Nothing wrong in Bengal government's KKR felicitation: Shah Rukh Khan

May 30, 2012

Mamatha_KKR

Kolkata, May 30: Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, also the state's brand ambassador, on Tuesday said there was "nothing wrong" in the grand felicitation organised by the state government for his IPL-5 winning team.


As Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee organised the fete involving Governor M K Narayanan and spent lavishly on the champions KKR side by giving them golden lockets, many ridiculed the move as it had been organised for a club team.


The team members were also showered with gifts from the hosts Cricket Association of Bengal who gifted the 17 members with 10-gram gold chain each including mememtos. Shah Rukh, however, stood by Banerjee and said there was nothing wrong in it.

"There is no harm in being happy and sharing happiness. Nobody should criticise it. It's alright to be happy. Let's not be political. It has been done because we all are happy. There is nothing wrong if we bring a bit of happiness to the city of joy," he said.


Shah Rukh said their celebrations were befitting as they had waited long for the moment.


"It is a humble moment, I must say. For the last four seasons, all the KKR players and our families were moving with a desire to win the cup.


"We had all come from different states - some had come from Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi - and made this city our home. So we wanted to win the hearts of the Kolkatans. Today, I felt that I had won the heart of Kolkata," the actor said.


Even Governor Narayanan joined in the celebrations and said, "Today is the true 'paribartan' (change) that the Chief Minister had ushered in last year."


The city had come to standstill in the morning as all the roads led to the Eden Gardens where the team's victory parade beginning from Hazra had culminated via a stop over at the Writers' Building.


About one lakh came on streets to cheer for the team as the 67,000 capacity wore a jam-packed look during the one-hour celebration that was no smaller than India's World Cup victory lap at the Wankhede last year.


With capacity crowd inside the gates had to be closed as about 30,000 had to wait outside as the programme ended with chaos and mayhem with several injured in the mob-like atmosphere.


Knight Riders tasted first success in five outings when they defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in the IPL summit clash on May 27 to be crowned IPL-5 champions.




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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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News Network
July 25,2020

New Delhi, Jul 25: Former India spinner Anil Kumble said that he has never understood why people compared him with Australia's Shane Warne.

Kumble was doing an Instagram live session with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the spinner also talked about being the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.

"It feels really wonderful to finish with these many wickets. I never bothered about statistics or what my average should be, I wanted to bowl the whole day and be the one to take wickets. To finish as the third-highest wicket-taker in Tests alongside Murali and Warne is very special. All three of us played in the same era, there were a lot of comparisons, I do not know why people compared me with Warne. Warne was someone really different and he was on a different plane," Kumble told Mbangwa during the interaction.
"These two guys could spin the ball on any surface so it became really difficult for me when they started comparing me with Warne and Murali. I learnt a lot by watching them both bowl," he added.

The Indian spinner announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008. He finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

Kumble is the second bowler in the history of international cricket after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He had achieved the feat against Pakistan in 1999 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. Kumble had bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs in the second innings of the Test match.
Kumble will be coaching Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

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News Network
April 14,2020

Melbourne, Apr 14: As all sporting action across the world has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australian bowlers are pondering as to how Indian skipper Virat Kohli might play in front of no spectators.

India and Australia are scheduled to play a four-match Test series later this year, and it is being speculated that the series might end up taking place without any crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon on Tuesday said that it would be interesting to see how Kohli goes about it if he does not get a chance to get the audience behind him.

"He is probably good enough to adapt to any scenario. But I was talking to Mitch Starc the other day and we actually said that if we are playing with no crowd, it'll be quite amazing to see Virat trying to rev up the empty seats," cricket.com.au quoted Lyon as saying.

"It is going to be a little bit different, but Virat is a superstar. He will be able to adapt to any climate that we are able to play in," he added.
During the 2018-19 series, India managed to defeat Australia in Australia for the first time in a Test series.

Australia, at that time were without the services of David Warner and Steve Smith. However, the series later this year promises to be a mouth-watering prospect.

"I am excited about the prospect of India coming out to Australia, it's up there with the biggest series alongside the Ashes. They are an absolute powerhouse of the cricket world, and to have those guys out here is going to be fantastic. Playing in front of crowds or no crowds is out of our control, we have got to follow the advice of all the amazing medical people around the world," Lyon said.

"I have not thought about no crowds or massive crowds, it is just about the opportunity of playing against India again. They had the wood over us last time they came over here but we are a much stronger Australian cricket side at the moment, and I am just unbelievably excited about playing them here at home," he added.

Lyon was slated to represent Hampshire in County Championship this year, however, his stint was called off last week due to COVID-19.
He is Australia's third-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game as he has total of 390 wickets in Test cricket.

Lyon was last seen in action in the Big Bash League for Sydney Sixers.

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