Proud father captures memorable events from TV

August 26, 2012
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Hyderabad, August 26: While the son was playing his bit in India’s memorable victory in the World Cup under-19 final against Australia ‘Down Under’, a delighted father is seen capturing the final images of those match-winning moments on his mobile with predictable joy.

Well, this is the story of Aprajith Baba who scored 33 in the final on Sunday besides taking a wicket. And, soft-spoken, proud father Dr. Baba is predictably delighted at the end-result. “This is obviously a great feeling and the credit should go to the entire team,” said Dr. Baba, who is also the BCCI media coordinator for the on-going New Zealand-India Test match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad.

Not surprisingly, because of the delayed start at the Test match in Hyderabad, the media was all focused on the Under-19 final in Australia and so was the proud father Dr. Baba, shooting the final, match-winning moments on his mobile, something which he will be cherishing for a long time.

The 18-year-old Aprajith, whose twin brother Indrajith (who led South Zone under-19), started playing the sport at the age of four and at nine was already playing for the State under-13 squad. He is always ahead of the age group, reminds Dr. Baba, who runs a 60-bed multi-speciality hospital in Chennai.

Aprajith, born in Ambattur in Tamil Nadu, is a plus-two student of St. Bede’s school in Chennai and has the rare distinction of even scoring a century for Vijay CC in the TNCA First Division league, three months ago, for which his idol former India’s captain Rahul Dravid played in the same match. In fact, the illustrious gave invaluable tips to the young Aprajith while standing with him in the slips, recalls Dr. Baba.

This Chennai boy has had crucial contributions of 44, 51 and 33 in the last three knock-out matches of World Cup besides taking six wickets, including 'man of the match' awards in the knock-out phase. He was first coached by Srikkanth and Bala Prasad before former India star T. E. Srinivasan and Suresh Kumar helped him fine-tune his skills. Currently, former Ranji player S. Balaji is his mentor-cum-coach.

“I would have loved to be there in Australia at this great moment. But because of my BCCI commitment, I had to stay back in India,” said Dr. Baba who was continuously busy responding to the congratulatory messages on phone. Significantly, he also reveals that he never discussed cricket with his son as there were already lot of people advising the young cricketer. “I did not want to put too much of pressure. I just let him enjoy the game,” he pointed out.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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News Network
February 12,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 12: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday berated his bowlers for their mediocre performance as he tried to explain the team's first ODI series whitewash in over three decades, saying that the visitors lacked composure all through.

The five-wicket defeat here meant that India lost the series 0-3 to an injury-plagued New Zealand that had been deflated by a 0-5 whitewash of its own in the T20 format just last week. It was India's first whitewash in 31 years in an ODI series in which all matches have been played.

"The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. It boils down to those chances that we didn't grab. I don't think it was not enough to win games in international cricket," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

"With the ball, we were not able to make breakthroughs, we were not at all good on the field. We haven't played so badly but when you don't grab those chances, you don't deserve to win," he added.

"Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us, but the way we fielded and bowled, the composure wasn't enough to win games," he asserted.

The ineffectiveness of Indian bowlers can be gauged from the fact that the team's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finished the series without a wicket and the attack couldn't dismiss the complete rival line-up even once.

Kohli lauded New Zealand for bouncing back after the T20 hammering.

"New Zealand played with lot more intensity. We didn't deserve to win because we did not show enough composure," he said.

The batting mainstay is looking forward to the Test series, which begins on February 21, to make amends for the disappointment.

"I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said.

His opposite number Kane Williamson, who missed the first two games due to injury, was lavish in his praise for the home team's grit.

"An outstanding performance, very clinical. India put us under pressure, but the way the guys fought back with the ball and kept them to a par total. The cricket in the second half was outstanding to see," he said referring to the side's effortless chase of a 297-run target.

"We know how good they (India) are at all formats but for us the clarity about the roles the guys had was the most important thing. Outstanding effort against a brilliant India side," he added.

Player of the Match Henry Nicholls, who scored 80 on Tuesday, said his team benefitted from good batting starts during the series.

"To come back and win 3-0 after the T20Is is nice. The way (Martin) Guptill played today allowed us to get ahead. We got a 100-run stand, but we were fortunate enough to get good starts this series," he said.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Hamilton, Jan 29: India defeated New Zealand in the third T20 International via Super Over to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series here on Wednesday.

India posted a competitive 179 for five at Seddon Park after being sent into bat. Opener Rohit Sharma top scored for India with a 65-run knock while skipper Virat Kohli contributed 38 runs in team's total.

Later, skipper Kane Williamson smashed a 48-ball 95 but New Zealand faltered in the final over to take the match into the Super Over.

Needing nine runs of the last over, New Zealand lost Williamson and Ross Taylor to finish at 179 for six and tie the match.

In the Super Over, New Zealand scored 17, a target which India overwhelmed in the final ball with Rohit smashing Tim Southee for two consecutive sixes.

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