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Sania Mirza will get Khel Ratna on August 29 as scheduled: official

August 28, 2015

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Sports Ministry has decided to go ahead with it's original decision to confer the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Sania Mirza on August 29. This, despite the Karnataka High Court issuing notices to the government and tennis ace over the petition filed by Paralympian HN Girisha, who has challenged the recommendation of the awards selection panel.

SaniaA senior ministry official told dna that the court's notice will not cast any shadow on the awards ceremony on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and that the original awards list will be implemented in totality.

"The ministry will not make any last-minute changes to the awards list. Sania will get the Khel Ratna as per the awards committee's recommendation. The decision is final," a senior official said on Thursday.

The official informed that the ministry has received the court notice on Thursday and will be filing its reply within the stipulated 15 days. "Yes, we have received the notice. We will give reply to the notice in due course. The ministry will frame its reply after going through the contents of it. We will explain out everything to the court," the official added.

Justice AS Bopanna of the Karnataka High Court has sought reply from the ministry as to why Girisha's name was overlooked in favour of Sania, considering the points system being implemented by the Union government.

Girisha, 2012 London Paralympic silver medallist, had contended in his plea that he deserved to win the coveted award more than Sania because he was the top candidate with 90 points against his name and the tennis star was far behind him as per performance-based points system.

Girisha said Sania's Wimbledon doubles crown would not be counted for the coveted award as it was not included in the events mentioned in the government notification for awarding Khel Ratna. He said the ministry should consider a sportsperson's name for the award taking into account performances at the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships from 2011.

Sania, who won her first women's doubles Grand Slam title by lifting the Wimbledon crown with Swiss partner Martina Hingis in June, was recommended for the country's highest sporting honour by a government-appointed selection panel. The sports ministry has also given its approval on Sania getting the coveted award.

The ministry's decision has come at a time when at least five disgruntled athletes have filed court cases challenging the recommendations of the awards committee.

While Seema Antil (discus throw), Vinod Kumar (wrestling coach), KC Lekha (woman boxer), Shaik Abdul Hameed (ten-pin bowling) and Girisha have already filed the cases in different courts, dope-tainted weightlifting coach Shyamala Shetty will be approaching the judiciary on Monday against the ministry's decision to drop her name from the Dronacharya award list.

"This is the most contentious awards ceremony ever seen where athletes are hankering for Khel Ratna or Arjuna award. This year's award ceremony is engulfed by so many court cases that it has itself demeaned the value of the honour," said the official.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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Agencies
March 1,2020

New Delhi, Mar 1: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Sunday heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder took a spectacular catch on the second day of the Christchurch Test against New Zealand.

Jadeja grabbed a one-handed stunner at deep square leg in the 72nd over to dismiss Neil Wagner, who had to depart after scoring 21 runs.

"Sir Jadeja for a reason! Jadeja Airlines, flying high! Terrific stuff," Kaif tweeted.

In the match, Jadeja also impressed with the ball. The left-handed bowler took two wickets while giving away 22 runs.

On day two, India bundled out New Zealand on 235 runs in the second Test. However, in their second innings, Indian batsmen again struggled to tackle the New Zealand pacers and lost six wickets with a lead of just 97 runs.

India went to stumps at 90/6, with Trent Boult doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Mumbai, May 21: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has chosen legendary Sachin Tendulkar over current skipper Virat Kohli as a better batsman in the ODI format, considering the changed rules of the game and the Mumbaikar's longevity of career.

Tendulkar, who retired in 2013, played 463 ODIs and amassed 18, 426 runs with 49 hundreds at an average of 44.83.

Kohli, on the other hand, has played 248 ODIs and scored 11, 867 runs with 43 tons at an average of 59.33.

"Sachin Tendulkar, because probably with one white ball and four fielders inside the circle, not five fielders outside, it will be Sachin Tendulkar for me," Gambhir said on Star Sports show 'Cricket Connected'.

Nowadays, a one-day innings is played with two white balls and with three powerplays.

In the first power play (overs 1-10), two fielders are allowed beyond the 30-yard circle, while in the second powerplay (overs 10-40) four fielders are allowed. In the last powerplay (overs 40-50), five fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.

Gambhir, who was the star performer in 2011 ODI World Cup final which India won, feels that the change in rules has helped batsmen.

"It's difficult because Virat Kohli has done phenomenally well but I think the rules have changed as well, which has helped a lot of new batters," elaborated Gambhir, who played 58 Tests and 147 ODIs.

"The new generation, with 2 new balls, no reverse swing, nothing for the finger spin, five fielders inside for the 50 overs, probably that makes batting much easier.

He said he would also go with Tendulkar, considering his longevity and flow of the ODI cricket format at that time.

"Probably I’ll go with Sachin Tendulkar if we see the longevity and flow of the one-day cricket format.

"Look at how Sachin Tendulkar has played, different rules, that time 230 to 240, was a winning total," Gambhir signed off. 

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