IPL 2014: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s victory over Rajasthan Royals provides opportunity for rest to catch up

May 9, 2014

Rajasthan_RoyalsAhmedabad, May 9: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defied all odds to beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 on May 8. Hyderabad produced a joke of a batting display against a good bowling. But somehow managed to comprehensively beat Rajasthan in the end. Shrikant Shankar writes Sunrisers’ victory provides the rest an opportunity to catch up with the leaders.

How Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to beat Rajasthan Royals by a convincing margin in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 on May 8 is a complete mystery. First they produced an abject batting performance to post a lowly 134 for nine in their 20 overs at Ahmedabad. The score in itself does not suggest that their batting was woeful. Many teams can be bowled out quickly. Such is the nature of T20 cricket. But some of the shots played and the lackadaisical attitude shown by Amit Mishra, did not warrant Hyderabad to post a score any higher.

They looked dead and buried as Rajasthan looked to win their fifth match on the trot. That kind of momentum is hard to stop. Last season in the IPL, Hyderabad managed to just about win matches posting low totals. Hyderabad’s strength is their bowling attack. But that is a known fact. With Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mishra and Karn Sharma, they will always slow down the opposition. They may have the odd off-days viz. Steyn’s unraveling against AB de Villiers. But on the whole, they have a good bowling line-up.

What that 32-run win did was to open up the IPL and hand the rest an opportunity to close the gap. Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings already have 12 points each. If Rajasthan would have won, they too would have got a dozen points. This has still kept a four-point gap between Rajasthan in third position in the IPL 7 Points Table and Kolkata Knight Riders in fifth place with six points. Despite the loss, Rajasthan have that cushion and will be looking up rather than down the table. But the rest will have got a glimmer of hope to catch up with the leaders.

There is a genuine possibility that Punjab, Chennai and Rajasthan fight for the top-three positions and the remaining five teams battle it out for fourth spot in the standings. This may not give the IPL 2014 the intensity of previous seasons where most of the top-four positions were not decided until the last day of the group phase. The teams at the top may not mind, but the fans and the neutrals would always want to see things go down to the wire. Teams like Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have genuine quality, will even think that both can get into the play-off spots displacing Rajasthan.

It is almost a given that Punjab and Chennai will finish in the play-offs. But Rajasthan don’t actually have it that easy. They are not playing at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rajasthan are playing all their home matches at Ahmedabad. This loss shows that they can not only be beaten here, but also by a convincing margin. Last season, Rajasthan banked on their 100 per cent record in Jaipur, despite their away form being mediocre. This seasons technically, Rajasthan are not playing at home at all.

Another aspect that came out from the match was the slowly fading thought of putting the runs on the board formula. Rajasthan proved against Kolkata and then Hyderabad again on May 8 that if wickets are taken regularly in the second innings, the pressure rises increasingly on the chasing team. There is also a case that Rajasthan might have taken Hyderabad for granted and thought chasing down a 135-run target was just a formality. Either way, Hyderabad’s victory has just given the rest of the teams in IPL 2014 an opportunity to string a run of victories and increase the pressure on the ones at the top.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Melbourne, Jun 13: Former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and current opener David Warner have expressed gratitude to two Indian students for helping people in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gilchrist thanked Sharon Varghese, an Indian student who did her Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Wollongong.

Varghese has been was working on the frontline along with other health care workers to look after the residents of aged-care during the global health crisis.

"She gave up her time to work as an aged-care worker throughout that time. Sharon, I want to say congratulations on the selfless act and for wanting to thank people in Australia because you have enjoyed three and a half years living here. And that’s wonderful to hear," Gilchrist said in a video message.

"Just want to let you know, all of Australia, all of India and more importantly, your family will be so very proud of your efforts."

In another short video, Warner thanked Queensland-based Indian student, Shreyas Sheth.

"Namaste. I am here to say thank you to Shreyas Sheth who is doing selfless work to help others during the COVID crisis. Shreyas is doing his Masters in Computer Science at the University of Queensland and he has been part of University’s outreach program, preparing and delivering food packets to students in need right now," Warner said in the video.

"So I just want to say ‘good on ya’. I am sure your mum and dad and India are proud of you. Keep up the great work."

The videos were shared by Austrade India official twitter account, which have hit almost 10 thousand views in last one week.

Apart from the two cricketers, another Social Media Influencer Amy Aela also sent her thank you note to Liya, an Indian student from Griffith university for her work in providing mental health support to communities in Australia during the pandemic.

"Liya I just want to thank you...we definately need more people like you...just remember that Australia is so so proud of you, India is proud of you..please keep up the good work," Aela said.

Former Australian footballer Craig Foster also sent his thank you message to another Indian origin nurse Arushi from Deakin University. More than 100,000 Indian students are studying in Australia, currently making them one of the biggest cohorts of international students in the country.

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