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
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Madrid, Mar 2: Real Madrid won El Clasico and might have saved their season as they ended their slump in the best way possible last night by beating Barcelona 2-0 and returning to the top of La Liga.

Vinicius Junior's deflected finish and a stoppage-time goal from Mariano Diaz decided a frenzied contest at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Madrid found new life after a Champions League defeat by Manchester City had left them on the brink of crisis.

"It's been a tough week," said Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane. "We talked about how we had an opportunity this weekend and we took it."

Victory put them one point clear at the top of the table and shifts focus back to Quique Setien's Barcelona, who were outfought and, at times, outplayed.

"The reality is we lost a lot of confidence with the ball," said Setien. "We entered a nervous spell and that's when the goal came."

Lionel Messi's rasping shot was saved by Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the first half but it was the Argentine's opposing captain, Sergio Ramos, who was thrashing his arms in celebration after the final whistle.

His reaction was an indication of the importance of this victory, not only for the effect it has on the standings but on the dynamic of the title race, which had seemed to be switching firmly in favour of Barca.

Opportunity missed

Cristiano Ronaldo, now of Juventus, was watching from an executive box and Madrid could have done with him during a period in which they had won only one of their last five games.

Zidane said on Saturday this match would not decide who lifted the trophy in May but a Barca win and a five-point gap might well have been difficult to close.

Yet from the start Barcelona seemed keener to kill the game than win it, playing for time in the hope of keeping the contest tight, when they might have been better off attacking their opponents' fragility.

The Madrid we faced in the first half was one of the worst Madrids I have faced at the Bernabeu. I don't say it as a criticism, we also have our problems, but we've missed an opportunity.

--Gerard Pique, Barcelona defender

There was more tension than creativity in the early stages as Fede Valverde crashed into Arthur Melo before fellow Spain full-backs Dani Carvajal and Jordi Alba were both booked after a disagreement.

Madrid had the better of the play and regularly broke at speed through Vinicius down the left but constantly they failed to make the final pass, with Isco once left with his head in his hands after Marcelo opted not to pull the ball back.

Slow Barca

Barcelona's passing was slow and their lack of urgency obvious. At one point Messi bent to tie his bootlaces and re-spotted the ball before taking a corner.

But the visitors also created chances as Antoine Griezmann drove over from Alba's cutback and then Madrid had Courtois to thank for two excellent saves.

First, Arthur held off Toni Kroos to go clear but his finish was blocked by teh foot of Courtois and then the Belgian palmed away Messi's shot after he had skipped in behind Madrid's defence.

Ramos was lucky to get away with an error that allowed Nelson Semedo to break past him while Alba risked a second yellow when he checked Valverde but referee Mateu Lahoz was unmoved.

Barcelona were sloppy after half-time and Madrid should have capitalised. Instead, Isco's header beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen but not Pique on the line and Karim Benzema volleyed over after a sloppy pass from Arturo Vidal.

Vidal was replaced by Martin Braithwaite, Barca's emergency signing, and he sprinted in behind Marcelo twice in his first minute.

But Madrid remained in the ascendancy and in the 71st minute they took the lead.

Benzema came short and pointed right to encourage Vinicius to run in behind. Kroos found him and Vinicius's shot deflected off the sliding Pique to beat Ter Stegen at his near post.

The game opened up as Barcelona chased an equaliser. Marcelo celebrated when Messi's surge through was stopped by Raphael Varane. Pique headed Messi's cross over at the near post. Messi picked up a yellow card for a frustrated slide on Casemiro.

In injury time, Ter Stegen ventured up for a late free-kick but it was Madrid that struck again. Mariano sped past Semedo and finished from the angle.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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