Former F1 champion Niki Lauda dies at 70

Agencies
May 21, 2019

Vienna, May 21: Legendary Formula One driver Niki Lauda has died at the age of 70, his family said in a statement released to Austrian media early on Tuesday.

"With deep sadness, we announce that our beloved Niki has peacefully passed away with his family on Monday," the statement read.

Lauda's death comes eight months after he underwent a lung transplant.

"His unique achievements as an athlete and entrepreneur are and will remain unforgettable, his tireless zest for action, his straightforwardness and his courage remain," added the statement.

"A role model and a benchmark for all of us, he was a loving and caring husband, father and grandfather away from the public, and he will be missed."

Austrian Lauda won the Formula One drivers' world championship three times, in 1975 and 1977 for Ferrari and in 1984 with McLaren.

"All at McLaren are deeply saddened to learn that our friend, colleague and 1984 Formula 1 World Champion, Niki Lauda, has passed away. Niki will forever be in our hearts and enshrined in our history. #RIPNiki," his former team tweeted on their verified account.

Lauda had been non-executive chairman at Mercedes F1 since 2012 and he was instrumental in bringing in Lewis Hamilton to spark a run of success that has brought five consecutive world drivers' and constructors' championships.

"A legend has left us. Rest in peace Niki #nikilauda," tweeted 2009 world champion and former McLaren driver Jenson Button as social media exploded with the news of his death. Former motorcycling world champion Casey Stoner said on Twitter:

"RIP Niki Lauda, a true Icon and Motorsport legend. Thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this time." During his driving career, Lauda suffered horrific injuries on August 1, 1976 when, having already won five races that season, his vehicle burst into flames on the Nuerburgring in Germany.

Last rites

He had severe burns to his face and hands, and inhaled toxic fumes which damaged his lungs. Despite being given the last rites in hospital he made an almost miraculous recovery to race again just six weeks later still bandaged and in intense pain.

He missed only two races that season but was unable to hold off the challenge of Britain's James Hunt, who went on to claim his only world title. The rivalry between the two men -- which demonstrated the Austrian's extraordinary courage and fighting spirit -- was portrayed in the 2013 film "Rush" by American director Ron Howard.

The next season, in 1977, Lauda went on to win his second Formula One world championship with Ferrari. He quit Formula One at the end of 1979 to pursue his second passion, civil aviation. But he came back to the race circuit in 1982, this time with McLaren, and won his last world championship with them in 1984.

Lauda underwent an emergency lung transplant in a Vienna hospital in August 2 last year after contracting an infection in his lungs, which were scarred and weakened by the effects of inhaling high-temperature smoke during the 1976 accident.

Years before he had also received kidney transplants. When one failed, a second kidney was donated by his then-girlfriend Birgit Wetzinger, a former flight attendant, who he married in 2008. Besides their twins, a boy and a girl born in 2009, Lauda also had three other sons from previous relationships.

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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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News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: West Indies flamboyant batsman Chris Gayle has lashed out at former teammate Ramnaresh Sarwan calling him 'worse than coronavirus'.

Gayle, the colossal figure in the shortest format of the game blamed Sarwan for his departure from Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise Jamaica Tallawahs.

The left-handed batsman joined St Lucia Zouks as their marquee player for the 2020 CPL season after Tallawahs chose not to retain him.

Gayle has played for Tallawahs and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the past. He has won the CPL title twice with the Tallawahs and played in the final with the Patriots in 2017.

"The owner of the franchise is a very nice man, I have no problem with him. I think he was actually persuaded to get rid of Chris Gayle," Gayle said in three parts on his YouTube channel.

"So someone has to be in his years telling him to get rid of Gayle. Sarwan, you are worse than the coronavirus right now. What transpired with the Tallahwahs, you had a big part to play.

Sarwan, you are a snake. You know, you are not the most loved person in the Caribbean. You are still stabbing people in the back," he added.

Gayle is the leading T20 run-scorer of all time as well as the man with the most centuries in the format. He is also the leading CPL run-scorer of all time, having amassed 2,344 runs in the tournament.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: India captain Virat Kohli has refrained from making any comments on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), without gaining full knowledge on the sensitive subject.

The CAA will grant Indian nationality to people belonging to minority communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12, even if they don't possess any proper document.

In 2016, Kohli had termed demonetisation as the "greatest move in history of Indian politics", which met with sharp criticism from a lot of quarters, with people questioning his knowledge on the subject.

With Guwahati witnessing massive protests against the CAA till some days back, Kohli was asked about it and the Indian skipper weighed his words carefully.

"On the issue, I do not want to be irresponsible and speak on something that has, you know, radical opinions both sides. I need to have total information, total knowledge of what it means and what is going on and then be responsible to give my opinion on it," Kohli said ahead of India's first T20 International against Sri Lanka.

The skipper made it clear that he will not like to get embroiled in a controversy by commenting on a subject that he is not well aware of.

"Because you can say one thing and then someone can say another thing. So, I would not like to get involved in something that I don't have total knowledge of and it's not going to be responsible on my part to comment on it." However Kohli on his part was happy with the security arrangements and felt that the city is "absolutely safe".

"The city is absolutely safe. We didn't see any problems on the roads," Kohli said, giving his thumbs-up for the match at the Barsapara Stadium.

The Assam Cricket Association is using this match as a "curtain-raiser" ahead of their maiden IPL match this season as Rajasthan Royals have adopted this venue.

There has been deployment of Rapid Action Force for the teams and ACA secretary Devajit Saikia has said the spectators will not even be allowed to bring along handkerchiefs and towels on the match-day as the traditional Assamese scarf was used for protests against CAA.

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