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Gambhir shows the streetfighter in him
Not surprising to see Gambhir bat like this, says Doherty
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Usain shocked by Pistorius' arrest
Virender Sehwag and M Vijay train at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. — PTI Fire at Chinnaswamy stadium
Sharma doesn’t read much into Oz’s off day
Reeva Steenkamp. — FIle photo
Serena is oldest No. 1
Serena Williams celebrates after winning against Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova in their WTA Qatar Ladies Open quarterfinal in Doha. — AP
SA fast bowlers strike early
When Pranab turned down offer to head BCCI
Though I read some literature on cricket and have watched games, I have never held a cricket
bat. — Pranab Mukherjee, president of India
‘WI playing final is good for women’s cricket’
Fed stunned by Benneteau in Rotterdam
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Gambhir shows the streetfighter in him
Chennai, February 15 Riding on Gambhir's 112 alongwith solid half-centuries from Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary, India A batsmen dominated the proceedings for the better part of the 90 overs at the Guru Nanak College ground. En route his 33rd first-class century, Gambhir faced 162 deliveries hitting 13 fours and three sixes. Rohit was fluent during his innings of 77 while Tiwary, who recently made a comeback in competitive cricket after injury lay-off, also looked good for a big one as he was batting on 77. For Australia, left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty staked a claim for a place in the playing XI of the first Test by claiming three for 69. The day, however, belonged to Gambhir, who was certainly egged up for the occasion and it looked as if the selection committee's decision of dropping him really spurred the seasoned left-hander as he batted with a lot of purpose. Opting to bat, Gambhir and find of the Ranji season Jiwanjyot Singh (24) saw off the first hour and half without much difficulty. Gambhir especially was watchful against the trio of left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc (0/36) and the dangerous Peter Siddle (0/30). He tried to cut down on the dab shot that had brought his downfall but did punish the loose deliveries occasionally when the pacers were in operation. Jiwanjot was dismissed by Doherty after an opening stand of 67 but Gambhir found an able ally in Rohit as they added 127 runs for the second wicket. Once the spinners were introduced, Gambhir was at his majestic best. Whether it was Nathan Lyon (0/97) in 20 overs or rookie left-arm spinner Ashton Agar (0/78 in 13 overs), Gambhir took them to task by using his feet brilliantly. Gambhir was finally dismissed on 112 when he was caught by Shane Watson off back-up seamer Moises Henriques' bowling. However, by the time he was gone, the 31-year-old left-hander had done what he had set out for. Rohit was joined by Tiwary, who took some time to settle down but then played some delightful strokes to show that he is slowly and surely getting back to his full fitness. The Bengal captain hit 12 boundaries and a six during his 112-ball knock and will be eagerly waiting to complete his century tomorrow. Rohit should blame himself for missing out on a well-deserved three-figure mark as he was caught by glovesman Matthew Wade off Doherty's bowling. Rohit-Tiwary duo added 71 runs for the third wicket. Abhishek Nayar started off with a boundary but continued his failure at big stage.
— PTI |
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Not surprising to see Gambhir bat like this, says Doherty
Chennai, February 16 The spin trio of Nathan Lyon, Doherty and Ashton Agar conceded 244 runs in 49 overs and the left-armer agreed that they didn't perform well. "It was not the best day for spinners. In tour matches, we work out these things to see how it is going. Today was not a great day for our spin group. We did not start well but gradually we will start working. Like I said, we played the two matches to assess the conditions,"
he opined. Rookie left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was clobbered for 78 runs in 13 overs and Doherty defended the youngster terming it as a "learning experience for him." "I guess it was a step up in class today for Ashton with three spinners down in the middle. Probably, Ashton struggled more compared to us as he is the youngest in the group. It is a great learning experience for him. It is a great opportunity for him to bowl against class players." Doherty admitted that the line and length was in disarray once Gambhir and Rohit started taking the spinners. "Our spinners really did struggle when those two guys were coming hard at us. It is a pretty good wicket and very fast and possible 30 or 40 runs would have been par for the day." When asked if Nathan Lyon can take a cue from the performance of Graeme Swann, Doherty said,"It is not going to work as you would have seen Nathan is not that type and he does not bowl fast. It might work for someone else but he is not going to change his game. I think something we got to look at throughout the series and that is the best way to do it." Doherty said that among the trio, he was the quickest through the air. "I think amongst the three spinners who bowled, I was the quickest. It comes to me naturally. Throughout my career, I have been slightly faster than other spinners. I being little bit shorter than the other two, probably was able to dig at batsmen to play more of the backfoot. Mine was more about skidding through while the other two got turn and bounce." Having picked three wickets on the opening day, the obvious question of his Test team selection popped up but he was non-committal.
