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No end to Sachin Tendulkar's learning curve

August 22, 2012

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Hyderabad, August 22: Watching the Indian team nets two days before the start of the first Test against New Zealand, it's apparent why Sachin Tendulkar has weathered 23 long years of pressure and still continues to deliver for his team: His focus and dedication is second to none.

While some other legends of the game — and his contemporaries — have come and gone, the Little Master seems to have the energy and drive to carry on even at the age of 39.

One of the reasons Sachin has continued to succeed while most others have faded away is his eagerness to keep learning. Despite having scored 100 international centuries and amassing 15,470 Test and 18,426 ODI runs, he continues to be one of the finest pupils of the game.

On Tuesday, Tendulkar chose to continue his education under the watchful eyes of coach Duncan Fletcher.

Sachin took to the nets with rookie Cheteshwar Pujara after openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag had had a 30-minute hit. Sachin faced up to the likes of Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan and looked quite comfortable in the middle.

There were, however, a few misses and false strokes, which didn't evade Fletcher's hawk eye. As soon as it was Pujara's turn to bat, Sachin walked over to Fletcher and the duo were involved in an animated talk, with Fletcher seeming to point out some flaws. The 'little student' then got back to the nets when his turn came again and tried to iron out the flaws all over again.

After every couple of minutes, he would return to Fletcher and chat some more. The whole process went on for a little over half an hour. There were times when Pujara would indicate that it was time for Sachin to come over and bat, but the Mumbaikar was so engrossed in his talk with Fletcher that every time he would tell Pujara to continue knocking.

After finishing his batting session, Sachin he didn't remove his pads. While most others gleefully returned to the comfort of the dressing room, he was out in the middle, talking again to Fletcher and often finetuning his strokes.

The other batsman who seemed very intent on his batting was southpaw Gambhir. After finishing his nets against the medium-pacers, he went to the spinners' net and spent a considerable amount of time.

After that, he took the help of a support staff and tried to hone his technique against short-pitched deliveries.

Ishant, who is coming off an injury layoff, continued to impress as he went full steam against the top-order batsmen. Zaheer Khan, who didn't bowl on Monday, was back in the thick of things. Umesh Yadav too was pretty lethal as he made life difficult for the batsmen.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli's natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith's mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game's biggest crowd-pullers right now.

"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that," de Villiers said during his interaction on 'Sports Hurricane'.

"In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

"I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

"Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone," de Villiers said.

"And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.

"But personally, in a chase, I'd say Virat is the best I've seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing."

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

"He's much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there's more to life than just cricket," de Villiers said.

"...Virat's always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what's to come, the different religions, we talk about everything."

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain's actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

"We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We're waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

"It's a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 per cent of the time we talk about other stuff. It's refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament," he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

"Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it's been more than friendship," De Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

"Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it's different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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