Russian twist to track tales

December 30, 2015

Dec 30: Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt shone at the Beijing World Championships, but athletics was later mired in a shocking doping-linked corruption scandal that plunged the Olympics' number one sport into crisis.

Russian

Bolt bagged an unprecedented fifth treble gold medal haul at a global championship in the Chinese capital in August, suitably in the same Bird's Nest stadium where his career took off in in the 2008 Olympics.

But the towering Jamaican's feats were overshadowed by revelations that threw track and field's world governing body, the IAAF, into turmoil.

At the same Beijing world champs where Bolt shone, former British double 1500M Olympic champions Sebastian Coe beat Sergey Bubka in a vote to take over from Lamine Diack as IAAF president.

No sooner was Coe installed than Diack was revealed to have accepted bribes worth up to one million euros to allow doped Russian athletes to compete. A "horror show", in Coe's words.

Coe, who was IAAF vice-president for eight years under Diack and had previously described the Senegalese as the sport's "spiritual leader", insisted he had had no inkling of corruption within his organisation.

Diack remains under investigations by French authorities, while the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) is also preparing a report on allegations of corruption within the IAAF.

Such was the external pressure, Coe ended his 38-year association with US sportswear company Nike, for whom he worked in the lucrative role as an ambassador, in a bid to eliminate any possible conflict of interest.

The BBC had published an email from a senior Nike executive that suggested Coe had lobbied Diack for the 2021 World Championships to be awarded to Eugene, Oregon, where Nike was founded.

When asked if it had been in Nike's interest for the event to be awarded to Eugene -- which it was, without a formal bid process -- Coe said: "I don't conclude that."

The IAAF also provisionally suspended athletics powerhouse Russia in November, and both RUSADA (Russian anti-doping agency) and Moscow's anti-doping laboratory were banned over the bombshell WADA report alleging systematic state-sponsored doping.

The WADA panel was set up following allegations aired by Germany’s ARD network, which released another sensational report in partnership with The Sunday Times in the middle of the year, alleging cover-up by the IAAF of many suspicious tests that suggested doping.

Russian officials have vowed to reinstate the national athletics federation in time for track and field athletes to compete in next summer's Olympic Games and to fight the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport.

"We are against any kind of doping, first of all because doping destroys people's health," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "Those who resort to doping, of course, must be punished accordingly."

After Russia, there were also shocking revelations in Kenya, an east African giant of the track that topped the medals table in Beijing.

The IAAF ethics commission suspended Isaiah Kiplagat, who led the national athletics federation for more than 20 years, along with his vice-president David Okeyo and former treasurer Joseph Kinyua over suspicions they had siphoned off sponsorship money from Nike and subverted anti-doping controls.

The question remains whether Coe is the man to instigate change.

Prior to becoming IAAF vice-president in 2007, the 59-year-old Briton was appointed as the first ethics commission chairman for world football's governing body FIFA, an organisation currently mired in corruption allegations of its own.

With links to two of the biggest scandals in modern sport, Coe nevertheless remained bullish when asked why people should believe that he is the right person to clean up athletics.

"Have there been failures? Yes. Will we fix them? Absolutely. I'm absolutely focused on doing that. If we don't do that, there are no tomorrows for my sport. This is the crossroads."

A neutral observer can only hope that the likes of Bolt and American Ashton Eaton, who bettered his own decathlon world record at Beijing, will be there to help track and field through its darkest moment.

Bolt’s battle with dope-tainted Justin Gatlin in the 100M was touted to be the highlight of the Beijing bash and it turned out to be just that, with the Jamaican edging out the American right at the finishline. He also retained his 200M and 4x100M relay gold medals to enhance his legendary status.

Briton Mo Farah, whose ties with American coach Alberto Salazar came under the scanner during the year, won another 5000-10000 double while American Christian Taylor prevailed in a superb triple jump contest.

In women’s events, the rise of Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers was the talking point after she won the 200M while Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba also stole the show in the 1500M after smashing a long-standing the world record just before Beijing.

Dibaba and Eaton were named the IAAF Athletes of the Year but the awards gala was cancelled, in tune with the prevailing mood. The New Year, certainly, will bring fresh challenges.

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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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News Network
February 22,2020

Sydney, Feb 22: India's demolition of a formidable Australia in the Women's T20 World Cup opener will give them a huge boost going forward, said star batswoman Mithali Raj, who also lauded leggie Poonam Yadav for her magical performance.

Poonam took four for 19 to help India complete a 17-run victory against defending champions Australia on Friday.

"Everyone has been talking about how much batting depth Australia have, yet they couldn't chase 132," Raj, a former India Test and ODI captain, said in an ICC release.

"India will take so much confidence from that victory, but this World Cup is still very open. The match between Australia and India proved how competitive the tournament will be. It proves it does not matter where you stand in the ICC rankings.

"We will be seeing more of the same drama yet. This victory proves every team has a chance," said Raj, who has retired from T20 cricket.

The 37-year-old veteran batswoman said "the opening match definitely lived up to the hype of the tournament".

"It was a whirlwind. There were so many ups and downs. It was a great start to the tournament not only because India beat the defending champions on home soil, but also because of how the game progressed altogether.

"At no point could you say it was going in one side's favour. First we saw our early wickets fall, then we recovered and Australia had to chase 132 before their middle-order collapsed. India and Australia both took the game their own way at different points which made it fascinating for spectators to watch."

Raj said Poonam's spell was the turning point.

"She's been one of the main spinners for India for quite some time now, and her style worked again. Getting their (Australia's) middle-order out really titled the match towards India, she was brilliant.

"Although we recovered our innings through Deepti Sharma and her partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues, it was Poonam's flurry of wickets against Australia's megastars, which completely changed the game," Raj said.

Raj also praised 16-year-old Shafali Verma for scoring 29 off 15 on her World Cup debut.

"Shafali Verma impressed me too on her debut. She gave India's middle order the cushioning they needed to regain momentum. Verma has stuck with stroke play that she demonstrated in the tri-series," she said.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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