— PTI |
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Usain shocked by Pistorius' arrest
Dubai, February 16 "For me, I'm really trying to take it all in," he said. "When I heard, I was in shock and I'm still just trying to process it in my head to see if this is really real. So I need to listen to what's going on and see what's really happening." Pistorius was arrested in the Valentine's Day killing of 29-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp. The double-amputee runner had become a darling in South Africa and beyond after competing in the London Olympics with high-tech prosthetics. Blonde cover-girl Reeva Steenkamp, who was allegedly shot dead by her lover Oscar Pistorius, will appear in a pre-recorded celebrity reality TV show in South Africa on Saturday, two days after her death shocked the nation and the world. The 29-year-old, who was shot four times at the Olympic athlete's home in the early hours of Valentine's Day (Thursday), will make a posthumous prime-time debut in "Tropika Island of Treasure" which is expected to draw a vast audience. On Saturday Pistorius, the 26-year-old South African Paralympian gold medallist, faced a third night in police custody, accused of murdering Steenkamp, the woman who described him as her "boo" and "an amazing person". The reality show, shot on location in Jamaica, features the slain model and law graduate as well as several local personalities competing for one million rand ($113,500) prize money. Producers decided not to shelve the show, instead casting its broadcast as a tribute to Steenkamp. Forensics teams are still working at Pistorius's home to try and establish what took place before and after Steen Kamp was shot in the head and hand. "She was happy, healthy, beautiful and vibrant and that's the way she should be remembered," said executive producer Samantha Moon said in a statement. In an earlier statement Moon said the decision to broadcast Tropika Island of Treasure 5 was taken after "much deliberation." "This week's episode will be dedicated to Reeva's memory." The show will be broadcast on state television channel SABC1, Steenkamp's mother had given the showing her blessing. "Yesterday the mother agreed that we should go ahead and we are free to go ahead and we are working on how to pay tribute.” said Kaizer.
— AFP |
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India begin preparation with 2 hectic sessions
Bengaluru, February 16 Tendulkar, who struggled against England in the recent home Test series, batted for two hours and 15 minutes in two separate sessions, one in the morning and another in afternoon, lasting five-and-a-half hours in total. In the morning session, Tendulkar batted along with Virat Kohli for 45 minutes on the centre pitch at Chinnaswamy Stadium, facing Ashok Dinda, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin. In the second session which began at 2 pm, Tendulkar batted on the centre pitch for 20 minutes facing top Indian bowlers. After that he hung at the nets for one hour and 10 minutes, focussing more on his shots in contrast to the morning session when he did not try anything unusual and paid attention to the basics. Interestingly, the out-of-system young and unknown raw bowlers who were called for service by the support staff bowled at Tendulkar, who did not ask them to bowl to his wishes. Tendulkar also rolled his arms against Harbhajan Singh, who enjoyed his batting by lifting 'net bowlers' out of the park a couple of times and even breaking windowpane glasses at pavilion area. Tendulkar also hurled 'throwdowns' with leather balls to Virat Kohli who worked on his technique to sort out some grey areas in his batting. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni got down to the details of batting than wicket-keeping. He batted for nearly 25 minutes. In the morning session, new face Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay were seen sweating it out at the side nets using the 'high altitude mask', which helps in achieving increased mental and physical stamina levels. Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja also batted in both sessions. They also faced 'throwdowns' from India's fast bowling coach Joe Dawes with tennis balls to prepare themselves for negotiating short-pitched stuff.
