Page 915 - Sports
'Containing Virat Kohli to first 10-15 balls will be the key'
Ahead of the upcoming ODI and T20I series between India and New Zealand, later's ex-coach Mike Hesson has suggested that containing Indian skipper Virat Kohli to first 10-15 balls would be the key for his side.Hesson also cautioned New Zealand about Indian opener Rohit Sharma saying that they need to have a plan against the smashing batsman."The key thing is if you can contain Virat Kohli in the first 10-15 balls where he has to take some risks to get his innings underway then that will provide opportunities," ESPNcricinfo.com quoted Hesson, as saying."Rohit Sharma is in incredibly good form at the moment and has been for a long time. The thing with Rohit is that once he is in, once he gets himself set, he generally dictates the outcome of the game. It's making sure that the new-ball bowlers can attack Rohit early on whether it'll be with swing or with some other variations wide outside the crease or whatever," he added.Talking about the team combination of New Zealand, the former ...
Don't think current Indian side is better than ones I played against: Steve Waugh
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh is "not sure" if the current Indian team led by Virat Kohli is any better than some of the sides that he played against during his days as claimed by Ravi Shastri. Waugh spoke in reference to India coach Shastri's comments that this is "the best Indian side in the last 15 years". "Look I have played against some great Indian sides and I am not sure that the current side is better than the ones we played against," Waugh told ESPN Cricinfo in an interview. He understood that Shastri wanted to boost the morale of his team but he felt that sweeping comments could have been avoided. "I am not really sure but probably not a great thing to say as it puts extra pressure on the team. Once they start losing, they will get a lot of criticism for that. Look, it's good that Ravi Shastri believes in his side but comments like these could be kept to himself," Waugh said. The former skipper known for his mental disintegration tactic feels that Australia despite ...
India all set for Maiden clash against Jordan ahead of AFC Asian Cup
The Indian national football team will clash swords against Jordan for the first time ever in their history on November 17 in an attempt to experiment tactics and gain valuable experience going into the mega competition in the form of AFC Asian Cup, next year.The match comes on the back of a goalless draw against powerhouse China in October 2018 where Indian dished out a superb performance to catch Marcelo Lippi's men in a stalemate.In a press conference, ahead of the clash, in the capital, head coach Stephen Constantine stated that the fixture against Jordan would prove to be extremely beneficial for the Indian national team."We want to do well in our preparation for the AFC Asian Cup and the clash against Jordan will aid us in that as Jordan are a good side and they have a number of good players in their ranks. We need to play teams like Jordan leading up to the AFC Asian Cup where we would be under pressure. Even the game against China was the same where if you commit a mistake ...
Boxing will remain in Olympics: AIBA chief
Boxing faces uncertain Olympic future but the world body chief Gafur Rakhimov Wednesday said the sport will remain in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games roster having made improvement on several aspects as sought by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The sport risks ejection from the Olympics after controversial Uzbek businessman Rakhimov was elected AIBA president this month. Whether boxing will be in the 2020 Olympics will be decided at an executive commission meeting of the IOC in Tokyo next month. Rakhimov's election has caused consternation at the Olympic movement with the 67-year-old linked to organised crime by the US Treasury Department. He has, however, vehemently denied the allegations. Addressing a press conference after declaring the 10th Women's World Championships open, Rakhimov said he was confident of boxing's future as an Olympic sport. "There is nothing to worry. These (issues) has been happening for many years and we have been correcting them. It has nothing to do
Mary Kom, Sarita spearhead Indian challenge at women's boxing Worlds (Preview)
Veteran Indian stars M.C. Mary Kom and Laishram Sarita Devi will spearhead the Indian campaign when the women's World Boxing Championships start here on Thursday.
PKL: Tamil Thalaivas and Haryana Steelers settle for tie
Tamil Thalaivas and Haryana Steelers settled for a 32-32 tie in their Inter-zone match of the Pro Kabaddi League here on Wednesday. Sukhesh Hegde (7 points), Ajay Thakur (6 points) and Manjeet Chillar (4 points) contributed to Tamil Thalaivas score while for the Haryana team Vikas Kandola (14 points) emerged as the star. Kandola attempted 21 raids for his 14 points. This was the second tie of the season between these two outfits. It was an enthralling contest where each and every point mattered , but in the end Tamil Thalaivas Jasvir Singh made an empty raid as the game ended in a tie as the two sides slugged in front of a capacity crowd at the NSCI. Haryana Steelers led 19-15 at the half-way stage. After the break, the southern outfit narrowed the gap to 19-21, with 15 minutes remaining for the final whistle. With another successful tackle, they made it 20-21. Both the teams were picking up points but it was 27-25 in Haryana's favour with about four minutes to go for the .
