India get Olympic boost with Azlan Shah bronze

June 4, 2012
hockey_copy

India ended a three-match losing streak against Great Britain by beating them 3-1 at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on Sunday to secure a bronze medal, which is exactly the kind of boost Michael Nobbs's men needed ahead of the Olympics in July-August.

India went into the match having lost to the Britons thrice - twice at the London Olympics test event and once in the league phase here. But the team showed no nerves whatsoever in a display of attacking hockey to exact a sweet revenge.

Shivendra Singh, Sandeep Singh and Tushar Khandker were on the score sheet for India, after Ashley Jackson had put his team ahead in the first half which ended at 1-0 in favour of Great Britain.

India started off with a dominating intent, with Shivendra getting two opportunities in the first 10 minutes to put his team ahead. But on both the occasions, the final touch eluded the star Indian striker. Continuous forays into the British circle resulted in a penalty corner for India, but Danish Mujtaba erred with his stop and the opportunity was wasted.

Shivendra and SK Uthappa came close to scoring past the 15-minute mark but were again left to rue a missed chance. Great Britain got their first penalty corner, against the run of play, in the last minute of the first half, which Jackson converted neatly to put his team in the lead.

Jackson almost scored again in the opening minutes of the second half but the shot was deflected wide by a rushing Indian defence.

India then started getting a few moves together that gave them an equaliser through Shivendra in the 43rd minute. Shivendra was the beneficiary of a pass from Uthappa, who made the goal possible with an amazing display of speed, skill and control. A second penalty corner came India's way in the 52nd minute that put them ahead, courtesy the conversion by Sandeep.

In a desperate move to find the equaliser, the Britishers took their goalkeeper off in the last three minutes and replaced him with another attacker up front. However, the move proved fatal as Sandeep's cheeky scoop in the 69th minute found an unmarked Khandker lurking in the circle, and he just had to tap the ball into the empty goal to make it 3-1.


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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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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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News Network
February 29,2020

Feb 29: India were all out for 242 in their first innings following a stunning battling collapse, triggered by paceman Kyle Jamieson on the opening day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, here on Saturday.

India were steady at 194 for five at tea but lost wickets in quick succession after the play resumed. Jamieson returned figures of 14-3-45-5.

Hanuma Vihari top-scored for India with his combative 55 while Prithvi Shaw (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (54) hit contrasting half-centuries.

Virat Kohli's (3) poor run continued while his deputy Ajikya Rahane (7) also fell cheaply.

India lost last five wickets for 48 runs, of which 26 were contributed by last-wicket pair of Mohammed Shami (16) and Jasprit Bumrah (10).

Brief Scores:

India 1st innings: 242 all out in 63 overs. (H Vihari 55, P Shaw 54, C Pujara 54 batting; Kyle Jamieson 5/45, Tim Southee 2/38, ).

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