U Mumba edge Bengaluru Bulls to clinch Pro Kabaddi title

August 24, 2015

Mumbai, Aug 24: U Mumba overcame a fighting Bengaluru Bulls 36-30 in a thrilling summit clash to lift the second Star Sports Pro Kabaddi crown at a packed NSCI Stadium here tonight.

Pro Kabaddi

Starting the game as slight favourites, the Mumbai outfit had to stretch every sinew to get the better of their rivals from Bengaluru who fought tooth and nail but fell short at the end.

U Mumba came up with some magical play when the occasion demanded, especially in the closing stages of both sessions, to run out victors and take home the top prize of Rs one crore. The Bulls got Rs 50 lakh.

At half time U Mumba led 16-8 after a late surge from 7-all.

Earlier, in the 3rd-4th placing game, Telugu Titans from Hyderabad downed Patna Pirates 34-26, after leading 16-8 at half time, to finish third and get prize money of Rs 30 lakh.

Pirates got Rs 20 lakh.

In the final match, U Mumba were held in check by the Bulls' determined defence for the first 15 minutes of the opening half before they took control in both attack and tackling to take a 16-8 lead.

Such was the tackling skills exhibited by the Bulls, ably led by Dharmaraj Cheralathan, that at one stage Mumba's star attackers, captain Anup Kumar and second raider Shabeer Bapu, were both warming the bench together after being trapped in raids.

The scores ran neck-to-neck till 7-all when U Mumba hit a purple patch in both attack and defence, in which Vishal Mane and raid specialist Rishank Devadiga excelled.

During this period, U Mumba secured raid points from Anup and Bapu while packing off rival raiders -- captain Manjeet Chillar and Thakur -- before making the Bulls all out by taking care of last man left -- Deepak Dahiya -- to get three points at a stretch.

This period was ultimately the turning point in the game.

In the second half, Mumbai led 23-18 when Thakur came up with a super raid to secure five points, by packing off three rivals and making U Mumba all out.

Then the Bulls even led 24-23 when Mumba's captain Anup was trapped but the Mumbai outfit hit back strongly and regained the initiative with some excellent attack and solid defending to emerge deserving winners.

Shabeer Bapu led the Mumbai attack with ten points while Anup got six touch points and one for tackling. The surprise packet was Rishank Devadiga who played a good all-round game to get five points along with Mane who stole the show in defence.

For the Bulls, Manjeet Chillar was the stand out player with 11 points to his credit, including seven touch and two for tackling. Thakur got three touch points in one raid while Dharmaraj Cheralathan did well in defence to get four points.

Overall Mumbai trailed their rivals 17-18 in attack but made up for these with superior defence (14-10) and all-outs (4-2). They also got one bonus point.

Earlier, Telugu Titans beat Patna Pirates 34-26 to finish third.

Pirates got all out twice and also were 1-4 in the bonus point ratio. While Titans led their rivals 19-15 in raid points the only area where the Pirates excelled was in defense as they secured 10 tackle points as compared to the Titans' seven.

In attack, Titans were led by Rahul Chaudhari (10 raid points, including nine touch points) and K Prashant Rai with six points that included five touch points while all-rounder Deepak Hudda secured five points in offence and defense combined.

For the losers, captain Sandeep Narwal was outstanding with his all-round effort that fetched him 11 points, including eight in attack. He was given good support by defender Sunil Kumar who got six tackle points but most others disappointed.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: Australia batsman David Warner on Tuesday decided to shave off his head to show support towards all those people who are working relentlessly on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.

After shaving off his head, Warner also challenged his Australian team-mate Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli to do the same.

Warner, shared a time-lapse video on Instagram, of him shaving his head, and captioned the post as: "Been nominated to shave my head in support of those working on the frontline #Covid-19 here is a time-lapse. I think my debut was the last time I recall I've done this. Like it or not".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's death toll stands at 19, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

As of 8 am today, 4460 people across Australia have tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a 'pandemic' on March 11.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine also confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh is unlikely due to the virus spread.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

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News Network
July 6,2020

New Delhi, Jul 6: India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly says improved fitness standards and a change in culture have led to the country developing one of the world's best pace attacks.

Spearheads Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are part of a battery of five formidable quick bowlers that have helped change India's traditional reliance on spin bowling.

"You know culture has changed in India that we can be good fast bowlers," Ganguly said in a chat hosted on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Twitter feed.

"Fitness regimes, fitness standards not only just among fast bowlers but also among the batters, that has changed enormously. That has made everyone understand and believe that we are fit, we are strong and we can also bowl fast like the others did."

The West Indies dominated world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s led by a fearsome pace attack that included all-time greats such as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.

Recently Indian quicks have risen to the top in world cricket with Shami, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a deadly arsenal.

"The West Indies in my generation were naturally strong," the former India captain said.

"We Indians were never such naturally strong... but we worked hard to get strong. But I think it is the change in culture as well that is very important."

Shami last month claimed that the current Indian pace attack may be the best in Test history.

"You and everyone else in the world will agree to this -- that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package," said Shami.

"Not just now, in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world."

Shami took 13 wickets during India's 3-0 home Test sweep over South Africa last year, while Bumrah has claimed 68 scalps in 14 Tests since his debut.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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