Sportspersons condemn Shobhaa De's 'unfair' remarks

August 9, 2016

Mumbai, Aug 9: Several sportspersons have unitedly condemned author Shobhaa De for critising Indian athletes for their medal no-show at the Rio Olympics so far.

shobhaaShobhaa tweeted on Monday night: "Goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao (Go to Rio). Selfies lo (Take selfies). Khaali haat wapas aao (Return empty-handed). What a waste of money and opportunity. Only hope? Dependable Abhinav Bindra. Aim for gold, champion!"

The comment was made after the men's hockey team suffered a late 1-2 defeat to Germany, while the women's hockey side was thrashed 0-3 by Britain in group stages on Monday. Archer Laxmirani Majhi also added to the disappointment, crashing out in the Round of 32 eliminators.

The comment was considered offensive and unfair by many well known Indian sportspersons, many of them have voiced their disapproval on social media platforms and television.

India's sole individual Olympic gold medallist, shooter Abhinav Bindra, also missed the opportunity of winning another Olympic medal by a miniscule margin, finishing fourth in the final of the men's 10-metre Air Rifle final on Monday.

He was quick to hit back at Shobhaa.

"Shobhaa De, that's a tad unfair. You should be proud of your athletes persueing human excellence against the whole world," he said.

Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar also took a similar stance saying on television: "DeShobhaa should spend a day with the athletes, then she will get to know their hardwork."

India's badminton doubles specialist Jwala Gutta blasted the Mumbai-based author for poor attitude on Twitter : "DeShobhaa maybe things will change when the attitude of people like yourself change!!!!???? #Proudindian #proudsportsperson."

Tennis player Somdev Devvarman also wrote on Twitter :"DeShobhaa a little harsh to belittle the hard work put in by our athletes ...don't you think?"

Two-time Asian Games gold medallist long jumper Anju Bobby said: "Now is the time to support out India team not criticise them. I am hopeful that the Indian team will return in winning ways at Rio."

Former men's hockey team's captain Viren Rasquinha urged Shobhaa on Twitter to emulate what sportspersons do on their respective fields: "Ms. De, kindly run on the hockey pitch for 60 mins & hold a rifle like Abhinav and Gagan. Bit tougher than u think."

In an interview to a news channel, the author said: "Yes, of course I stand by it. Players are entitled to an opinion. In fact, I did comment about Abhinav (Bindra) being our sole hope."

Shobhaa was also criticised by many from the Bollywood film fraternity and other Twitter users.

Actress Gul Panag wrote: "Lots of lament about medal tally, but no lament about lack of fitness culture (which builds a sporting nation) Abhinav Bindra, Shobhaa De."

"Abhinav Bindra, And do so despite of and in spite of there being no infra and institutional support, and no sporting culture."

Actor Nikhil Dwivedi also didn't appreciate Shobhaa's comments.

"Another gem from Shobhaa De. The state has failed our sportsmen. They strive very hard. Don't mock them," he tweeted.

But despite the backlash, Shobhaa has refused to apologise for her statement.

In an interview to a news channel, the author said: "Yes, of course I stand by it. Players are entitled to an opinion. In fact, I did comment about Abhinav (Bindra) being our sole hope.

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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
February 5,2020

New Delhi, Feb 5: IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has denied any financial dealings with the controversial Rose Valley Group except for it being a sponsor of the side's official jerseys in 2012 and 2013.

KKR issued the clarification after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached Rose Valley's assets worth over Rs 70 crore on Monday. The attached assets include Rs 11.87 crore bank deposits of Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd, that owns KKR, in connection with a money laundering probe.

The franchise said it hopes for the matter to be resolved expeditiously.

"Rose Valley Hotels was one of KKR's IPL jersey sponsors for IPL seasons 2012 and 2013. Rose Valley had paid KKR an approx. amount of Rs 11.87 crore as sponsorship fees," KKR CEO Venky Mysore said in a statement.

"KKR had no other dealings with the Rose Valley Group including Rose Valley’s micro finance business," he added.

The statement added that in July last year, KRSPL (Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd), received a "witness summon" from the ED in connection with an investigation relating to the Rose Valley Group, particularly its micro finance business.

"The ED continues the investigation of Rose Valley. KKR continues to cooperate with the authorities in all respects," Mysore said.

"As part of the investigative process, sometime in October 2019, the ED placed a lien on the said amount earlier paid by Rose Valley to KKR," he asserted.

The directors of KRSPL include Shah Rukh Khan's wife Gauri Khan, actor Juhi Chawla's husband Jay Mehta, Mysore and two others.

Mysore was questioned in this case by ED's Kolkata office in October last year.

Apart from KRSPL, the ED attached properties of two other entities -- Multiple Resorts Pvt. Ltd. and Kolkata's St Xavier's College on Monday.

The ED registered an FIR against the Rose Valley group, its chairman Gautam Kundu and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2014.

Kundu was arrested by the agency in Kolkata in 2015 and is in judicial custody at present.

The ED has filed multiple charge sheets in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar courts in this connection and total attachments are now worth Rs 4,750 crore.

The group has been charged by the ED and the CBI with "illegally and fraudulently collecting deposits from public with the intention to cheat them by falsely promising high returns on their investment", thereby perpetrating a ponzi-like fraud.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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