Yuki goes down tamely, India lose Play-off tie 2-3

September 15, 2014

Yuki Bhambri

Bangalore, Sep 15: India's agonising wait to return to the World Group continued as the hosts lost 2-3 to Serbia in the rain-hit playoff tie after Yuki Bhambri surrendered tamely in the decisive fifth rubber against Filip Karjinovic here today.

Krajinovic turned out to be a hero for the Serbians with his 6-3 6-4 6-4 win as the 2010 champions reclaimed their place in the World Group.

The result means that India will now again fight it out in Asia/Oceania zone in the 2015 season. The last time India had made it to the World Group was in 2011, interestingly losing to Serbia in the first round.

Yesterday, till the rain forced suspension of play in the second reverse second singles between the number two players, Yuki was fighting tooth and nail following Somdev Devvarman's inspiring win over Dusan Lajovic.

However, Yuki did not look the same fighting player today as he failed to rein in his unforced errors and failed to grab his chances. Twice Yuki had the opportunity to break Krajinovic and turn it around but he failed to do so.

Coming to the courts this morning, trailing 4-6 4-4, dropping serve was the last thing Yuki needed but he did exactly that and when he had a chance for redemption in the next game, he could not do so.

He squandered two break points when Krajinovic was serving for the second set. Krajinovic though played like a man possessed as he saved the breakpoint with a fiery ace. The Serbian was precise in his stroke-making and hit winners at will. Playing a live fifth rubber for the first time, Yuki was far from convincing in his effort as he dropped serve in the first game of the third set at love as Krajonovic raced to a 3-1 lead.

Yuki's serve deserted him as he won only four points in three service games. He saved himself from falling further by saving two break chances in the fifth. The set went with serve and Krajinovic sealed the tie without any fuss.

In the 114-year-old history of Davis Cup, there have been only 51 instances when nations have came back from 0-2 to win the tie and India have done that only once when they beat Brazil in 2010 in Chennai. Somdev had won the fourth rubber then and Rohan Bopanna the fifth.

On Saturday, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna had brought India back with their stunning win in the doubles after the hosts lost both the singles on Friday. Somdev then pulled off a majestic win in the fourth rubber over Dusan Ljovic to lock the tie 2-2.

A disappointed Yuki conceded that he made quite a few mistakes.

"Whatever I did, it did not work. I repeated mistakes. I have not committed more mistakes in my 10-year career that what I did this week," Yuki said after the match.

"I had chances all week. Maybe I am not used to this kind of position. Twice I was up 30-0 on his serve, he was 15-40 at one stage but I could not take those," he added.

The youngster said it was frustrating to lose the tie after a fine comeback. "It's frustrating since everyone had fought hard. I was not hitting the ball cleanly and made a lot of unforced errors, I was not staying in the points. It's disappointing that I could not deliver," he said.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Jun 10: "It is never too late to fight for the right cause," said opening batsman Chris Gayle as he came out in support of former T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy. The debate around racism in sport has kickstarted once again after former Windies T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy alleged racism during his stint with SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2014 Indian Premier League. Taking note of Sammy's revelation, Gayle tweeted: "It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game".

Earlier, Gayle had also revealed that he too has been a victim of racism, and added that racism is something that has been bothering cricket as well.

On Tuesday, Sammy had released a video specifying that the racial slurs against him were used within the SunRisers camp.

"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.

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.

Ever since the demise of Floyd, protests erupted from the demonstrations in cities from San Francisco to Boston.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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