Indian men and women teams enter hockey 5s final of Youth Olympics

Agencies
October 14, 2018

Buenos Aires, Oct 14: The Indian men's and women's teams advanced to the final of hockey 5s competition in the Youth Olympics after registering emphatic wins over their respective opponents.

India defeated hosts Argentina 3-1 in the men's semifinal match on Saturday while the women's team beat China 3-0 in their last-four match.

The Indian men face Malaysia in the summit clash while their women counterparts take on hosts Argentina in the final.

This is the first time India is taking part in a hockey competition in the Youth Olympics. The country did not feature in the earlier two editions.

Hockey 5s, the five-a-side version, is played on a pitch smaller than the normal 11-player game and it was introduced in the 2014 Singapore Youth Olympics.

In the men's semifinal match, Sudeep Chirmako (12th and 18th minute) and Rahul Kumar Rajbhar (3th) scored for India while captain Facundo Zarate found the target for Argentina.

India took the lead through Rahul Kumar but Argentina were quick to equalise as they scored through Facundo Zarate in the 4th minute.

Both the teams had chances in the remaining six minutes of the first period but their goalkeepers made some fine saves to keep the scores locked at 1-1 at half-time.

In the second period, India maintained pressure and benefited from it as they took the lead in the 12th minute through Sudeep Chirmako who produced a fine finish to swing the match in India's favour.

Indian goalkeeper Prashant Chauhan kept his team in the lead as he was called into action again in the next few minutes to deny the hosts of an equaliser.

Indian attackers also created chances and were successful again in the 18th minute as Sudeep Chirmako scored his second goal of the match to give a two-goal advantage for his side.

Argentina tried to make a comeback in the dying minutes but the Indians stood firm and denied the home side any more goal.

In the women's semifinal, India outplayed their Chinese opponents with goals coming from Mumtaz Khan (1st minute), Reet (5th) and Lalremsiami (13th).

India dominated the match right from the start as they put pressure on the Chinese defence by keeping possession.

The Indian team was rewarded for their efforts as Mumtaz Khan scored just after 52 seconds. Even after that, India kept the possession and created several chances from inside and outside the 11-metres area.

The 5th minute saw Indian midfielder Reet make a fierce shot from the half-way line, which beat the Chinese goalkeeper Xinyi Zhu on her right and gave her side a 2-0 lead.

China tried to create opportunities in the remaining few minutes but Indian defenders were up to their task as their side took the two-goal advantage into the half-time break.

India dominated the second period as well, finding space in the opposition's half and creating chances for themselves.

In the 13th minute, it was forward Lalremsiami who was stopped from taking a shot by a Chinese player, which meant that India were awarded a Penalty Challenge. Lalremsiami converted it as she scored her eighth goal of the competition and gave India a 3-0 lead.

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of MS Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves.

"You watch MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career," he added.

Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, but he truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005 when he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Vishakapatnam.

He is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He first led an inexperienced Indian side to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. He then took over ODI captaincy, but he had to wait for leading the Test side as Anil Kumble was doing the duties in the longest format.

Over his career, Dhoni has been reowned for his finishing skills and he is often viewed as the best finisher that the game has ever seen.

In December 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Then in 2017, Dhoni handed over the captaincy reins to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni recently had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place in the list of BCCI's centrally contracted players from October 2019 to September 2020.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup against Australia, India spinner Poonam Yadav said that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has given her a lot of support.

"Harmanpreet has been of immense support. When I got hit for a six in the first over, she came to me and said, 'Poonam, you're one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better of you'," Poonam said.

The 28-year-old experienced bowler has played 68 shortest format games for India and taken 94 wickets at an average of 22.66.

She has been in devastating form throughout the tournament and has bagged nine wickets so far.

"So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should be able to make a comeback," she said.

"I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn't look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the final," she added.

In the opening game against Australia at Sydney Showground, Poonam came within a whisker of the third hat-trick in Women's T20 World Cup history, dismissing Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry before Jess Jonassen was dropped.

The final of the tournament will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 8 -- International Women's Day.

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Agencies
May 22,2020

India's cricket board will not push for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia to be postponed but would consider staging the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October/November slot if it becomes available, a senior BCCI official has told Reuters.

This year's IPL, which is worth almost $530 million to the BCCI, has been indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic while the World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18, is also in jeopardy.

Reports in Australian media have suggested India's influential board may look to push for the World Cup to be postponed to open up a window for the IPL.

World Cup contingency plans are on the agenda at next week's International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting but BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal said India would not be recommending it be pushed back.

"Why should the BCCI suggest postponing the Twenty20 World Cup?" Dhumal told Reuters by telephone.

"We'll discuss it in the meeting and whatever is appropriate, (the ICC) will take a call.

"If the Australia government announces that the tournament will happen and Cricket Australia is confident they can handle it, it will be their call. BCCI would not suggest anything."

While Australia has seen new infections of the novel coronavirus slow to a trickle and is gradually easing travel curbs and social distancing restrictions, hosting a 16-team World Cup would be a Herculean task for Cricket Australia.

Dhumal questioned whether the tournament should go ahead if it had to be played without spectators and said the Australian government would play a key role in any decision.

"It all depends on what the Australian government says on this - whether they'd allow so may teams to come and play the tournament," he added.

"Will it make sense to play games without spectators? Will it make sense for CA to stage such a tournament like that? It's their call."

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts was guarded about the prospects of staging the tournament as scheduled on Friday.

"We don't have clarity on that one, yet. But as the situation continues to improve, you never know what might be possible," he said.

"It's ultimately a decision for the ICC."

The ICC has said it was unlikely to make a final call on the fate of the World Cup until August but some boards are in the process of making contingency plans in the event of a postponement.

While the BCCI recognised an open October-November window would suit the IPL, Dhumal said there was no point in making plans until there was some certainty about the World Cup.

"If we have the window available, and depending on what all can be organised, we'll decide accordingly," he added. "We can't presume that it's not happening and go on planning."

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