Kashyap stuns World No.1 to enter Indonesian Open semis

June 5, 2015

Jakarta, Jun 5: Ace Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap rallied to shock World No. 1 Chen Long, continuing his giant-killing spree to enter the men's singles semifinals of the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament here today.

Kashyap, ranked 12th in the world, came from behind to beat the top seed Chinese 14-21 21-17 21-14 in a contest that lasted an hour and three minutes.

kashyapThe Commonwealth gold-medallist was consistent with his smashes and impeccable with his net play against his more fancied opponent.

Coming into this match, Long had a 7-1 head-to-head record against Kashyap. The numero uno shuttler over the last two years has emerged as China's successor to the incomparable Lin Dan.

Incidentally, Kashyap's last victory against Long came in this very tournament in 2012.

In what was a classic David vs Goliath battle, Kashyap used all his resources to overcome his rival.

One of the fastest movers and hardest hitters in the world, Long failed to counter Kashyap's odd, precise smashes and started committing unforced errors.

In the opening game, Kashyap was hardly a match to Long, who not just opened up a 6-2 lead but consistently moved ahead.

Although Kashyap caught up with him on a couple of occasions but once the Chinese broke away from a tied 11-11 position to 16-11, there was no looking back for him. Long comfortably sealed the first game 21-14.

The second game went neck-and-neck till 7-7 before the Indian managed to take a slight lead and hold on to the advantage always keeping his nose ahead.

Even though the experienced Chinese kept breathing down his neck, Kashyap wriggled out of some tricky situations to take the game to the decider.

In the third game, Kashyap broke away from tied 2-2 to take a 9-3 lead, even as Long committed too many unforced errors, hitting wide and long to hand over a massive 14-5 lead to the Indian.

In the end, it was a cake walk for Kashyap, who made full use of his chances to sail through.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Indian pacer S Sreesanth has slammed England all-rounder Ben Stokes for questioning MS Dhoni's intent during a World Cup match, saying that the former captain will end Stokes' career.

Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' had questioned Dhoni's intent during India's 31-run defeat at the hands of England in the premier tournament last year.

"For Ben Stokes, I will only say that you should pray that Dhoni does not play against you in the future. Dhoni does not forget things easily," Sreesanth said during a Live session on Helo.

"I wish Stokes all the best for whenever he faces Dhoni again, be it IPL or an England vs India match. You must be earning in millions now, Dhoni Bhai will end your career. Dhoni will strike the ball everywhere and he (Stokes) can never dismiss Dhoni. Before he (Stokes) opens his mouth, he should make sure to wear a helmet," he added.

Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding had also come out in support of Dhoni and said that the wicket-keeper batsman wanted to win the match against England.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding had said on his official YouTube channel.

"...It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 percent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," he had added.

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News Network
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Christchurch, Mar 2: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday said the under-fire Rishabh Pant has got a "lot of chances" but the team is not looking to try someone else in the youngster's place just yet as one player can't be singled out in a collective failure.

Pant has been under the scanner for the past one year because of his inconsistent run. His tally of 60 runs across four innings in the 0-2 Test series loss to New Zealand, which concluded here on Monday, has only amplified the debate whether it was prudent to leave out a keeper of Wriddhiman Saha's calibre and back Pant.

"...we have given him (Pant) a lot of chances in the home season as well starting from Australia. Then he was not playing for a bit. In turn he really worked hard on himself," Kohli came to Pant's defence after the series here.

"You need to figure out when is the right time to give someone else a chance. If you push people too early, they can lose confidence," he added.

"...collectively, we didn't perform. I don't believe in singling him out. We take the hit together as a group whether it's the batting group or as a team."

When asked if he believes Pant has taken his place in the side for granted, Kohli made it clear that the culture of this team doesn't encourage anyone to think along those lines.

"I don't see anyone taking his place for granted in this team. That's the culture we have set. People are told to take responsibilities and work hard. Whether it happens or not is a different thing. Then you can have a conversation with the players," he said.

"But no one has come here thinking I am going to play every game or I am indispensable," he added in no uncertain terms.

Kohli, just like head coach Ravi Shastri, made it clear that Pant can make a difference in overseas conditions and he won't like to deviate during future tours.

"The time that he didn't play, he really worked hard on his game. So we thought this is the right time because of his game and the way he plays because he can make a difference lower down the order.

"That was our planning behind it. We can't really fluctuate when it comes to what we planned," he added.

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