Kabaddi World Cup 2016: India hammer Argentina; Iran, South Korea book semi-final berths

October 16, 2016

Ahmedabad, Oct 16: India cruised to a comfortable 74-20 win over Argentina as the home raiders flexed their muscles to notch a Kabaddi World Cup record 54-point margin win at the TransStadia in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

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India hardly broke sweat as Rahul Chaudhari and Ajay Thakur combined to score 25 raid points between them. Manjeet Chhillar and Surender attained a high five each to score 11 points to lead India's charge.

India are second in group B with 16 points from three games whereas bottom-placed Argentina are yet to open their account after four games.

On Saturday, it was one way traffic as India created a record of most tackles in a World Cup match. India made a swift start and led 3-0 after three minutes. Nahuel Villamayor opened Argentina's account in the second minute to trail 1-3.

Pardeep and Sandeep Narwal scored a point apiece as India led 6-1 before Thakur made a successful raid in the fifth minute to help extend India's led to 9-3. The hosts immediately inflicted an all out in the sixth minute to lead 12-3.

Thakur led the scoring charts for India in the first half and scored 11 points. Surjeet was a rock at the back for India and achieved a high five in the first half as India inflicted another all out in the 19th minute to lead 35-11.

Argentina were no match for India and struggled to cope with India's superiority in all departments. Narwal scored five points for India in the first half as India led 36-13 at the break.

After the break, Thakur attained a super ten in the 22nd minute as India led 38-13. India didn't relent at any point in the second half as they led 41-13 after 24 minutes. An all out was again inflicted by the home boys in the 25th minute to take the lead to 45-13. Chaudhari came on as a substitute on the 26th minute to score his first point as India led 47-15.

He scored two more points in the 28th minute to give India 50-15 lead.

Just after Villamayor bagged seven points for Argentina in the 30th minute, India did not lose any time to inflict another all out to extend their lead to 58-15.

With less than four minutes to go for the final hooter, India inflicted yet another all out to lead 68-17.

Chaudhari scored 10 points in the second half alone as Argentina struggled to cope with him.

India led 73-19 as Kiran Parmar scored with a two-point raid in the 40th minute to finally thrash the South American nation with a record margin.

Iran stave off late Japanese fightback to reach semi-finals

Iran notched a tough 38-34 win over Japan to continue their unbeaten run at the Kabaddi World Cup at the TransStadia Arena in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Iran survived a scare against Japan to emerge eventual winners and remain on top of Group B with 20 points from four outings. Japan, on the other hand, are second with 10 points from three games.

On Saturday, Iran began brightly and led 6-1 after six minutes as Japan struggled to get a foothold in the game.

Considered as one of the title favourites, Iran looked in brilliant form as they barely gave Japan an inch in the game. Kazuohiro Takano scored Japan's second point as they trailed 2-12 in the ninth minute.

Meraj Sheykh then added four points to help Iran dominate the first half and go 19-9 up at the break.

Iran began the second half in the same dominating style as Sheykh's raid culminated into an all out with Iran leading 26-9 after 23 minutes.

Japan put up a strong fight in the second half and matched Iran for the last 20 minutes before Iran forced another all out in the 33rd minute to lead 35-18.

Japan mounted a strong comeback in the last seven minutes as they scored 10 points in a row to trail 28-35 in the 37th minute. Masayuki Shimokawa scored eight points for Japan in a valiantly attempt to take his team over the line.

In the end, Iran used their experience and held their nerves to fight back against Japan's late show before wrapping up the tie in their favour.

South Korea storm into semi-finals by mauling Australia

South Korea assured themselves of a semi-final berth after comfortably beating Australia 63-25 in a Pool A contest of the Kabaddi World Cup here on Saturday.

It was South Korea's fourth successive win in the tournament which they achieved without their star player Jang Kun Lee. Despite his absence, the Koreans put up a commendable show with Cheol Gyu Shin bagging 11 points and Dong Gyu Kim scoring 10 points.

