Dominant England punished by Russia for wasteful finishing

June 12, 2016

Paris, Jun 12: A youthful England side produced a performance full of verve and skill but were punished for failing to convert their dominance into goals as Russia grabbed a late equaliser in their Euro 2016 opener in Marseille on Saturday.

DominantThe end of the Group B match, which finished 1-1, was marred by violence in the stands as supporters clashed after the final whistle and, despite their superb performance, England will be left rueing their missed opportunities.

"I think we played well but we didn't take our chances. The lads are disappointed not to get the win but we can take a lot of positives," England captain Wayne Rooney said. "We looked solid for 90 minutes. The performance was worthy of the win."

Unable to convert possession into goals, England were hit by a late sucker-punch that condemned them to yet another poor start at the European Championship -- in nine tournaments they have drawn five and lost four of their opening games.

Roy Hodgson's side was the second-youngest to appear for England at a major tournament, only surpassed in terms of its youth by the team that faced Sweden at the 2002 World Cup.

In the beginning it did not show as England dominated most of the exchanges, producing chance after chance from open play and set pieces as they ran at the Russians.

Adam Lallana, Rooney and Harry Kane all had decent chances in the first half, but more often than not their efforts flew harmlessly wide or straight at the keeper.

With England attacking seemingly at will, centrally and down the flanks, balls were flashed into the box from all angles and it seemed a matter of time before the deadlock was broken.

When the breakthrough finally came it was from an unlikely source. Tottenham Hotspur's defensive midfielder Eric Dier has not attempted a single shot from a free-kick in his 65 Premier League games, but in the 73rd minute he stepped up and smashed an unstoppable strike past keeper Igor Akinfeev.

Looping Header

With Russia having spent much of the game defending, Dier's goal looked like it would be enough to claim all three points, but it was not to be and Russia fashioned an equaliser with only their second effort on target in the whole game.

Defender Vasili Berezutski did not manage to find the net in any of his eight qualifying appearances, but his looping header at the death was enough to give his side a share of the points that they hardly deserved.

For almost the entire game Hodgson's decision to go for youth over experience in his squad looked like it might be vindicated, but Berezutski's goal cast a shadow over England's fortunes.

"I thought we played well, in the first half I thought that was as good a performance as we are capable of giving," Hodgson told reporters.

"It feels like defeat because we were preparing to celebrate a victory and we don't have that possibility now."

England next meet Wales, who beat Slovakia 2-1 in their opening fixture earlier on Saturday, in Lens on Thursday, while the Russians face Slovakia in Lille a day earlier.

Hodgson knows he must pick up his young squad after their late setback if they are to have any chance of progressing.

"When we analyse this game tomorrow there will be a lot of things we will want to take forward, and hopefully we'll be able to put the memory of this last-minute goal behind us," he said.

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April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: India's World Cup-winning former opener Gautam Gambhir performed the last rites of his deceased domestic help after her mortal remains could not be sent to her home in Odisha due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown.

Gambhir, also a BJP Lok Sabha MP, posted a tribute on his Twitter page for his employee Saraswati Patra, who was working at his residence for the past six years.

"Taking care of my little one can never be domestic help. She was family. Performing her last rites was my duty," he tweeted.

"Always believed in dignity irrespective of caste, creed, religion or social status. Only way to create a better society. That's my idea of India! Om Shanti," said the 38-year-old Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India between 2004 and 2016.

Media reports in Odisha said the 49-year-old Patra hailed from a village in Jajpur district.

She was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital a few days ago and was battling diabetes and high blood pressure for a long period. She breathed her last while undergoing treatment on April 21.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated Gambhir.

"Taking care of Saraswati throughout the course of her illness, he also ensured her dignity in death by performing her last rites himself since her mortal remains could not be sent to her family back home in Odisha," Pradhan, who also belongs to Odisha, tweeted.

"His act of compassion will enliven the faith in humanity for millions of poor, who are working far from their home for livelihood and will garner respect from all folds of the society."

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February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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April 22,2020

Dhaka, Apr 22: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has decided to auction the bat he used during the 2019 ODI World Cup to help raise money for the fight against deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Shakib, who is currently serving a two-year ban from all forms of cricket -- one of which is suspended -- for not reporting corrupt approaches, is the second Bangladeshi cricketer after wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim to auction a personal cricketing gear to raise money for the cause.

"I had said before that I want to put up a bat for auction. I have decided to auction the bat I used in the 2019 World Cup. It's a favourite bat of mine," Shakib said during a Facebook live session.

The 33-year-old all-rounder had a hugely successful World Cup in England last year, scoring 606 runs in eight matches at an average of 86.57, which included two centuries and five fifties.

Besides, he also picked up 11 wickets in the tournament and became the only cricketer to score 600 plus runs and scalp 10 wickets in a single edition of the World Cup.

"I had a good World cup with the bat and ball. There were some good performances especially with the bat. I had used a single bat throughout the World Cup and even used tapes on it to get through games," Shakib said.

"It's not that this bat has only been used at the World Cup. I have scored over 1500 runs with this bat and had used it prior to the tournament and after it as well.

"Although I like the bat a lot but I have decided to put it up for auction with the thought that maybe it can leave some contribution to forming a fund during the ongoing coronavirus crisis."

The money raised from the auction will go to the Shakib Al Hasan foundation.

"This is a very special bat to me, but my people are even more special to me," Shakib said.

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