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Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis will continue to win Grand Slams for next few years: Mahesh Bhupathi

November 11, 2015

Mumbai, Nov 11: India tennis great Mahesh Bhupathi on Tuesday heaped praise on current women's doubles World No.1 Sania Mirza and her partner Swiss veteran Martina Hingis and for their tremendous season this year which saw them clinch nine doubles titles, including two Grand Slams.

BhupathiBhupathi said the Indo-Swiss pair will continue to win Grand Slams for the next few years with the form they are currently in.

The unstoppable duo of Mirza and Swiss veteran Hingis came up with another stupendous performance recently to win the women's doubles title at the prestigious $7 million WTA Finals in Singapore.

It was the pair's ninth title together this season, having also won in Beijing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, US Open (New York), Wimbledon (London), Charleston, Miami and Indian Wells.

Sania also won the Sydney International in January with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands to take her doubles trophy count to 10 this year.

"Sania has been an inspiration. She has really worked hard over the last three years. It is not about just this year she has performed consistently. She is putting herself in a position to win matches," Bhupathi said at a press conference here.

"She has also found someone who can complement each other very well that is Martina Hingis. They are going to continue winning Grand Slams for the next few years," he added.

Bhupathi also opined that alongside mixed doubles, the men's doubles duo of Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes may win medals for India in the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.

"Alongside mixed doubles, men's doubles have a great chance to clinch medals in the Rio Olympics. Both Rohan-Leander are world class players and they also have a great chance to win," the 41-year-old said.

The 15-time Grand Slam winner also praised current World No.89 Yuki Bhambri for breaking into the top 100 of the men's singles in the ATP rankings, adding that will help him play in the main draw of the singles in the Grand Slams next year.

"It has been a very successful year for Indian tennis in the year. Five Grand Slams for the country. Yuki is now 89 in the world and is going to play in the main draw of the singles in the Grand Slam next year. Sumit Nagal and Karman Kaur Thandi are surely the future of Indian tennis in men’s and women’s. Things are moving well," he said.

Bhupathi, who owns Indian Aces a franchise from International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), said he was thrilled to have Rafael Nadal in the team for the next two seasons (2015-2016) after signing Roger Federer in the inaugural season.

"It is great to have Nadal on board. We know how big and effective player he has been and is in the court. After the New Delhi crowd witnessed Federer and Novak Djokovic in the inaugural season, this year they will get to see Nadal face-off against Federer," he said.

When asked about the inclusion of young Indian players in the IPTL, Bhupathi said keeping in mind the world wide broadcast and the top class players in the teams, it will be difficult to fit in budding young players.

"Somdev Devverman has been kept as an alternate player for the Indian Aces. The quality of tennis has to be maintained as it is broadcasted all over the world. Fitting in young and budding Indian players will be difficult here," he said.

Indian Aces co-owner Gulshan Jhurani -- who was also present on the occassion -- said that to make the league popular throughout the country, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai are the venues which have taken into consideration for hosting the IPTL in the future.

"We have got great response from Delhi in inaugural season, But to make IPTL popular in the country we would like to shift it till as many cities as possible. After Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai are the chosen venues," he said.

Nadal, Agnieszka Radwanska, Gael Monfils, Sania, Ivan Dodig, Bopanna, Fabrice Santoro are the seven players in the India Aces squad that will take on the other four franchises -- Philippine Mavericks, UAE Royals, Singapore Slammers and the newly-joined Japan Warriors.

The league will be held from December 2-20 in Kobe, Manila, New Delhi, Dubai and Singapore.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Dubai, Jul 24: The eagerly-awaited Indian Premier League will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated on November 8, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI on Friday.

While the event's Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

"The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect the government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL," Patel confirmed the development after PTI reported the dates on Thursday.

The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.

Patel said that the Standard Operating Procedure to combat the COVID-19 threat is being prepared and the BCCI will formally write to the Emirates Cricket Board.

"We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally," Patel said.

There are three grounds available in the UAE -- Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and the Sharjah ground.

It is learnt that the BCCI will be renting the grounds of the ICC Academy for training of the teams.

The ICC Academy has two full-sized cricket grounds along with 38 turf pitches, 6 indoor pitches, a 5700 square foot outdoor conditioning area along with physiotherapy and medicine centre.

As per the current health protocol in Dubai, there is no need to be in quarantine if people are carrying a negative COVID-19 test report, but if they are not, they will have to undergo a test.

While there was speculation that the IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order to ensure that the Indian team's tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

"The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire," a BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

"The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and broadcasters will be happy with full seven-week window," he added.

While the original schedule had five double-headers, Patel said the new one will feature around 12 double-headers which means two matches each on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The Indians are set to play a four-match Test series against Australia starting December 3 in Brisbane after the IPL.

It is expected that with each and every team needing at least a month's time to train, the IPL franchises will be leaving base by August 20 which gives them exactly four weeks time to prepare.

The cash-rich event was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that were put in place to contain the virus, led to an indefinite postponement.

However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had always maintained that the event will be held some time this year.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

Islamabad, Jun 23: Seven more Pakistan cricketers, including Muhammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, selected for the tour of England have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total to 10, the PCB revealed on Tuesday.

The seven who tested positive on Tuesday are Kashif Bhatti, Muhammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Rizwan, Imran Khan, Hafeez and Riaz. Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and Haris Rauf had returned positive tests on Monday.

“It is not a great situation to be in and what it shows is these are 10 fit and young athletes...if it can happen to players it can happen to anyone,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO, Wasim Khan told a media conference.

He said a support staff member, masseur Malang Ali, had also tested positive for COVID-19.

Khan said that the players and officials would now assemble in Lahore and another round of tests would be carried out on June 25 and a revised squad would be announced the next day.

The squad has to leave on June 28 for the series scheduled to be held next month, he said.

“It is a matter of concern but we shouldn’t panic at this time as we have time on our hands,” Khan said.

He said the players and officials would be retested on reaching England.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

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