Successive defeats leave Anand nervy in World Chess C'ship

November 17, 2013

Anand-carlsenChennai, Nov 17: Having suffered back-to-back defeats in the World Chess Championship, defending champion Viswanathan Anand was today left a bit nervy if the press conference after the sixth game is anything to go by.

Replying to a question about what he planned to do in current situation after two losses, Anand said he would want to the best in the coming games.

However when the defending champ was asked what he meant by 'doing the best', the world champion since 2007 was pretty curt in his reply.

"Doing your best mean doing your best. I do not how you understand English," he snapped at the journalist.

Asked was there pressure after losing yesterday, Anand said: "Yes. Probably."

Moments after suffering the loss, the 43-year-old was even asked by one journalist what was his reaction to Sachin Tendulkar's retirement.

"I had noticed and was following what he was doing. But the other things were in my mind," Anand said.

Anand said he had started off well but committed a blunder in the middle.

"I just pretty much started off well. I gave the check and then actually I was going for a rook-g 4 and a simple idea. Then, I just blundered here with f-4. And, this was lost of course," he said.

"Here, I get rook-c and just draw. When I started it was quite good and I thought if I get queen g4 I could get the major pieces get solid positions. But then, I do not know ... perhaps one mistake after the other," he added.

Carlsen was at his best to tackle the new situation.

"Its good go get a healthy lead the half way stage of the match, we still got six games to play," said the challenger from Norway.

While Anand maintained that he would like to do his best in the remaining games, Carlsen elaborated on the sixth game in depth.

"I wanted to carry on from the last game and exert pressure. The position after the opening is about level and when he blundered or sacrificed a pawn, I thought I have my chances," Carlsen said.

The Norwegian, however, maintained that the position was that of a draw.

"The position was a draw in all likelyhood but then I had set up this trap where Anand fell in," he said.

Anand, for the records, has never suffered two losses in a row in World Championship contest since 2008. The second loss could well mean a curtain for Anand's hopes of retaining the title.

With two down and six to play, Anand needs to strike it in the next one as otherwise it may be too late.

Carlsen, on the other hand, was in his elements after the victory. The Norwegian knows its not far for him to win his maiden world title in his first attempt.

Garry Kasparov, his mentor and trainer in 2009 has been vouching for the new talent for quite some time and Carlsen has thus far proven himself to be worthy of the title.Anand needs a plan 'B' if he has to make a serious impression in this match.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Thursday dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on the future of the former India captain who has not played since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand last year.

The BCCI announced the central contracts for the period of October 2019 to September 2020. Dhoni was in the A category, which fetches a player Rs 5 crore, until last year.

Skipper Virat Kohli, his deputy Rohit Sharma and top pacer Jasprit Bumrah were retained in the highest A+ bracket of Rs 7 crore.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Dubai, Jan 11: India opener KL Rahul has retained the sixth position while skipper Virat Kohli and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan have advanced one place each in the latest ICC Men's T20I player rankings after the conclusion of the series against Sri Lanka.

India won the T20I series 2-0 with one match getting washed out. Rahul, the highest-ranked Indian batsman, has gained 26 points and is now at the sixth spot with 760 rating points.

Rahul is just six points behind Australia's Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in the ninth position while Dhawan is on 15th. Manish Pandey has advanced four places and is ranked at the 70th.

India's fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Player of the series Navdeep Saini has rocketed from 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets in the series. Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach the 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th position after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the ICC Men's team rankings, India have gained two points but remain at fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236 points and are at the eighth spot.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

It could be Virat Kohli versus Faf du Plessis in the Asia XI-World XI two-match T20 series that has been organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on March 18 and 21 -- subject to the India skipper confirming his availability.

The matches will be played to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The BCB is awaiting a confirmation from Kohli as well as K.L. Rahul for the March 18 game as India are set to play South Africa on the same day in the final ODI of a three-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Agencies had earlier reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had sent the names of Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav to the BCB for the two matches. And they all feature in the Asia XI team with the addition of wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and Rahul.

Announcing the names, BCB President Nazmul Hassan said: "We have already received four names from India. We haven't signed contracts but Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammed Shami are supposed to come. They have said K.L. Rahul and Virat Kohli will play one game each, but that hasn't been finalised.

"Players like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have finalised with us, from Afghanistan. Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane will play while from Sri Lanka, we will have Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera. From Bangladesh, we will have Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah and Liton Das.

"I don't remember all the names, but we will have three or four players from South Africa. Definitely, there will be the same number of players from West Indies. Australia and New Zealand will be playing but we will try to find some (players). Bairstow is definitely coming. Ngidi is coming. Chris Gayle is supposed to play. Faf du Plessis. We will have some of the best players around. We are uncertain about Pakistan since the PSL is will be ongoing. We will invite some of the cricketing greats."

Squads: Asia XI: Virat Kohli*, K.L. Rahul*, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Mustifizur Rehman, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lasith Malinga, Muzeeb ur Rehman

World XI: Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Nicholas Pooran, Ross Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Sheldon Cottrell, Lungi Ngidi, Andrew Tye, Mitchell McClenaghan. (Coach: Tom Moody)

Note: (*) For one game; Kohli's selection subject to confirmation.

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