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Indian shooters gunning for metal at London Olympics

July 18, 2012
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New Delhi, July 18: Double trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi put the new, hungry breed of Indian shooters in perspective at the Asian Games in Guangzhou two years ago. "We are winning medals because the concept of victory has changed. We are now focusing on the medal right from training. Earlier, we used to think of qualifying for the finals."

The 32-year-old from Ferozepur, who took to shooting as a child with the sport being a family tradition, not only exemplified the spirit in Guangzhou with the only shooting gold but followed it up with an early qualification for the London Olympics and moving to the top of the rankings last year.

Having had a great 2010, where he set a new mark and won gold at the World Cup finals before wearing the double trap crown at the Shotgun World Cup, a fine run at the CWG and the Asian Games, Sodhi repeated his World Cup finals feat the next year. Only five shooters have either shot world records or equalled them in the last 15 years. He is one of them.

What stands out is his sense of planning. An Arjuna award winner, Sodhi, who moved to double trap in 2001, resolutely made his way to the top after failing to make it to the 2008 Beijing Games - his request for a wild card was turned down although he was among the top three in the world and had equalled two world records at a World Cup in Belgrade.

In between, Sodhi even took the risk of losing weight after experts told him that he had to get fitter. He lost nothing less than 25kg and employed a physiotherapist for his general well-being.

And, to counter the wind and rain at the Royal Artillery Barracks in London, weather conditions which the Indians loathe, he said he had planned his training sessions under similar conditions in Italy under his coach Marcello Dradi.

But Sodhi hasn't hassled himself mentally. Although he hasn't made much headway in the recent World Cups - losing out on a berth in the final in Lonato, Italy - he is confident that if he can maintain a score of 145, he can finish on the podium.

Sky the limit for Gagan

Another shooter who is keen on maintaining the winning momentum is rifle shooter Gagan Narang.

Born in Chennai but raised in Hyderabad, the 29-year-old Narang, who has been in the sport since 1997, rose to fame with a gold in the 2003 Afro-Asian Games in his home town but realized his true worth in 2006 when he won four gold medals at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

Narang's magical moment came in 2008 when he touched the perfect qualification score of 600/600 in 10m air rifle at the Bangkok World Cup final before setting a new world record of 703.5 with a superb 103.5 in the final round. It was special for him as his stupendous performance came on the same day (November 4) when Barack Obama, who Narang idolizes, won the election in the US.

But the Olympics the same year wasn't as memorable for Narang, with him missing a berth in the finals by a whisker. Narang had to settle for the 10th position even as Abhinav Bindra won the gold. That was when he declared that he would work for the gold medal in London.

Podium finishes at the World Cups in 2009 kept him in the race for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna but when it did not come to him, Narang was downcast and stayed away from the limelight for sometime. But then glory was his in 2010 at the Commonwealth Games. Having won the Padma Shri earlier, he won the Khel Ratna too.

A knee injury kept Narang away from all World Cups save one last year but he has come back ever since. His performances haven't been upto the mark but the Hyderabadi has it in him to raise the bar in London.

India's Best Bets

1. Ronjan Sodhi (Double Trap)

Current World Ranking: 10

Top Show: Gold medal at World Cup, Belgrade, 2008 - equalled both world record of 147 and final world record

Main Challengers: Walton Eller (USA), Joshua Richmond (USA), Hu Binyuan (China)

2. Gagan Narang (10m Air Rifle)

Current World Ranking: 14

Top Show: Gold at World Cup Final in Bangkok, 2008 - world record score of 703.5, including a perfect 600/600

Main Challengers: Zhu Qinan (China), Niccolo Campriani (Italy), Abhinav Bindra (India)



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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

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News Network
May 25,2020

Karachi, May 25: Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq believes Babar Azam is destined to be a world-class player and is very close to being in the same league as India skipper Virat Kohli and Australia's Steve Smith.

"I don't like comparisons but Babar is currently very close to being in the same class as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith or Joe Root," Misbah said in an interview to Youtube channel, Cricket Baaz.

"He believes in the work ethic that if you want to better Kohli you have to work harder than him at your skills, fitness and game awareness."

The 25-year-old, who was named captain of the Pakistan T20 team ahead of the Australia series in October last year, was recently handed the reins of ODI team as well.

"Making him the T20 captain was a tester. We wanted to see how he will respond to this challenge. All of us agree that he has done a very good job and his biggest plus is that being among the worlds top players he leads by example," Misbah said.

"If you are a performer like Babar then it becomes easier for you to motivate the rest of the team and get things done.

"Even when I was made captain in 2010 my performances were here and there and I was in and out. But captaincy changed my game and mindset and I became a more hard-working and motivated cricketer."

Misbah said Babar always challenges himself and would get better as a captain with experience.

"He is in a zone of his own. He just doesn't want to be in the team. He just doesn't want to play for money. He wants to be the top performer for Pakistan. He is always pitting himself against other top batsmen like Kohli or Smith," he said.

"He loves challenges in the nets and on the field. He has really matured as a player and in time he will get better as a captain with experience."

Babar was the leading run-scorer of the T20I series against Australia last year. He also scored 210 runs, which included a hundred, at 52.50 in the Test series against the same opponents.

In the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka, Babar ended the series with 262 runs with an average of exactly 262.

Misbah feels Babar had changed as a batsman when he got runs in the Tests in Australia.

"Before that he was getting runs in tests but not consistently. In Australia and in the following tests against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh he changed," he said.

Talking about his experience as a head coach, Misbah said: "Having captained, it has helped me a lot. As captain I had to manage everything and also having played under top coaches ... I have seen closely their work ethics and how they managed things.

"It is a learning process. Having remained captain it is a big advantage for coaching because you know the players and their mood swings. You know which player will respond in a given situation,which player is feeling pressure in a scenario.

Misbah said it is not easy juggling between different roles.

"Most important thing as a coach is mentally and psychologically how you handle a group of players," the former skipper said.

"Sometimes captain and coach is different as you have to take tough decisions. Being chief selector makes it it a bit difficult but I had experience of creating and managing teams, I have been building teams since 2003. Till now it is going well."

Misbah feels in Pakistan cricket there were different parameters for judging foreign and local coaches.

"I don't know why it is like this why do we have different eye for locals and foreigners. Maybe we feel they have something special. It looks like every decision by a foreign coach is right. In contrast we tend to be very critical of local coaches no matter what decision they take," he said.

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