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HWL Semifinal: India Qualify for Quarterfinals Despite Dutch Defeat

Agencies
June 21, 2017

London, Jun 21: India fought hard before losing 1-3 against higher-ranked Netherlands to suffer their first defeat in the Hockey World League League Semi-Final here on Tuesday.

Indian

All the goals came in the first two quarters of the match with Netherlands scoring through Thierry Brinkman (2nd minute), Sander Baart (12th) and Mirco Pruijser (24th), while Akashdeep Singh sounded the board for India with a brilliant field strike.

The loss, however, did not make any impact on India's chances in the tournament as they had already qualified for the quarter-finals before Tuesday's encounter as they had registered wins in their first three games.

Netherlands topped Pool B with an all-win record from four matches, while India finished second with three wins from four games.

India will take on Malaysia on Thursday while Netherlands will face fourth-placed team in Pool A - China - in the quarter-finals on the same day.

Going by world rankings, Netherlands (4th) were rated as favourites against the sixth-placed Indians and the Dutchmen played the match on the expected lines, controlling the proceedings for major part of the match.

The Indians were slow to get off the blocks and the Dutch caught the Indian defence off guard as early as in the second minute when Sardar Singh lost possession of the ball just outside the Indian circle and Brinkman made no mistake in giving his side the lead.

Young Akash Chikte then pulled off a brilliant save to deny Jonas de Geus in the sixth minute.

But Netherlands doubled their lead in the 12th minute when Baart scored from their first penalty corner.

In the very next move, India got a penalty corner but wasted the opportunity.

Chikte once again came to India's rescue to deny Netherlands skipper Billy Bakker just at the stroke of first quarter.

Netherlands got two back-to-back penalty corners soon but failed to utilise both.

The Dutchmen completely dictated the pace at least in the opening quarter as the Indians lacked co-ordination.

Netherlands made it 3-0 in the 24th minute when Pruijser scored after receiving a through pass from Bjorn Kellerman.

It took a brilliant field strike from Akashdeep to bring India back into the match as Roelant Oltmans' men went into the breather trailing 1-3.

After the change of ends, the Indians created a few scoring chances with Ramandeep Singh and Mandeep Singh at the fore but Netherlands goalkeepers Sam van der Ven and Pirmin Blaak, who took the field through rolling substitution, made some fine saves to keep their lead intact.

The Indians created their chances but they failed to sustain possession of the ball for long periods of time, which eventually cost them dearly.

In the last 10 minutes, India earned two more penalty corners by Van der Ven was at his best to deny Harmanpreet on both occasions.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Veteran India batsman Suresh Raina feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best captain India ever had.

Raina and Dhoni play for the same IPL franchise -- the Chennai Super Kings --, which is also led by the latter.

"I think we have the best captain who has changed the Indian team like anything. Now we have that same aura in our dressing room," Raina said on 'The Super Kings show' on Star Sports Tamil.

The 38-year-old Dhoni has retired from Test cricket but his future in the limited overs formats is a subject of intense speculation.

The two-time World Cup-winning former captain took a break from cricket after India's exit from the 2019 World Cup in England. He is set to be back in action at the IPL, where he will captain the CSK, starting March 23.

With three restricted stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai finally being reopened, Raina urged the fans to fill the venue in every CSK home game.

"We have all the seats available. Hopefully, we'll have more fans now so that there is it will be more energy on the field," the 33-year-old Raina, a former India batsman, said.

Raina, who last played for India in 2018, also expressed his excitement about the prospect of playing with CSK's latest acquisitions.

"This year we have a lot of new talent in our team. Piyush (Chawla) is there, then we have Hazelwood, Sam Curran, Sai Kishore from Tamil Nadu, he has been bowling really well for them. So, I think we have a lot of mixture of youngsters and seniors."

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.

The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.

Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.

He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.

The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.

On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.

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