Category: SPORTS

Wicket-keeping alongside batting is a lot more work but India’s KL Rahul on Friday said “he is loving” the additional responsibility as it is bringing the best out of him. Rahul scored 56 off 27 balls as his 99-run partnership with Virat Kohli set up the base for India to chase New Zealand’s 203 runs in the opener T20 here. Rahul kept full-time first during three-match ODI series against Australia last week. Following his good work with both bat and behind the stumps, Kohli had said he will continue with…

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Preparations for the World Cup on top of their agenda, India will take on an injury-hit New Zealand in a rare five-match T20 International series starting Friday during which seam-friendly wickets would be a major challenge for the visitors.Unlike most overseas tours, this will be a quick start for the Indian team. In a tight season, the first T20 comes only five days after their last ODI against Australia at home.The team arrived in Auckland on Tuesday and chose to rest on Wednesday. Thursday was when they hit the nets…

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Steve Smith struck his ninth ODI hundred before India bounced back in the last 10 overs to limit the visitors to 286 for nine in the series decider here on Sunday.Smith (131 off 132) rose to the occasion but did not get much support from the other batsmen. The other substantial knock came from Marnus Labuschagne (54 off 64).Mohammad Shami (4/63 in 10) was brilliant in the death overs striking thrice as Australia lost five wickets for 63 runs in the last 10 overs.Australia won the toss for the third…

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Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who has recovered from a wrist injury, on Friday said he’s enjoying his Big Bash League stint and looking forward to returning to the national side.Marsh was set to be in contention for national duties this summer until he broke his wrist while punching a wall in frustration after being dismissed in Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania earlier this season. “Yeah the wrist is good. Got plenty of time to rest up and recover the damage and feeling great now. It’s good to be…

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The battle-hardened Dwayne Bravo, at 36, returns to the West Indies squad “feeling like a kid”, more than three years after playing his last international.For Bravo, who fell out with his board following a bitter dispute over the then pay structure in 2014 leading to his eventual phasing out, the path back into international cricket was an arduous one. The flamboyant all-rounder played his last match for West Indies in any format in September 2016.”It’s a great feeling. I feel like a kid again when I first get a call…

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Serena Williams ended a three-year title drought and donated her winner’s cheque to victims of the Australian bushfires in an emotional WTA Auckland Classic final on Sunday.Williams raised expectations for this month’s Australian Open, where she can equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, with her 6-3, 6-4 victory — her first WTA trophy since she won in Melbourne in 2017. But the 38-year-old tempered celebrations as she donated her US 43,000 winners cheque to the Australian bushfire relief fund and described how the tragedy had affected her…

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London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal stormed into the women’s singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters badminton tournament with a straight-game win over South Korea’s An Se Young here on Thursday. The unseeded Indian, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched Young 25-23 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest. This is Saina’s first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year. The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on…

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Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur feels that international cricket teams can learn from India on how to nurture young players and empower them with responsibilities at critical junctures. Be it in the bowling or batting department, cricketing powerhouse India has built a solid bench strength for all formats under Virat Kohli’s leadership. And that has left Arthur impressed. “It has been interesting watching them introduce young players and giving them responsibility at critical times, that has been so good. And seeing those young players respond has been amazing. I think…

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Plagued by injuries in 2019, opener Shikhar Dhawan is aiming for a fresh start in the new year and wants to become a “more impactful” batsman in his quest to help India lift the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. Dhawan did not have a very good 2019 as he was in and out of the team because of injuries. The left-handed opener was ruled out midway from last year’s ICC ODI World Cup after sustaining a thumb fracture. Injuries continued to haunt Dhawan as he missed the home T20…

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Novak Djokovic said Australian Open organisers should consider delaying the first Grand Slam of the year if haze from bushfires raging around the country threatens players’ health. The opening major of 2020 is due to start at Melbourne Park on January 20 and the city was blanketed by smoke from blazes burning to the east on Saturday, compromising air quality. Djokovic, president of the ATP players council, said in the early hours of Sunday that any delay would be a last resort, but it needed to be discussed. “I mean,…

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