contract with Liverpool that will keep him at Anfield until 2024, the club announced on Monday. The England international, currently out for up to six weeks with a fractured leg, has been impressive this season both alongside Virgil van Dijk in the centre of defence and also at right-back, where he has alternated with Trent Alexander-Arnold. Gomez, 21, joined Liverpool from Charlton in 2015 for a fee of ?3.5 million ($4.5 million). An ankle problem sustained playing for England in March meant he missed the Champions League final but he has bounced back from that to establish himself as Klopp's preferred partner for Van Dijk. "Signing this new deal means the world to me," Gomez told Liverpool's website. "I've been at the club a few years now and have had the pleasure to play for Liverpool and experience what that means, so I am delighted to get the chance to extend my contract here.
'Try something new, come to Italy,' Ronaldo urges Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo has urged long-time rival Lionel Messi to be more like him and push his limits by challenging himself in another league than Spain. "I'd like him to come to Italy one day. I hope he accepts the challenge like me, but if he's happy there then I respect that," Ronaldo told the Italian press on Monday. The two strikers have been rivals for the past decade winning five Ballon d'Or trophies each before their domination was broken by World Cup runner-up Luka Modric last week. Asked if he missed the 31-year-old Argentinian, who has spent his entire senior career at Barcelona, Ronaldo replied: "No, maybe it's him who misses me ... "I've played in England, Spain, Italy, Portugal and for my national team, while he's still in Spain. "Maybe he needs me more... For me, life is a challenge, I like it and I like to make people happy. "He's a fantastic player and a good guy, but I don't miss anything here. This is my new life and I'm happy. "I left my comfort zone and took on this ..
World Tour Finals: Sindhu handed tough draw, Sameer will fancy chances
Olympic silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu has been handed a tough draw in women's singles but debutante Sameer Verma will fancy his chances of making it to the men's singles knockout stage at the BWF World Tour Finals starting here Wednesday. Sindhu, who had finished runners-up at the last edition in Dubai, will have a tough task at hand as she has been clubbed with defending champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and United States' Beiwen Zhang in Group A. Sameer, who defended his title at the Syed Modi International last month to qualify for the USD 1,500,000 event at the last moment, has been put alongside Japanese world number 1 Kento Momota, Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto and Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen. The top two players from each group will qualify for the semifinals, after which a knockout draw will be conducted. Only eight top players compete in the prestigious season-ending event. Sindhu, who will be making her third successive
Shastri sets social media abuzz with 'on air' comment
India head coach Ravi Shastri could not keep his emotions in check after the historic first Test win at the Adelaide Oval and made a tongue-in-cheek comment on national television that quickly went viral on social media. Speaking to Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Clarke and Mark Butcher, who were discussing the game in a television studio in Mumbai, Shastri came up with a rather interesting way to describe the tense moments of the game with Australia almost pulling-off a record chase. "I just said in Hindi just a little while ago bilkul chhorenge nahi ... Lekin thodi der ke liye wahan g*** muh mein tha (we will go for the kill ... but for sometime we had our **** in our mouths)," said Shastri on air, describing his feelings after the hosts showed a lot of fight on day five and fell just 31-run short of the 323-run target. The coach was expectedly happy with the hard-fought victory, also India's first in the opening Test of a series in Australia. Moments after he expressed his feelings to ...
SAIL Hockey Academy wins Aga Khan Gold Cup tournament
Steel Authority of India's Hockey Academy beat Army XI Danapur 2-1 to clinch the 115th All India Aga Khan Gold Cup hockey tournament here. Jay Prakash Patel scored the match-winning goal for the SAIL Hockey Academy (SHA) in the final match played on Sunday at Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium here. SHA is run SAIL's Rourkela Steel Plant. Aga Khan Gold Cup is one of the oldest hockey tournaments in the country. The SHA team defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 4-2 in the semifinals.
Bowlers gave India something they never tasted down under (Column: Just Sport)
India have done it, at last, winning the first Test of a series in Australia. It took 70 long years, starting from their inaugural Test two months after the country attained independence.
Stay longer in crease to frustrate Australia in next Test: Kohli to batters
India did not bat smartly in the first innings, reckoned skipper Virat Kohli on Monday, asking his team-mates to show more patience and application to frustrate the Australian bowlers in the remaining Tests of the four-match series. India, who claimed the opening Test by 31 runs, were 86 for 5 in the first innings before Cheteshwar Pujara's gritty 123 helped the visitors post 250. "In the first innings, we did not bat smartly in the first session and allowed their bowlers to get back in the game," said Kohli after India bowled out Australia for 291 in their innings to take a 1-0 lead in the series. "The longer we stay at the crease, they will have to bowl 2nd or 3rd spells and you have more scoring opportunities because when the kookaburra gets softer, you can play shots easier," he said. "In the second innings we had to take a different approach because there was time in the game, we did not want to score runs too early because if we keep them in the field, they will get frustrated ..
South, North Korea to talk on co-hosting 2032 Summer Olympics
South Korea and North Korea have agreed to hold working-level talks this week on sports cooperation, including the co-hosting of the 2032 Summer Olympics, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Monday.
Super proud of bowling unit: Virat Kohli
After clinching the opening Test of the four-match series against Australia, Indian skipper Virat Kohli stated that he is super proud of the team's bowling unit.In a post-match conference, the 30-year-old said: "With four bowlers picking up 20 wickets in a Test match away from home, especially with the ball that does not offer you so much is something that we can be proud of. But we need to build on this, we can't be happy with one test match.""We are not going to be satisfied with one test. We are happy about this victory but this is what we need to build on and really capitalise on," he added.Heaping praises on top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who was adjudged player of the match for his heroics in both the innings, Kohli said: "Cheteshwar Pujara was the difference between India and Australia. Priceless from Pujara, we were down and out at lunch on day 1. His grit and determination brought us back in it. We always knew that runs on the board would make the home side tentative. ..
Adelaide win brought back memories of 2003: Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar on Monday said India's thrilling 31-run win in Adelaide reminded him of the historic Test in 2003 when Rahul Dravid and Ajit Agarkar scripted a famous victory. The visitors won a tightly-contested opening Test by 31 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series at the Adelaide Oval. This was India's sixth Test win on Australian soil, coming after some tense moments owing to the Australian lower order's resistance. "What a way to start the series!#TeamIndia never released the pressure. Superb batting by @cheteshwar1 with crucial knocks in both innings, @ajinkyarahane88 in the 2nd innings and excellent contributions by our 4 bowlers. This has brought back memories of 2003," Tendulkar tweeted. Man of the Match Cheteshwar Pujara was delighted with the win. "It's been a great first match at the Adelaide Oval! Thank you so much for your wishes. Really delighted with the way we played as team and put up a great fight! On to the next one now!" Pujara tweeted. No sooner had