India beat Pakistan by one wicket to reach Under-19 World Cup semifinals

August 20, 2012

ind_pak

Townsville, August 20: India's tail-enders held their nerves in the tense dying moments to edge out archrivals Pakistan by one wicket in a low-scoring thriller to cruise into the semifinals of the Under-19 World Cup on Monday.

After dismissing Pakistan for a paltry 136, India made rough weather of a small target as they were reduced to 127/9 in 41 overs after being in a comfortable 124/6 at one stage.

It was a nerve-wrecking final 25 minutes as Mumbai lad Harmeet Singh and number 11 Sandeep Sharma from Punjab held their nerves to eke out a narrow one-wicket win with two overs to spare at the Tony Ireland Stadium.

The two tail-enders played out seven overs to score the remaining 10 runs as the Pakistanis applied pressure with their fielders closing in.

The victory came when Harmeet pulled Mohammad Nawaz towards the square-leg boundary to score two runs and take India to the victory target.

The victory shot triggered off scenes of wild celebration in the Indian camp as his teammates rushed onto the field to hug him.

India will now take on New Zealand in their semifinal on August 23. New Zealand beat West Indies by three wickets in the other quarterfinal match.

It must have personally been satisfying for both Sandeep and Harmeet who are dubbed as 'U-19 veterans' in their team as they were playing their second colts World Cup having been a part of the team in 2010 as well. India had then lost to Pakistan.

Credit should also be given to Baba Aparajith (51, 97 balls, 3x4) as his composed batting after initial jitters steadied the ship.

India were tottering at 8/3 within the first five overs of their chase but Aprajith along with Vijay Zol (36) added a crucial 66 runs for the fourth wicket to ensure India's passage into the last four stage.

This was also a sweet revenge for Unmukt Chand and co as Pakistan had convincingly beaten India in the previous two meetings of the under-19 edition in 2006 and 2010.

In conditions conducive for both seam and swing bowling, Pakistan left arm pacer Zia-ul-Haq troubled the Indian top-order with his brisk pace as he repeatedly got the ball to angle away from the right handers.

India's batting mainstay Chand paid for his impetuosity as he flashed hard at a Zia delivery only to be caught brilliantly in their deep third-man region by Ehsan Adil.

In the very next over, right-arm medium pacer Adil got one to shape away from the opener Prashant Chopra (4) as he nicked it to wicketkeeper Salman Afridi.

Hanuma Vihari (0) followed the suit as he edged one to the second slip of Zia's bowling.

At 8/3, Zol and Aparajith joined hands to carry out a repair job. They first concentrated on taking singles and two's and hit the occasional boundary in between.

Zol fell at the score of 74 while attempting a non-existent run as he failed to make to the crease on time.

Akshdeep Nath didn't stay for long as India were again in a spot of bother at 84/5.

Aprajith who played a good pull shot and couple of elegant looking cover drives then scored a few quick runs along with wicketkeeper batsman Smit Patel, the duo on two occasions running four runs even as the ball failed to cross the rope.

Aparajith finally completed his 50 pushing for a single but was soon out as he offered a catch in the covers.

His dismissal, however, triggered a slump as three wickets in quick succession before Sharma and Harmeet guided them home.

Earlier, Sandeep (3/24) and Ravikant Singh (3/43) continued their good show in the tournament as they left Pakistan reeling at 98/8 before Ehsan Adil's lusty hitting saw Pakistan reach 136.

The delivery of the match was bowled by young Bengal pacer Ravikant who dismissed left-handed Saad Ali. The delivery just pitched outside the off stump and moved in a shade to clip the off bail as the gap between bat and pad was minimal.





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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Mumbai, Jan 26: Boxing great Mary Kom has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award. Olympic silver medallist and reigning badminton World Champion PV Sindhu has been named for Padma Bhushan as the names of Padma awardees were disclosed on Saturday on the eve of the 71st Republic Day.

Rated as one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and has won gold at the boxing World Championships for a record six times. She has won a total of eight medals at the World Championships, the most recent of which came in October 2019 in Ulan Ude, Russia. The 36-year-old is now looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu became the only Indian woman to win an Olympic silver when she reached the final of the women's singles event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. In August last year, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win gold at the badminton World Championships.

She has also won two silver and two bronze medals at the World's in the past, thus making her only the second woman after Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning to win five medals in the competition.

Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, who has been the face of women's hockey in the country and played a pivotal role in the team qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is among those who have been nominated for the Padma Shri award.

Women's football stalwart Oinam Bembem Devi, former cricketer Zaheer Khan, shooter Jitu Rai, former hockey captain and coach M.P. Ganesh and archer Tarundeep Rai are the other sportspersons to be selected for the Padma Shri award.

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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday paid tributes to Indian Army soldiers, who were killed during the face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.

Extending condolences to the kin of bravehearts, Kohli said, "No one is more selfless and brave than a soldier."

"Salute and deepest respect to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect our country in the Galwan Valley. NO one is more selfless and brave than a soldier. Sincere condolences to the families. I hope they find peace through our prayers at this difficult time," he tweeted.

The violent face-off happened on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh's Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to "unilaterally change" the status quo during de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side, India said on Tuesday.

The Army confirmed that 20 soldiers were killed in the face-off, including 17 who were critically injured at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain.

Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area in Ladakh where they had earlier clashed on the night of June 15 and 16, Indian Army said.

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan tweeted, "We will always be indebted to our jawans of #IndianArmy who lost their lives in #GalwanValley #JaiHind."

Expressing similar sentiments, Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan wrote, "A sacrifice that will never be forgotten by the nation. Heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the Indian Army officer and the two soldiers. Saluting your bravery, Jai Hind! #GalwanValley."

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