India beat Sri Lanka in the final ODI to take joint 2nd spot in rankings

August 5, 2012

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There was little to suggest from India’s aggression and application that this was a dead rubber. They were given a scare alright by a new-look Sri Lanka, but they kept their wits about them to finish the One-Day International series in the manner in which they had begun it – with an exciting victory.

Their 20-run win in the final game of five at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium gave India a commanding and deserved 4-1 series victory, pulling them abreast of Australia on points at the top of the ICC ODI standings.

Sri Lanka’s two best batsmen were ruled out through injury, their most destructive limited-overs batsman was dismissed third ball, for a duck. Even so, they mounted a spirited run chase of a India’s massive 294 for 7, eventually being dismissed for 274 to go down all guns blazing.

Kumar Sangakkara was already out of the series with a broken finger, Mahela Jayawardene missed the final game with a sore back, and Tillakaratne Dilshan fell in just the second over. A young batting unit was put through a strong test, and it was a test it came through reasonably well, even if there was no icing on the cake in the shape of a victory.

Angelo Mathews couldn’t have asked for a better effort from his team in his first ODI as captain, if only on a stand-in basis. He reaffirmed his captaincy credentials by leading imaginatively in the afternoon, and saw Lahiru Thirimanne and Jeevan Mendis register their highest ODI scores respectively and give India a real scare through their 102-run sixth-wicket stand.

India, however, never panicked. Even with Thirimanne and Mendis blasting away against the quicker bowlers, they hung on in the belief that one wicket would bring another, and so it turned out. Irfan Pathan, who had helped Mahendra Singh Dhoni provide the Indian innings with the final thrust in the afternoon, was the star with 5 for 61, his second five-wicket haul, though R Ashwin too had an excellent outing, 0 for 37 from 9 overs on a day when the run rate hovered around the six mark.

India had whittled away at the Sri Lankan top-order, who all fell playing strokes. At 102 for 5, an early finish appeared imminent, but Thirimanne and Mendis entertained the crowd with commonsense batting that was, ironically, nipped by a needless mix-up. Thisara Perera then threw his bat around, but Pathan returned to clean up both Perera and Mendis in one over to all but signal the end.

India’s batting stint had been devoid of any great fluency or rhythm for the large part until Dhoni, with help from Pathan, cut loose towards the end. India, persisting with Rohit Sharma but bringing in Ajinkya Rahane, were well served by Gautam Gambhir’s sparkling strokeplay and Manoj Tiwary’s industrious, somewhat fortuitous half-century.

Gambhir had been the only batsman who had the measure of a pitch that afforded generous bounce to all-comers until Dhoni cut loose at the end. Fed a diet of legside half-volleys by Lasith Malinga, Gambhir whipped and flicked his way to a succession of early boundaries, unfazed either by Rahane’s cheap dismissal or Virat Kohli’s scratchy timing that was in stark contrast to the commanding form he has shown all series.

Nuwan Pradeep, express but erratic and quite a handful when he got it right, ended Kohli’s stint, then produced a good delivery to knock over Rohit. For a batsman so horribly out of sorts, Rohit would have been better advised playing straight; instead, attempting to work a Pradeep delivery pitched on off and middle to leg, he was beaten all ends up as the ball straightened to hit off-stump. It rounded off a miserable series that netted him just 13 runs in five innings.

Tiwary walked into a mini-crisis at 87 for 3, but stabilised the innings with Gambhir. The running was initially a little out of sync, but with time spent together, the understanding was better. Tiwary had his share of luck, too; on another day, he might have been adjudged caught behind when 46, then again on 56 but otherwise, he was quite enterprising, dominating the stand of 110 with Gambhir.

In the batting Power Play, India threatened to throw away the advantage in a strange passage of play when the runs kept coming but the wickets kept tumbling during a 12-ball burst that netted Sri Lanka 3 for 18. Malinga forced Tiwary to awkwardly fend off a bouncer to short third-man, then accounted for Suresh Raina first ball with another lifter.

Gambhir was done in by a knuckle ball from Sachithra Senanayake and India looked to be selling themselves short when Dhoni came to their rescue. Having averted the hat-trick, he was pinged on the helmet second ball by Malinga, but Dhoni exacted revenge with a brilliant counterattack. His cover-driving was of the highest order, but he also came up with delicate dabs to long-leg and characteristic brilliant running between the wickets alongside Pathan, during a stand of 77 in just 59 deliveries.



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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, Jun 22: Claiming to be saddled with faulty equipment from China, the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) on Monday called for a boycott of sports apparatus made in that country after the violent face-off in eastern Ladakh killed 20 Army personnel last week.

The IWLF ordered four weightlifting sets, comprising barbells and weight plates, from Chinese company 'ZKC' last year. The body said that the equipment turned out to be faulty and the weightlifters are no longer using them.

"We should boycott all Chinese equipment. The Indian Weightlifting Federation has taken the decision that it will not use any equipment made in China," IWLF secretary general Sahdev Yadav said.

The IWLF, in a letter, has informed the Sports Authority of India (SAI) about its decision to stop using any equipment made in China.

"In a letter to SAI we have written that IWLF won't be using the Chinese equipment," he said.

"In future also we will not use made in china sets. We will use sets made by Indian origin companies or any other company but not from China," Yadav added.

National coach Vijay Sharma revealed that the plates were found to be sub-standard when the lifters started training again earlier this month following the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

"The sets were spoilt. We can't use them now," Sharma said.

"All the weightlifters in the camp are against China. They have stopped using Chinese apps like Tik Tok. Even while ordering things online, they check where the product has been manufactured," he added.

