Ankita does it again, tames Putintseva to keep India alive

Agencies
February 8, 2018

New Delhi, Feb 8: Big-hearted Ankita Raina showed nerves of steel as she yet again rose to the occasion for India by taming experienced Yulina Putintseva in a thrilling contest to level the Fed Cup tie against Kazakhstan 1-1, here today.

Ankita not only fought off a grinder but also shrugged off some poor umpiring to emerge a 6-3 1-6 6-4 winner after battling hard for two hours and 25 minutes against a player, who was ranked as high as 27 last year and had beaten top-10 players.

Before Ankita's inspiring win, Karman Kaur Thandi gave ample display of her talent but lacked consistency as she lost the opening singles of the Asia/Oceania Group I tie to world number 55 Zarina Diyas.

Ankita, who had beaten Lin Zhu yesterday, responded to the call from her team with an inspirational performance against the world number 81 Kazakh.

Putintseva, who beat players of the calibre of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dominika Cibulkova en route the final of St Petersburg WTA event last year, found the going tough against Ankita, who yet again stood out with her relentless returns.

It was a dogfight from the baseline as Putintseva, a grinder from across the court, was picking everything and throwing it back.

Ankita too was prepared to put the balls back on the court, which meant points were long and hard-fought.

Ankita will now combine with Prarthana Thombare to take on Gozal Ainitdinova and Zhibek Kulambayeva in the decisive doubles.

Ankita did create a small opening to get the first break in the sixth game by hitting consistently on the backhand side of the Kazakh and then blasted a forehand winner, but the Kazakh girl played smartly to save the chance.

However, Ankita kept putting pressure on her opponent as she charged the net and Putintseva tried a lob, which went long. It put the Kazakh down 15-30.

An error from Putintseva handed Ankita two break chances and the Indian converted the second one. It was a reward for her hard work as Ankita never let Putintseva breath easy with consistent returns on her backhand side.

Despite having to play a point twice after a call error at 30-0, Ankita served out the set at love.

A break of serve was the best possible start for Ankita in the second set but some poor calls by the chair umpire and linemen not only prevented the Indian from consolidating the break but she also lost serve.

It caused a sudden change in the fortune of Putintseva, who had raced to a 4-1 lead as the Indian dropped serve again.

Ankita's strokes lost the sting a bit and riding on the momentum, Putintseva broke the Indian one more time and served out the set to make it even-steven.

Ankita's returns were not as sharp, powerful and precise as they were in the opening set. She lost serve in the third game to let Putintseva take lead in the decider.

She was down by three breakpoints in the fifth game as well but the gritty Indian ranked just 253 in the world, fought off all break points for a crucial hold.

The slugfest continued and it was 4-4. Ankita held her own serve under pressure and broke the Kazakh one final time when Putintseva hit a backhand wide on match point to record a memorable win.

Ankita had to hold back celebration after the Kazakh team protested against a call. But the chair umpire was not convinced and Ankita bowed on the court, relieved.

Earlier, Karman took some time to settle and started playing freely only after dropping serve in the second and saving a break point in the fourth.

In a nervous start, like yesterday, she was broken at love in the second game as she hit a forehand wide and long.

While Diyas cruised to a 4-1 lead, Karman finally found some rhythm and started to stroke fluently.

Karman adopted an aggressive approach while returning as she sent deep balls on both flanks and was rewarded when she earned three break points in the seventh game and converted the second one with an exquisite forehand winner.

However, the Indian girl, while trying too hard, dropped serve in the next game. Diyas was serving for the set when she went down 30-40 but Karman hit a backhand long to let go the break chance.

That was enough for the experienced Kazakh to seal the set. While Karman was fighting a lot better, she was not consistent enough. A flurry of forehand errors resulted in an early break of serve in the second set.

Karman now was serving a lot better and got the ball to bounce, using her height. She served the third game at love and was up 30-0 in the fifth but her rhythm was disturbed when she went for a replay of a point following a debatable call.

Captain Ankita Bhambri had an argument with the chair umpire and all this affected Karman, who served two double faults to drop the serve. Trailing 1-4, Karman got one break back with a well-constructed point.

It was important not to lose serve from there on but she lost it at love, allowing Diyas to serve out the match in the next.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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News Network
April 14,2020

Melbourne, Apr 14: As all sporting action across the world has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australian bowlers are pondering as to how Indian skipper Virat Kohli might play in front of no spectators.

India and Australia are scheduled to play a four-match Test series later this year, and it is being speculated that the series might end up taking place without any crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon on Tuesday said that it would be interesting to see how Kohli goes about it if he does not get a chance to get the audience behind him.

"He is probably good enough to adapt to any scenario. But I was talking to Mitch Starc the other day and we actually said that if we are playing with no crowd, it'll be quite amazing to see Virat trying to rev up the empty seats," cricket.com.au quoted Lyon as saying.

"It is going to be a little bit different, but Virat is a superstar. He will be able to adapt to any climate that we are able to play in," he added.
During the 2018-19 series, India managed to defeat Australia in Australia for the first time in a Test series.

Australia, at that time were without the services of David Warner and Steve Smith. However, the series later this year promises to be a mouth-watering prospect.

"I am excited about the prospect of India coming out to Australia, it's up there with the biggest series alongside the Ashes. They are an absolute powerhouse of the cricket world, and to have those guys out here is going to be fantastic. Playing in front of crowds or no crowds is out of our control, we have got to follow the advice of all the amazing medical people around the world," Lyon said.

"I have not thought about no crowds or massive crowds, it is just about the opportunity of playing against India again. They had the wood over us last time they came over here but we are a much stronger Australian cricket side at the moment, and I am just unbelievably excited about playing them here at home," he added.

Lyon was slated to represent Hampshire in County Championship this year, however, his stint was called off last week due to COVID-19.
He is Australia's third-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game as he has total of 390 wickets in Test cricket.

Lyon was last seen in action in the Big Bash League for Sydney Sixers.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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