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NBA star Brook Lopez bats for IPL like league in India

August 9, 2018

Orlando, Aug 9: Milwaukee Bucks centre Brook Lopez feels that an IPL like the professional league to enhance the popularity of basketball in India.

During his visit to India in May earlier this year, former LA Lakers star Lopez took out time to witness an IPL match of Mumbai Indians.

"India needs a professional basketball league, just like Indian version of NBA or IPL. While I was in India I watched an IPL match and noticed the craze for cricket and the league. I think in India, the interest for basketball is there, but it needs something like an IPL," Lopez told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the Jr NBA World Championships here.

"India needs to create platform or competitive basketball. I think India needs to have more situations like the Jr NBA Academy, give kids a chance to watch the games, see NBA stars play and think this is what I want to do to be a basketball player," he added.

The Milwaukee Bucks star emphasized on the need to give more emphasis to the grassroot level.

"India need to have more basktball courts. They need the foundation. There needs to be more of these Jr NBA academies. The kids need more access to coaching, trainers etc," Lopez said.

"India need more situations like the Jr NBA Academy where kids can come, play and work together, build the foundation."

NBA's initiative to set up a Junior NBA Academy in India has been yielding positive results for the growth of the sport as two Indian teams – one boys and one girls – are currently representing the country in the inaugural Under-14 Jr NBA World Championship here.

There is a thought among a section of people back home is that Indians are not suited for the game because of their body types but Lopez begs to differ.

Basketball is best suited for tall, lanky players, which India lacks but Lopez said the game has evolved over the years and body types hardly matters now.

"I don't think height in general has anything to do with basketball. You look at the way the NBA is trending now. There are a lot of smaller yet faster players now," he said.

"When I talked about the diversity in India, I was surprised by looking at the kids, the different kinds of body types in kids from all over India. There is a lot of opportunity for India to have different type of players."

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News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Hamilton, Jan 30: Caught unaware about the Super Over scenario, Rohit Sharma took five minutes to “find” his abdomen guard after the third T20 International against New Zealand had ended in a tie on Wednesday.

The India vice-captain said the team had almost given up with New Zealand going great guns at one point.

“Everything was packed. All my stuff was inside my bag. I had to get it out. It literally took me five minutes to find my abdomen guard because I didn’t know where it was,” Rohit said.

“I mean we never thought it would go to the Super Over, the way they were batting at one point. It looked like they could easily win the game,” he added.

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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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