Bangalore warms up for India-Pakistan T20 Christmas party

December 25, 2012

indipak

Bangalore, December 25: A defiant India will take on an upbeat Pakistan Christmas night Tuesday in a high-octane T20 tie at the Chinnaswamy stadium in this tech hub amid unprecedented security.

Putting aside the terror attack in Mumbai Nov 26, 2008, the arch rivals have resumed the bilateral series after a gap of five years to promote peace and amity by playing two T20s and three one-day internationals (ODIs) in five cities across the country over the next two weeks (Dec 25-to Jan 6).

Squeezed between the four-Test and five-ODI series against England on home turf, India has its task cut out to rein in a resurgent Pakistan, which came here late Saturday with a formidable pace-cum-spin bowlers and aggressive batters.

With the advantage of playing in front of over 30,000 frenzied fans, India will go all out to make up for the six-wicket loss to England in the second T20 tie in Mumbai Dec 22 after winning the first T20 by five wickets in Pune Dec 20.

The dramatic retirement of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar Sunday from ODIs will not make a difference as he remained out of the official T20 series despite playing in the IPL T20 game for Mumbai Indians.

The home team, however, is betting on T20 specialists Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma to blunt the Pakistani attack and help their spinners Ravichandran Aswin and Ravindra Jadeja and young pacers Ashok Dinda or Parvindar Awana to restrict the rivals while chasing or setting target.

After the historic ICC ODI World Cup win against Sri Lanka April 2, 2011, in Mumbai, India's performance in the shorter (T20s and ODIs) or longer version (Tests) of the game has been on the wane as evident from its failure to win any major international tournaments since then.

In contrast, the Pakistani team has geared up to give a tough time to the Indian team despite having a couple of youngsters in bowling and batting domains as the experienced Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohil Tanvir and Umar Gul are capable of taking away the match single-handedly or collectively.

Even before the countdown on the D-day, captains of both the teams (M.S. Dhoni and Mohammed Hafeez) started the mind games by asserting Monday that the match will be hard fought and competitive while on the flip side there will be a lot of fun and spirit of camaraderie to enjoy the game irrespective of winning or losing by either.

The squads are:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parvinder Awana, Piyush Chawla and Ambati Rayudu.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Umar Gul and Zulfiqar Babar.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: On the first day of the New Year 2020, Hardik Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share a photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The 26-year-old shared three pictures and a short clip on the social media platform. In one photo, Stankovic can be seen flaunting her ring.

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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