Forced to travel on bus by ICC, Team India utilising time to fine-tune strategy

Agencies
July 4, 2019

London, Jul 4: Going into the World Cup, the Indian team management was keen to travel to different cities in England by train as it not only saves time, but is also less tiring on the players. While their pleas did not cut ice with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Indian players have been travelling on bus, they have turned it into a classroom for the players.

Speaking to media, sources in the know of developments said that the team management felt that it was apt to use the time travelling from one city to another by discussing strategies with players.

"You can call it the class on wheels actually. While there is the share of fun and jokes and chilling, the support staff sometimes also has used this time to discuss strategies with the players and also address certain areas which they feel a player is struggling with. Nothing majorly serious, this is more about pep talks and discussions to clear the mind," the source explained.

Coming back to the travel plan, the source said that it was strange how the ICC decided to stick to travel by bus when even the English Premier League sides take the train.

"Intercity travel is still being done in buses whereas football teams in the EPL have moved onto trains for travel as it saves time," the source pointed.

Interestingly, the Indian team once again travelled from Birmingham to Leeds on Wednesday and while a bus journey took close to five hours, the same could have been completed by train in less than two hours.

The cumbersome travel style notwithstanding, India has been on a roll in this edition of the tournament and have lost only one game so far, against England at Edgbaston on Sunday. But more than the one loss, it is the conviction with which the players have expressed themselves in the middle that has impressed all.

There are wins and then there are convincing victories and this team has registered thumping wins and shown that it is for a reason that they are the number one ranked ODI side at present.

While they have a couple of days to go before they play their last group game against Sri Lanka on Saturday, the Men in Blue qualified for the semis after beating Bangladesh in their previous group game at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground.

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News Network
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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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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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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