Indian Grand Prix: Sebastian Vettel wins again, Alonso finishes second

October 29, 2012


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Greater Noida, October 29: Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel cruised to his fourth consecutive win and extended his lead in this year's title race to 13 points when he steered his Red Bull car to victory in Sunday's Indian Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old German led from pole to the chequered flag to come home ahead of nearest championship rival Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber finished third, the Australian fending off a strong late challenge from Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who finished fourth ahead of his team-mate and fellow Briton Jenson Button.

Felipe Massa came home sixth in the second Ferrari ahead of Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, Nico Hulkenberg of Force India, Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus and 10th placed Bruno Senna of Williams.

It was Vettel's 26th win and he revelled in his familiar trick of adding the fastest lap of the race in the final lap and then standing atop of his car to milk the applause from the crowd.

After an exultant celebration on the victory podium, in front of many of the 65,000 crowd, he added: "It has been incredible. To come here both years, get the pole and win the race is fantastic. It is a very special Grand Prix and I really like this circuit."

Alonso said: "It is not easy to fight Red Bull but we will never give up. Well done Red Bull and Sebastian but we want to be happy in Brazil, not only here. I am sure we will do it."

On another dry, hot day, accompanied by heavy smog, at the Buddh International Circuit, with the air temperature touching 30 degrees Celsius and the track temperature nudging 39 degrees, Vettel looked the coolest man on the grid at the start and, when the lights went out, he demonstrated his total concentration with a perfect getaway from his 35th pole position.

Webber followed him and as the two Red Bulls took an immediate grip on the race at the front of the field there was a fierce battle for third behind them on the opening lap.

The two McLaren men scrapped from the start and were passed on the straight by Alonso, but re-passed him in a dramatic scrap.

Alonso's Ferrari clearly had a superior top speed performance, thanks to a long top gear and an effective Drag Reduction System (DRS), and it was no surprise when he surged into third in his bid to tail the Red Bulls on lap four.

By then, however, the two leaders were pulling clear of the rest and building up a lead which was close to four seconds by lap ten.

Having recovered from his unspectacular start in which he fell to fourth and then fifth, Hamilton passed team-mate Button on lap six to regain fourth.

Michael Schumacher, approaching the end of his career, suffered the misfortune of collecting a right rear puncture at the start and then the ignominy of being lapped by compatriot Vettel on lap eight.

To make matters worse, as he struggled among the tail-enders, the seven-time champion was reprimanded by the stewards for failing to obey blue flags, when waved to indicate a driver is about to be passed by the leaders.

Button was the first driver into the pits, on lap 26. His move triggered the usual flurry of pit-lane activity which included a remarkable stop by Hamilton six laps later when the McLaren crew changed all of his tyres and his steering wheel in 3.3 seconds.

Grosjean, running like Hamilton on a one-stop strategy, rose through the field and was the last of the leading group to come in and rejoined in ninth place as Vettel stretched his lead to 12.5 seconds.

By lap 40, he was cruising ahead of Webber who was fending off the close attention of Alonso, attacking from third, with Hamilton closing fast in fourth ahead of Button and Massa.

Alonso, with superior straight line speed, finally passed Webber on lap 48 to move into second and set up a late chase after the leader.

Vettel appeared to have a problem with his car with six laps remaining when the floor of his Red Bull scraped along the surface of the circuit at times, producing sparks and fears that he may face an investigation for a technical infringement.

But he was able to stay in front to the finish as behind him Hamilton attacked to within two seconds of Webber without avail, producing just the drama that the passionate Indian crowd anticipated and enjoyed.


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News Network
March 13,2020

Mar 13: The start of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world's most lucrative cricket competition, has been postponed from March 29 until April 15 over the coronavirus, the Indian cricket board said Friday.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation," the BCCI said in a statement.

The two-month Twenty20 competition is estimated to generate more than $11 billion for the Indian economy and involves cricket's top international stars.

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News Network
February 24,2020

Feb 24: India captain Virat Kohli had no qualms in admitting that his team was outplayed by New Zealand in the opening Test but said they "can't help" if a few want to make a "big deal" out of the 10-wicket defeat. Hosts New Zealand thrashed India by 10 wickets at the Basin Reverse on Monday to go 1-0 ahead in the two-match series. This was India's first defeat in the World Test Championship, coming after two inept batting efforts. "We know we haven't played well but if people want to make a big deal out of it, make a mountain out of it, we can't help it as we don't think like that," the skipper said at the post-match media interaction.

Kohli said he fails to comprehend why one Test match defeat should be made to look like the end of the world for his team.

"For some people, it might be the end of the world but it's not. For us, it's a game of cricket that we lost and we move on and keep our heads high," Kohli said.

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said.

"We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

It is the acceptance of defeat that defines the character of a side, the world's premier batsman said. "We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There's no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side."

If he had given credence to the "outside chatter", he said the team wouldn't have been where it is now.

"That's why we have been able to play this kind of cricket. If we would have paid attention to the outside chatter, we would again be at No. 7 or 8 in the rankings. We don't really bother about what people are saying on the outside," the skipper said.

One defeat can't make a team, which has been winning games of Test cricket, "bad overnight".

"If we have lost then we have no shame in accepting that. It means we didn't play this game well. It doesn't mean that we have become a bad team overnight. People might want to change our thoughts, but it doesn't work like that."

The self-belief is intact and Kohli was confident the team would come back stronger in the second Test, to be held in Christchurch in four days time.

"We will work hard, and after four days play just like we have played all these years. Just because we have lost one match in between all wins, doesn't mean that the belief is gone. The dressing room thinks differently and team atmosphere is different."

Kohli felt that there is a very thin line between being ultra-defensive and over-attacking, something that his team didn't get it right in this Test match.

"New Zealand got into the mind of the batsmen and make the batsmen do something that they don't want to. think that's a very thin line and a very delicate balance of when to attack and when to put bowlers under pressure which we failed to do in this match and there is no harm in accepting that."

According to Kohli, it was a combination of both good bowling from the Kiwis and Indian batsmen not putting the pressure back on bowlers, which led to the drubbing.

"That has got to do with partly good bowling from New Zealand and partly us not pressing that momentum on to them when required. "It was perfect for them because they bowled well and we allowed them to bowl well for longer periods rather than doing something about it in a partnership."

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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