India beat Cameroon to lift Nehru Cup for the third consecutive time

September 3, 2012
India_Champions


India beat Cameroon in a thrilling penalty shoot-out to lift the Nehru Cup 2012 football tournament. This is India's third consecutive Nehru Cup title, infact they have just won the three.

For the Indian football team, this is a matter of pride since the Cameroon side is ranked much higher to them in the FIFA rankings. India is ranked a lowly 168 while their Sunday opponents are 59 in the world. Cameroon football team also took part in the Beijing Olympics 2008.

Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Denzil Franco, Mehtab Hossain and Clifford Miranda all scored from the spot while Thierry Makon struck the right-post to give India an unprecedented win.

In an end-to-end match which went into penalties, a valiant India held their more fancied opponents 2-2 in normal time.

Central defender Gourmangi Singh sent the 12,000 strong crowd into a frenzy as he beat the off-side trap to head in a Clifford Miranda free-kick in the 19th minute.

The Cameroon defence was absent as two Indian players were left completely free. There was more bad news for the Africans as goalkeeper Ngome Lawrence had to be substituted after he collided with Gourmangi.

It didn't take Cameroon much time to find the equaliser. Raju Gaikwad's clearance fell straight to Makon Thierry, who shot past Indian custodian Subrata Paul from outside the box in the 29th minute.

Thierry also played a key role in Cameroon's second. His precise flag-kick allowed Kingue Mpondo to head into an open net in the 54th minute.

With things looking dim for India, Sunil Chhetri gave the fans their voice again from a well-taken spot-kick in the 78th minute.

Mehtab Hossain's brilliant chipped through ball found the Indian captain in acres of space. Chhetri looked to have made a hash of things but recovered well only to be brought down by substitute keeper Nkessi Hosea.

India started the match the brighter of the two, continuously making inroads into the Cameroon third.

Chhetri had the first shot of the match but his drive from well outside the box was easily saved.

Cameroon looked a little shell-shocked by India's aggressiveness in the first 20 minutes.

Gouramangi's goal seemed to wake Cameroon from its slumber. The Africans dominated the play thenceforth, putting the Indian defence under tremendous pressure.

Midfielder Lenny Rodrigues did his reputation no harm by putting in a sterling performance. Along with Mehtab Hossain he closed down the Cameroon players, forcing them to misplace their passes.


Gouramangi again found himself in the thick of things. Syed Rahim Nabi headed Clifford's free-lick across the goal but the central defender failed to rise and missed the header completely.

India shifted to a 4-4-2 formation in the 64th minute bringing Robin Singh for winger Sanju Pradhan. His height added another dimension to India's attacks.

Thierry, who was one-on-one with the keeper, could have easily made it 3-1 but slashed his shot well wide.

India defended stoutly but failed to have the same impact they had in the first half upfront.

Wim Koevermans tactics paid dividends as Cameroon's star player Ebanga Bertin was marked out of the game.

India had two golden chances of taking the lead in the opening half of extra time but Chhetri skied his shot from three yards out while Robin made a complete mess from a free-header.


Both teams dug deep in the final 15 minutes but failed to find an opening as the match went into penalties.



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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mumbai, Mar 5: Former India spinner Sunil Joshi was on Wednesday named chairman of the national selection panel by the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which also picked ex-pacer Harvinder Singh to the five-member group.

The CAC, comprising Madan Lal, R P Singh and Sulakshana Naik, picked the two selectors with Joshi replacing South Zone representative MSK Prasad.

In an unprecedented decision, the BCCI said the CAC will review the panel's performance after one year and make recommendations accordingly.

"The committee recommended Sunil Joshi for the role of chairman of the senior men's selection committee. The CAC will review the candidates after a one-year period and make the recommendations to the BCCI," read a statement from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.

Harvinder was chosen from central zone and replaces Gagan Khoda in the panel.

The existing members of the selection panel are Jatain Paranjpe, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh.

"We have picked the best guys for the job," Lal told news agency.

The CAC had shortlisted five candidates for interviews -- Joshi, Harvinder, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Chauhan and L S Sivaramakrishnan -- from a list of 40 applicants.

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