Fit-again Zaheer Khan overlooked, Rohit Sharma named in Test squad for Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series

November 1, 2013

ZaheerKhanMumbai, Nov 1: Zaheer Khan may have lost oodles of weight and regained his form, but the selectors have instead picked Mohammad Shami for the two-Test series against West Indies starting on November 6. The rubber, which will be Sachin Tendulkar’s last, could well be Rohit

Sharma’s first after the classy right-hander found a place in the 15-man squad on the back of some consistent performances in ODIs.

Zaheer, who generated decent pace and bowled 30 overs for his five wickets for Mumbai against Haryana earlier this week, last played for the country in December 2012. The selectors also ignored his performances in the recent ‘A’ series against the West Indians in Hubli and Shimoga.

Shami, who has done his bit in the ongoing ODI series against Australia, is one of four pacers in the squad. The others are Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and — believe it or not — Ishant Sharma. Ashok Dinda, who was part of the squad in the Australia series earlier this year, has been dropped.

The spin department comprises R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra. Ravindra Jadeja, who did well during the 4-0 win over Australia, has been advised rest by the team’s physiotherapist.

Harbhajan Singh may have picked up nine wickets in Punjab’s Ranji opener against Odisha but he, too, was ignored. The good news is that the discards (including Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir) will get at least two more Ranji games (November 7-10 and November 14-17) to make their case before India travel to South Africa in December.

Shikhar Dhawan will open the batting with M Vijay. Cheteshwar Pujara, Tendulkar and Virat Kohli will occupy the next three sports. Sharma, who has eased into the opener’s role in ODIs, was preferred over Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. He is certain to make his Test debut in Kolkata (November 6-10).

Squad: MS Dhoni (C & WK), M Vijay, S Dhawan, C Pujara, S Tendulkar, V Kohli, R Sharma, A Rahane, R Ashwin, P Ojha, A Mishra, I Sharma, B Kumar, M Shami, U Yadav

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Sydney, Feb 7: "I received a message from Brett Lee," said former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Friday when asked as to who recruited him to take part in the Bushfire relief fundraiser match.

Tendulkar will be coaching the Ponting XI in the upcoming Bushfire Bash on Sunday, February 9 at the Junction Oval.

"I received a message from Brett Lee. Brett said that Kevin (Roberts, Cricket Australia's chief executive) would like to be in touch with you. It was a no-brainer. From the moment I was asked, I said, 'yes I'm more than happy to come here," cricket.com.au quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Bushfire Bash was originally slated to be played at Sydney on Saturday but weather forecast prompted Cricket Australia to reschedule the game to ensure the best possible pitch and outfield conditions for the final of Big Bash League.

The match will be played to raise funds and all match profits will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

"This is an alarming situation, it's catastrophic - that's an understatement. You see the number of lives it has affected, not only humans but also wildlife which sometimes people don't talk about. That is equally important. I'm so happy I'm here in whatever way to support the cause, to raise money," Tendulkar said.

Ponting XI: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (c), Elyse Villani, Brian Lara, Phoebe Litchfield, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Luke Hodge. Coach: Sachin Tendulkar

Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (c & wk), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed (one more to be announced). Coach: Tim Paine

The Bushfire Bash exhibition match will be a 10-overs-per-side contest, with a five-over Powerplay, no bowling restrictions, and batters unable to get out from the first ball they face.

Bowlers will not have over limits, fielders can sub on and off as it suits, while captains will have the ability to sub batters in and out during an innings.

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News Network
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday called the 1983 World Cup win as the 'landscape' changing moment for the game of cricket in the country.

Today, India is celebrating the completion of the 37 years of the maiden World Cup triumph under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

"Today 37 years ago, changed the cricketing landscape in India. Thank you @therealkapildev and team for making the game a career for many of us today. Deeply indebted," Ashwin tweeted.

In 1983, in the finals between India and West Indies, the latter won the toss and opted to bowl first.

The Kapil Dev-led side managed to score just 183 runs as Andy Roberts took three wickets while Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, and Larry Gomes picked up two wickets each.

Defending 183, India did a good job of keeping a check on the Windies run flow, reducing the side to 57/3.

Soon after, the team from the Caribbean was reduced to 76/6 and India was the favourites from there on to win the title.

Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket of Michael Holding to give India their first-ever World Cup title win.

In the finals, West Indies was bowled out for 140, and as a result, India won the match by 43 runs.

Kapil Dev lifting the trophy at the balcony of Lord's Cricket Ground still remains an image to savour for all the Indian fans.

In the finals, Mohinder Amarnath was chosen as the Man of the Match as he scored 26 runs with the bat and also picked up three wickets with the ball.

India has been the regular participant in the World Cup from its beginning to the latest edition. The first edition was held in 1975 and from there on, it has taken place after a span of every four years.

West Indies won the first two World Cup titles (1975, 1979) and was the runner-up in 1983. India has won the title two times, in 1983 and in 2011.

MS Dhoni captained the 2011 team to win their second title after 28 years. Australia has won the tournament five times (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015).

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