Nakamura Jumps to Joint Lead, Anand Draws at TATA Steel India 2018 Rapid Tournament

Agencies
November 11, 2018

Kolkata, Nov 11: Speed chess superstar Hikaru Nakamura of United States stamped his class with three wins on the trot to jump to joint lead with Levon Aronian on the penultimate day of the Tata Steel India 2018 rapid tournament in Kolkata on Saturday.

Reigning world rapid champion Viswanathan Anand drew his sixth straight game of the tournament to stay undefeated and have a mid-table placing at number four with three points.

With three rounds to go on the final day of the rapid meet, Nakamura and Aronian lead the table with 4.5 points apiece out of a maximum six points.

One point adrift is overnight joint leader Pentala Harikrishna who drew American Wesley So with the white pieces of the Berlin defence in round six to slip to third place.

Anand looked promising with the Black pieces but Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan had a strong initiative to force a draw.

Local challenger Surya Shekhar Ganguly had a disappointing day at office as he managed to score only 0.5/3 and went down to Aronian in his last game of the day with the white pieces in the Italian opening.

World Cup champion Aronian looked in some kind of trouble initially but the Armenian star said it was his strategy to deceive Ganguly.

"That's generally my strategy for the game. I tried to create imbalance position just to press Surya on the clock. He is a very solid player. So I thought to create some imbalance and I think I managed to get him excited," Aronian, a winner of the 2017 St Louis rapid and blitz title, said.

"At the very last moment, he could still make a draw but I think he thought it's a good moment to have his first win and he lost his way."

Nakamura, world number two in rapid, started the day on a rousing note when he defeated overnight leader Mamedyarov Shakhriyar.

Playing white, Mamedyarov had an equal position against the speed chess superstar Nakamura but blundered with a Knight move on the 33rd and there was no coming back and he went on to lose.

"He refused to go for a draw and things simply started going my way. Things became smooth (from round five) after I won the game," Nakamura, who outwitted Ganguly and Nihal Sarin in the fifth and sixth rounds, said.

Playing each other for the first time on Indian soil, Anand and Pentala Harikrishna had an interesting draw that saw no player taking extra risks.

14-year-old Nihal Sarin had the spectators on their toes as he was on the verge of beating Mamedyarov who managed to hold on with some tricks and then ended in perpetual checks on the 60th move.

"I'm playing quite well here. It's a very good experience, it's my first super tournament and a nice exposure. But I'm not under any extra pressure," Sarin, who is the world number one in U-14 section, said.

Results (Round Six): Surya Shekhar Ganguly (1) lost to Levon Aronian (Arm, 4.5); Vidit Gujarati (2.5) beat Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3); Pentala Harikrishna (3.5) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 3) drew with Viswanathan Anand (3); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 4.5) beat Nihal Sarin (2).

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Melbourne, May 1: Reclaiming the top spot in Test cricket has brought smiles back on their faces but Australia coach Justin Langer says beating India in their own den remains the ultimate test and their numero uno status will be put to test when they clash with the Virat Kohli-led team.

After a tumultuous transition phase post the ball-tampering scandal, Australia on Friday displaced India as number one side in Test format but Langer is aware that it does not take long for the situation to change.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket Australia website. "We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field," Langer added.

The former left-handed opener underlined what he felt will be the ultimate test of character.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia).

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come," Langer put his priorities in place. The team he insists needs to get better as now others will come gunning for them.

"Getting to No.1 is a great thing, but when you're No.1, you're always the hunted," Langer said. "We've been the hunters for a while, now we're the hunted and we need to get better and better."

Langer also hoped that white ball team under Aaron Finch will win the World Cup. "I know how hard it is to win World Cups ... everything has to go right. One day, I'd love to see Aaron Finch with all his mates lift that T20 World Cup above his head."

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News Network
June 15,2020

Melbourne, Jun 15: Star Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is the best fielder in the game right now, according to Australian batting star Steve Smith, who also rated KL Rahul as the most impressive among the younger crop.

Smith, who answered questions sent in by his fans on Instagram on Sunday, also said the Indian Premier League is his favourite tournament to play in.

Jadeja known for his quick and sharp fielding tactics has earned praise from several former players and respect from the current stars and Smith is no different.

Asked who the best fielder in the current lot of players Smith simply replied stating it was Jadeja.

When quizzed about which Indian player has impressed him the most, the Australian batting mainstay said: "KL Rahul. Very good player!"

Rahul, who has played 36 Tests, 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is for Indian, has become a regular member of the national team in white-ball cricket. Besides showcasing his skills with the willow, Rahul also bears the responsibility of being the wicketkeeper in the limited overs format.

Asked Mahnedra Singh Dhoni, Smith responded saying the former Indian skipper is a "Legend! Mr Cool". While he called the current captain Virat Kohli a "freak" when it comes to batting ability.

The Rajasthan Royals batsman, who rated his first innings his 144 at Birmingham in the first Ashes Test last year as his favourite Test knock till date, said the Indian Premier League (IPL) is his favourite tournament.

"Tough to beat the IPL. Playing with and against the best players from around the world."

India is scheduled to travel to Australian for a full series later the year and the 31-year-old said : "Can''t wait. Going to be awesome."

Asked about his opinion on India batting great Rahul Dravid, Smith said "what a lovely gentleman and seriously good player."

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