Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi to play in London Olympics together

June 15, 2012

bhupathi_paes

New Delhi, June 15: India will send only one men's doubles tennis team to London for the July Olympics and Indian stars Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will just have to play together as that team, despite stated differences.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) selectors announced teams for the London Games in Bangalore this evening, making clear that they are focused on quality, not quantity and would like to send a winning combination to London.

Paes, a high number 7 in ATP doubles rankings, is the only Indian tennis player who directly qualifies for the Olympics. But Bhupathi, who is just back after winning the mixed doubles French Open title partnering ace Sania Mirza, had reportedly conveyed to the association that he would rather partner Rohan Bopanna for the London 2012 Games.

The selectors also announced today that they had sought both singles and doubles wildcard entries for Sania Mirza and a doubles wildcard for Rushmi Chakravarty.

Paes and Bhupathi for years have been India's most prolific doubles combination, but the relationship has been marred by many splits and they have been much more apart than together as years have gone by.

Officially Bhupathi insists that he has not refused to partner Paes in the Olympics and said he would only comment after the team was announced. But sources say he is upset that he and Paes are being forced to partner and is considering asking the government to intervene.

Mahesh Bhupathi had written to the Indian Tennis Association before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 too stating that he did not want to play with Paes as he was better prepared with Rohan Bopanna. The AITA had shot down his demand then and asked the duo to ensure that their differences did not hurt India's medal chances. They had joined hands for the Olympics and advanced to the quarterfinals where they were beaten by Switzerland's Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.


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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there are a lot of similarities between the Virat Kohli-led Team India and the Pakistan team when Imran Khan had led it as both captains instill strong self-belief in their respective teams.

Manjrekar also said that Pakistan under Imran had found different ways of winning matches even when it seemed all was lost.

"India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong," Manjrekar tweeted.

The cricketer turned commentator expressed his opinion after India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash with a seven-run victory over New Zealand in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Manjrekar also lauded KL Rahul, now also shouldering wicket-keeping duty, for his impressive showing in recent times.

"Samson & Pant... the next batting brigade of India obviously have the skill & the power game they just need to infuse a small dose of Virat's batting 'smarts' (mind) into their game," Manjrekar wrote.

The victory at the Bay Oval saw India stretch their record for most successive T20I wins.

This was their eighth win in a row, bettering the previous three instances when they won seven successive matches.

Kohli is the most successful Test captain in Indian cricket history, winning 11 consecutive series at home and are on top of the ICC rankings.

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News Network
May 14,2020

May 14: Veteran South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis has proposed a two-week isolation period for players before and after the T20 World Cup as a way to stage the event as per schedule later this year.

Like other sports, cricketing action too has come to a complete halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fate of the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October-November is shrouded in uncertainty.

Talking to Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal, du Plessis said travel was going to be an issue despite Australia being less affected by the deadly contagion.

"I am not sure... reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lot of countries and they are talking about December or January. Even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it's a health risk to them," du Plessis said.

"But you can go in before the tournament (for) two weeks isolation and then play the tournament and afterwards two weeks isolation," said the former captain.

Several countries across the globe, including South Africa, Australia and India, have travel restrictions in place and the veteran Proteas batsman joked travelling by boat is not an option.

"But I don't know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can't go there like old days on boats," du Plessis said.

In March, South Africa's ODI series against India was called off after the first match in view of the pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 44 lakh people worldwide while causing close to 3 lakh deaths.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

Islamabad, Jun 23: Seven more Pakistan cricketers, including Muhammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz, selected for the tour of England have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total to 10, the PCB revealed on Tuesday.

The seven who tested positive on Tuesday are Kashif Bhatti, Muhammad Hasnain, Fakhar Zaman, Muhammad Rizwan, Imran Khan, Hafeez and Riaz. Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and Haris Rauf had returned positive tests on Monday.

“It is not a great situation to be in and what it shows is these are 10 fit and young athletes...if it can happen to players it can happen to anyone,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO, Wasim Khan told a media conference.

He said a support staff member, masseur Malang Ali, had also tested positive for COVID-19.

Khan said that the players and officials would now assemble in Lahore and another round of tests would be carried out on June 25 and a revised squad would be announced the next day.

The squad has to leave on June 28 for the series scheduled to be held next month, he said.

“It is a matter of concern but we shouldn’t panic at this time as we have time on our hands,” Khan said.

He said the players and officials would be retested on reaching England.

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