No end to Sachin Tendulkar's learning curve

August 22, 2012

sachin


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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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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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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News Network
February 24,2020

Feb 24: India captain Virat Kohli had no qualms in admitting that his team was outplayed by New Zealand in the opening Test but said they "can't help" if a few want to make a "big deal" out of the 10-wicket defeat. Hosts New Zealand thrashed India by 10 wickets at the Basin Reverse on Monday to go 1-0 ahead in the two-match series. This was India's first defeat in the World Test Championship, coming after two inept batting efforts. "We know we haven't played well but if people want to make a big deal out of it, make a mountain out of it, we can't help it as we don't think like that," the skipper said at the post-match media interaction.

Kohli said he fails to comprehend why one Test match defeat should be made to look like the end of the world for his team.

"For some people, it might be the end of the world but it's not. For us, it's a game of cricket that we lost and we move on and keep our heads high," Kohli said.

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said.

"We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said. "We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

If he had given credence to the "outside chatter", he said the team wouldn't have been where it is now.

"That's why we have been able to play this kind of cricket. If we would have paid attention to the outside chatter, we would again be at No. 7 or 8 in the rankings. We don't really bother about what people are saying on the outside," the skipper said.

One defeat can't make a team, which has been winning games of Test cricket, "bad overnight".

"If we have lost then we have no shame in accepting that. It means we didn't play this game well. It doesn't mean that we have become a bad team overnight. People might want to change our thoughts, but it doesn't work like that."

The self-belief is intact and Kohli was confident the team would come back stronger in the second Test, to be held in Christchurch in four days time.

"We will work hard, and after four days play just like we have played all these years. Just because we have lost one match in between all wins, doesn't mean that the belief is gone. The dressing room thinks differently and team atmosphere is different."

Kohli felt that there is a very thin line between being ultra-defensive and over-attacking, something that his team didn't get it right in this Test match.

"New Zealand got into the mind of the batsmen and make the batsmen do something that they don't want to. think that's a very thin line and a very delicate balance of when to attack and when to put bowlers under pressure which we failed to do in this match and there is no harm in accepting that."

According to Kohli, it was a combination of both good bowling from the Kiwis and Indian batsmen not putting the pressure back on bowlers, which led to the drubbing.

"That has got to do with partly good bowling from New Zealand and partly us not pressing that momentum on to them when required. "It was perfect for them because they bowled well and we allowed them to bowl well for longer periods rather than doing something about it in a partnership."

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