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Abhinav Bindra seals fifth consecutive berth for Olympics

May 29, 2015

New Delhi, May 29: Abhinav Bindra walked away with India’s fourth Olympic quota place in his first final of the year. After failing to make the cut in the previous two World Cups at Fort Benning and Changwon, luck smiled on the country’s only Olympic gold medallist.

BindraBindra totalled 627.5 points to qualify sixth for the final on Thursday, and once he shot 122.4 in the final to finish sixth at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, a quota place for the Rio Olympics was India’s.

There were three spots up for grabs in the 10m air rifle event and of the eight finalists, Zhu Qinan and Yang Haoran of China, having already won quota places were ruled out.

Belarusian Vitali Bubnovich too had already won a quota place and Russia’s Vladimir Maslennikov was not in contention as two of his countrymen had already bagged spots in the event.

So the moment reigning Olympic champion Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania was eliminated in the final, the quota places were decided. Ukraine’s Oleh Tsarko was awarded the first quota of the day while Serbia’s Stephen Pletikosic was the third after Bindra.

Gagan Narang (50m prone), Jitu Rai (10m air pistol) and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle) are the other shooters to bag quotas before Bindra.

Bindra had faced fitness issues before flying to Munich. He had complained of shoulder impingement, but the injury wasn’t serious.

National Rifle Association of India chief Raninder Singh lauded Bindra for the result.

“He is not an Olympic champion for nothing. He is very clear about his goals and preparations leading up to big events. It is something every professional sportsman in this country should emulate. We have our fingers crossed for him for the Olympics,” he said.

The gold was won by Qinan with a total of 206.0 points while Maslennikov finished second with 205.7. Tsarkov finished third with 184.2 points. This was Qinan’s 21st medal in World Cups.

Rio would be Bindra’s fifth successive Olympic Games and maybe the last time he will compete in India colours. He had announced his retirement from active sports during last year’s Asian Games in Incheon.

“Tomorrow will mark the end of my professional shooting life! I will, however, still shoot, compete as a hobby shooter, training twice a week. Yes, I will still try to be at Rio and my bio is now most appropriate! Great times and am sure there will be a few more!” Bindra had tweeted then.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Chennai, Mar 15: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni has left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) training camp following the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) amidst the coronavirus scare.

The former India skipper had joined the CSK's camp earlier this month in order to practice for the upcoming IPL season.

CSK's official handle tweeted a video of Dhoni and captioned the post as: "It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen".

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

BCCI had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

On Friday, BCCI decided to postpone the IPL until April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, all the IPL franchises met in Mumbai to discuss as to how to go on with the tournament in the future.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Colombo, Aug 1: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his interest in playing the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to start from August 28.

Pathan is among 70 foreign players to have shown interest in playing the LPL, ESPNcricinfo reported.

It is believed that Pathan has taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in the competition. 

BCCI doesn't allow active players to participate in other T20 leagues but Pathan announced his retirement in January this year.

Former swashbuckling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also played in a foreign league last year. He played for Maratha Arabians in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Pathan will now be put in a player draft unless one of the five franchises choose him to be a marquee player. The details of the draft, and the franchise owners, are yet to be finalised and announced. 

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also waiting on some government clearances even as it decides on franchise owners. The five franchises will represent Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.

On Monday, SLC Executive Committee granted approval for the tournament.

"The 23 match League will be played on the four international venues of R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League," SLC said in a statement on Monday.

Sri Lanka has controlled the spread of COVID-19 better than many other cricket-playing nations.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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