Mushfiqur, Mustafizur lead Bangladesh to Asia Cup final with India

Agencies
September 27, 2018

Abu Dhabi, Sept 27: The former skipper missed out a deserving century but still lifted Bangladesh from a precarious 12-3 to 239 all out in 49.5 overs before they kept Pakistan down to 202-9 in 50 overs at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Mashrafe Mortaza's team will now face defending champions India in the final in Dubai on Friday, with an opportuntiy to win the continental title for the first time.

Bangladesh's victory will upset millions of fans around the world who wanted another Indo-Pak clash as the two matches in the first and second round failed to live up to their billing, with India winning both in one-sided affairs.

But Bangladesh were worthy winners on Wednesday.

Bangladesh bowled with discipline with left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman leading the pack with 4-43 as Pakistan yet again batted poorly with only opener Imam-ul-Haq fighting hard through a laborious 105-ball 82.

Imam, who hit two fours and a six, held the innings together and added 67 for the fourth wicket with Shoaib Malik (30) and another 71 for the seventh wicket with Asif Ali (31).

However, both Imam and Asif fell in successive overs to give Bangladesh only their fifth win over Pakistan in 36 one-day internationals.

Pakistan got off to a disastrous start when opener Fakhar Zaman holed out off the fifth delivery of the first over, caught off spinner Mehidy Hasan.

Left-armer Mustafizur then removed Babar Azam (one) and captain Sarfraz Ahmed (10) to leave Pakistan in tatters at 18-3 before Malik and Imam brought some solidity in the chase.

Mortaza praised an all our effort, despite missing star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan through injury.

"The bowlers did a good job, especially when we didn't get the runs," said Mashrafe.

"But Mushi and Mithun batted really well and got us to a fighting total."

"We are proud of our fielding today. For a long time we haven't seen this quality of fielding in our team, so hopefully the boys can understand the value of good fielding."

Sarfraz was upset with team's showing in the six-team tournament.

"It's not a good feeling," said Sarfraz. "As a captain, I didn't do well. We didn't field well, our batting collapsed and as a team we didn't do well in any department.

"It seems the team which won the Champions Trophy last year didn't come here at all."

It was Rahim who built Bangladesh's innings after it also got off to the worst possible start.

Rahim faced 116 balls and added an invaluable 144 for the fourth wicket with Mithun (60) to help Bangladesh recover from a shaky 12-3 after they won the toss and and opted to bat.

Left-arm paceman Junaid Khan, who replaced Mohammad Amir, had jolted Bangladesh at the start, dismissing Liton Das (six), Soumya Sarkar (0) and Mominul Haque (five).

Junaid finished with 4-19 in his nine incisive overs.

Rahim hit nine boundaries before he was caught behind with just one needed for a second hundred in the tournament, following his 144 against Sri Lanka in the first round.

It was sheer bad luck that he fell in the 42nd over, caught behind off paceman Shaheen Shah who finished with 2-47. Rahim became the first Bangladeshi batsman to be dismissed for 99 in one-day cricket.

Mithun, who added 134 with Rahim against Sri Lanka, hit four boundaries in his 84-ball innings.

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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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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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