Hockey India set to appoint foreign goalkeeping coach

July 16, 2013

Hockey_IndiaNew Delhi, Jul 16: With the all-important Asia Cup round the corner, Hockey India is all set to hire a specialist foreign goalkeeping coach for the Indian men's team ahead of the August 24 to September 1 event in Ipoh, Malaysia.

Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra confirmed that that they are in look out for a foreign expert to work with Indian goalkeepers on short-term basis.

"Yes, we are searching for a goalkeeping coach to work with our men's team. We are looking for a specialist from abroad. We have shortlisted three candidates and whosoever out of them is affordable and acceptable will be appointed within two to three days," Batra told PTI.

"The person who fits best in our scheme of things and whose terms and conditions are acceptable to us will be appointed. He will be under Hockey India's payroll but we will have to take SAI's approval," he said.

Unlike other foreign experts, the goalkeeping coach will be appointed for a short tenure, to be precise for the upcoming Asia Cup and the Junior World Cup to be held in the Capital from December 6-15 this year.

"The arrangement will be on a short-term basis. But depending on our requirement and his performance, the coach may be roped in to work with the team for important future tournaments," Batra said.

Batra, however, refused to divulge the names of the candidates doing the rounds but, according to HI sources, South Africa's Dave Staniforth is the front-runner for the job.

"Staniforth is our first choice candidate as having worked in the Hockey India League, he has the knowledge about Indian hockey. Greg Clarke (junior men's team coach) also recommended his name. But we will have to see his terms and conditions," the source said.

A two-time medallist in the Champions Challenge event, Staniforth was the goalkeeping coach and video analyst of inaugural HIL winners, Ranchi Rhinos.

The foreign goalkeeping coach will report to Hockey India's High Performance Director and interim chief coach, Roelant Oltmans in the ongoing national camp in Bangalore, where the Indian team is preparing for the Asia Cup which they desperately need to win to qualify for next year's World Cup in Hague, The Netherlands.

Oltmans is in charge of the team along with newly-appointed coach M K Kaushik after Australian Michael Nobbs was prematurely shown the door due to non-performance.

Interestingly, it was Nobbs who in the past had called for the need to appoint a specialist goalkeeping coach in order to broaden the country's bench strength on this vital front.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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News Network
February 12,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 12: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday berated his bowlers for their mediocre performance as he tried to explain the team's first ODI series whitewash in over three decades, saying that the visitors lacked composure all through.

The five-wicket defeat here meant that India lost the series 0-3 to an injury-plagued New Zealand that had been deflated by a 0-5 whitewash of its own in the T20 format just last week. It was India's first whitewash in 31 years in an ODI series in which all matches have been played.

"The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. It boils down to those chances that we didn't grab. I don't think it was not enough to win games in international cricket," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

"With the ball, we were not able to make breakthroughs, we were not at all good on the field. We haven't played so badly but when you don't grab those chances, you don't deserve to win," he added.

"Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us, but the way we fielded and bowled, the composure wasn't enough to win games," he asserted.

The ineffectiveness of Indian bowlers can be gauged from the fact that the team's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finished the series without a wicket and the attack couldn't dismiss the complete rival line-up even once.

Kohli lauded New Zealand for bouncing back after the T20 hammering.

"New Zealand played with lot more intensity. We didn't deserve to win because we did not show enough composure," he said.

The batting mainstay is looking forward to the Test series, which begins on February 21, to make amends for the disappointment.

"I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said.

His opposite number Kane Williamson, who missed the first two games due to injury, was lavish in his praise for the home team's grit.

"An outstanding performance, very clinical. India put us under pressure, but the way the guys fought back with the ball and kept them to a par total. The cricket in the second half was outstanding to see," he said referring to the side's effortless chase of a 297-run target.

"We know how good they (India) are at all formats but for us the clarity about the roles the guys had was the most important thing. Outstanding effort against a brilliant India side," he added.

Player of the Match Henry Nicholls, who scored 80 on Tuesday, said his team benefitted from good batting starts during the series.

"To come back and win 3-0 after the T20Is is nice. The way (Martin) Guptill played today allowed us to get ahead. We got a 100-run stand, but we were fortunate enough to get good starts this series," he said.

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Agencies
February 4,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 4: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena guided India to a comfortable ten wickets win over Pakistan in the ICC U19 World Cup semifinal at Senwes Park on Tuesday and progressed to the final of the tournament.

Chasing 173, Indian openers Jaiswal and Saxena played cautiously and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 176 runs.

The duo built the highest opening partnership of the tournament's history. Jaiswal, the left-handed batsman, scored his maiden century of the tournament as he amassed unbeaten 105 runs studded with eight fours and four sixes.

Saxena scored 59* off 99 balls including six fours. India chased down the total in 35.2 overs. This is the first time in the history of the U19 World Cup that a team won a knockout match by ten wickets.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Opener Haider Ali and skipper Rohail Nazir's half-centuries guided the side to a respectable total of 172. Ali played a knock of 56 runs while Nazir accumulated 62 runs including six boundaries.

Pakistan did not have a good start as they lost Mohammad Hurair (4) in the second over. Fahad Munir, came to bat at number three, failed to score a single run and was departed by Ravi Bishnoi on a duck in ninth over.

Apart from Ali and Nazir, Mohammad Haris was the only batsman to score runs in double digits. He played an innings of 21 runs off 15 balls. Indian bowlers showed a spirited performance as they bowled out arch-rival in 43.1 overs.

Pacers Karthik Tyagi and Sushant Mishra bagged two and three wickets respectively. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi clinched two scalps and conceded 46 runs in his ten overs.

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