Pro Kabaddi: Gujarat edge past Bengaluru; Puneri Paltan outclass Bengal Warriors

Agencies
August 16, 2017

Ahmedabad, Aug 16: With Pro Kabaddi League(PKL) entering the inter-zone match phase, Zone A team Puneri Paltan outclassed Zone B side Bengal Warriors 34-17  to maintain their second position in the group standings.

Puneri Paltan combined well to pull off an all-round performance with key performances from defenders Sandeep Narwal (7 points) and Girish Ernak (4 points) along with raider GB More (6 points) to help their side win by a massive 17-point margin.

Bengal Warriors failed to work well as a unit in either half. Raider Maninder Singh (6 points) and defender Ran Singh (7 points) were their key performers.

Maninder Singh gave Bengal Warriors a bright start by clinching points from consecutive raids. Maninder along with Ran Singh took most of the load for the Warriors in the first half with star raider Jang Kun Lee on in his usual fiery form.

Puneri Paltans were straight forced to go for a do or die raid after their skipper Deepak Hooda failed to clinch points from his initial raids.

But Soon Sandeep Narwal began to dominate the opposition, helping his side impose an all-out on the Warriors and take a 12-5 lead with less than six minutes to go in the first half.

The team worked well together as a cohesive unit to help the Pune outfit take a 17-10 lead at half-time.

The second half began with consecutive empty raids for both the sides.

Later, Bengal broke the deadlock to cut short their deficit with a fine tackle point. However, Pune began to dominate as the Warriors failed to clinch too many points through their raids.

Ran Singh and Maninder showed some hope for the Warriors through their defence and attack respectively in the second half helping their side narrow the deficit.

But, Pune dominated the play and handed Bengal their second all-out with 15 minutes to play. There was no looking back for the Pune outfit after this point.

In the second match of the day, Zone A team Gujarat Fortunegiants made a stunning comeback to defeat Bengaluru Bulls 27-24 to register their fourth victory on a trot in the league.

Raider Sachin Tanwar (4 points) and defender Parvesh Bhainswal (4 points) helped Gujarat's surge from lagging behind in the first-half to register a win by a narrow margin to stay on top of their group standings.

A valiant effort from Bengaluru captain Rohit Kumar (7 points) and defender Kuldeep Singh (5 points) went in vain in a closely-fought match.

After couple of empty raids from both sides, Gujarat broke the deadlock with a successful tackle to get the scoreboard ticking.

The home side looked to gain momentum in the match after getting an all-out. Raiders Sachin and Rohit Gulia pulled off consecutive successful raids to help their side narrow the point gap after lagging behind in the early minutes of the match.

Bengaluru also opened their score tally with a successful tackle. The away side took the initial 4-2 lead, thanks to successful tackles from Rohit Kumar and fellow raider Ashish Kumar.

Rohit continued to display his fine show on the opposition mat to add vital points to his team's tally and maintain the lead.

The Bengaluru outfit also pulled off some fine tackles to all-out the home side taking a 11-3 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the first-half.

Thanks to an all-round effort, Bengaluru maintained a 14-9 lead at the half-time.

The second-half began with Gulia clinching a point for Gujarat Fortunegiants. Later, defenders Fazel Atrachali, Parvesh Bhainswal and Abozar Mighani combined in unison to give their side important tackle points which helped the team narrow the point gap to 18-20 with nine minutes to play.

Substitute Mahendra Rajput and Sachin later played an important role clinching back to back successful raid points in the match giving their side a slender 24-21 lead with less than five minutes to play, which later helped the side clinch the match.

The Bengaluru outfit added to their tally with a successful tackle, which was followed by a successful raid from Rohit which earned the team two points.

Later, substitute Gurvinder Singh kept Bengaluru in the match through his successful raids but failed to rescue his side from losing all on his own.

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News Network
May 19,2020

Karachi, May 19: Babar Azam wants to take a leaf out of Imran Khan's aggressive captaincy and besides cricket, he is also brushing up his English to become a "complete leader" like the World Cup-winning all-rounder.

Last week, the star batsman took over the reins of Pakistan's white-ball cricket after being appointed as the ODI skipper.

