Ahmedabad, Mar 16: Cricketer Irfan Pathan met Chief Minister Narendra Modi in his chamber in the Assembly building Friday and invited him for the wedding of his elder brother and cricketer Yusuf Pathan in Mumbai on March 27.
Yusuf is getting married to physiotherapist Afreen. She works in Vadodara while her parents live in Mumbai. Officials in CMO said Modi, who had so far avoided attending wedding of cricketers, was willing to attend Yusuf's wedding.
Islamabad, Jun 13: Pakistan cricket team’s former captain Shahid Afridi, who has tested positive for coronavirus, appears to have contracted the virus during his recent visit to Muzaffarabad city of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) where Pakistan has been sending its corona positive patients.
The former Pakistan cricketer was seen attending gatherings in Muzaffarabad last month without wearing a mask and not maintaining social distancing. He spewed venom against India during his rallies.
Afridi visited PoK to also express his solidarity with the people there who have been left to fend for themselves in combating COVID-19 as Pakistan has refused to provide any COVID fighting equipment like PPE kits and ventilators to the area’s handful of hospitals.
In fact, Pakistan has been using the PoK as a “dumping ground” for COVID-19 affected persons from all across the country as authorities want to keep Punjab province free of corona positive persons.
The locals held massive protests against Pakistan for setting up quarantine centres and shifting patients from parts of Pakistan to PoK.
People are immensely suffering in Pakistan occupied Kashmir due to spread of coronavirus as the region lacks proper medical facilities and has a handful of COVID-19 testing labs. There is also lack of expert medical staff to conduct COVID-19 tests.
A large number of people here are presumed asymptomatic and they are fast spreading the virus because of lack of medical care.
Pakistan has reported over 1,25,000 coronavirus cases and 2,463 casualties. In Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the COVID-19 cases have increased to 534, whereas in Gilgit-Baltistan 1,030 have been reported.
New Delhi, Jun 18: Premier Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has described Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a "massive influence" on his career, revealing that at the beginning of his IPL stint, he was driven by an intense desire to get the former captain's attention.
Ashwin got his contract with CSK, one of the most successful IPL sides, in 2008 and said the stint with CSK shaped his career.
"IPL and CSK is a stage that everyone wants. For me it was more about recognition. MSD did not know who Ashwin is, (Matthew) Hayden and (Muttiah) Muralithan did not know who Ashwin is. The first thing that came to my mind was that 'I will show these people that Ashwin is here'," Ashwin told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.
"I don't know it was being foolish or arrogance but that was how I was made. Nobody was giving me a chance that Ashwin will play alongside Muralitharan or ahead of Muralitharan. I thought, I will get there ahead of him one day," he added.
Ashwin said Dhoni, who led CSK, had "massive influence" on him and the only way to impress him was by troubling him in the nets.
"I got the eye of Hayden, Jacob Oram, and Stephen Fleming while bowling to them at the nets. They were finding it difficult to face me in the first year (2008) but I had not caught the eye of MSD," he said.
"I never had massive interactions with him. It was going to the nets and getting MSD...he was hitting Muralitharan out of the park and I thought, if I bowl better than him, I met get to play ahead of Murali.
" I got his attention when I got him during a Challenger trophy and celebrated like a crazy kid," he recalled.
After that, Ashwin said during CSK's match against Victoria Bushrangers in the now defunct Champions League, he volunteered to bowl the Super Over and Dhoni gave him the ball without hesitation.
Ashwin did not fare well and ended up conceding 23 runs. The off-spinner said when Dhoni walked past him after the match, he only said that, "you should have bowled the carrom ball."
"MS always maintained that you are exceptionally skilful and you should keep doing what you do."
Ashwin has been very successful against the left-handers as 189 of his 365 wickets are of southpaws. Ashwin credited his engineering background and advice from Duncan Fletcher for the success.
"He made a statement that changed cricket. He said it's all about geometry and left it at that. Understanding angles (engineering background) has given me edge over others," he said.
Melbourne, Feb 27: Shafali Verma's 34-ball 46 followed by a superlative performance from the bowlers helped India notch up a narrow four-run win over New Zealand in a crucial group A match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday.
Invited to bat, India posted a below-par 133 for eight against New Zealand in the crucial group A match with Shafali top-scoring with a 34-ball 46 and Taniya Bhatia chipping in with a 25-ball 23.
India, however, produced a disciplined performance with the ball to restrict New Zealand to 129 for six and register their third successive win in the tournament.
With this win, India topped Group A, having beaten Australia and Bangladesh in their last two outing.
Defending the total, India introduced spin straight away but Deepti Sharma bled 12 runs with opener Rachel Priest (12) hitting her for two boundaries.
But experienced pacer Shikha Pandey removed Priest in the next over when she had her caught at mid wicket.
With Shikha and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad bowling in tandem, New Zealand played with caution to reach 28 for one.
Back into the attack, Deepti then cleaned up Bates with a beauty of a delivery as New Zealand slipped to 30 for two.
Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav then mounted the pressure on the Kiwis and soon the Black Caps were 34 for 3 when the former dismissed skipper Sophie Devine (14).
Maddy Green (24) and Katey Martin (25) then tried to resurrect the innings with a 36-ball 43-run stand.
However, Gayakwad returned to remove Green, who danced down the pitch only to end up with an outside edge as Bhatia did the rest.
Radha then dismissed Martin to leave New Zealand at 90 for 5 in 16.3 overs.
Needing 44 off 21 balls, Kerr (34) blasted four boundaries to accumulate 18 runs in the penultimate over bowled by Poonam to bring the equation down to 16 off six balls.
In the final over, Heyley Jensen (11) and Kerr cracked a four each but Shikha held her nerves in the end to complete the win.
Earlier, 16-year-old Shafali provided the fireworks as India scored 49 for one in the powerplay overs. But they lost six wickets for 43 runs to squander the good start.
Smriti Mandhana (11), who returned to the playing XI after missing the last match due to illness, departed early but Shafali and Taniya (23) kept the scoreboard ticking, adding 51 runs for the second wicket.
In the 10th over, Taniya was caught by Amelia Kerr at backward point, while Jemimah Rodrigues (10) was caught by Kerr in the 12th over as India slipped to 80 for 3.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's (1) poor form also continued as she was soon back to the hut after being caught and bowled by Leigh Kasperek.
Shafali, who was dropped at long-on in the 8th over and at mid-wicket in the 10th over, then holed out to Jensen at deep extra cover. She had four hits to the fence and three maximum shots in her innings.
Left-handed batter Deepti Sharma (8) and Veda Krishnamurthy (6) brought up the 100 in the 15th over but both departed soon as India slumped to 104 for 6.
Radha Yadav then blasted 14 off nine balls, which included a six in the final over, to give some respectability to the total.
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