Murray ends England's 77-year wait

July 8, 2013

Murray_ends_EnglandLondon, Jul 8: Andy Murray wiped out 77 years of pain and hurt as he became the first British man since 1936 to win the men's title at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory over world number one Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

Just why Britain had to wait almost eight decades to witness such scenes of unbridled patriotic joy at the spiritual home of lawn tennis was summed up by an astonishing final game when Murray won and lost three match points, leaving 15,000 fans gasping in disbelief.

The pulses were racing even faster as Djokovic displayed his own survival instincts to save three championship points before a wondrous volley winner gave Murray another championship point. This time Djokovic could not deny him and when the Serb dragged a backhand into the net after yet another lengthy exchange, Britons leapt up and Murray tossed his racket to the famous turf.

"That was one of the toughest moments, today was unbelievably tough match," Murray said after fulfilling a lifelong dream of holding aloft the gilded Challenge Cup. "I don't know how I came through the final three points, I'm so glad to do it. I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon and I hope everyone enjoyed it." Murray took three hours and nine minutes to finally lay Fred Perry's ghost at 5.24 local time on Sunday.

The opening salvo of the Centre Court clash lasted 20 strokes as Murray went up 0-40 on the Serb's serve but Djokovic produced staunch defence to stave off his opponent's attacks. The duo did trade breaks in the third and fourth games, with each Murray winner being greeted by a chorus of 15,000 roars.

Second seed Murray got another chance to break to love in the seventh game and this time he pounced as the 2011 champion surrendered his serve by slapping a backhand into the net. A set that initially looked like lasting forever ended exactly on the hour mark as Djokovic whipped a service return wide to give Murray, runner-up to Roger Federer last year, the one-set cushion.

Even when Djokovic slipped and skidded flat on to his stomach while trying to chase down a Murray winner, the six-time Grand Slam champion appeared unfazed as he quickly got back on to his feet to extend his lead to 4-1. But Murray, who trains in the intense Miami heat even on Christmas Day, showed off his iron-man conditioning as he stormed back to level at 4-4.

Murray had the fans roaring when he wrapped up the 69-minute second set with a 125mph thunderbolt ace.

Murray proved that he was seeing the ball like a football as broke in the opening game of the third set, successfully challenging Hawkeye to show that Djokovic's backhand on breakpoint had in fact dropped long. After going ahead 2-0, Murray's mind seemed to go on a walkabout as Djokovic won four games on the trot.

But just when thoughts of last September's US Open final started flashing though the mind of everyone packed on to Centre Court, when Djokovic rallied to win the third and fourth sets, Murray made sure that there would be no repeat.

Hsieh-Peng crowned

Hsieh Su-wei became the first Taiwanese player to win a Grand Slam title when she and Peng Shuai beat Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 in the women’s doubles final late on Saturday.

Andy Murray facts

-Born: Glasgow, Scotland, May 15, 1987.

- A survivor of the 1996 Dunblane School massacre.

-A talented all-round sportsman, he turned down a promising career as a soccer player to focus on tennis, leaving his homeland at age 15 to train in Barcelona.

- He became the first British player since Greg Rusedski in 1997 to make a Grand Slam final when he played the 2008 US?Open final, losing to Roger Federer.

- Made the Australian Open final in 2010, losing to Federer.

- In 2011, he reached the Australian Open final for the second straight year, but lost to Novak Djokovic.

-In 2012, he hired former world number one Ivan Lendl as his coach.

-In 2012, He became the first British man to reach the final at Wimbledon since Bunny Austin in 1938. He lost to Federer.

- A few weeks later, he avenged his loss to Federer when he won the gold medal at the London Olympics.

- In winning the US Open, he became the first British man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Fred Perry won the US Open in 1936.

- He beat Djokovic in an epic five-set US Open final in 2012 to win his first Grand Slam title.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: India skipper Virat Kohli on Friday made a heartfelt appeal to the citizens of the country, asking them to follow social distancing as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.
He also went on to say that over the past few days, he has seen some people still taking to the streets, and added that if people still continue to venture out, then they are not being honest with the country.
Kohli released a small video clip on Twitter, making the public appeal and captioned the post as: "Please wake up to the reality and seriousness of the situation and take responsibility. The nation needs our support and honesty"
"Today, I am talking to you as a citizen of the country. Whatever I have seen over the past few days, I have seen people not following the lockdown, it has made me feel that some people are taking the battle against COVID-19 very lightly. I request you all to please follow social distancing, whatever the government is asking you to do, please follow it," Kohli said in the video released on Twitter.
"Think about what can happen to your family members because of your negligence. Our medical experts are fighting this battle day in and day out. If you are still going out to the streets, then I don't think you are being honest to your country," he added.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to impose a 21-day lockdown in the country as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have risen to 724 in India (including 640 active cases, 66 cured or discharged people) and 17 deaths.
The World Health Organisation had termed the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic on March 11. 

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News Network
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels that the Men in Blue have the edge over Australia in terms of talent and confidence ahead of the two teams' three-match ODI series starting January 14 in Mumbai.

"In the past that wasn't the case because they were doing really well. We were trying to match that level. I feel that Indian cricket is a notch ahead in terms of talent, in terms of cricket and in terms of confidence," Star Sports expert Irfan Pathan said. "The only thing that will make it equal is the kind of pitches we are going to play in Australia because we do not have experience playing on those hard and bouncy pitches," said Pathan, who recently called time on his international career.

Recounting his favourite memory of playing against Australia, Irfan said, "It all started in Australia for me. The most memorable moment was getting my first wicket and helping India win a Test match in Australia after 21 years. Winning the Test in Perth and being named the Man of the Match is also a favourite memory for me."

Australia have already announced their team for the three-match ODI series with India. The team will be led by Aaron Finch. The other members of the team are Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, and Adam Zampa.

India are yet to announce their team but in all probability, it will be led by Virat Kohli who has been in phenomenal form over the last few years. All three ODIs are day and night affair. While the first match of the series is on January 14 in Mumbai, the second will be played at Rajkot on January 17 followed by the January 19 clash in Bengaluru.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and is one of the easiest guys to interact with.

Bravo was doing an Instagram live chat with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the all-rounder was asked to talk about his stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"I think a lot of credit for CSK's success has to be given to Dhoni and Fleming, obviously the owners, they trust both Fleming and Dhoni, so there is no outside interference when it comes to decision making, both are very big students of the game, players love MS and it's an environment and franchise that allows you to be you," Bravo told Mbangwa during the chat.

"MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team. He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans," he added.

Bravo has been with the CSK since 2011. He has played a total of 104 matches for the franchise, picking up 121 wickets.

The all-rounder has also managed to win the Purple Cap (most wickets in IPL) two times (2013 and 2015).

CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and all the titles have come under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the high-profile game.

This year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

The board had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

Dhoni is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He would have been leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29.

However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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