Indian women eye clean sweep against England

Agencies
February 27, 2019

Mumbai, Feb 27: The series already in the bag, a confident India will look to complete a whitewash when they take on a beleaguered England in the third and final women's One-day International here Thursday.

The Mithali Raj-led outfit had thrashed the reigning World Champions by 66 runs in the opening ODI and then followed it up with a dominating seven-wicket win in the second game to seal the three-match series with a 2-0 unassailable lead.

More importantly, India grabbed four crucial points in the ICC Women's championship as the race for securing direct qualification spots for the 2021 World Cup heats up.

With two more points up for grabs, the hosts would not like to experiment by making any changes to the line-up.

India seem to have found the winning momentum under new coach W V Raman as they ticked most boxes in the last two games.

Prolific opener Smriti Mandhana, who is the current ICC cricketer of the year, has been in splendid form. Her classy 63 in the last game helped the hosts to clinch the match and the series.

Veteran Mithali Raj, who is the leading run-getter in ODIs, has scores of 44 and 47 in the last two games. Both Mandhana and her skipper would like to continue from where they left.

Experienced Punam Raut, who made a comeback to the ODI side, justified her selection over Harleen Deol, by chipping in with a handy 32.

Raut's inclusion seems to have sorted out the middle-order woes. But she and young opener Jemimah Rodrigues, both from Mumbai, need to convert their starts into bigger scores.

The likes of Deepti Sharma, Mona Meshram and wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia also need to chip in if the top-order falters.

The Indian bowlers - both seamers and spinners -- have been impressive. Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami (with 5 wickets in the rubber) and Shikha Pandey (6 wickets) have troubled the visitors in the first two games at the Wankhede stadium here.

England have found it difficult to face the Indian spin trio of Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav and Ekta Bisht.

Slow left-arm orthodox bowler Bisht spun the visitors to their doom with a four-wicket haul in game one. 

The struggling England side also suffered a blow after all-rounder Sophie Ecclestone was ruled out of the third ODI and remainder of the tour due to a fractured hand.

The visitors will play for pride and aim to bag the two crucial points as part of the ICC Championship before heading to the three-match T20I series in Guwahati next month.

Apart from all-rounder Natalie Sciver and skipper Heather Knight, the other batters have largely performed below par.

On the bowling front, the visiting team's pacers Anya Shrubsole, Georgia Elwiss and Kathrine Brunt have the wherewithal to trouble the hosts. 

The hosts, on their current form, once again start as front runners but England could spring a surprise and prevent a clean sweep by India.

Teams (from): 

India Women: Mithali Raj (C), Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (WK), R Kalpana (WK), Mona Meshram, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Mansi Joshi, Punam Raut, Harleen Deol.

England Women: Heather Knight (C), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Alex Hartley, Amy Jones, Laura Marsh, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor (WK), Lauren Winfield and Danni Wyatt. 

Match starts at 9 AM.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Bollywood celebrities have taken it to their social media platforms to express their excitement and shared their thoughts.

Taking to Twitter handle, senior Bollywood actor Anupam Kher extended his best wishes to his legion of followers for the Ram Janmabhoomi Pujan.

While 'Masti' actor Riteish Deshmukh, on the micro-blogging site tweeted multiple hashtag 'Jai Shree Ram' to mark the historic day.

'Queen' actor, Kangana Ranaut's official Twitter handle team wrote: "What could not happen in 500 years happened this year.... this is not picture of the day but the moment of many centuries #JaiShreeRam #RamMandirAyodhya"

Actor Kirron Kher, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, filmmaker Ashok Pandit and others also marked the day and expressed their excitement.

Earlier, evergreen star Hema Malini, through an audio recording congratulated the devotees of Lord Ram on the occasion.

The Mathura MP expressed her excitement on the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the much-awaited Ram Temple.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the special Bhoomi Poojan at Ayodhya ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony.

He also released a commemorative postage stamp on 'Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir'. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had offered prayers at the Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Jan 30: Three days after Los Angeles basketball great Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others perished in a helicopter crash, his wife, Vanessa, broke her silence with an Instagram message saying she was “completely devastated” by their loss.

The social media text was posted alongside a recent family photo of Kobe and Vanessa Bryant with all four of their daughters - Gianna, who died with her father, along with the couple’s eldest, Natalia, 17, 3-year-old Bianka, and the youngest, Capri, born in June 2019.

Kobe Bryant and the couple’s second daughter, knicknamed Gigi, died on Sunday when the helicopter they were flying in en route to the Mamba Sports Academy for a girl’s basketball tournament crashed in foggy weather on a hillside northwest of Los Angeles.

Gianna Bryant was a member of the Mamba team due to compete that day. Her father, who retired from the National Basketball Association in 2016 after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, was the coach of his daughter’s team. ]

The pilot and six more passengers were also killed - two other 13-year-old girls involved in the tournament, three of their parents and another coach. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The death of Bryant, 41, an 18-time NBA all-star, five-time Lakers champion and one of the world’s most admired sports figures, unleashed an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans, fellow athletes and politicians around the globe.

“My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time,” Vanessa Bryant, 37, a former model, wrote on her Instagram account.

“We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri,” she added.

The message goes on to say: “We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now.

“I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”

She directed anyone wishing to “further Kobe and Gianna’s legacy in youth sports” to visit the site MambaSports Foundation.org.

There has been no word yet on funeral arrangements.

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