Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: India move to third spot after 3-1 win over Canada

April 10, 2016

Ipoh (Malaysia), Apr 11: India's hockey team claimed a 3-1 victory over Canada to move to the third spot in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup here on Sunday.

hockey

India, coming into the match with a 1-5 defeat against world champions Australia, caught a flying start with forward Nikkin Thimmiah scoring in the third minute. Keegan Pereira, however, made it 1-1 for Canada in the 23rd minute.

Later drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh gave India the lead in the 41st minutes before forward Talwinder Singh sealed the game in India's favour with just three minutes left on the clock.

With this win, India have six points -- two more than fourth-placed Canada. Australia are on top of the table with three wins from as many games -- they thrashed Pakistan 4-0 earlier in the day. New Zealand, who saw off Japan 4-1, are second on the table with eight points from four matches.

Rolant Oltmans' India had been criticised for poor show in the two matches so far, albeit they have a young team, bereft of at least six settled players.

However, on Sunday, they turned out in style, right from the push-back. A brilliant pass by Rupinder Pal Singh split the Canadian defence open to allow Ramandeep Singh who set up Nikkin for a simple tap in the third minute.

Chinglensana Singh had another attempt -- a superb reverse hit saved by the goalkeeper to ensure Canada went into the 150-second break just a goal down.

The Canadians responded strongly in the second quarter, coming back and matching India strength for strength. Even the statistics showed that.

Canada's best showing came in the second quarter as they managed a massive seven circle penetrations, and 50 percent of the possession. Appropriately, they scored the equaliser with six minutes of the quarter remaining via Pereira. The two teams walked into half-time level at 1-1.

Rudely awakened, India did not allow any such lapses in concentration in the second half as they came out looking to close the match strongly.

Having not been awarded a single penalty corner in the first half, India managed to win one ten minutes into the third quarter and duly converted it in style. India's young drag-flicker Harmanpreet scored his second goal of the tournament to give India the lead.

India did not let up in the fourth quarter, controlling the possession and had seven circle penetrations in the final period. In contrast, Canada managed a solitary penetration in the entire period. Another penalty corner by India was saved smartly by Canada.

The quarter saw a brilliant solo effort by captain Sardar Singh hit the post. Winning the ball in midfield, Sardar stormed down almost 50 yards before trying a reverse flick that hit the post and bounced back only to be cleared by the Canadian defence.

Not too long later though, India ensured the result did not change after a Sardar cross, and a Chinglensana mishit, left Talwinder with the clearest of chances inside the box to extend India's lead to 3-1 and ensured they took home the points.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday called the 1983 World Cup win as the 'landscape' changing moment for the game of cricket in the country.

Today, India is celebrating the completion of the 37 years of the maiden World Cup triumph under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

"Today 37 years ago, changed the cricketing landscape in India. Thank you @therealkapildev and team for making the game a career for many of us today. Deeply indebted," Ashwin tweeted.

In 1983, in the finals between India and West Indies, the latter won the toss and opted to bowl first.

The Kapil Dev-led side managed to score just 183 runs as Andy Roberts took three wickets while Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, and Larry Gomes picked up two wickets each.

Defending 183, India did a good job of keeping a check on the Windies run flow, reducing the side to 57/3.

Soon after, the team from the Caribbean was reduced to 76/6 and India was the favourites from there on to win the title.

Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket of Michael Holding to give India their first-ever World Cup title win.

In the finals, West Indies was bowled out for 140, and as a result, India won the match by 43 runs.

Kapil Dev lifting the trophy at the balcony of Lord's Cricket Ground still remains an image to savour for all the Indian fans.

In the finals, Mohinder Amarnath was chosen as the Man of the Match as he scored 26 runs with the bat and also picked up three wickets with the ball.

India has been the regular participant in the World Cup from its beginning to the latest edition. The first edition was held in 1975 and from there on, it has taken place after a span of every four years.

West Indies won the first two World Cup titles (1975, 1979) and was the runner-up in 1983. India has won the title two times, in 1983 and in 2011.

MS Dhoni captained the 2011 team to win their second title after 28 years. Australia has won the tournament five times (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015).

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News Network
March 29,2020

Sydney, Mar 29: Steve Smith's two-year leadership ban ended quietly Sunday, leaving him eligible again to captain Australia at a time of uncertainty over when international cricket will resume.

Smith was stripped of the captaincy and banned from leading Australia for two years over his involvement in the 2018 ball tampering scandal in South Africa. His sentence ended Sunday and he can again captain Australia if called upon.

Australian players were due this week to conclude a series of matches in New Zealand and, for some, to join the Indian Premier League. But it wasn't clear Sunday if the IPL will take place this year and when international matches will resume. Australia's scheduled mid-year tours to England and Bangladesh are in doubt.

Smith told Channel Nine television's Sports Sunday he is doing his best to stay mentally and physically fit, training in his home gym, going on 10 kilometer (6 mile) runs and practising the guitar.

"It's obviously not looking likely (the IPL will go ahead) at the moment," Smith said. "I think there might be some meetings over the next few days to discuss what the go is with it all.

"I'm just trying to stay physically and mentally fit and fresh and, if it goes ahead at some point, then great. And if not, there's plenty going on in the world at the moment. So just play it day by day."

It seems unlikely Smith will return to the captaincy when cricket resumes. Tim Paine is firmly established as Australia's test captain and at 35 is not immediately considering retirement. Aaron Finch has captained Australia successfully in white ball cricket.

The conclusion of Smith's ban ends the period of upheaval in Australian cricket that followed the ball tampering incident in the second test at Cape Town in 2018 when Cameron Bancroft, with the knowledge of Smith and his vice-captain David Warner, used sandpaper to change the condition of the ball.

Smith and Warner received one-year bans from international and most domestic cricket and Bancroft was banned for nine months. The scandal also resulted in the resignation of coach Darren Lehmann and the departure of Cricket Australia's chief executive, James Sutherland.

Warner remains under a career-long leadership ban.

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