PKL 6: Haryana Steelers play a draw vs Tamil Thalaivas
Vikas Kandola's brilliant effort wasn't enough to bring a win for Haryana Steelers as they had to settle for a 32-32 draw against Tamil Thalaivas in an inter-zonal clash of the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the NSCI stadium here on Wednesday.
Legendary Anand wins Tata Steel blitz tournament in style
Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand saved his best for the last to clinch the inaugural Tata Steel Chess India Blitz Tournament by getting past overnight leader Hikaru Nakamura in the playoff here on Wednesday.
Ranji Roundup: Delhi, Kerala, Assam eye big wins in Round 2
Dhruv Shorey yet again top-scored with an unbeaten 106 to help hosts Delhi post a massive 376-run target for Himachal Pradesh, who ended the penultimate day at 44/1 in a Ranji Trophy Group B match at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Wednesday.
Bengaluru Open: Sumit, Prajnesh among 4 Indians in quarters
Defending champion Sumit Nagal along with Asian Games bronze medallist Prajnesh Gunneswaran advanced to quarterfinals at the USD 150,000 Bengaluru Open Tennis Tournament on Wednesday. Nagal will meet compatriot Saketh Myneni, who also qualified for the quarter-finals. Another Indian, who stormed into quarterfinal is Sasi Kumar Mukund, who is pitted against Gunneswaran. The most enthralling match however was between Gunneswaran and German qualifier Sebstian Fanselow with the Indian prevailing 4-6 6-4 7-5. Gunneswaran was initially not in his element but served brilliantly in the second set. He won most of the points with his powerful forehands. He broke Fanselow once which was enough for the Indian star to win the set and level proceedings. The third set saw as many as five breaks of serve. The Indian was 2-4 down after making two consecutive unforced errors in the sixth game. But he served well to claw back, hitting four of his five third-set aces in his last two service games to ...
Dembele needs to reflect, adjust attitude, says Puyol
Former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol said the young winger Ousmane Dembele, recently chastised in the media for repeatedly failing to show up on time, can change his ways by reflecting and adjusting his attitude.
Bayern winger Rodriguez suffers knee ligament injury
Bayern Munich winger James Rodriguez sustained a left knee ligament injury during a practice session, the Bundesliga club announced on Wednesday.
Curran and Buttler save England against Sri Lanka spin
Sri Lanka's spinners claimed some big-name England wickets on the first day of the second Test on Wednesday before Jos Buttler and Sam Curran rescued the innings. Buttler's 63 and a crucial 64 from Curran at the end lifted England to 285 all out after they had been struggling on 89-4 on the turning Pallekelle stadium pitch. Curran, fast becoming an England hero, said reaching near 300 was a "massive" achievement. England spinner Jack Leach then strengthened England's position, dismissing opener Kaushal Silva in the 12 overs Sri Lanka faced as the home side reached 26 for one at the close. A day that saw Ben Stokes, batting at the key number three position, become the latest to fail also reinforced Buttler and Curran's standing lower down the order. England were in trouble against spinners Dilruwan Perera who took four wickets, Malinda Pushpakumara (three) and Akila Dananjaya (two) when Buttler came in to counter-attack with five boundaries and a crucial 45-run stand with Adil Rashid ..
Prerna, Zeel out of ITF Meet
Prerna Bhambri and Zeel Desai bowed out of the ITF Meet on Wednesday losing to their respective opponents in hard-fought three-setters. Prerna lost her match against Nastja Kolar of Slovania 6-4 5-7 0-6. Zeel was beaten by Tereza Mihaalikova of Slovakia 7-6 2-6 6-2. Hiroko Kuwata of Japan defeatedlocal Sowjanya Bavisetti of India in straight sets 6-1 6-4. Natalija Kostic of Serbia beat Sai Samhitha Chamarthi 6-3 6-1. India's woes contined as the pair of Snehal Mane and Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi lost to Japanese duo of Kyoka Okamura and Michika Ozeki 1-6 7-5 6-10.
