Manchester United's confidence returning, says Van Gaal after win at Derby

January 30, 2016

Derby, Jan 30: Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal lived to fight another day on Friday and said he would celebrate a confidence-boosting FA Cup win at Derby County with a bottle of wine provided by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Manchester

All eyes were on experienced Dutchman Van Gaal ahead of the fourth-round clash at Championship (second-tier) side Derby after mounting speculation that he faced the sack if they lost.

Clinical finishes from Wayne Rooney, Daley Blind and Juan Mata and some electrifying wing play from Anthony Martial lifted the gloom, however, and a well-deserved 3-1 win kept alive United's hopes of a first Cup triumph since 2004.

"I will go back home and wine will be ready. An expensive wine. It is from Ed Woodward," former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach Van Gaal, who on Thursday accused the media of "sacking" him three times already this season, told reporters. "I liked the performance in the first half, it had a lot of confidence and that is back which is very important. "The second half was even better, we created a lot of chances and we scored goals. But also we created more chances to score more goals. I am a very happy coach."

Van Gaal's side have managed only 12 Premier League goals at home this season and fans have become increasingly disgruntled by the style of football being produced.

A turgid 1-0 home defeat by Southampton last weekend left United 10 points adrift of leaders Leicester City and five behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who occupy the last spot that qualifies for the Champions League.

With former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho favourite to replace Van Gaal, should the axe fall, the pressure has begun to tell on the 64-year-old who said before kickoff on Friday that it had been hard to enjoy his job in recent weeks. What was clear on Friday, though, was that the players were still giving 100 percent for the cause.

Left-winger Martial was a threat all night, creating numerous chances, while Rooney's opening goal was a cracker. "I think in the first 20 minutes (Martial) was very bad. But after that he was fantastic," Van Gaal said.

"I am very happy that he is a Manchester United player because I think he shall be a great player for Manchester United for a long time." Van Gaal also praised the 5,000 United fans who cheered the team on, albeit with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Chennai, Mar 15: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni has left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) training camp following the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) amidst the coronavirus scare.

The former India skipper had joined the CSK's camp earlier this month in order to practice for the upcoming IPL season.

CSK's official handle tweeted a video of Dhoni and captioned the post as: "It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen".

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 had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

BCCI had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

On Friday, BCCI decided to postpone the IPL until April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, all the IPL franchises met in Mumbai to discuss as to how to go on with the tournament in the future.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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