India clinch historic clean sweep against Aus with easy win

March 24, 2013
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New Delhi, Mar 24: India today completed a historic 4-0 clean sweep against Australia by recording an emphatic six-wicket victory in the fourth and final cricket Test here today.

On a Feroze Shah Kotla track which is not conducive for good batting, India chased down a tricky target of 155, largely due to Cheteshwar Pujara's dazzling strokeplay as the home team recorded their biggest ever series win in the 81-year history inside three days.

Pujara, who was battling pain as he was playing with a swollen hand, enthralled one and all with his perfect technique on a rank turner, scoring a brilliant unbeaten 82 off 92 balls with 11 boundaries.

For Australia, it was the first time in 43 years to suffer a 0-4 series whitewash after Bill Lawry's side did the same in South Africa in 1969-70.

There were a few jitters when India lost Virat Kohli (41), Sachin Tendulkar (1)and Ajinkya Rahane (1) in quick succession but Pujara kept his cool in company of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (8 not out) to successfully complete the run chase.

Pujara hit three boundaries off Glenn Maxwell to level the scores and then Dhoni hit the winning boundary to send the 25,000-odd crowd at the stadium into a frenzy.

The on-field celebrations were muted but the dressing room was delirious with joy as the players engaged in bear hugs.

The target of 155 might have looked quite a task but both Pujara and Kohli made batting look easy on a difficult track, adding 104 runs for the second wicket to pave the way for victory.

Starting the run chase, Murali Vijay (11) was bowled trying to play an unnecessary reverse sweep but Pujara played some unorthodox shots to set the tone.

Pujara showed positive intent as he and Kohli scored at a brisk pace. The Saurashtra lad showed his stroke-making prowess as India reached their 50 in the ninth over.

Pujara played the sweep shot to good effect but his two best shots were played of Mitchell Johnson. First, he deliberately lobbed a Johnson bouncer over wicketkeeper Matthew Wade's head and then hit a fierce square-cut on the rise. The third boundary of the over was hit through the cover.

As if he was getting into the IPL mode, Pujara scored his second 50 of the match from just 54 balls and India's 100 was reached in 19 overs at a rate of more than five runs per over.

While Pujara stepped up the ante, Kohli was happy playing the second fiddle.

Inexplicably, Australian captain Shane Watson did not use leggie Steven Smith, who could have effectively used the rough, nor did he call James Pattinson or Peter Siddle to bowl to exploit some of the spots created at the Delhi Gate End.

Earlier, on the pitch prepared by Venkat Sundaram which resembled a minefield, Ravindra Jadeja (5/58) created terror in the minds of the Australian batsmen as he extracted vicious turn and bounce as they were all-out for 164 in their second innings.

Siddle produced another gutsy performance with the willow as he took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck, scoring a 45-ball 50 with seven boundaries. His innings was a lesson for Australian top-order batsmen about the technique needed to survive on a treacherous track.

Incidentally, Siddle was the best Aussie batsman in both their innings as his effort meant that the visitors put up a score which could be considered decent enough on this kind of track. Jadeja first removed Glenn Maxwell, who was sent up the order to open the innings. Maxwell (8) did not come fully forward to a delivery from Jadeja that pitched on the middle stump and turned a shade to hit the off-stump.

David Warner (8) was then trapped leg before in Jadeja's very next over as the batsmen played a length ball on the backfoot. He was caught plumbed in-front as the delivery would have hit the leg-stump.

The tension brewing between Jadeja and Warner came into the forefront once again as the Indian left-arm spinner gave the batsman a rude 'send-off' which could earn him a sanction from the match referee.

Phillip Hughes, who had two decent knocks under his belt, got a questionable decision when R Ashwin, coming round the wicket, trapped him on his back-pad. The television replays showed that the ball would have probably missed the off-stump. Hughes managed only six.

The normally dogged Ed Cowan (24, 5x4) employed a positive approach as defending on this track looked impossible. Most of the times, the tactic he used to counter Jadeja was to take a big stride forward to stop the ball from doing unusual tricks. He got a few boundaries in the process.

Stand-in captain captain Shane Watson hit a lovely on-drive but then played a rash shot off an innocuous delivery from Pragyan Ojha. Watson rocked on the backfoot to pull a short delivery and missed the line to get bowled.

The score was 51 for four at that stage but within two runs, Cowan was gone as Jadeja pitched one on the good length and turned enough to catch the left-hander on the backfoot. Within first 20 overs of the Australian second innings, the top five were back in the hut.

The post-lunch session saw Steven Smith and Johnson being removed by Jadeja off successive deliveries but two crucial stands of 28 and 35 for eighth and ninth wickets respectively -– both involving Siddle -- helped the visitors cross 150.

In the morning, it took only eight minutes and 13 deliveries to polish off the Indian tail as Nathan Lyon got his career-best figures of 7 for 94 as the home side managed a slender lead of 10 runs.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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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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