Sachin Tendulkar Meets Rio Olympics Bound Wrestlers, Boosts Morale

May 24, 2016

New Delhi, May 24: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has met the Olympic-bound Indian wrestling contingent at a city hotel here and boosted the athletes' confidence ahead of the mega event in August.

sachinrio

With the exception of Yogeshwar Dutt (men's 65kg) and Sandeep Tomar (57kg), all the wrestlers who have secured Olympic quotas -- Narsingh Yadav (men's 74kg), Vinesh Phogat (women's 48kg), Babita Kumari (women's 53kg), Sakshi Malik (women's 58kg), Ravinder Khatri (Greco-Roman 85kg) and Hardeep (Greco-Roman 98kg) -- met the legendary batsman.

Even the coaches of all three formats were present on the occasion, along with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Secretary General Rajiv Mehta and Olympic-bound table tennis player Manika Batra.

Tendulkar on Monday posted a couple of pictures of his meeting with the wrestling contingent on his twitter account.

"Met some of our champion athletes preparing for #RioOlympics2016. Wonderful knowing their experiences and dreams!," Tendulkar wrote on his twitter handle.

Women's wrestling team coach Kuldeep Singh, who was present on the occasion, said that the two-hour long meeting with Tendulkar proved to be a psychological boost for the wrestlers.

"Our wrestlers were very happy to meet Tendulkar. We had meal together and then he spoke to the athletes and boosted their confidence ahead of the Rio Games. Speaking to him was a big psychological boost for our players," the coach said.

"He shared his own experiences, narrated a lot of stories and also spoke about how he dealt with all the pressure during his playing days," he added.

The 43-year-old cricketer, who is IOA's goodwill ambassador for the Rio Olympics, also shared some valuable tips to overcome challenges during the Rio Games.

"He told the athletes how to hide their own weaknesses and try to recognise and highlight the weaknesses of the opponents. He also told them to work on their strengths," revealed Kuldeep.

"After taking the inputs from the coaches, he spoke to the wrestlers about the areas where they are lacking and how they could improve on those. Although, we as coaches, keep telling them about the grey areas but when it comes from someone like Tendulkar, it really makes a difference."

As IOA's goodwill ambassador, Tendulkar has been meeting athletes who have qualified for the Olympics and encouraging them to give their best at Rio de Janeiro.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there are a lot of similarities between the Virat Kohli-led Team India and the Pakistan team when Imran Khan had led it as both captains instill strong self-belief in their respective teams.

Manjrekar also said that Pakistan under Imran had found different ways of winning matches even when it seemed all was lost.

"India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong," Manjrekar tweeted.

The cricketer turned commentator expressed his opinion after India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash with a seven-run victory over New Zealand in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Manjrekar also lauded KL Rahul, now also shouldering wicket-keeping duty, for his impressive showing in recent times.

"Samson & Pant... the next batting brigade of India obviously have the skill & the power game they just need to infuse a small dose of Virat's batting 'smarts' (mind) into their game," Manjrekar wrote.

The victory at the Bay Oval saw India stretch their record for most successive T20I wins.

This was their eighth win in a row, bettering the previous three instances when they won seven successive matches.

Kohli is the most successful Test captain in Indian cricket history, winning 11 consecutive series at home and are on top of the ICC rankings.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Colombo, Aug 1: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his interest in playing the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to start from August 28.

Pathan is among 70 foreign players to have shown interest in playing the LPL, ESPNcricinfo reported.

It is believed that Pathan has taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in the competition. 

BCCI doesn't allow active players to participate in other T20 leagues but Pathan announced his retirement in January this year.

Former swashbuckling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also played in a foreign league last year. He played for Maratha Arabians in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Pathan will now be put in a player draft unless one of the five franchises choose him to be a marquee player. The details of the draft, and the franchise owners, are yet to be finalised and announced. 

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also waiting on some government clearances even as it decides on franchise owners. The five franchises will represent Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.

On Monday, SLC Executive Committee granted approval for the tournament.

"The 23 match League will be played on the four international venues of R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League," SLC said in a statement on Monday.

Sri Lanka has controlled the spread of COVID-19 better than many other cricket-playing nations.

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