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Indian Super League starts amid huge expectations

October 11, 2014

New Delhi, Oct 11: Despite the presence of veteran football stars Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires, Luis Garcia, David Trezeguet and Nicholas Anelka, the inaugural Indian Super League is selling itself using top cricketers.

Indian Super LeagueThe pecking order of Indian sports is underlined by the ISL's decision to market its high-profile stakeholders; India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni part owns Chennaiyan, retired superstar Sachin Tendulkar co-owns Kerala Blasters, and former captain Sourav Ganguly and batsman Virat Kohli have stakes in Atletico de Kolkata and Goa.

The eight-team league, organized by IMG-Reliance in collaboration with Rupert Murdoch's Star India group and the All India Football Federation, is intended to lift the moribund standard of football in the country of 1.2 billion, and plans to nurture a strong local fan base and develop young Indian players.

The mission is daunting.

Though FIFA president Sepp Blatter called India a "sleeping giant" during a visit here in 2007, the national team, which is looking for a new manager after Wim Koevermans signaled his departure this week, is 158th in the FIFA rankings.

The future does not look too bright either as the under-23s crashed out early at the Asian Games in Incheon, without scoring a goal. In fact, the team almost never left for Incheon as the government refused to fund it, saying it had no realistic chance of doing well, before relenting.

Kerala's marquee signing, former England goalkeeper David James, says India needs more than foreign players to improve standards.

"The ISL has to be a league of Indian players," James said. "Every year you can't expect foreign stars to come and make the tournament a success. The main aim of the ISL should be to ensure that facilities and coaching get better in India."

Dhoni hopes India football authorities take full advantage of the league to promote the sport.

"A team can't make it big unless it has proper development at the grassroots level," Dhoni said. "I look forward to an exciting season ahead, but at the same time it's important that we develop the grassroots level and produce more football stars in India."

India football's heyday was the 1950s and 60s, when India came fourth at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and won two Asian Games.

But sponsors have come aboard the new league, which starts on Sunday and runs for 10 weeks. Star India chief operating officer Sanjay Gupta says six associate sponsors have signed up with main sponsor Hero India.

They have a fight on their hands for eyeballs, in a country which already has franchise-based leagues in cricket, field hockey, and kabaddi among others. More importantly, it will have to compete with European league matches that are beamed live across the country on satellite channels.

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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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Agencies
March 1,2020

New Delhi, Mar 1: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Sunday heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder took a spectacular catch on the second day of the Christchurch Test against New Zealand.

Jadeja grabbed a one-handed stunner at deep square leg in the 72nd over to dismiss Neil Wagner, who had to depart after scoring 21 runs.

"Sir Jadeja for a reason! Jadeja Airlines, flying high! Terrific stuff," Kaif tweeted.

In the match, Jadeja also impressed with the ball. The left-handed bowler took two wickets while giving away 22 runs.

On day two, India bundled out New Zealand on 235 runs in the second Test. However, in their second innings, Indian batsmen again struggled to tackle the New Zealand pacers and lost six wickets with a lead of just 97 runs.

India went to stumps at 90/6, with Trent Boult doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Mumbai, May 21: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has chosen legendary Sachin Tendulkar over current skipper Virat Kohli as a better batsman in the ODI format, considering the changed rules of the game and the Mumbaikar's longevity of career.

Tendulkar, who retired in 2013, played 463 ODIs and amassed 18, 426 runs with 49 hundreds at an average of 44.83.

Kohli, on the other hand, has played 248 ODIs and scored 11, 867 runs with 43 tons at an average of 59.33.

"Sachin Tendulkar, because probably with one white ball and four fielders inside the circle, not five fielders outside, it will be Sachin Tendulkar for me," Gambhir said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

Nowadays, a one-day innings is played with two white balls and with three powerplays.

In the first power play (overs 1-10), two fielders are allowed beyond the 30-yard circle, while in the second powerplay (overs 10-40) four fielders are allowed. In the last powerplay (overs 40-50), five fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

Gambhir, who was the star performer in 2011 ODI World Cup final which India won, feels that the change in rules has helped batsmen.

"It's difficult because Virat Kohli has done phenomenally well but I think the rules have changed as well, which has helped a lot of new batters," elaborated Gambhir, who played 58 Tests and 147 ODIs.

"The new generation, with 2 new balls, no reverse swing, nothing for the finger spin, five fielders inside for the 50 overs, probably that makes batting much easier.

He said he would also go with Tendulkar, considering his longevity and flow of the ODI cricket format at that time.

"Probably I’ll go with Sachin Tendulkar if we see the longevity and flow of the one-day cricket format.

"Look at how Sachin Tendulkar has played, different rules, that time 230 to 240, was a winning total," Gambhir signed off. 

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