Asked why the sets were even ordered, Sharma said they had no option as the equipment from China is to be used in the Tokyo Olympics and lifters needed to be familiar with it.

"We had ordered four sets from China for Olympic training a year ago. Now, since we have resumed training post the lockdown we haven't used them. All the lifters are against the use of Chinese equipment," he said.

He said equipment was ordered from China for the first time.

"We don't order equipment from China as the quality is very bad. This was the first time we got it."

The weightlifters are currently training with equipment made in Sweden.

"Post the lockdown we started training on sets from Swedish company 'ELICKO'. SAI has issued 10 sets for us. The main training takes place with those. Maximum international competitions have sets from ELICKO," Sharma said.

Yadav also said that there are ready alternatives to Chinese equipment.

"We have a lot of alternatives. We already have good Indian sets and we also have equipment from Sweden. We will use that, why should we use Chinese?" Yadav said.

Calls to boycott China-made goods erupted across India after the Galwan valley clash last Monday. It was the most violent face-off between the troops from the two countries in more than four decades.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has said it is open to boycotting Chinese products in the wake of the incident.

The BCCI will also review IPL's sponsorship deals, including the title deal with Chinese mobile manufacturing company Vivo later this week.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Berlin, Feb 18: Sachin Tendulkar being lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after their World Cup triumph at home in 2011 has been voted the Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years.

With the backing of Indian cricket fans, Tendulkar got the maximum number of votes to emerge winner on Monday.

Tendulkar, competing in his sixth and last World Cup, finally realised his long-term dream when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smacked Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara out of the park for a winning six.

The charged-up Indian cricketers rushed to the ground and soon they lifted Tendulkar on their shoulders and made a lap of honour, a moment etched in the minds of the fans.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh handed the trophy to Tendulkar after tennis legend Boris Becker announced the winner at a glittering ceremony.

“It's incredible. The feeling of winning the world cup was beyond what words can express. How many times you get an event happening where there are no mixed opinions. Very rarely the entire country celebrates,” Tendulkar said after receiving the trophy.

“And this is a reminder of how powerful a sport is and what magic it does to our lives. Even now when I watch that it has stayed with me.”

Becker then asked Tendulkar to share the emotions he felt at that time and the Indian legend put in perspective how important it was for him to hold that trophy.

“My journey started in 1983 when I was 10 years old. India had won the World Cup. I did not understand the significance and just because everybody was celebrating, I also joined the party.

“But somewhere I knew something special has happened to the country and I wanted to experience it one day and that's how my journey began.”

“It was the proudest moment of my life, holding that trophy which I chased for 22 years but I never lost hope. I was merely lifting that trophy on behalf of my countrymen.”

The 46-year-old Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the cricket world, said holding the Laureus trophy has also given him great honour.

He also shared the impact the revolutionary South African leader Nelson Mandela had on him. He met him when he was just 19 years old.

“His hardship did not affect his leadership. Out of many messages he left, the most important I felt was that sport has got the power to unite everyone.

"Today, sitting in this room with so many athletes, some of them did not have everything but they made the best of everything they had. I thank them for inspiring youngsters to pick a sport of their choice and chase their dreams. This trophy belongs to all of us, it's not just about me.”

In a tweet on Tuesday, Tendulkar dedicated the award to his country, teammates and fans.

"Thank you all for the overwhelming love and support! I dedicate this @LaureusSport award to India, all my teammates, fans and well wishers in India and across the world who have always supported Indian cricket," he tweeted.

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News Network
April 6,2020

London, Apr 6: As the coronavirus brings the international sports calendar to a grinding halt, news agency Sport looks at three long-standing habits which could change forever once competition resumes.

Saliva to take shine off swing bowling

It's been a tried and trusted friend to fast bowlers throughout the history of cricket. But the days of applying saliva to one side of the ball to encourage swing could be over in the aftermath of Covid19.

"As a bowler I think it would be pretty tough going if we couldn't shine the ball in a Test match," said Australia quick Pat Cummins.

"If it's at that stage and we're that worried about the spread, I'm not sure we'd be playing sport."

Towels in tennis - no touching

Tennis players throwing towels, dripping with sweat and blood and probably a tear or two, at ball boys and girls, has often left fans sympathising for the youngsters.

Moves by officials to tackle the issue took on greater urgency in March when the coronavirus was taking a global grip.

Behind closed doors in Miki, ball boys and girls on duty at the Davis Cup tie between Japan and Ecuador wore gloves.

Baskets, meanwhile, were made available for players to deposit their towels.

Back in 2018, the ATP introduced towel racks at some events on a trial basis, but not everyone was overjoyed.

"I think having the towel whenever you need it, it's very helpful. It's one thing less that you have to think about," said Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas when he was playing at the NextGen Finals in Milan.

"I think it's the job of the ball kids to provide towels and balls for the players."

Let's not shake on it

Pre-match handshakes were abandoned in top football leagues just before the sports shutdown.

Premier League leaders Liverpool also banned the use of mascots while Southampton warned against players signing autographs and stopped them posing for selfies.

Away from football, the NBA urged players to opt for the fist bump rather than the long-standing high-five.

"I ain't high-fiving nobody for the rest of my life after this," NBA superstar LeBron James told the "Road Trippin' Podcast".

"No more high-fiving. After this corona shit? Wait 'til you see me and my teammates’ handshakes after this shit."

Basketball stars were also told not to take items such as balls or teams shirts to autograph.

US women's football star Megan Rapinoe says edicts to ban handshakes or even high-fives may be counter-productive anyway.

"We're going to be sweating all over each other all game, so it sort of defeats the purpose of not doing a handshake," she said.

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