Current Aussie team worst-ever to tour India: Ganguly

March 19, 2013

Aussie_team_worst-ever

Mar 19: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly today said that the current Australian side is the worst-ever to tour India.

“They don’t have the batsmen to play spinners and spinners to take wickets here. I don’t want to rate the side but having seen the Aussies since 1996, I think this team is the worst-performing on Indian soil,” Ganguly told a regional news channel here today.

Reacting to India’s hattrick of wins against Aussies that had never happened, Ganguly said four days and a spin-friendly track in Kotla were what India need to hand a 4-0 whitewash.

The Australian team management’s decision to sack four players, including vice-captain Shane Watson, for the third Test on disciplinary grounds, also did not go down too well with Ganguly.

“No matter how disciplined you are, skill is the most important to be successful. Australia lack skill on this tour. I read somewhere about (former coach) John Buchanan lauding the decision (to sack the four). Just unbelievable, what can I say!”

Meanwhile, Ganguly hoped that Sachin Tendulkar scores some big runs. ”I hope he gets back to form. It’s very important for him to get into the rhythm.”

There may be talks about changing Tendulkar’s batting order but Ganguly said: “I don’t think there’s a need to readjust his order and he should stick to No 4 only.”

Ganguly pointed out that the batting collapse in their second innings was the Aussies’ biggest worry: ”Remember that Clarke won the toss on all three occasions. I won’t be surprised to see India win inside three days if the Aussies were made to bat second.

“In India, you will expect turning tracks only. Four days are just enough to win against this side. I hope India repeat this result on Australian soil as well.”

Asked about the Australia’s prospect in the upcoming Ashes, Ganguly said: “They (Englishmen) have been doing well. I won’t be surprised England win 3-0 in the five-match series.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni may be on the verge of breaking his record of achieving most wins as India captain, but Ganguly said: “The most important thing for him right now is to build the team. Records are meant to be broken. But let’s hope that Dhoni remains (captain) till the World Cup 2015 and build a good side.”

Ganguly felt that the Board’s think-tank has a plan to continue with the duo of coach Duncan Fletcher and Dhoni: ”The Board must be looking at them to take India till 2015 World Cup, that’s more important,” he said.

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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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News Network
March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Atlanta, Jan 9: Top tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams will be playing an exhibition match to raise funds for Australia's bushfire relief.

Apart from these three, Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas have also confirmed their availability for the match, CNN reported.

The match will be played on January 15 at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. The Australian Open Rally for Relief will be donating the proceedings from the ticket sales to the bushfire relief efforts.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova had also announced on Wednesday that she had left 10 signed pairs of her tennis shoes in her Brisbane hotel that members of the public could buy with a donation to the Australian Red Cross.

"Brisbane, I have signed ten pairs of my tennis shoes, left them at the @BrisbaneTennis
desk at the Westin Hotel, alongside a donation envelope for fire rescue efforts.They're yours to keep,we just ask you to donate AUD 300 a pair. All money going directly to Red Cross," Sharapova tweeted.

Earlier, former Australian spinner Shane Warne on Monday had announced to auction his Baggy Green cap to raise funds for victims of devastating bushfires in Australia.

Taking to Twitter, Warne made the announcement and posted a statement.

"The horrific bushfires in Australia have left us all in disbelief. The impact these devastating fires are having on so many people is unthinkable and has touched us all. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed and over 500 million animals have died too," Warne wrote.

"Everyone is in this together and we continue to find ways to contribute and help on a daily basis. This has led me to auction my beloved baggy green cap (350) that I wore throughout my Test career," he added.

Warne joined a growing list of cricketers to raise money for the bushfire victims. Australian players Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and D'Arcy Short have already announced that they will donate AUD 250 each for every six they hit in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) to support bushfire victims.

Athletes from other sports too joined the movement as tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic decided to donate 25,000 dollars each for Australia's bushfire relief fund.

Wildfires have been raging across Australia for months, killing 23 people, burning about 6 million hectares (23,000 square miles) of bushland and killing a billion animals.

Naval and air rescue operations were launched on Friday as mass evacuations of towns at risk of being engulfed by flames got underway.b

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