I am working on the mental aspect of my game: PV Sindhu

Agencies
March 17, 2018

Birmingham, Mar 17: Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu says losing close matches from advantageous position dealt a blow to her confidence and she is looking to overcome it by working on the mental aspect of her game.

Sindhu achieved unprecedented success in the last couple of years but she also lost some heart-breaking losses in the finals of 2016 Rio Olympics, 2017 World Championship, 2017 Dubai Super Series Final and India Open this year.

"I have lost matches were I am leading. I know physically and mentally at times when you lose such matches it hits you, but we have to comeback stronger to ensure that it doesn't happen again," Sindhu said after ekeing out a thrilling win over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara to enter the semifinals of the All England Championship here.

"I have been working on my mental game. My coaches have been telling me, because sometimes I find when I hit out or tap to the net, when you actually have to get points, I lose confidence and get nervous. So they tell me 'let it be its over.' I have been practising that and I think I am getting better," she added.

In a re-match of the epic Glasgow World Championship final, Sindhu saw off Okuhara 20-22 21-18 21-18 in the pulsating clash that lasted one hour and 24 minutes. "It was like the World Championship and Dubai Super Series match, not so long may be but it was not easy to play against Okuhara. We know each other's game so there were long rallies. We had to give our best," Sindhu said.

"In the first game, I was leading 20-19 and I hit at the net. I was nervous, I was also trailing in the second but I knew it is not over till the last moment and I fought back and won 21-18. We can't expect easy points, we have to strategies our game focusing on each point. I was down in the decider and she was leading 16-12 like yesterday against Jindapol. So I am just happy I could fight back and win. It feels really great to be at the semifinal."

Asked what was her strategy against Okuhara, an opponent she has played 10 times now, losing five and winning as many times. "I have to be patient enough, and keep going, keep the shuttle in the court because she is a rally player, so have to be very consistent. She doesn't leave any shuttle, till the last minute, even if you hit the shuttle down, you can't relax and think it is over, you have to pick it up. You have to be ready always," Sindhu said.

The World No. 3 Indian, however, said quick recover will be the key tomorrow as she has played three three-game matches in the last three days. "I am playing well but it has been three-setters right from the start in this tournament and I really need to go back and recover well. It is not over because tomorrow going to be a big match. I have to give my 100 per cent," she said.

India chief coach Pullela Gopichand said he was happy to see Sindhu upset Okuhara today in another pulsating contest.

"It was a tough match and I think both of them are used to playing long matches,and it is good that she ended on the right side this time but Okuhara has been a fantastic fighter and it is great entertainment for the spectators," he said.

"Overall very happy to see Sindhu pull off a great win. They have had a very similar matches all along, and hopefully she will pull through in the next couple of days as well," he said.

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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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News Network
May 8,2020

Karachi, May 8: A cricket museum based in India has bought a bat auctioned by Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali to raise funds for the needy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azhar had put two of his precious belongings -- the bat he used to score 302 runs against the West Indies in a Test in 2016 and the jersey he wore during the 2017 Champions Trophy final win over India -- on an online auction to raise funds for the people affected by the deadly disease.

Both the bat and jersey were signed by members of the Pakistan team.

Azhar announced on social media that he had kept a base price of one million each for the bat and jersey and they had sold for 2.2 million.

He confirmed that Blades of Glory Cricket Museum based in Pune bought the bat by making a winning offer of Rs. 1 million for the bat.

Azhar said that the auction of the shirt also generated a lot of interest and Kash Villani, a Pakistani based in California, came up with the highest bid of Rs. 1.1 million for the shirt before the conclusion of the auction.

Another Pakistani based in New Jersey, Jamal Khan also donated Rs. 100,000 for the cause.

"I put two of my closest belongings on auction with base price of 1 million PKR each to support people suffering due to ongoing crisis. Auction starts now and will close on 11:59 PM 05 May, 2020," Azhar had tweeted.

Ali became the first international player to score a test triple century in Day/Night Test when he scored an unbeaten 302 against the West Indies team in UAE in 2016.

"The shirt is from 2017 Champions Trophy which we won, it has the signature of all the players which were present in the squad," Ali said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Both these things are close to my heart but if it can be used in the difficult times for the benefit of the people I will more than happy."

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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Veteran cricketer Mithali Raj was on Thursday demoted to Grade B from A in the BCCI central contracts while Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia were elevated to the middle bracket.

Mithali not being kept in the Rs 50 lakh category was expected as the 37-year-old retired from T20s in September last year. However, she remains the ODI captain and plans to carry on till the 2021 World Cup.

T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained his A category contract alongside Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.

Radha and Taniya, who both had a Grade C contract worth Rs 10 lakh last year, have now entered Grade B (Rs 30 lakh).

Players getting a central contract for the first time are 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol, who like the teenager is an attacking batter.

Shafali has attracted a lot of attention ever since making her India debut last year. She recently made 124 against Australia A in Brisbane. The opener will be expected to deliver in the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under.

Dropped from the list is Mona Meshram, who was in Grade C last year and hasn't played a single game in recent times.

The latest contracts run from October 2019 to September 2020.

Grade A (Rs 50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav.

Grade B (Rs 30 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.

Grade C (Rs 10 lakh): Veda Krishnamurthy, Punam Raut, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, D Hemlatha, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, Shafali Verma.

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