Malinga wants World T20 farewell gift for departing greats

April 6, 2014

MalingaMirpur, Apr 6: Winning the World Twenty20 title will be a perfect farewell gift for the departing Sri Lankan greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, stand-in skipper Lasith Malinga said on Saturday.

Sunday's final against India will be the last Twenty20 international for both former captains who have played a combined 265 tests and 781 ODIs, totalling 46,000-plus international runs.

Against India, Sri Lanka now have an opportunity to better their dismal final record in a global competition, having been beaten in the title showdown of the 50-over World Cup in 2007 and 2011 and at the World Twenty20 in 2009 and 2012.

Malinga sounded determined to make sure the departing duo tasted a World Cup triumph before their exit from Twenty20 internationals.

"We all know they are great players of international cricket," Malinga told reporters.

"I'm the captain now (and I'm) very happy to be in that position. They've helped the young players, (including) myself.

"We are looking forward to do our best for these two ... We have to do (something) special tomorrow."

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also paid tribute to the departing greats.

"They've served Sri Lankan cricket for a long time through all formats ... Sri Lanka will miss their presence in the dressing room," Dhoni said.

"They have between them in excess of 650 ODIs and lot of test matches. They got fair bit of experience and Sri Lanka will miss that.

"But every good thing comes to an end, they will have to get over it and get someone to fill this space."

Malinga confirmed he would lead Sri Lanka in the final even if regular Twenty20 skipper Dinesh Chandimal, replaced by Lahiru Thirimanne in the last two matches, returns to the playing XI.

"Chandimal is a good captain and played a few matches. We all know he is an up-and-coming good player. (But) I think Lahiru Thirimanne had grabbed his chance and proved how good he is," Malinga said.

Sunday's contest may eventually boil down to a battle between India's in-form batsmen and the Sri Lankan bowlers, who would have to find a way to silence Virat Kohli whose red-hot form has made him the tournament's top scorer.

"We all know he is a great player. (To dismiss) every great player, a bowler needs just a single ball," Malinga said.

"I have a good feeling about me and my team that someone from my side will bowl that ball tomorrow.

"We need to plan for full 20 overs. They have six-seven good batsmen and we have to think about them all. We won't think about a particular batsman we have to get out. We need to bowl good 20 overs," added the maverick paceman with blond-tinted hair and a sling-shot action.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Former opener Gautam Gambhir is mighty impressed with the way K.L. Rahul batted during India's comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I and said it amazes him why the right-handed batsman can't play the same way in Tests. On Tuesday, Rahul top-scored with a 32-ball 45 as India chased down the meagre target of 143 with utmost ease at the Holkar Stadium.

"Rahul is in unbelievable form. It amazes me every time I see Rahul bat that why didn't he play the same way in Test cricket," Gambhir told the host broadcasters. "It's not about only white-ball cricket; it is about Test cricket too. He just got into a shell too much. With the kind of quality he posses, he is someone who can get you a 50-ball 100 in Test cricket as well. The kind of shots he has is superb," he added.

Shikhar Dhawan, who is making a return to the team after an injury lay-off, also contributed with a "rusty" 30-ball 32. Both Dhawan and Rahul are virtually playing for the second opener's slot for the World T20, with Rohit Sharma set to be one.

And Gambhir feels going by the current form, Rahul should be opening the batting alongside Rohit in Australia. "You can't compare IPL to international cricket. When you're playing for Delhi Capitals, you know there's no one waiting for the opportunity, but when you're playing for the country and you know there's someone who's actually can replace you, there'll always be pressure. And today it was shown who's in better form," Gambhir said.

The cricketer-turned-politician, however, exuded confidence that Dhawan will bounce back strongly in the next game. "Shikhar Dhawan looked rusty but it's a good thing that he got some runs under his belt. It will help him when he walks out to bat in the next game. Had he got out early, the pressure would have been more," he said.

India will play Sri Lanka in the final T20I in Pune on Friday before taking on Australia in a three-match ODI series beginning January 14 in Mumbai.

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Agencies
January 6,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 6: 'The Irishman,' and 'Two Popes' were shut out from the winners list despite getting multiple nominations, the movies didn't win a single award at the Golden Globes Award held on Sunday (local time). Other movies in the list include 'Bombshell,' 'Dolemite Is My Name,' 'Harriet,' 'Jojo Rabbit,' 'Knives Out' and 'Little Women.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Irishman' may have gone into the 2020 Golden Globes with the second-highest number of film nominations, tied with 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' with five nods, but Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated mob epic for Netflix was completely shut out at the award ceremony.

Netflix landed the most film nominations of any company with 17 mentions, but it won only one award which is the best-supporting actress for 'Marriage Story's' Laura Dern. Netflix's nominated films 'Dolemite Is My Name' and 'The Two Popes' was tied with 'Joker' with four mentions each and failed to grab any awards.

'Dolemite Is My Name' star Eddie Murphy was expected by a number of pundits to win for best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy.

'Bombshell', 'Harriet',' Frozen 2', 'Jojo Rabbit', 'Knives Out', 'The Lion King', 'Little Women' and 'Pain and Glory' are among the other films that received multiple nominations but didn't win a single award.

On the TV side, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' tied in the race to most small-screen nominations with 'Chernobyl' and 'The Crown' with four nominations, and 'The Crown' won only one award, for star Olivia Colman.

The three-time nominees 'Barry', 'Big Little Lies', 'The Kominsky Method' and 'The Morning Show' also didn't grab any award. 'Catch-22', 'Killing Eve', 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and 'The Politician' who were two-time nominees that were also iced out.

'Hustlers' star Jennifer Lopez failed to take home the best-supporting actress award as she was predicted to win the award by a number of pundits. Billy porter also failed to make history with the best drama actor win for his role on 'Pose,' if he would've won the award, he reportedly would have been the first openly gay African-American to win that award.

'Chernobyl' won two of its four nominations. Despite that, star Jared Harris didn't win the best actor in a limited series Globe which was predicted by many prognosticators. The award was bagged by Russell Crowe for his portrayal of Roger Ailes in 'The Loudest Voice.' But the star was absent from the ceremony.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Jun 2: Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has spoken strongly against the killing if George Floyd in USA, and has now urged the ICC & all the other boards in the world to come together and fight the evil.

In a series of tweets Sammy wrote how the blacks have been suffering for a long time.

“For too long black people have suffered. I’m all the way in St Lucia and I’m frustrated If you see me as a teammate then you see #GeorgeFloyd Can you be part of the change by showing your support. #BlackLivesMatter,” Sammy wrote.

He also wrote, “@ICC and all the other boards are you guys not seeing what’s happening to ppl like me? Are you not gonna speak against the social injustice against my kind. This is not only about America. This happens everyday #BlackLivesMatter now is not the time to be silent. I wanna hear u.”

“Right now if the cricket world not standing against the injustice against people of color after seeing that last video of that foot down the next of my brother you are also part of the problem.”

Earlier, West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle has said racism exists in cricket too, saying he gets the 'end of the stick' even within teams.

"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! I have travelled the globe and experience racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," Gayle wrote in his Instagram story.

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