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Sania hopes to win more Slams before saying goodbye

July 13, 2013

Sania_hopesNew Delhi, Jul 13: Her career ravaged by injuries, Sania Mirza reckons that age is fast catching up with her but hopes to add a few more Grand Slams trophies to her cabinet before bidding adieu to the game.

From wrist pain, hip strain to knee trouble, it has been a "rough ride" for the 26-year-old Hyderabadi ever since she vaulted into the international scene and, in her own admission, it takes her "longer to recover from injuries now".

"As you grow older, it's harder to stay fit. Every day you wake up with pain, muscle aches which you don't know you had. I have to work harder on me than I used to when I was 18 years old. It takes me longer to recover now," Sania told PTI in an interview here.

"I have had three surgeries (two knee and a wrist surgery). I had a rough time with my body as tennis takes a lot of toll. It's one of the toughest sports in the world. I have been fortunate enough to win the two slams till now. Hopefully, I can win a few more slams before I stop my career," she added.

Not many people know that Sania has extra-lax joints because of which she is more prone to joint injuries.

"It's a new day everyday and right now, touchwood, I am away from these injuries...there are some small niggles. Just trying to keep working as it takes me longer to recover now," she said.

Sania, who made the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles in Wimbledon before losing out to eventual winners Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic, said she has moved on from her defeat and is looking forward to winning the last Grand Slam of the season -- the US Open.

"That's definitely the goal as I am coming to hard court which is my favourite surface. I am looking forward to it. But it's the goal of the other 124 people playing. You want to try and win as many Slams as possible in your career. As a tennis player, that's what we always dream of as a kid, wanting to play slams, wanting to win them," she said.

"Tennis is like it gives you a lot of chances, but if you don't take those chances, it takes a lot of chances away from you. It's just the scoring pattern. We cannot dwell over a loss or a win for very long. We have no time to celebrate, we have no time to dwell, we have to move on. Wake up the next day and try and win the match," she added.

Sania, the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and seven in doubles, informed that she would be pairing up with her same old Wimbledon partner, Horia Tecau of Romania, at the Flushing Meadows.

"I am playing the same partner, Horia Tecau. We played well together during the Wimbledon," she said.

Summarising the season as a "decent one" for her, Sania said she would look to win couple of more tournaments before the season comes to an end.

"It's been a decent season for me. We started off really well, won the first tournament of the year, won Dubai after that. It's been good for me. Some season, you win 7-8 tournaments, some season you win 2-3, but having said that, it's been a decent year so far. My goal is to try and win as many tournaments as possible this year, play a couple of more finals, try and win couple of more tournaments before season ends," she added.

Asked about the Radio 5 Live presenter John Inverdale's moronic musing on the 'looks' of the women's Wimbledon champion, Marion Bartoli, Sania preferred to stay away from the controversy.

"I prefer not to answer that. Thanks," was all she said in her reply.

Talking about the Indian doubles player Mahesh Bhupati's proposed International Tennis Premier League (ITPL) mooted for the November-December off-season, Sania said, "It's an amazing concept. We will have the biggest players in the sport playing, (Novak) Djokovic is already set to play, then we have Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. I don't think any reason behind not to work."

On a personal front when asked how she manages to balance her busy schedule and spend time with family, Sania said, "It's tough but a lot depends on our (husband Shoaib Malik and her) scheduling. You know he was there with me in England when he was playing the Champions Trophy, so it worked out well. I am going to see him in next few days. We meet on the road really, we don't really meet at home," she signed off.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Five centrally contracted Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been issued notices by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing to disclose their whereabouts as the BCCI cited "password glitch" as the reason for delay.

The other players to have received the notice include women stars Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, who are among the five cricketers in the 110 strong National Registered Testing Pool (NRTP). Speaking to PTI, NADA DG Navin Agarwal confirmed that BCCI has sent an official explanation for their five NRTP players' failure to submit whereabouts.

"There are two ways to fill up the whereabouts form in the ADAMS (Anti Doping Administration & Management Systems) software. Either athlete does it himself or association fills it up on his or her behalf," Agarwal said. "Now athletes in some discipline aren't educated enough or do not have access to internet and find themselves unable to handle the whereabouts clause of the ADAMS or upload the filled up

"They use assistance of their concerned federations. So federations have accepted responsibility of uploading their whereabouts," Agarwal said.

He said cricketers too at times find it tough to complete the process on their own. "Similarly in cricket also, although these people are well qualified and they can do it, perhaps they don't have the time for whatever reasons, so the federation concerned, the BCCI has taken upon itself the responsibility of uploading their whereabouts." So why didnt BCCI upload the the three-month whereabouts this time?

"Well they have given an explanation which appears to be reasonable but a decision will be taken. They have said that there has been a glitch with regards to password in ADAMS. Now they have said that issue has been resolved," Agarwal added. NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."

While country has been under lockdown, the rule to submit three months of whereabouts is mandatory. Three such failures to disclose leads to one Anti Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), which could lead up to two years of suspension upon hearing.

While BCCI has "officially gagged" its employees from talking to the media, it couldn't be ascertained that why as normal a glitch as a password error took days to resolve. A BCCI veteran, who has been privy to cricket operations, asked why the five cricketers were not told to upload the form themselves.

"This was lockdown period where they are not living out of suitcases. Some of the names have also engaged in multiple instagram chats and podcasts which their agents are managing," he said.

"If cricket operations team were having a glitch in fixing password, well the five cricketers could have been asked to do so and they would have done it individually with some guidance. "Probably NADA would be lenient this time but if it becomes an official warning, then who's responsible," he added.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday condoled the demise of India's super cricket fan, 87-year-old Charulata Patel.

"#TeamIndia's Superfan Charulata Patel Ji will always remain in our hearts and her passion for the game will keep motivating us. May her soul rest in peace," BCCI tweeted.

Patel had made herself a household name after turning up for India's matches during the 2019 World Cup.

She went on to storm social media after she was seen cheering for the Men in Blue during their World Cup clash against Bangladesh.

After the match, the entire Indian side went to meet Patel and both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were seen meeting the octogenarian fan.

"I am a very religious person and have so much trust in God. So, when I pray, it comes true and I am saying that India is going to get the World Cup, definitely," Patel had told ANI during the World Cup.

The 87-year old had caught everyone's eyes when she was ardently cheering for the Indian team when they were batting.

Patel had also stated that she was there in the stadium when India lifted their first World Cup, back in 1983, under the leadership of former cricket Kapil Dev.

"I have been there. When they won the World Cup, I was so proud, I started dancing. And today also, I told my granddaughter that when India is going to defeat Bangladesh, I am going to dance," she had said.

"I have been watching cricket for decades. When I was in Africa, I used to watch it, then I came to this country in 1975. Here I had work because of which I did not get time to watch but I used to watch it on TV. But nowadays as I am not working, so I have the interest and I am very lucky that I get a chance to watch cricket," she added. 

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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