Ronaldo double seals Madrid's place in last eight

March 19, 2014

RonaldoMadrid, Mar 19: Real Madrid stormed into the Champions League quarter-finals with a club record 9-2 aggregate success after Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice in a 3-1 win at home against Schalke 04 on Tuesday.

Real were virtually assured of a place in the last eight after thrashing the Bundesliga side 6-1 in Gelsenkirchen in the first leg and coach Carlo Ancelotti rested a host of regulars for the return at the Bernabeu with an eye on Sunday's La Liga "Clasico" against Barcelona.

Gareth Bale set up Ronaldo for Real's 21st-minute opener and Schalke levelled 10 minutes later when a long-range Tim Hoogland effort deflected off Sergio Ramos and bounced past the stranded Iker Casillas.

Ronaldo took his tally in this edition of Europe's elite club competition to 13 goals with his second of the night in the 74th minute. Alvaro Morata added a third for Real a minute later after a Ronaldo effort came back off the crossbar.

It was Real's biggest aggregate Champions League win after beating APOEL Nicosia 8-2 in 2011-12.

Ronaldo's double meant he surpassed his previous best Champions League haul of 12 from last season and he has 41 in all competitions for Real, the La Liga leaders, this term.

The world's richest club are bidding to reach the semi-finals for a third consecutive season and chase the 10th European crown that has eluded them since they last won the Champions League in 2002.

They are unbeaten in 31 matches in all competitions since a La Liga defeat to Barcelona at the end of October and also meet their arch-rivals in next month's King's Cup final.

Schalke, who are third in the Bundesliga, return to Germany to focus on securing a place in the Champions League next season.

Real can go seven points clear of third-placed Barca with a win on Sunday and Ancelotti used only four of the players who started the first leg at Schalke in Tuesday's starting lineup.

Jese started up front alongside Ronaldo and his Spain Under-21 team mate Alvaro Morata, but Jese was taken off on a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious knee injury and replaced by Bale in the eighth minute.

After a goal apiece for each side, Schalke had some good moments late in the second half, delighting their 4,000-strong travelling support who easily drowned out the home fans inside the giant arena.

Former Real forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was played through in the 40th minute by teenage midfielder Max Meyer and his low shot scooted narrowly wide.

Portugal's Ronaldo came close to a third in the 83rd minute with a low drive that struck the post, after earlier hitting the bar. He has struck 32 times in his last 25 Champions League matches and has 63 goals in 99 appearances.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mumbai, Mar 5: Former India spinner Sunil Joshi was on Wednesday named chairman of the national selection panel by the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which also picked ex-pacer Harvinder Singh to the five-member group.

The CAC, comprising Madan Lal, R P Singh and Sulakshana Naik, picked the two selectors with Joshi replacing South Zone representative MSK Prasad.

In an unprecedented decision, the BCCI said the CAC will review the panel's performance after one year and make recommendations accordingly.

"The committee recommended Sunil Joshi for the role of chairman of the senior men's selection committee. The CAC will review the candidates after a one-year period and make the recommendations to the BCCI," read a statement from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.

Harvinder was chosen from central zone and replaces Gagan Khoda in the panel.

The existing members of the selection panel are Jatain Paranjpe, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh.

"We have picked the best guys for the job," Lal told news agency.

The CAC had shortlisted five candidates for interviews -- Joshi, Harvinder, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Chauhan and L S Sivaramakrishnan -- from a list of 40 applicants.

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May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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March 4,2020

Mar 4: The BCCI has decided to implement strict cost cutting measures with the notable decision being IPL 2020 champions' prize money will be halved as compared to 2019. In a circular sent to all IPL franchises, the BCCI has notified that instead of a whopping Rs 20 crore, the IPL champion team will now receive Rs 10 crore only. "The financial rewards have been reworked as a part of the cost cutting measures. The champions will get Rs 10 crore instead of Rs 20 crore. The runners-up will get Rs 6.25 crore from earlier Rs 12.5 crore," a BCCI notification, in possession of news agency, read.

The two losing qualifiers will now get Rs 4.375 crore each.

"The franchises are all in good health. They also have multiple ways like sponsorships to bolster their income. Hence the decision on prize money taken," a senior BCCI source said.

However, a state association hosting IPL games will get Rs 1 crore each with franchises and BCCI contributing Rs 50 lakh each.

It has also been learnt that mid-level BCCI employees won't be allowed to avail business class flights like earlier times for flying to the Asian countries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE) where the flying time is less than eight hours.

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