Category: SPORTS

He is only 16 and reeling from his mother’s death last week, but Pakistan believe express bowling sensation Naseem Shah can be a match-winner in the opening Test against Australia.The exciting teenager is on the cusp of selection for the game at the Gabba in Brisbane starting Thursday after impressing with a fiery eight-over spell against Australia A in Perth.If he makes the grade, Naseem will join a handful of others to debut at 16, including Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar.The youngest-ever Test player listed by Cricinfo was Pakistan’s Hasan Raza…

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Andy Murray will do a “great job” when he continues his comeback from injury at next week’s inaugural Davis Cup Finals in Madrid, British captain Leon Smith said.The former world number one claimed his first ATP title since 2017 last month in Antwerp to raise hopes that he could return to the top of the game despite needing career-saving hip surgery earlier this year.Murray, who inspired Britain to the 2015 Davis Cup title, will line up alongside his older brother Jamie, Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund and Neal Skupski at the…

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Returning to competitive cricket with a bang after serving a doping suspension, young Prithivi Shaw says he is now completely focussed on letting his bat do the talking to force his way back into the Indian team.”Now I will focus on scoring as many runs as possible and win games for the team,” said Shaw, who played his first game after serving a back-dated eight-month suspension by the BCCI for failing a dope test.In his comeback match, Shaw made a stroke-filled 39-ball 63 to help Mumbai thrash Assam by 83…

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Finland qualified for the first major tournament in their history with a 3-0 win over Liechtenstein while Sweden sealed their place at the Euro 2020 finals following a victory in Romania. Norwich City forward Teemu Pukki scored twice in Helsinki and Jasse Tuominen also netted to bring the home crowd pouring onto the pitch at the final whistle as Finland wrapped up second place behind Group J winners Italy on Friday. Roberto Mancini’s Italy registered a record 10th straight win as they eased past Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in Zenica.…

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Gautam Gambhir has responded to the avalanche of criticism from AAP leaders after he missed a high-level parliamentary panel meeting on the air pollution crisis in Delhi. Mr Gambhir, who is in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore to commentate on the India vs Bangladesh cricket match, posted a long note on his Twitter account in which he said my work “will speak for itself” and then criticised the AAP for “making my commercial engagements (which were entered into before I had become an MP) an issue…” Gautam Gambhir was the only MP…

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US men’s doubles duo Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan said Wednesday they will retire at the end of the 2020 season, bringing the curtain down on one of the most successful pairings in tennis history. The 41-year-old twins said in a statement they planned to hang up their racquets after taking part in next year’s US Open, where they made their Grand Slam championship debut in 1995. Since that first Slam appearance, the Bryans have racked up a record 118 trophies including 16 Grand Slam doubles titles. They also won…

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The pink ball swings more than the red one but how it would behave after getting old, especially when dew will be a factor, is keeping India skipper Virat Kohli intrigued ahead of team’s historic day-night Test against Bangladesh.The pink ball Test is still a few days away but Kohli, on the eve of the series-opener, was busy answering questions related to the second Test starting November 22.”I think it’s a new way to bring excitement to Test cricket. The pink ball I played yesterday, I felt it swings a…

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Sundar Singh Gurjar overcame a shoulder injury to defend his World Para Athletics Championships title in the men’s F46 javelin throw event while also securing Tokyo Paralympic Games quota, along with the bronze winner Ajeet Singh and Rinku, here.Gurjar came up with his season’s best effort of 61.22m to claim the top spot. Singh sent the spear to a distance of 59.46m to clinch the bronze while Rinku finished fourth.”I am very happy. It was a relief. I came into this Championships with no training for the last one month.…

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Opening duo of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana hammered scintillating half-centuries as the Indian women’s team notched up a comfortable 84-run win over hosts West Indies in the first T20I here. The 15-year-old Shafali and Mandhana shared a record 143-run opening partnership as India posted 185 for 4 in their stipulated 20 overs at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium here. The visitors then returned to restrict West Indies for 101 for 9 to complete the win on Saturday. Pacer Shikha Pandey (2/22), spin duo of Radha Yadav (2/10) and…

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BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Friday firmly backed the struggling Rishabh Pant, calling the wicketkeeper-batsman a “superb player” who will mature slowly and do just fine. The 21-year-old is enduring a woeful run of form in the ongoing T20 International series against Bangladesh and has struggled to make an impact both with the bat and behind the stumps. But Ganguly supported him. “He’s a superb player. Give Rishabh Pant time, he will be fine,” the former India captain told PTI when asked if India is missing Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s safe…

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