My final wish is to see an Indian track athlete win an Olympic medal, says Milkha Singh

May 10, 2016

Pune, May 10: 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh on Sunday exhorted Indian youth to take inspiration from his story and win an Olympic medal in athletics in his lifetime.

Milkha"I failed to win a medal in 1960 Rome Olympics and it hurts me till today. More than half a century has passed since then but no Indian has been able to win an Olympic medal in athletics," rued Milkha Singh here today.

"It is my last wish to see an Olympic medal around an Indian athletes' neck on the podium at the Olympic Games," he said.

Milkha expressed his fervent wish at a felicitation ceremony of sportspersons and coaches organised by the Pune International Sports Expo on the concluding day of the event.

"I have last run a competitive race almost 50 years ago, but since then over these years no Milkha has risen from this vast country. I specially came to Pune because it is here that I spent my 6-7 years of training days when I joined the Indian Army and this city has given me a lot," said Milkha in his address.

His story is well documented in book and the film that became a blockbuster, but what many do not know is that it was his son, international golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, who was instrumental in persuading him to give his story to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra for a princely royalty of Re 1.

"My son insisted that I give my story to Omprakash Mehra, the maker of another Bollywood hit 'Rang de Basanti', when there were two or three more directors wanting to pay more than a Rs 1 crore for royalty," Milkha said.

Referring to the sportspersons of this generation who expect fast results, Milkha advised them from falling for performance enhancing drugs to achieve the goals.

"There are sportspersons who want to achieve something in two days what one can do naturally in four months. They take drugs and then they get caught and that brings blight to our country. This is unpardonable," said Milkha.

He went on to narrate his story of how he became what he is now and the contribution of Pakistan in making him 'Flying Sikh'.

"What I did then is always possible now, but someone has to get up and start running to achieve the goals," he said.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: On the first day of the New Year 2020, Hardik Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share a photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The 26-year-old shared three pictures and a short clip on the social media platform. In one photo, Stankovic can be seen flaunting her ring.

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'.

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News Network
February 12,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 12: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday berated his bowlers for their mediocre performance as he tried to explain the team's first ODI series whitewash in over three decades, saying that the visitors lacked composure all through.

The five-wicket defeat here meant that India lost the series 0-3 to an injury-plagued New Zealand that had been deflated by a 0-5 whitewash of its own in the T20 format just last week. It was India's first whitewash in 31 years in an ODI series in which all matches have been played.

"The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. It boils down to those chances that we didn't grab. I don't think it was not enough to win games in international cricket," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

"With the ball, we were not able to make breakthroughs, we were not at all good on the field. We haven't played so badly but when you don't grab those chances, you don't deserve to win," he added.

"Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us, but the way we fielded and bowled, the composure wasn't enough to win games," he asserted.

The ineffectiveness of Indian bowlers can be gauged from the fact that the team's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finished the series without a wicket and the attack couldn't dismiss the complete rival line-up even once.

Kohli lauded New Zealand for bouncing back after the T20 hammering.

"New Zealand played with lot more intensity. We didn't deserve to win because we did not show enough composure," he said.

The batting mainstay is looking forward to the Test series, which begins on February 21, to make amends for the disappointment.

"I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said.

His opposite number Kane Williamson, who missed the first two games due to injury, was lavish in his praise for the home team's grit.

"An outstanding performance, very clinical. India put us under pressure, but the way the guys fought back with the ball and kept them to a par total. The cricket in the second half was outstanding to see," he said referring to the side's effortless chase of a 297-run target.

"We know how good they (India) are at all formats but for us the clarity about the roles the guys had was the most important thing. Outstanding effort against a brilliant India side," he added.

Player of the Match Henry Nicholls, who scored 80 on Tuesday, said his team benefitted from good batting starts during the series.

"To come back and win 3-0 after the T20Is is nice. The way (Martin) Guptill played today allowed us to get ahead. We got a 100-run stand, but we were fortunate enough to get good starts this series," he said.

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he doesn't think Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for India again, adding to the guessing game over the future of the superstar former captain.

Dhoni, 38, has not appeared for club or country since last year's 50-over World Cup and India's coronavirus lockdown could threaten his chances of getting back into the national team.

The Indian Premier League, the main platform before this year's scheduled T20 World Cup, is likely to be truncated or cancelled because of the pandemic.

Harbhajan, who plays with Dhoni at IPL side Chennai Super Kings, said international retirement was on the cards for Dhoni and that he was increasingly being asked about his teammate.

"It's up to him. You need to know whether he wants to play for India again," Harbhajan said in an online forum.

"As far as I know him, he won't want to wear India's blue jersey again. IPL he will play, but for India I think he had decided the (2019) World Cup was his last."

Dhoni, who gave up Test cricket in 2014, started training for the Super Kings in March but has not commented on his international future.

Dhoni led India to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. He hit a six to seal the 2011 World Cup final victory and, along with it, his status as a national hero. He has amassed 10,773 runs from 350 ODIs.

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