I apologised because I didn't want any other Indian boxer to suffer: Sarita Devi

October 4, 2014

Oct 4: L Sarita Devi, who became a national hero for refusing what many see as a tainted bronze medal at the Asian Games, has said she hoped her outburst would result in better judging when the Boxing World Championships are held in South Korea later this year.

Sarita Devi“Korea is hosting it and I am hoping that my protest will make some difference to the standard of judging,” Sarita said. “I hope nobody feels wronged like I did. No boxer should go through this, we work so hard.”

Sarita appeared to tell in an interview that her Korean opponent Jina Park had admitted Sarita won the fight when they exchanged words during the medal ceremony.

“After I put the medal around her neck, she came and gave it back to me and said you win,” Sarita said.

However, it is possible that Park was referring to the bronze medal she was handing back to Sarita and not the fight.

Sarita lost a contentious semifinal in the women’s lightweight category at the Asian Games in Incheon after appearing to dominate the bout. The Indian later cried bitterly at the podium and refused to wear the bronze medal when it was presented to her.

She instead gave it to Park as a mark of protest during the ceremony, prompting the International Boxing

Association (AIBA) to initiate disciplinary proceedings against her.

Sarita later offered an "unconditional apology" to AIBA for her actions.

"I apologised because I did not want any other Indian boxer to suffer. I fight for my country and by apologising I have tried to ensure that no other Indian gets affected. I feel I was wronged," she said.

"We suffered a lot due to the federation's termination earlier; I didn't want anything new to affect our boxers."

Recalling her emotional moments at the podium, Sarita said she was not in control.

"I could not control myself on the podium. I offered her (Park) the medal because that's what she deserved. I deserved better. She came to me to return the bronze but I could not take it, I was too overwhelmed. She requested me to take it back," Sarita said.

"I am not angry with her. She was just fighting like me. The wrong was done by others. It was not her fault," she added.

Sarita also said that she no longer wanted to think about the fight and its fallout as it just made her sad. “

“Whatever has happened to me, I want to forget and focus on the future,” she said. “I want to prove myself at the World Championships and the Olympics.

“My broken heart has been healed thanks to all the support I have got from the people of India.”

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News Network
January 15,2020

Jan 15: Australia openers David Warner and Aaron Finch both struck superb centuries to complement their bowlers’ inspired display as the touring side handed out a 10-wicket thrashing to India in the opening one-day international in Mumbai.

India, world-ranked No 2 in ODIs, suffered a middle-order collapse on their way to being bundled out for 255 in the final over of their innings after Australia captain Finch won the toss and opted to field in the first of the three-match series.

Warner and Finch then smashed the Indian bowlers to all corners of the ground, picking up boundaries seemingly at will to chase down the target with 74 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.

Left-handed Warner successfully used the decision review system twice to overturn the umpire’s decision on his way to his 18th ODI century, hitting three sixes and 17 fours in his unbeaten knock of 128, from 112 balls. Finch completed his 16th century in the format, his unbeaten innings 110 from 114 features two sixes and 13 fours.

Earlier, Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who made his ODI debut in India 10 years ago, picked up three wickets to set up Australia’s victory. He struck the first blow with the new ball when he sent back Rohit Sharma for 10.

India managed to recover from that early loss through a second-wicket stand of 121 between opener Shikhar Dhawan, who top-scored for the hosts with 74, and KL Rahul. However left-arm spinner Ashton Agar broke the stand by dismissing Rahul for 47 before Agar caught Dhawan off Pat Cummins in the next over.

The hosts were hoping for a solid innings from captain Virat Kohli, who batted a position lower than his usual No 3 spot to accommodate Rahul, to get them out of trouble. However, he lasted only 14 balls, hitting leg-spinner Adam Zampa for a six before offering a return catch to the bowler on the very next delivery to be out for 16.

Starc then returned to the attack, removing Shreyas Iyer cheaply as India lost four wickets for 30 runs to be reduced to 164 for five. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja then fell just short of a half-century partnership, before the remaining four wickets falling for 42 runs, with Cummins and fast bowler Kane Richardson picking up two wickets apiece for Australia.

To compound India’s woes, wicketkeeper Pant suffered a concussion after being hit on his helmet by a short-pitched delivery from Cummins. The Indian cricket board said Pant, who did not come out to keep wicket and was replaced behind the stumps by Rahul, was under observation. The two sides will meet in Rajkot for the second ODI on Friday.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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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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