Sachin Tendulkar inspired me to stage comeback: Sardar Singh

Agencies
September 16, 2018

New Delhi, Sept 16: Hockey star player Sardar Singh, who recently hung up his boots, has revealed that master blaster and former Indian batsman great Sachin Tendulkar had motivated him to make a comeback after he was ignored from this year's Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Australia.

Addressing media here on Saturday, post his retirement, Sardar recalled, "When I was left out from CWG, I called Sachin paaji. I was feeling very distraught. I asked him that what he used to do when he scored 0. He bucked me up and said that people criticise a lot on your bad performance. He spoke to me for a long time and told me to forget all criticisms, analyse my performance by watching old videos and play your natural game. It has helped me a lot in the last four to five months."

Calling Sachin as his inspiration, Sardar said that his pep talk with the master blaster helped him to bounce back and rejuvenated his confidence.

In July, Sardar had led the Indian hockey team to a historic silver after losing to powerhouses Australia in the finals of the Champions Trophy in Breda, The Netherlands, via a 3-1 penalty shootout.

Commenting on his retirement, the 32-year-old said it was a hard decision. He said, "I took this decision after consulting with my coaches, senior players, family and friends. I'll miss the dressing room and the time spent with the team. But it had to happen one day. It's time to spend time with my family. Special thanks to all for your support."

Asked which match was memorable for him, Sardar replied, There are so many of them, in CWG and in World Cup. We lost to England in the 2012 Champions Trophy. But, it was the best tournament for me. I learnt a lot."

He credited Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra for reviving Indian hockey and lauded his teammates' professional attitude in playing matches fearlessly.

Acknowledging that the entry of foreign coaches like Roelant Oltmans and Barry Dancer had made an impact in the fitness of the Indian hockey team, Sardar further said, "After they came, our fitness and performance improved drastically. It reached to a high standard and we are now very competitive in all tournaments."

Quizzed on India's disastrous performance in this year's Asian Games, the hockey star replied, "It is a part of the game. We were well prepared. We had training sessions. Unfortunately, we could not make that count. Hope we can now make a comeback."

The Indian hockey team put up a mediocre performance in the Asian Games and had to settle for a bronze, after defeating arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 in the match.

The former captain believed that he left the squad in good shape and added that the team has to address some concerns to be medal contenders in big tournaments.

Sardar went on to say that he will play in European leagues and will tie-up with best foreign clubs to bring in good coaches for the Indian hockey team.

Born to a humble farmer's family in Sirsa district of Haryana, Sardar played his first international match with the junior national team during India's 2003-04 tour of Poland. He made his senior India debut in 2006 against Pakistan at the bilateral series and also led the Indian team at the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

He was awarded player of the tournament in the 2012 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 2012 London Olympics Qualifiers and 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. In 2010, Sardar was included in the 2010 and 2011 FIH All-Star Team and won the Asian Men Player of the Year 2012.

The 32-year-old was conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2017 and was earlier awarded the Padma Shri in 2015. He is currently employed with Haryana Police as Deputy Superintendent.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

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Agencies
April 14,2020

Tokyo, Apr 14: Tokyo organizers said Tuesday they have no B Plan in the event the Olympics need to be postponed again because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Masa Takaya, the spokesman for the Tokyo Olympics, said organizers are proceeding under the assumption the Olympics will open on July 23, 2021. The Paralympics follow on Aug. 24.

Those dates were set last month by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese officials after the coronavirus pandemic made it clear the Olympics could not be held as scheduled this summer.

We are working toward the new goal, Takaya said, speaking in English on a teleconference call with journalists.

We don't have a B Plan. The severity of the pandemic and the death toll has raised questions if it will even be feasible to hold the Olympics in just over 15 months. Several Japanese journalists raised the question on the call.

All I can tell you today is that the new games' dates for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been just set up, Takaya said.

In that respect, Tokyo 2020 and all concerned parties now are doing their very best effort to deliver the games next year." IOC President Thomas Bach was asked about the possibility of a postponement in an interview published in the German newspaper Die Welt on Sunday.

He did not answer the question directly, but said later that Japanese organizers and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated they could not manage a postponement beyond next summer at the lastest.

The Olympics draw 11,000 athletes and 4,400 Paralympic athletes and large support staffs from 206 national Olympic committees.

There are also questions about frozen travel, rebooking hotels, cramming fans into stadiums and arenas, securing venues, and the massive costs of rescheduling, which is estimated in Japan at 2 billion- 6 billion.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto addressed the issue in a news conference on Friday. He is likely to be asked about it again on Thursday when local organizers and the IOC hold a teleconferene with media in Japan.

The other major question is the cost of the delay; how much will it be, and who pays? Bach said in the Sunday interview that the IOC would incur several hundred million dollars in added costs. Under the so-called Host City Agreement, Japan is liable for the vast majority of the expenses.

This is impossible to say for now, Takaya, the spokesman said.

It is not very easy to estimate the exact amount of the games' additional costs, which have been impacted by the postponement."

Tokyo says it's spending 12.6 billion to organize the Olympics. But a Japanese government audit published last year says the costs are twice that much. Of the total spending, 5.6 billion in private money. The rest is from Japanese governments.

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