South Korea are now top of Group A with 20 points from four games while Australia are fifth in and out of the race to the semi-finals.

On Saturday, South Korea began with a bang and scored three points with a super raid by Shin. Australia suffered an all out in the fourth minute to trail 2-10. The Koreans kept mounting the pressure to lead 16-4 after nine minutes as Shin added another five points.

Trailing 6-18, Australia forced a super tackle in the 12th minute but Korea immediately bounced back to inflict the second all out of the match in the 14th minute to extend their lead to 23-9.

Kim scored with a two-point raid in the 15th minute as Korea led 26-10. For Australia, Thomas Sharp scored four raid points in the first half but that took them nowhere near their Asian rivals' scoreline which Kim increased to 30-14.

Korea began the second half in the same fashion to increase the lead to 33-16. Campbell scored with a super raid in the 25th minute as Australia trailed 19-33. In the next minute, Korea forced a super tackle to take the lead to 35-19.

Australia suffered another all out in the 34th minute as they trailed 23-47 before Korea scored eight points in a row to take it further to 53-25.

Jae Cheol Lee scored with a super raid in the 39th minute as Korea kept on increasing its lead to 58-25. The Koreans thereafter wrapped up the match with an easy victory margin of 38 points as the final scoreline read 63-25.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Jan 6: Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Dhawan is returning to international cricket after a long gap. During the senior left-handed batsman's absence, Rahul has emerged as one of the top contenders for the opener's slot in limited-overs cricket.

"Runs against SL (Sri Lanka) don't count. If I was chairman of selectors, I won't pick Dhawan in the T20 WC squad. There is no competition between him and Rahul. Only one winner," Srikkanth said on Star Sports.

Before the series, the 34-year-old Dhawan said that he is looking forward to a "new start" in a new year and wants to win the World Cup for India.

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Agencies
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Mumbai, Jan 12: India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will receive the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award for his exploits in international cricket in the 2018-19 season, the BCCI announced on Sunday.

The world's leading pacer will be honoured during the BCCI Annual Awards here on Sunday.

The world's No. 1 ODI bowler made his Test debut during India's tour of South Africa in January 2018 and has not looked back since. He picked up a five-wicket haul in South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies becoming the first and only Asian bowler to achieve the feat.

He played a stellar role in the historic 2-1 Test series win in Australia, India's first Down Under and which helped them retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy. While Bumrah nets the biggest prize in the men's category, Poonam Yadav will claim the top prize in women's section and will be awarded the best international cricketer.

The award will be another feather in the leg-spinner's cap who recently received the Arjuna Award. Former India captains Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra will be presented with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award and the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for women respectively.

A member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, Srikkanth took on the fearsome West Indies fast bowlers and scored an attacking 38, the top individual score in the low-scoring final at the Lord's. He also captained India and post-retirement served as the chief selector and it was during his tenure that the 2011 World Cup squad was picked.

Anjum is one of the finest batswomen and the first Indian to play 100 ODIs. In a career spanning 17 years, Anjum represented India in four 50-over World Cups and two T20 World Cup (played in one).

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said, "The BCCI Awards is our way of recognising the finest on-field performances right from the age group to senior level and also honour our legends.

"It will be a special evening in Mumbai as we will also have the 7th MAK Pataudi lecture and I am delighted to inform that it will be Virender Sehwag, who will address the gathering."

Board secretary Jay Shah said, "The BCCI Awards are an important feature in India's cricketing calendar, a melange of aspiration and inspiration. "We wanted to make Naman bigger and better and have introduced four new categories – highest run-getter and wicket-takers in WODIs and best international debut men and women – from this year. A total of 25 awards will be presented."

Arun Singh Dhumal, the board's treasurer, said, "Right from domestic to international level, Indian Cricket has had a memorable 2018-19 season. We have started the year on the right note with Team India completing a convincing series win against Sri Lanka and they will be in attendance. The U-19 team is in South Africa for the World Cup and all eyes will be on the stars of tomorrow. It will be a special evening and I congratulate the award winners".

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