Category: SPORTS

India skipper Virat Kohli has been a bit more charged up than he usually is during the ongoing West Indies series and rival captain Kieron Pollard is “clueless” as to what’s been the trigger. During the T20 series, Kohli’s imitation of Kesrick Williams’ ‘notebook tick’ celebration was ‘television gold’, and then he seemed agitated when on-field umpire Shaun George referred Ravindra Jadeja’s run-out in the first ODI in Chennai. In fact, Kohli was very animated after Pollard’s first-ball dismissal. “You have to ask him why he is so animated. I…

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Australia’s limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch has backed all-rounder Glenn Maxwell to make a comeback to the national team soon, saying that a “three-dimensional” cricketer like him can’t be kept out for long. Facing mental health issues, Maxwell took a short break from the game in October this year but recently made himself available for the tour of India. He was, however, not picked and Marnus Labuschagne got his first call-up following his outstanding form in Test cricket. Finch said the door isn’t shut for any player who was not picked…

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Rafael Nadal finished the season on top of the world to give the men’s rankings a familiar look but a new crop of women is showing the old guard can be overthrown. The Spanish world number one and Novak Djokovic won two Grand Slams each in 2019, holding Father Time and their young rivals at bay for another year. But Ashleigh Barty and teenager Bianca Andreescu were two new faces on the list of women’s Major winners as familiar names slipped from view. AFP Sport looks at some of the…

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Often accused of not putting enough premium on his wicket, rising Indian batsman Rishabh Pant says he has now understood that there is no concept of “natural game” in international cricket where one has to play according to the situation. Pant’s reckless strokeplay at crucial junctures, leading to soft dismissals, as well as poor work behind the stumps have been the talking points and a matter of concern for the Indian team. But the 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman from Delhi finally came good and struck his maiden ODI half century, albeit in…

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Anatoly Karpov once critically remarked that Viswanathan Anand “doesn’t have the character” to win big games. The observation “hit a raw nerve”, says the Indian, who has since become a name as big as the Russian in chess world.”Ah, well Vishy’s a nice guy but he just doesn’t have the character for a big win,” was what Karpov had said about Anand after beating him in the final of the 1998 world championship. Anand recalled the remark in his newly-released autography — ‘Mind Master – Winning Lessons from a Champion’s…

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Lionel Messi is in the same league as Pele or Diego Maradona and he doesn’t need to win a World Cup to prove his greatness, feels iconic former Argentine striker Hernan Crespo.Here in the city as the ambassador of TSK 25K run, the prolific Argentine said: “Messi doesn’t need that (to win a World Cup to be great player). In the whole history, I can think of five players — Pele, (Alfredo) di Stefano, (Johan) Cruyff, (Diego) Maradona and then there is Messi.”He however hoped that Messi gets to finally…

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Focus will be on fitness and recovery as the Indian women’s hockey team looks to play quality matches against top sides as part of its preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, said skipper Rani Rampal.The Indian team is currently in Bengaluru for the ongoing National coaching camp which will end on December 15.After a three-week break for Christmas and New Year, the core group will return to camp on January 5 to prepare for the New Zealand Tour.”One of the primary focus for us will be on fitness and recovery. While…

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Pakistan and Bangladesh might feature in a day-night Test during the latter’s tour to the neighbouring nation in January next year for the two-match series of the ICC World Test Championship. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) CEO, Wasim Khan said that they had sent a proposed itinerary of the series to their Bangladesh counterparts (BCB), suggesting that one of the two Tests be played as a day-night affair in Karachi. The BCB officials, on their part, have said that they will be able to give confirmation for the tour in a…

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Enduring a rough patch since claiming the world championship gold, ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu would be eager to turnaround her fortunes when she begins her title defence at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals here on Wednesday. Sindhu registered her career’s biggest triumph at the World Championship in Basel, Switzerland in August, but since then the Indian looked awfully out of form. The Olympic silver medallist, who had reached the finals of Indonesia Open Super 750 tournament in July, made two first-round exits at Korea Open and Fuzhou…

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Lionel Messi broke yet another record by hitting his 35th La Liga hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed Real Mallorca 5-2 to keep pace with Real Madrid at the top of the table.A trio of vintage Messi finishes contributed to five stunning Barca goals, the best of them arguably belonging to Luis Suarez, whose brilliant backheel capped a free-flowing move, involving seven different players.”I knew I had a little gap, my last resort was to try a backheel,” said Suarez.”I was surprised,” added Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. “It was an extraordinary goal.”But…

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