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Selectors to pick Team India for ODI tour of Sri Lanka on Wednesday

July 4, 2012

sri_lankan_tourThe long holiday is over and it's time for the Indian cricket team to get back to work. The first assignment coming up is a short trip to Sri Lanka towards the end of July, five one-dayers and a Twenty20, for which the selectors will pick a squad in Mumbai on Wednesday.


Leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar is holidaying and senior pacer Zaheer Khan is back to full fitness. Tendulkar's availability for this series and whether or not to give Zaheer an opportunity to warm up on this quiet tour should figure in the discussions among the wise men. Regardless of what the selectors decide, Zaheer himself should be looking forward to the trip.


In the absence of extreme media attention, because of the ongoing Wimbledon and the upcoming Olympics, it will be a good opportunity for the bowler to get back to match fitness. That should mean selectors picking him without much debate alongside Nagpur pacer Umesh Yadav, who had missed out on the Asia Cup in March this year but was in good form during the IPL that followed.


If Tendulkar chooses to rest, Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane should certainly come on board. His performance this IPL season was extremely impressive and batting alongside Rahul Dravid for Rajasthan Royals did the youngster's confidence a world of good.


However, Rahane is unlikely to get his usual opener's slot. Gautam Gambhir, riding high on the IPL victory, will remain the first-choice opener along with Virender Sehwag who missed out on the Asia Cup and is most likely to make a return.


Both Sehwag and Gambhir were in extremely good form during the IPL which will mean Rahane having to settle for the No. 3 slot. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni make the middle order.


Manoj Tiwary may miss out because of Sehwag's return while his continuing lack of form is likely to keep Yusuf Pathan on the sidelines. Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja too has struggled but the option of a left-arm spinner that he brings to the table may coax selectors into picking him. If that happens, Jadeja will be the one responsible for keeping Irfan Pathan - also vying for the allrounder's slot - out of contention.


Among the other spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin - currently India's premier off-spinner, and Rahul Sharma whose leg-breaks can come in handy, fill the slots.


Two additional pacers - a choice between R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar and Ashok Dinda - should settle the final squad of 15. Considering that India head to an international assignment after a rare lengthy patch, it is important for the selectors to keep the crux of the squad - that will consistently figure in the months to come - together. Therefore, unnecessary experiments are likely to be avoided.



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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Mumbai, Jan 26: Boxing great Mary Kom has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award. Olympic silver medallist and reigning badminton World Champion PV Sindhu has been named for Padma Bhushan as the names of Padma awardees were disclosed on Saturday on the eve of the 71st Republic Day.

Rated as one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and has won gold at the boxing World Championships for a record six times. She has won a total of eight medals at the World Championships, the most recent of which came in October 2019 in Ulan Ude, Russia. The 36-year-old is now looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu became the only Indian woman to win an Olympic silver when she reached the final of the women's singles event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. In August last year, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win gold at the badminton World Championships.

She has also won two silver and two bronze medals at the World's in the past, thus making her only the second woman after Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning to win five medals in the competition.

Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, who has been the face of women's hockey in the country and played a pivotal role in the team qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is among those who have been nominated for the Padma Shri award.

Women's football stalwart Oinam Bembem Devi, former cricketer Zaheer Khan, shooter Jitu Rai, former hockey captain and coach M.P. Ganesh and archer Tarundeep Rai are the other sportspersons to be selected for the Padma Shri award.

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