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Confident India aspire to rise to Australian challenge

June 15, 2016

London, Jun 15: A first-time entry into the final at stake, a confident India would aspire to rise to the challenge of taking on Australia in their last league outing of the 36th Hero Champions Trophy here tomorrow.

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India were beaten by four goals in two encounters against Australia in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament in Ipoh (Malaysia) two months ago, but are eager to produce a better show against the reigning world champions, who have already secured their place in the title match, at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre.

World No. 1 Australia prevailed 5-1 in their league fixture of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup against India and then, when the teams again met in the final, the dominant side from Down Under triumphed 4-0.

India are drawing inspiration from their victory last year in a Test match at home, ahead of the World League Finals in Raipur.

India's most notable performance against Australia recently was in the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup where striker Nikkin Thimmaiah's hat-trick spurred them to victory, but that was an experimental Australian team.

Ahead of the Olympic Games, Australia have fielded a very strong side here, but are in a dilemma over penalty corner shooter Chris Ciriello's fitness.

"The match against Australia is a very tough outing. We have to produce our best performance to put up a good contest," said Indian coach Roelant Oltmans, who is happy to see the Indians stay in the hunt for a medal.

"A medal at the Champions Trophy was the target we set ourselves when we set off for London. I'm happy that our game has improved with every tournament," said Oltmans.

Australia are heading the round-robin league standings with 10 points from four outings, followed by India on seven from four matches.

A victory over Australia tomorrow would put India into the final of the Champions Trophy, something they have not achieved so far, but even a draw could boost their prospects of making the title encounter.

Great Britain and Belgium are the other teams that can win their last league match to edge out India from the final. These two teams will clash in the last league engagement and will have the luxury of playing after the Australia-India fixture.

Britain are currently on five points and Belgium are on four. If Australia defeat India, hosts Britain will just need a win over Belgium to overtake India on points, but Belgium too can finish second on goal difference if they prevail in this match.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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News Network
May 5,2020

May 5: Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar says he is interested in becoming India's bowling coach if there is an offer, asserting that he is capable of grooming "more aggressive, fast and talkative" pacers.

Akhtar expressed his willingness in an interview on social networking app 'Helo'.

Asked if he would like to be associated with the Indian bowling unit in future, he responded in the positive. India's current bowling is Bharat Arun.

"I will definitely. My job is to spread knowledge. What I have learned is knowledge and I will spread it," Akhtar said.

One of the fastest bowlers to have played the game, he added, "I will produce more aggressive, fast and more talkative bowlers than the current ones who will tell-off the batsmen in a way that you will enjoy a lot."

He said he has always wanted to share his knowledge among budding cricketers and that he is looking to produce more aggressive bowlers.

He also added that he would like to "coach" IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, for whom he has played in the cash-rich T20 league's inaugural edition.

The former pacer also spoke about his early interactions with Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar in the 1998 series.

"I had seen him but didn't know how big a name he was in India. In Chennai, I got to know that he was known as a god in India.

"Mind you, he is a very good friend of mine. In 1998, when I bowled as fast as I could, Indian public celebrated with me. I have a big fan following in India," Akhtar said.

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