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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News Network
March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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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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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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