Thieves strike at Samson's home, take away trophies

Jun 9: Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has released a video, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Last week, Sammy had lost his cool after learning the meaning of the word "Kalu", which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad. The T20 World Cup-winning Windies skipper had said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were sometimes called that word when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, Sammy did not specify as to who directed these slurs at him, but now the player has released a video, saying he will message all those who called him that word.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn''t know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

"Now, I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to you call me with that word, think about it, let's have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed," he added.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

Kuala Lampur, Jan 9: Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion P V Sindhu produced dominating performances to progress to the women's singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Sixth seed Sindhu notched up a commanding 21-10 21-15 victory over Japan's Aya Ohori in a pre-quarterfinal match lasting just 34 minutes. It was Sindhu's ninth successive win over Ohori.

The 24-year-old Indian, who won the World Championships in Basel last year, will take on world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals after the Chinese Taipei shuttler got the better of South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 21-18 16-21 21-10.

Saina, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched eight seed An Se Young of South Korea 25-23 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest to make the last eight.

This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year.

The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin.

Saina had defeated Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-15 21-17 in the opening round on Wednesday.

In the men's singles, India's challenge ended after both Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.

While Verma lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 19-21 20-22, Prannoy was shown the door by top seed Kento Momota of Japan 14-21 16-21.

Apr 13: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir says if IPL is not played this year, it will be difficult for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to make a comeback to the Indian team.

Dhoni last played for India in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in July last year.

Since then he hasn't played any competitive cricket and legends such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have already said that it's getting increasingly difficult for the Jharkhand dasher to make an international return after such a prolonged sabbatical.

He was expected to be seen in action at this year's IPL but the chances of T20 league being played are remote due to the COVID-19.

"If the IPL does not happen this year, then it will become very difficult for MS Dhoni to make a comeback. On what basis can he (Dhoni) be selected since he’s not been playing for the last one or one and a half year," Gambhir said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

The 38-year-old Gambhir picked KL Rahul, who has been keeping in ODIs, as an "apt replacement" for Dhoni.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

"Obviously his (Rahul's) keeping is not as good as Dhoni’s, but if you are looking at T20 cricket, Rahul's a utility player, can keep and bat at No. 3 or 4. If the IPL does not happen, then Dhoni’s chances for a comeback look dim.

"Ultimately, you are representing India, so whoever dishes out the best performance and can win the match for India should play for the team," added Gambhir.

The southpaw also felt that retirement was Dhoni's personal decision.

"As far as his retirement plans go by, that's his personal choice," said Gambhir.

However, his former teammate and test specialist VVS Laxman feels that Dhoni can continue playing IPL.

"Not only this IPL, he (Dhoni) will probably play in the next couple of IPLs, and then we will take a call about his future as a cricketer," Laxman said on the same show.

However, Laxman, a veteran of 134 Tests, said that the new selection committee, chaired by former spinner Sunil Joshi, will have to discuss Dhoni's future with him.

"Dhoni will be very clear, as far as his plans are concerned, I'm sure he must have communicated that with (captain) Virat Kohli, (coach) Ravi Shastri immediately after the 2019 World Cup in England," said Laxman.

"The new selection committee will have to sit down with MS Dhoni and understand his future, as far as Indian cricket is concerned. But MS Dhoni will continue to play for CSK and do well for CSK," said Laxman, who amassed 8,781 Test runs.