Rampaging Vijender delivers hat-trick of knockout wins

December 20, 2015

Manchester, Dec 20: Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh continued his remarkably dominant run in the professional circuit, notching up a third successive knockout triumph by thrashing Bulgaria's Samet Hyuseinov in less than two rounds here today.

vijerndraBarely 35 seconds into the second round of what was to be his maiden six-round contest, Vijender cornered Hyuseinov with a flurry of combination punches to force the referee into stopping the bout and give the Indian a win via Technical Knockout.

The former Olympic and World Championships bronze-medallist thus continues to remain unbeaten since making his debut in October, all three of his wins being knockouts in under three rounds.

"I practice a lot when I am sparring so that helps me finish it off early in actual contest," Vijender said after the bout.

With a sizeable crowd in attendance to cheer him, Vijender walked in to the beats of 'Singh is King' and made sure that the song resonated well after he was done with the job inside the ring.

For all his tall talk before the bout, Hyuseinov looked intimidated the moment Vijender stepped in. While the Indian moved around confidently and had the Bulgarian on the backfoot with his telling jabs and piercing left uppercuts, Hyuseinov seemed clueless on whether to go all out or stick to counter-attack.

Vijender made full use of his longer reach and his opponent's confused strategy to complete a dominating first round. The 30-year-old then seemed in a hurry to finish off the contest in the second round and he did exactly that by simply pummelling Hyuseinov.

The assault was so fierce that referee stepped in to rescue the cowering Bulgarian, who had promised to send Vijender back to India "beaten and broken." The Haryana-lad, on his part, had vowed to answer inside the ring and he did that in style to walk away a deserving winner.

Vijender had beaten Sonny Whiting and Dean Gillen in his previous two bouts, both of which were to be four-round contests but lasted barely over two rounds.

Vijender, who would be coming to India tomorrow night for a break, said the victory was a Christmas present for all his fans.

"I am happy to get another knockout win and for making it 3-0. For this bout I had done a lot of physical hard work and have improved my technique also which helped to win against an opponent who had the experience of playing 14 bouts," Vijender said.

"I was confident of beating him. My win is a Christmas gift for all my Indian friends and fans and I am feeling happy that I am ending the year on a winning note," he added.

Hyuseinov was the most experienced opponent that Vijender faced so far and the Bulgarian had spoken about making that count in today's bout. After the comprehensive triumph, Vijender said it gave him immense satisfaction to outpunch his big-talking rival.

"Before my bout everyone was asking me that your opponent speaks a lot about giving you tough time in the ring but I think now my punches have replied to him and it will be lesson for future opponents also," he said.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Derbyshire, Jul 22: Ahead of the upcoming Test series against England, Pakistan pacer Sohail Khan has credited bowling coach Waqar Younis for teaching him how to swing the ball late.

On the third day of the practice match between Azhar Ali's Team Green and Babar Azam's Team White, the 36-year-old Khan returned figures of five for 50 in 20.1 overs which saw the former fold for 181 in the first innings before they staged a comeback on the final day to win the match by six wickets.

Prior to the practice match, Sohail had a conversation with bowling coach Waqar Younis on the art of late swing. The pacer shared how the presence of the bowling legend in the support staff helped him gear up for the four-day match.

"The conditions in England are swing conducive so every fast bowler gets the ball to move. I asked Waqar bhai to teach me how to swing the ball late. It took him only two minutes to explain it to me. It is because of his tips that I took five wickets in the first innings," Khan said in a release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

"I am eager to learn from Waqar Bhai. I follow him wherever he goes and speak to him about the art of bowling as he has an abundance of knowledge to share. A few days back I was struggling with something while bowling, I thought of reaching out to him and even before I spoke to him about it, he said he knew what I wanted to talk to him about and he explained it to me in a minute," he added.

During Pakistan's tour of England in 2016, Sohail played a crucial role in helping Pakistan secure a 2-2 Test series draw by returning two five-wicket hauls in as many matches.

In total, he picked up 13 wickets at 25 apiece and finished as the third-best wicket-taker.

"Definitely, it is an honour for me to return to the side. I had taken two fifers here against England in 2016 and now in the practice match, I have started off with five wickets so I am feeling very good. We had been at our homes for the past four months due to coronavirus so starting off on a high feels nice," Khan said.

Prior to Sohail's five wickets, 17-year-old Naseem Shah made a big impact when he took five wickets for Team Green. The strength of Pakistan's pace attack was further established as Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up three wickets each providing valuable support to Naseem and Sohail respectively.
Naseem and Shaheen finished the match with six and four wickets respectively.

Shedding light on the youngsters' performances, Sohail said: "It gives me immense pleasure to see Naseem Shah. He bowls consistently at 150kph. Just like him, Shaheen Shah Afridi is another good bowler. I like both of them."

"It gave me great happiness to see Naseem pick five wickets in the first innings. He is in rhythm and is looking great. What is astonishing is that he is playing in these conditions for the first time but still he is doing so well. Shaheen has also been phenomenal," he added.

Pakistan and England are slated to play three Tests and as many T20Is against each other. The first Test will be played at Manchester from August 5.

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News Network
July 6,2020

Karachi, Jul 6: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said that questions will be raised if Indian Premier League is slotted in the window allotted to ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, which in all likelihood will be cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ICC is yet to decide the fate of the T20 World Cup in Australia which is scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15.

"There are rumors that the World Cup was clashing with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Australia-India series, therefore, it (T20 World Cup) won't take place," Inzamam said in his YouTube channel on Sunday.

"The Indian board is strong and has control in the International Cricket Council (ICC). If Australia says that we cannot hold the World Cup because of the Covid-19 pandemic, then their stance will be easily accepted, but if any such kind event happens during the same time, then questions will be raised," he said.

The 50-year-old former batsman, who has scored 8,830 runs in 120 Tests and 11,739 runs in 378 ODIs for Pakistan, further said, "People will think, if a country could host 12 to 14 teams (16 teams), then why the ICC could not look after the teams, after all Australia is such an advanced country.

"Another thing is the ICC should not be allowed to give priority to private leagues (IPL) on international cricket. This will lead to young players forcing on private leagues other than international matches."

The former coach, however, agreed that it is not easy to host 16 nations during the T20 World Cup.

"Australia can say that it was difficult for it to manage 18 teams (16) for the mega event as it is not easy. Likewise, the Pakistan team was in England in a hotel and all the facilities were being provided there, therefore, it has not been easy to manage 18 teams (16)," he said.

The fate of Asia Cup which PCB will be hosting in a neutral country for security reason is also an issue as no one knows the fate of the tournament originally scheduled in September.

Inzamam said: "I have also heard that objections are also raised on the dates of the Asia Cup as it is clashing with some other event.

"The ICC, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and all cricket boards should sit together and give a strong message that any such kind of impression (giving priority to private leagues instead of international cricket), won't take place," he said.

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News Network
January 12,2020

New Delhi, Jan 12: Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was on Saturday pulled out of the India A team's tour of New Zealand after he failed mandatory fitness tests in Mumbai.

The selectors had picked him in the squad without testing him in the Ranji games.

Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar has been drafted into the India A team and he has already boarded the flight to New Zealand where they will play two 50-over warm-up games, three List A games and two four-day 'Tests' against the home A team.

It has been learnt that Pandya failed a couple of mandatory fitness tests and his scores were well below the permissible range suggesting that he is far from being fit for international cricket. In this situation, pulling him out of the India A squad was expected.

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