Washout delays Yuvraj's comeback

September 9, 2012

yuv

Visakhapatnam, September 9: This tiny port city was expected to be the venue for the much-awaited return of one of Indian cricket’s favourite heroes -- Yuvraj Singh. But elements were not kind enough on Saturday.

Heavy rains have been lashing the city for the last few days, and only the unpredicatble weather patterns in this part of the world gave hope to the plethora of fans, who thronged the Dr YSR?Reddy ACA-VDCA stadium for India’s first T20 match against New Zealand; more importantly too see Yuvraj walking to the ground with his India colleagues after seven months.

But all they got to see on the day was torrential rain, and the fleeting images of Yuvraj, who recovered from a rare form of germ cell cancer in his lungs, as weather continued to vent its fury over the venue and the city. The signs were telling from the early stages of an eagerly anticipated day.

At 5.31 pm, the ground-staff rolled out the covers at the first hint of drizzle and waited for the hovering dark clouds to move way. But what followed bore close resemblance to a dark movie. A gentle drizzle gave way to thunderstorm accompanied by sharp streaks of lightning, and by 6 pm the stadium was draped in black, brightened only by the frequent bolts from heaven.

It poured incessantly over the next one hour and on the first instance when the elements settled down a bit, three super-soppers attempted to clear the covers before moving on to clear the outfield but the rain, which had arrived due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal, got worse at that stage.

Had the match started at 8.00 pm, play would have been extended and a full twenty-over game could have been played. At nine pm, a fourteen-over game would’ve have been possible and at 10:15 pm a five-over game might have happened.

The groundsmen continued their efforts to salvage the ground and match, but weather had aleady done irreparable damage. Finally, the umpires officially called off the match at 8.15 pm.

Just when the crowd thought they were going home empty handed, Yuvraj, who was later felicitated with a momento by the Andhra Cricket Association president DV Subba Rao for his return to the Indian squad, did a full lap of honour to give them something to cheer.

Spectators in Chennai – venue of the second and final T20 -- might just be witness to what Vizag missed out on. But given that it had rained in the southern Metro on Friday and how the depression is expected to move down south, one may have to wait till the warm-up games ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka to see Yuvraj in action.

It indeed was a disappointing climax to what might have been a special game at a venue as picturesque as this.

World welcomes Yuvi

Before rain drenched his hopes of playing an international game after seven months, Yuvraj had tweeted: “I guess this wud be my biggest day aftr w cup final I’m really overwhelmed with the love and support of everyone who have send me wishes.”

“Few hours to go till I wear my fav jersey. To my mom my friends my fans this wud not bin pos thnks for ur lov nd courage.”

The cricketing fraternity came forward to wish Yuvraj luck. His India team-mate Zaheer Khan welcomed him back to the national side. “Its been a great, long journey together. Excited to finally have you back on the field,” said the veteran pacer.

Out-of-favour England batsman Kevin Pietersen said he was proud of Yuvraj coming back into international cricket after fighting cancer successfully. “... so proud of you buddy! Doing what you’ve done gives my best mate @JCEtrust so much belief! Enjoy the day pal..,” Pietersen wrote.

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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India captain Virat Kohli indicated at dropping himself down the batting order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul in the playing XI against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series starting Tuesday.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic pick, the team management is left with tough choice of selecting either Dhawan or Rahul in the XI. But the skipper sees no reason why both can't play together.

"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. ...You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli said on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said,"Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat," said the skipper.

For Kohli, it is more important as to what kind of leadership legacy he leaves behind rather than chase personal glory.

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Chandigarh, May 25: Legendary former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior died in a private hospital on Monday, his family said.

He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.

He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Mohali and was in a "semi-comatose condition".

He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble. His COVID-19 test came negative.

Balbir was part of the Indian teams that won gold at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

Balbir had set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6-1 win over Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Games.

He was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men's World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men's World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. He was also conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri in 1957.

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News Network
January 9,2020

Kuala Lampur, Jan 9: Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion P V Sindhu produced dominating performances to progress to the women's singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Sixth seed Sindhu notched up a commanding 21-10 21-15 victory over Japan's Aya Ohori in a pre-quarterfinal match lasting just 34 minutes. It was Sindhu's ninth successive win over Ohori.

The 24-year-old Indian, who won the World Championships in Basel last year, will take on world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals after the Chinese Taipei shuttler got the better of South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 21-18 16-21 21-10.

Saina, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched eight seed An Se Young of South Korea 25-23 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest to make the last eight.

This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year.

The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin.

Saina had defeated Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-15 21-17 in the opening round on Wednesday.

In the men's singles, India's challenge ended after both Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.

While Verma lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 19-21 20-22, Prannoy was shown the door by top seed Kento Momota of Japan 14-21 16-21.

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