Sania, Leander, Sumit: India's three musketeers shine at Wimbledon

July 13, 2015

London, Jul 13: Leander Paes, Sania Mirza and Sumit Nagal brought a lot of cheer to the country's tennis fans as India took home three titles at Wimbledon this year.

india shine

A vintage Leander Paes clinched his 16th Grand Slam trophy, winning the mixed doubles of the Wimbledon Championship with the legendary Martina Hingis through a dominating victory over Alexander Peya and Timea Babos in London on Sunday.

The seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair drubbed the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team 6-1 6-1 in the lop-sided summit clash which was over in just 40 minutes. It was Paes' eighth mixed doubles title and the second with Hingis.

"Coming out and playing like that on one of the most prestigious courts that we've grown up with and winning a title like that, again for the second time in a Grand Slam without losing a set, that is really special," Paes said after the Wimbledon crown.

Indian junior tennis player Sumit Nagal and Vietnam's Nam Hoang Ly beat Reilly Opelka of the US and Akira Santillan of Japan 7-6(4), 6-4 to win the Wimbledon boys doubles title on Sunday.

The 17-year-old Nagal and Ly, seeded eighth, defeated the American-Japanese fourth seeds in an hour and three minutes on No 1 Court of The All England Club.

The New Delhi-born, right-handed player had also entered the boys' singles competition. However, he was ousted from the category in only the opener when he lost to Argentinean Juan Pablo Ficovich in three sets.

The official Twitter account of the Rashtrapati Bhavan congratulated the winners. "Congratulations @Leander, Sumit Nagal on winning mixed and boys doubles titles in #Wimbledon2015, proud moment for India," it posted.

A day ago, India's tennis queen Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first woman player from the country to win a women's doubles Grand Slam trophy as she clinched the Wimbledon title with Swiss partner Martina Hingis in London.

Hingis, 34, and 28-year-old Mirza came from a set down and 2-5 behind in the final set to beat Russian duo Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5. It was the top seeds' first Grand Slam title as a team having only decided to play together in March this year.

"Every kid that picks up a tennis racquet this is about winning Wimbledon or playing at Wimbledon one day.

"I hope it inspires a lot of girls and makes them believe they can be Grand Slam champions too," Mirza said.

With three Indians rising to the occasion, Indian tennis fans and the fraternity had a lot to rejoice about.

This was India's most significant triumph at the All England Lawn Tennis Club since Vijay Amritraj's two quarter final appearances in 1973, when he lost to eventual champion Jan Kodes, and in 1981 when he was beaten by his rival Jimmy Connors in a five-set thriller.

The former world no 16 made such an impact on the game that he is fondly remembered as part of the "ABC" of tennis, standing alongside legends Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.

The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.

Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.

He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.

The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.

On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mar 5: India reached a maiden women's Twenty20 World Cup final Thursday after their last four clash against England was washed out, sparking calls for the International Cricket Council to include reserve days in future events.

Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten side were due to face the 2009 champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the rain began pouring early in the day with barely any let-up.

With a minimum 10 overs per side needed for a result and no break in the weather, the umpires called it off without a ball being bowled.

Normally, five overs per side are needed to constitute a Twenty20 match, but the rules are different for ICC tournaments.

Four-time champions Australia are scheduled to take on South Africa later in the second semi-final, with that match also under threat.

With no reserve day, the highest-ranked teams from the two groups move into the final if play is not possible

That would pit India against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, where organisers are hoping to attract 90,000 plus fans, denying Australia a chance to defend their crown.

A reserve day is allowed for the final and the lack of one for the semis has been criticised by some players, with England captain Heather Knight among those calling for change.

"If both semi-finals are lost it would be a sad time for the tournament," she told reporters ahead of the match. "It's obviously going to be a shame if it does happen and I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure on the ICC to change that."

Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts said he sought clarification from the ICC about adding a reserve day with the Sydney weather looking ominous, but the request was denied.

"We've asked the question and it's not part of the playing conditions and we respect that," he told Melbourne's SEN radio.

"It gives you cause to reflect and think about how you might improve things in the future, but going into a tournament with a given set of playing conditions and rules, I don't think it's time to tinker with the rules."

It is not the way India would have wanted to make the final, but they are deserving of being there having gone through the group phase as the only unbeaten team.

After opening their campaign by upsetting Australia, they beat Bangladesh, New Zealand and then Sri Lanka.

While the entire team played well, teenage batting prodigy Shafali Verma excelled, which saw her elevated to the top of the ICC T20 batting rankings this week aged just 16.

She is only the second Indian after Mithali Raj to reach number one, pushing New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates down to second.

Ranked four in the world, India had made three semi-finals before this year and lost every time, including against England at the last World Cup.

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