Rio 2016: Sushila Chanu to lead Indian women's hockey team at Olympics

July 13, 2016

New Delhi, Jul 13: Defender Sushila Chanu will lead the 16-member Indian women's hockey team at the forthcoming Olympic Games to be held at Rio de Janeiro from August 5 to 21.

ChanuHockey India on Tuesday named Sushila as the skipper in place of Ritu Rani who was dropped from the squad by the selectors due to poor form and attitude problems.

Sushila's colleague in the backline, Deepika will assist her as the vice-captain during the Games.

The team includes five defenders, five midfielders, five fowards and only one goalkeeper in Savita.

The women's team includes the experience of Deepika, Sunita Lakra, Sushila, Namita Toppo and Deep Grace Ekka in the defence.

The midfield will be manned by Renuka Llima Minz, Monika, Navjot Kaur and young Nikki Pradhan, while forward line consists of Rani Rampal, Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya, Anuradha Devi Thockchom and Preeti Dubey.

Just like the mens's team, the women's squad also has two reserve players in defender Hnialum Lal Ruat Feli and goalkeeper Rajani Etimmarpu.

This will be the first time in 36 years that Indian women's hockey team will be participating at the Olympic Games, after stellar show at the Hockey World League Semifinals in 2015.

Indian eves' only appearance in the Olympics till now was in the 1980 Moscow edition, but there was no qualification process back then.

Speaking about the selected squad, Indian women's hockey team's chief coach Neil Hawgood said they have handpicked the best-available team on the basis of merit.

"We have picked the best physically and mentally prepared team," Hawgood said during a gliterring team announcement function here today.

"It is a historic moment for the girls no matter whom we pick because they never played in the Olympics. The men's team have tasted the Olympics with seven players of the selected squad featuring at London. So we really don't know what's going to come over.

Asked about the experienced Ritu Rani's omission from the squad, Hawgood said: "We picked up a committed 16-member squad from the trials. We have selected the best 16."

Indian women's team captain Sushila said it is a huge responsibility given to her and she vowed to fullfil it to the best of her potential.

"I am really happy but I am little tensed as well because it is a big responsibility to lead the side in the Olympics after 36 years," Sushila said.

"But I have been a captain at the junior level and have got a lot of support. I am getting a lot of support here as well. So I think I won't have any problems."

The Indian eves will leave for USA on Thursday where they will play three practice games against Canada and two against USA before reaching Rio on July 29 for the Games.

Squad: Sushila Chanu (Captain and Defender), Navjot Kaur, Deep Grace Ekka, Monika, Nikki Pradhan, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Savita, Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya, Deepika (vice-captain), Namita Toppo, Renuka Yadav, Sunita Lakra, Rani, Preeti Dubey, Lilima Minz.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game!!," Gayle tweeted.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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