East Bengal defender out of danger after head collision
East Bengal defender Mehtab Singh and Siddharth Singh, who is on trial from Jamshedpur FC, on Wednesday suffered head injuries due to an aerial concussion during practice at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here.
Sikkim, Uttarakhand secure successive wins
Deepak Dhapola returned with a match haul of 13 wickets as Uttarakhand secured their second straight victory in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group beating Manipur by eight wickets here Wednesday. In Dimapur, Sikkim also registered their second win in their debut season beating hosts Nagaland by nine wickets. Sikkim have 13 points along with Uttarakhand but the former occupy the pole position in the Plate Group on the basis of better net run-rate. Dhapola, who ripped apart Manipur in the first innings with a 7/50, returned with 5/46 as he along with Sunny Rana, who bagged an identical 5/46. Manipur had four ducks in their innings and with the wicket of skipper Yashpal Singh for 15 taken by Sunny Manipur slumped to 164/8, thus losing seven wickets for just 21 runs. Manipur were eventually bowled out for 185 in the second essay, setting Uttarkhand a target of 95. Uttarakhand lost opener Karanveer Kaushal (18), No 3 Vaibhav Bhatt (27) but Vineet Saxena remaining unbeaten on 32 to steer them ..
Group A: Tyagi shines as Railways lead Saurashtra by 130 runs
Riding on an unbeaten fifty by young Harsh Tyagi, Railways lead Saurashtra by 130 runs at stumps on the penultimate day of the four-day Ranji Trophy game against hosts Saurashtra Wednesday. For Railways, Tyagi was impressive in the second outing with his unbeaten innings of 73 in 182-balls. While all others batters failed, 18-year-old Tyagi kept the score-board ticking. His knock ensured that Railways managed to get past the 250-run-mark and ended the third day on 278/8. After opting to bat, Railways were bowled out for 200 in their first outing. Saurashtra then took a crucial 148-run first-innings lead with Ravindra Jadeja remaining unbeaten on 178 as they posted 348 on the board. Resuming the day on 344/8, Saurashtra managed to add just four runs. But their bowlers rose to the occasion in the second innings, grabbing eight wickets and keeping afloat chances of an outright win. Slow-arm left-arm orthodox bowler Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (4-79) did the bulk of the ...
MP reach 254/5 courtesy Ojha vs Bengal
Skipper Naman Ojha cracked a patient half-century with Madhya Pradesh making a strong reply against Bengal in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B fixture here Wednesday. Ojha held their innings together with his 151-ball 74 before getting out to part-time leg-spinner Anustup Majumdar, who took two wickets in two overs (2/20) to raise hopes of another three points. At close on the penultimate day, MP were 254/5, trailing Bengal by 256 runs. Yash Dubey (20*) and Ankit Sharma (9*) were at the crease. Earlier Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda (2/42) dismissed both the MP openers, Aryaman Birla (12) and Ankit Dane (38), as MP were 65/2 inside the first hour's play. But Ojha stayed on, stitching two fifty-plus partnerships with Rajat Patidar (49) and Shubham Sharma (45) in the first and second sessions respectively. Fresh from his career-best 196 against Tamil Nadu, MP No 3 Patidar batted well before being bowled by off-spinner Aamir Gani one run short of a half-century just after the lunch ...
Hong Kong Open: Srikanth cruises into round two
Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth kick-started his campaign at the ongoing Hong Kong Open on a winning note as he defeated Wong Wing Ki Vincent of China in the men's singles event here on Wednesday.Not breaking much sweat in the match, the 25-year-old swept aside his Chinese opponent 21-11, 21-15 in their opening encounter.Srikanth gained the initial momentum in the match as he registered a convincing victory in the first game. With a total of seven consecutive points to his name, the Indian shuttler raced way ahead of Vincent who could only manage to secure two consecutive points in the game.The second game did not bring any sort of respite to the Chinese shuttler either as the Indian dominance continued. With the help of some smashing rallies, Srikanth easily won the second game 21-15.Overall, the Indian shuttler won a total of 42 rallies in the match as compared to his counterpart's figures of 26.Another Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap, on the other hand, failed to advance ...
CSK releases 3 players before IPL 2019 aution
Defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday announced the release of English quick Mark Wood and two uncapped players Kshitiz Sharma and Kanishk Seth from their squad before the auction of players next month.