All to prove: Smith, Warner face World Cup test in IPL

Agencies
March 21, 2019

New Delhi, Mar 21: The big-bucks Indian Premier League begins Saturday with disgraced Australian duo Steve Smith and David Warner back in action and looking to get some runs under their belts before the World Cup.

The timing of the Twenty20 extravaganza, tentatively scheduled to end on May 12, is awkward, however, wrapping up less than three weeks before the start of the 50-over World Cup in England and Wales on May 30.

Australia captain Smith and his deputy Warner were both given 12-month suspensions last March from state and international fixtures for their roles in an infamous ball-tampering scandal.

The bans did not include club games but IPL's governing council decided not to allow the banned duo in the 11th edition of the T20 league last year in a bid to stay clear of any controversy.

Both played in the recent Bangladesh Premier League but both soon bowed out because of elbow injuries, and now they are keen to get noticed again by Australia's selectors.

The lucrative league kicks off with three-time winners and defending champions Chennai Super Kings, captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, hosting Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.

Warner, now hipster-bearded, is expected to feature for Sunrisers Hyderabad along with Afghan spin sensation Rashid Khan and New Zealand's Kane Williamson against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

Smith is likely to be in action for Rajasthan Royals, along with England's Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, on Monday against Delhi Capitals.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said that although their bans will expire before the World Cup, winning back their places is not a given, particularly given Australia's blistering recent series victory in India in their absence.

"Those guys have not played any high-level cricket for a long time," Ponting told the Times of India newspaper, saying Smith and Warner "still have to prove they are the best players".

"If they don't have a good IPL, then there will be a few more question marks regarding their names," said Ponting, who is the head coach for IPL side Delhi Capitals.

Famous for its pyrotechnics, cheerleaders and huge pay cheques, the league has consistently attracted top foreign stars to play in India's sweltering heat.

Punjab spent big in the player auctions, snapping up little-known Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy for $1.2 million -- making him the top buy along with Indian paceman Jaydev Unadkat, who went to the Royals.

Apart from India's Test regulars making an impact for the eight franchises, the IPL is a breeding ground for young performers eyeing a place in the national side.

But there are concerns that the gruelling, six-week IPL -- eight teams all playing each other, plus the knockout stages -- raises the risk of fatigue and injury ahead of the World Cup.

Ponting told reporters in Delhi on Tuesday that he expected national selectors might "put restrictions" on some players, for example, India and its fast bowlers, in the IPL's closing stages.

Kohli, India's captain, said players should "enjoy" the IPL but that their workload would be "monitored".

"Everyone knows that no one wants to miss the World Cup and cost the team good balance," he said.

Senior batsman and Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma echoed his national captain's advice, saying the World Cup -- when India will be one of the favourites -- is "our priority".

"Keeping everything in mind we would take a decision collectively (on workload) on each individual," the top-order batsman added.

This year's IPL also faces another hurdle in India's mammoth general elections that run alongside the glitzy tournament, and organisers are keeping their fingers crossed for its smooth running.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) chief executive Venky Mysore said that staging the tournament just as 900 million people go to the polls in the world's biggest democratic exercise to date is a "miracle".

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: India is not at risk of losing hosting rights for next year's Twenty20 World Cup despite its cricket board's failure to secure a tax exemption for the event, a key BCCI official has told Reuters.

Tax exemptions for International Cricket Council (ICC) events are listed as a requirement in host agreements and the BCCI was supposed to confirm they had secured one by May 18.

ESPNcricinfo, citing correspondence between the two bodies, has reported that the ICC has threatened to shift the tournament away from India over the issue.

However, BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters that would not happen and that negotiations were continuing.

"There is no risk to the tournament," he said by telephone.

"That is a work in progress. We are discussing it with the ICC and we'll resolve it."

The BCCI encountered a similar problem when it hosted the event in 2016 when the government refused to provide a tax exemption, and there has been no change in New Delhi's stance despite the board's appeals.

Failure to secure that exemption in 2016 saw the ICC withhold an equivalent sum from India's share of revenue from the governing body's grants and it appears to be taking an even harder line this time around.

"There are certain timelines within the agreements that we collectively work towards to ensure we can deliver successful world class events and continue to invest in the sport of cricket," an ICC spokesperson told Reuters.

"In addition to this the ICC Board agreed clear timelines for the resolution of the tax issues which we are guided by."

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