Sachin Tendulkar set for return against New Zealand, Yuvraj Singh likely for World T20

August 9, 2012

sachin_yuvi Mumbai, August 9: Sachin Tendulkar is all set to return to the Test arena after a break of two months but all eyes will be on another veteran VVS Laxman's future when selectors pick the squad for the two-match series against New Zealand starting August 23.

The selectors will also pick the final squad for the World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka in September and Yuvraj Singh, who is training at the NCA after recovering from a rare germ cell cancer, is in contention for a spot.

"It will depend on the fitness certificate that he will get from the NCA," a selection committee source told PTI.

The first Test against New Zealand will be held in Hyderabad while the second match will be played at Bangalore from August 31.

"There are two schools of thought on Laxman. One is that we should groom a youngster before the series against England, while the other wants to give Laxman a chance to play at home," the source said.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher will be attending the meeting.

Incidentally, this will be India's first Test series after their 0-4 drubbing during at the hands of Australia, earlier this year.

Tendulkar, who decided to take a break from the recently concluded limited overs series in Sri Lanka, will be fresh and raring to have a go at the New Zealanders, who had a forgettable Test series against the West Indies.

The series will also be important as it will be the start of Team India's journey without a man responding to the name of Rahul Dravid.

Talented India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara, who has long been touted as Dravid's ideal replacement, is likely to get a long rope to prove his worth in Test cricket.

Rohit Sharma's string of failures and Pujara's impressive show for India A in West Indies makes the latter's case stronger.

Pujara has played three Test matches in 2010 with the highlight being a 72 against Australia in Bangalore in India's successful run chase.

The most interesting part of Friday's meeting will certainly be selection committee's stance on Laxman's future.

Speculation is rife as to whether the first Test at Hyderabad could be his swansong after having had a dismal tour of Australia, where he managed a meagre 155 runs from eight innings at an average of less than 20.

His fitness and running between the wickets have also come under the scanner time and again.

Nearing 38, the 'Very Very Special' man of Indian cricket is not getting any younger.

The only thing that might force the selectors to persist with Laxman for the next 10 Test matches at home is his experience. With no Dravid, the exit of Laxman would mean that Tendulkar will be the only vastly experienced batsman in the Indian middle-order.

Virat Kohli has already established himself after his impressive show against Australia Down Under and Ajinkya Rahane will come in as the reserve opener after Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Tendulkar, Laxman, Pujara and Dhoni, in all likelihood, will be the seven batsmen while Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav are likely to operate with the new ball. Gangling pacer Ishant Sharma is also in contention provided he is declared fit.

The other question marks will be on Sehwag and Zaheer's fitness as they had to come back home before the one-off Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. Hopefully, with two weeks left for the New Zealand series, they would recover in time for Tests.

Irfan Pathan, after his good all-round show in Sri Lanka, may be inducted in the squad of 15 as an all-rounder but he may not readily get a chance in the playing XI.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, in all likelihood, will complete the first XI.

It will be interesting to see whether senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh gets a look in although on current form, it will be very difficult.

He has played three first-class county matches so far for Essex taking only two wickets. The first match against Gloucestershire was a wash-out where he got to bowl only 14 overs. Against Hampshire, he bowled 30.3 overs taking 1/76 in the process.

Against Leicestershire, he had figures of 1/96 from 37 overs. Statistically, he may not figure in the list but one can never discount his match-winning performances on Indian pitches.

In case, Harbhajan is overlooked once again, Rahul Sharma will make it in the squad as the third frontline spinner given that there are very few other options.

The 15th and last place would have multiple contenders. Rohit may be down on form but his sheer talent will still keep him in contention.

With no quality fast bowlers in Black Caps rank and matches supposed to be held on slow tracks of Uppal and Chinnaswamy Stadiums, Suresh Raina's chances cannot also be ruled out as he can also bowl off-breaks.

Manoj Tiwary also has a case after making full use of whatever opportunities he has been handed but he is certainly behind Rohit and Raina in this race for the final spot in the squad.



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News Network
February 14,2020

Los Angeles, Feb 14: Tributes to the late Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend who died last month in a helicopter crash, will play a major role in Sunday's 69th NBA All-Star Game.

This year's annual showcase of league talent will be played in Chicago and feature numerous nods to Bryant, a five-time NBA champion who also matched a league record with four NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player awards.

Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star, died at age 41 on January 26 in a crash near Los Angeles that also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

All-Star teams guided by LeBron James of the Lakers and Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will compete to win each of the first three quarters, which will all start 0-0 and last 12 minutes.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the clock will be turned off and a final target score will be established by taking the leading club's cumulative score through the first three quarters and adding 24 points -- the number representing the jersey number worn by Bryant for the final 10 seasons of his NBA career.

The first team to reach the cumulative target score will win the NBA All-Star Game.

All-Star Game jerseys will also honor Bryant and his daughter.

Team Giannis players will wear jersey number 24 in tribute to Kobe while Team LeBron players will wear jersey number two, the number his daughter wore when playing youth basketball.

Both teams will wear jersey patches displaying nine stars, representing the nine people who were killed in the crash.

Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native, will perform a special tribute to Bryant, his daughter and the others who were killed in the crash. Her performance will begin the night ahead of the player introductions.

James and Antetokounmpo each chose their squads from available starters and reserves voted and selected to the All-Star contest.

Team LeBron starters will include James, his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, NBA scoring leader James Harden of Houston, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Slovenian guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.

Team Giannis starters include the Greek big man, Cameroon stars Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and Pascal Siakam of Toronto and guards Kemba Walker of Boston and Trae Young of Atlanta.

A record eight All-Star Game players from outside the United States also include Frenchman Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz on Team Giannis and Team LeBron reserves Ben Simmons of Australia and the Philadelphia 76ers, Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis of Indiana and Serbian Nikola Jokic of Denver.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Bengaluru FC (BFC) have signed Brazilian striker Cleiton Silva for a one-year deal, the ISL club said in a statement on Saturday.

As per the agreement, BFC have the option of extending Silva's contract for another year.

The 33-year-old, who started his career with Brazilian side Madureira, moved to Thailand where he spent the better part of the decade playing for Muangthong United and Suphanburi, apart from stints in Mexico and China.

Silva, who also operates on the wing, became the first foreign player to reach the 100-goal mark in Thailand and finished top scorer of the Thai League 1 for two seasons. He also tops the charts of the all-time leading scorers of the League.

His biggest success came at Muangthong where he racked up 57 goals in 79 appearances and won three major trophies in as many seasons at the club.

The Brazilian, who was in talks with the Blues last season before the deal didn't materialise, said he was glad to have finally made the move.

"I've signed with Bengaluru FC because I want to be a champion and this is a club that is always after titles. I have that opportunity once again at BFC. I want to make the club and its fans happy. I have been following the club for some time now because we were in talks a while ago. And I liked what I saw. I am looking forward to making my way to Bengaluru and am excited to meet my new teammates, the fans and embrace the city," said Silva.

Silva, thus, became BFC's first new foreign signing of the season after the club had handed extended deals with Juanan Gonzalez, Dimas Delgado and Erik Paartalu.

Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat said Silva's addition was an important one, given his penchant for scoring.

"Cleiton has a proven track record when it comes to scoring and this is an area we needed to strengthen on the squad. The goals aside, he even has an eye for a quality final pass and we're looking forward to working with him," he said.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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