PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth eye maiden Dubai Super Series Final title

Agencies
December 12, 2017

Dubai, Dec 12: Top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth would be aiming for a great finale to what has been a good year for Indian badminton when they take the court at the USD one million Dubai Super Series Final starting on Wednesday.

Only the very best participate in this prestigious tournament with only the top eight in the respective men's and women's singles rankings earning the right to compete.

World No.3 Sindhu and World No.4 Srikanth can't afford to lower their guard when they begin their campaign against China's world No. 9 Hi Bingjiao and World No.1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark respectively at the Sheikh Hamdan Indoor Stadium.

Both Sindhu and Srikanth are coming into the tournament after a highly successful year.

Sindhu clinched the India Open and Korea Open, besides bagging a silver at Glasgow World Championship and finishing runners-up at Hong Kong Open last month.

Srikanth, on the other hand, became the only Indian, and fourth player ever, to win four Super Series titles in a calendar.

He won the Indonesia Open, Australia Open, Denmark Open and the French Open before being forced to miss the China Open and Hong Kong Open owing to a thigh muscle strain, sustained at the Nationals in Nagpur last month.

The one-month break after the Nationals gave him ample time to work on his fitness and sharpen his game, and he will hope to recreate the magic that earned him the four titles this year.

"It is an important event. I reached the semis in 2014 and in 2015; I lost in the league stages but it doesn't matter. We, as players, have to forget what had happened and start afresh. I hope to do well this year," Srikanth said.

World No.4 Srikanth has been placed in Group B of men's singles event along with Chou Tien Chen (world No.7) and Shi Yuqi (world No.8), apart from Axelsen.

Sindhu, who had reached the semifinals at the last edition, has been clubbed with the Japanese duo of No.2 ranked Akane Yamaguchi and world No.15 Sayako Sato, besides Bingjiao in Group A.

"It has been a good year for me. Now I really hope the year ends on a good note and I do well at the Dubai Super Series Finals," said the 22-year-old from Hyderabad.

"It is not going to be easy as all the top players will be playing in this event. Each match from the first round itself will be very tough. So I will have to be prepared from the start to do well."

The four players in each group will compete against each other in the preliminaries. The top two from each group will qualify for the semifinals with A1 facing B2 and B1 taking on A2.

Srikanth broke his three-match losing streak against defending champion and World No.1 Axelsen when he defeated the Dane in his hometown during the Denmark Open quarterfinals in October and it would take another top-class performance to tame him on Wednesday.

Sindhu is 4-5 behind in the head-to-head count against Bingjiao but she will take confidence from her recent win against the Chinese at the Korea Open in September.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Jul 21: The tickets sold for the now-postponed ICC T20 World Cup will remain valid if Australia hosts the edition in 2021 instead of India.

In case the event is shifted to 2022, all ticket-holders will be entitled to a full refund, the ICC stated on its website on Monday night after postponing the mega-event this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The tournament was to be held in October-November but will now be conducted later because of the pandemic.

The ICC has not yet announced which country will host which edition as there are operational issues that both the Indian and Australian cricket Boards need to sort out.

The world body had opened ticket booking through its ticketing partners and a significant number was already sold.

"Ticket holders are welcome to retain their tickets, noting, if Australia hosts in 2021, tickets will remain valid for fans who have already bought and will be automatically updated to reflect the new dates.

"If Australia hosts in 2022, for tickets already bought a full refund will be processed automatically," ICC stated in a series of FAQs.

Fans can retain their tickets until a date is confirmed for the event.

Refund requests can be made until December 15 and they will be processed within 30 days after an online submission.

The hospitality package will also remain valid for the 2021 fixtures.

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of MS Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves.

"You watch MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career," he added.

Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, but he truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005 when he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Vishakapatnam.

He is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He first led an inexperienced Indian side to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. He then took over ODI captaincy, but he had to wait for leading the Test side as Anil Kumble was doing the duties in the longest format.

Over his career, Dhoni has been reowned for his finishing skills and he is often viewed as the best finisher that the game has ever seen.

In December 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Then in 2017, Dhoni handed over the captaincy reins to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni recently had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place in the list of BCCI's centrally contracted players from October 2019 to September 2020.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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