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Croatia's Luka Modric Wins FIFA Player of the Year to End Ronaldo-Messi Reign

Agencies
September 25, 2018

London, Sept 25: Luka Modric ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's decade-long domination of football's individual awards by being crowned FIFA's best player of the year on Monday.

The Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder starred for both club and country as Madrid won a third straight Champions League, and he inspired Croatia to reach the World Cup final for the first time.

"The emotion is huge because it is thanks to the work of everyone. So many people have come together and so many have supported me," said Modric.

Modric beat out Liverpool's Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah and Ronaldo, who along with Messi did not attend the glitzy awards ceremony in London.

Both are in action for Juventus and Barcelona on Wednesday, but their no-show attracted criticism after so many years on top.

"Everyone has their own reasons," said Modric. "Obviously I would have liked them to be here but they aren't."

Modric's success means Ronaldo remains tied with Messi having won FIFA's award in different guises five times each.

At 33, Croatia's run to the final was the culmination of a brilliant career for Modric that had often been overshadowed by Ronaldo's goalscoring in their time together in the Spanish capital, before the Portuguese left for Juventus in July.

Modric scored twice and also netted in penalty shootout wins over Denmark and Russia, but it was his playmaking ability that caught the eye in winning the Golden Ball for the best player at the World Cup.

"It was an unbelievable season, the best season in my life," said Modric.

"I'm still not realising how good a year I had collectively, individually, and I'm very proud for everything I achieved this year and it will be remembered forever."

For a sixth straight season, Ronaldo was the Champions League's top scorer with 15 goals and also scored four times at the World Cup, including a hat-trick against Spain in a thrilling 3-3 draw to open Portugal's campaign.

However, Portugal's last 16 exit to Uruguay in Russia and Ronaldo's failure to score in the semi-finals or final of the Champions League opened the door for Modric.

Salah scoops best goal

For the first time in 12 years, Messi was not among the finalists with Salah earning a place on the podium for his incredible 44-goal debut season with Liverpool that carried the Reds to the Champions League final.

Salah did not go away empty-handed, however, as he picked up the Puskas award for best goal for his strike against Everton in the Merseyside derby last December.

Modric was joined by Real team-mates Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Marcelo in the FIFPro team of the year, also featuring David De Gea, Dani Alves, N'Golo Kante, Eden Hazard, Kylian Mbappe, Messi and Ronaldo.

"I am as happy as if I had won it," said Ramos of Modric's success. "He deserves it, he is an excellent player and has marked an important era in the history of Real Madrid."

France's World Cup-winning coach Didier Deschamps won the best coach of the year prize in recognition for his work in leading Les Bleus to success in Russia.

Deschamps, who became just the third man to win the World Cup as a player and coach, beat off competition from Dalic and his former France team-mate Zinedine Zidane, who won a third consecutive Champions League title with Real Madrid before resigning in June.

Thibaut Courtois won the best goalkeeper award for helping Belgium reach the World Cup semi-finals as well as the FA Cup with Chelsea before a summer move to Madrid.

Brazil's Marta was crowned best women's player for a record sixth time for her role in winning the Copa America to beat out Lyon duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan.

Lyon boss Reynald Pedros did win the award for best women's coach, though, after winning the Champions League with the French giants.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Sydney, Feb 21: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday.

Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.

Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs

"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.

Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.

The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.

The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.

India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.

"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.

Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.

However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.

Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.

Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.

Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.

Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.

India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.

However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.

Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.

For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers.

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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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Agencies
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is 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. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

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

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