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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Agencies
April 15,2020

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey has heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying the veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman is the "greatest finisher" the game of cricket has ever seen.

"Dhoni is the greatest finisher of all time that the cricketing world has ever produced," Hussey said while speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo's Videocast.

"Dhoni can keep his cool and make the opposition captain blink first. Dhoni also has unbelievable power. He knows that when he needs to clear the ropes, he can do it. He has that kind of self-belief. Honestly, I didn't have that kind of belief in myself," he added.

The former Australian batsman, who shared the dressing room with Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, said the 38-year-old Indian believes in the philosophy that he who panics last, wins the game.

"I tried not to let it reach 12 or 13 runs an over," said Hussey while talking about his ability to finish the game without much hiccups.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"Supportive owners who let coach Stephen Fleming and captain Dhoni decide how to run the team, excellent chemistry between the coach and the captain, Dhoni's leadership and lastly the foresight of the owners, Fleming and Dhoni to pick the best players, particularly the good Indian players and then stick with them for as long as possible."

"This has built an excellent continuity in the team. And once you have continuity, you build relationships and trust that otherwise takes time to grow," he added.

Hussey also said that once Dhoni bids adieu to the game, CSK would probably like to start all over again.

"That's a 60-million-dollar question, and I am equally intrigued. I believe the owners would like to keep Dhoni involved in some way or the other," said Hussey.

"However, whenever the change of guard happens, CSK might want to start all over again, build a brand, new team, and use their existing philosophy as they enter the next decade of IPL. It is definitely going to be more challenging in current times," he added.

Dhoni was supposed to lead CSK in the 13th IPL edition which now stands postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: Australia batsman David Warner on Tuesday decided to shave off his head to show support towards all those people who are working relentlessly on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.

After shaving off his head, Warner also challenged his Australian team-mate Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli to do the same.

Warner, shared a time-lapse video on Instagram, of him shaving his head, and captioned the post as: "Been nominated to shave my head in support of those working on the frontline #Covid-19 here is a time-lapse. I think my debut was the last time I recall I've done this. Like it or not".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's death toll stands at 19, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

As of 8 am today, 4460 people across Australia have tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a 'pandemic' on March 11.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine also confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh is unlikely due to the virus spread.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Melbourne, Jan 23: Sania Mirza's return to her first Grand Slam after a two-year break was cut short on Thursday when the former world number one was forced to retire midway through her first round match in women's doubles at the Australian Open due to a calf injury.

India's Mirza, who won six Grand Slam doubles titles, took a break from the game after the China Open in October 2017 and gave birth to her son a year later.

The 33-year-old made a winning return to the WTA Tour at this month's Hobart International with Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok, picking up her 42nd WTA doubles title and the first since winning the women's doubles in Brisbane in 2017.

Mirza said she strained her calf muscle in her right leg during the Hobart final.

"It just got worse in the match. It was bit of a bad strain, but I had a few days off," she told reporters. "So I obviously had to try to do whatever I could to try to get on the court.

"It felt okay when I went on the court, but it was tough to move right. I just felt like I'm gonna tear it or something pretty bad."

Mirza won her first Grand Slam in mixed doubles at the Australian Open in 2009 and also bagged the women's doubles in 2016.

Mirza always believed there was tennis left in her which inspired her comeback, she told Reuters on Sunday.

She had already pulled out of the Australian Open mixed doubles, where she was to partner compatriot Rohan Bopanna.

Mirza and Kichenok were trailing the Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu 6-2 1-0 on Thursday when the Indian had to call it quits due to the injury.

"As a tennis player you want to compete, it is the Grand Slam. If it's any other tournament, you would probably take a call and be like 'I don't want to risk it'," she said.

Mirza, who is married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, said she would take two weeks to recover and was hoping to play at next month's Dubai championships.

"When you play a professional sport, injuries are really part of it. And it's something that you have to accept," she said. "Sometimes the timing is really not ideal, it's tough that it happened in a Grand Slam, or just before a Grand Slam."

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