Azam, who was one of the world's leading batsmen across formats last year and already the T20 skipper, replaced wicket-keeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed as the ODI captain for the 2020-21 season.

"Imran Khan was a very aggressive captain and I want to be like him. It is not an easy job captaining the Pakistan team but I am learning from my seniors and I have also had captaincy experience since my under-19 days," Azam said.

He said that to be a complete captain one must be able to interact comfortably with the media and express oneself properly in front of an audience.

"These days I am also taking English classes besides focussing on my batting," he said on Monday.

The 25-year-old Babar said he was not satisfied with Pakistan's current standing in international cricket.

"I am not happy with where we stand and I want to see this team go up in the rankings."

Babar said captaincy would be a challenge for him but it would not affect his batting.

"It is an honour to lead one's national team so it is not a burden for me at all. In fact, after becoming captain, I have to lead by example and be more responsible in my batting."

Babar hoped the T20 World Cup is held this year in Australia as he wanted to lead his team in the ICC event.

"It would be a disappointment if the event was not held or rescheduled because I am looking forward to playing in the World Cup and doing well in it," he said.

About plans for Pakistan to fly to England in July to play three Tests and three T20 internationals amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Babar said a lot of hard work and planning would be required to make the players feel comfortable and safe.

"Touring England won't be easy. Health and safety of players is of great importance and the tour will only be possible when proper arrangements are in place," he said.

"Both England and Pakistan team fans, along with the cricketers, are missing cricket because of the pandemic."

"We will still try to perform to the best of our ability despite no support from the fans in the stadium," he added.

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News Network
April 8,2020

New Delhi, Apr 8: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar on Wednesday proposed a three-match ODI series against arch-rivals India to raise funds for the fight against the Covid19 pandemic in both the countries.

The two nations have not played a full-series since 2007 due to the terrorist attacks on India by Pakistan-based outfits and the resultant diplomatic tension. They only play each other in ICC events and Asia Cup.

"In this time of crisis, I want to propose a three-match series in which for the first time, the people of neither country would be upset at the outcome of the games," Akhtar told PTI from Islamabad.

"If Virat (Kohli) scores a hundred, we will be happy, if Babar Azam scores a hundred, you will be happy. Both teams will be winners irrespective of whatever happens on the field," he said.

"You are bound to get massive viewership for the games. For the first time, both countries will play for each other. And whatever funds are generated through this can be donated equally to the government of India and Pakistan to fight this pandemic," added the 44-year-old.

No idea of logistics

With both countries in a lockdown amid the fast-spreading pandemic, the games can only be organised when things improve. However, Akhtar feels the sooner they are held, the better it would be but could not tell how the logistics of such an initiative would be worked out.

"Everyone is sitting at home at the moment, so there will be a massive following for the games. May be not now, when things start improving, the games could be organised at a neutral location like Dubai. Chartered flights could be arranged and the matches could he held.

"The whole world will tune into it, so much money can be raised to deal with this crisis. In difficult times, the character of the nation comes forward."

Start of a new era?

"It could even lead to resumption of bilateral cricketing ties and relations of both countries improve diplomatically. You never know," said the 'Rawalpindi Express'.

In these extraordinary times, Akhtar feels both countries should help each other. "We can only propose the matches. The rest is up to the authorities (to decide)."

India cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh were recently trolled for asking their social media followers to donate to Shahid Afridi's charity foundation which is doing its bit in Pakistan's fight against the deadly virus.

"It was inhuman to criticise them. It is not about countries or religion at the moment, it is about humanity," he opined.

India memories

Akhtar has spent a lot of time in India as a commentator. He fondly recalled his days in Mumbai during the World T20 in 2016, the last time he came to India for work.

"I am forever grateful about the love I have received from the people of India. For the first time I am revealing this, whatever I used to earn from India, I made a significant amount there, thirty percent of it, I used to distribute among the low income staff who used to work with me in the TV," he remembered.

Akhtar used to visit the city's slum areas with his face covered to hand out financial help to elder women there.

"From drivers, runners to my security guys. I took care of a lot of people. I was like if am earning from this country, I have to help my colleagues also.

"I also remember visiting slums of Dharavi and Sion in the wee hours to meet people I worked with," added Akhtar.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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