— PTI |
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Sharma doesn’t read much into Oz’s off day
Chennai, February 16 "They have a decent attack. They were trying to attack too much with fielders all closing in and so we could take those chances and score runs quickly. Again it is a different ball game when it comes to Test match. They will be bowling more tight. May be they were trying few things today. We took real advantage of that," Sharma said after day's play. The 25-year-old batsman was pleased with his batting. "Of course I am happy. I think whatever I got I am happy but I know that even if you get hundred, you will probably feel I should go for 150. That is not the case here. I am happy with whatever I am getting. I am looking forward to whatever opportunities I get," he said. Talking about his partnership with Gambhir, he said, they decided to plan was to prolong the stay at the wicket. "We had a small conversation saying that we need to spend some time not losing wickets. That was the plan and it really worked. When we went in after lunch we ran between the wickets very well. After lunch, runs started to come by very easily because those guys were trying few new things and both of us took advantage of it," he said. Sharma also said it was a challenge to survive and score against Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc. “They were bowling really well on tight lines. It is not easy to score here because the outfield and the wicket is not so fast. In the middle we saw them bowling reverse swing as well. Starc and Siddle bowled four overs in the middle and it was doing a lot. That period was very crucial and we played very well and did not give wickets," he said. — PTI
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Uncle says Oscar ‘numb with shock’, family ‘strongly refutes’ charge
Johannesburg, February 16 “After consulting with legal representatives, we deeply regret the allegation of premeditated murder,” Arnold said. “We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the state's own case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of a premeditated murder or murder as such." He said the family was "battling to come to terms with Oscar being charged with murder.” After a tearful appearance in court yesterday, the first outlines of Oscar Pistorius’ defence emerged as the Paralympian’s family said, “They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long timewas happier in his private life than he had been for a long time." Facing a minimum life sentence if convicted, he spent his third night in police custody. Signs of narcissistic disorder
Pistorious's interest in guns also indicates his aggressive tendencies. Criminologist Anna van der Hoven said that a combination of factors could have resulted in the violent crime.Van Der Hoven feels that something must have triggered Pistorius to shoot Steenkamp. The 26-year-old Pistorious has shown signs of violence in the past."Abusive men suffer from pathological jealousy of their partners,” said Van der Hoven. “I
haven't diagnosed him but he also shows signs of someone with a narcissistic personality disorder. Reeva on reality show
Producers decided not to shelve the show, instead casting its broadcast as a tribute to Steenkamp. The show will be broadcast on state television channel SABC1, Steenkamp's mother had given the showing her blessing. "Yesterday the mother agreed that we should go ahead and we are free to go ahead and we are working on how to pay tribute to her," said Kaizer Kganyagon, a spokesman for SABC. Ussain Bolt still in shock
Usain Bolt says he was shocked by the news. The Jamaican gold medalist still couldn't seem to believe it, saying “I'm still just trying to process it in my head to see if this is really real.”
— Agencies
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Serena is oldest No. 1
Qatar, February 16 Williams, once a dominant force in women's tennis, suffered
multiple misfortunes in 2011, first with injuries and then with a
life-threatening illness, slipping down from her number 1 spot to a
lowly 175th. But her return has been equally dramatic, capped by her
3-6 6-3 7-5 win over Petra Kvitova to reclaim her spot at the top of the
rankings, the sixth time she's achieved this feat. With stats like 59
wins in her last 62 games, it's safe to say she's in some of the best
form of her career, even as she inches towards her 32nd birthday in
September this year. "I never thought I would be here again,"
said a teary and overwhelmed Serena after the match, "I've been
through so much and I just never thought I'd be here, so thank you
Jehovah for giving me another chance." The last time she was World
Number 1 was in October 2010 and the first time she won the accolade was
all the way back in July 2002 when she was just 20. She beat Chris
Evert's record, who achieved the number 1 status in 1985, just short of
her 31st birthday. American tennis sensation Serena Williams broke down
into tears as she became the oldest woman to hold the number one world
ranking, following her victory over Czech player Petra Kvitova in the
Qatar Open quarterfinals in Doha. The 31-year-old Williams, who had
made a comeback to the sport after missing almost a year with injury and
a life threatening pulmonary embolism in 2011, said that she became
emotional as she never believed she could reach the top levels again in
the game, CNN reports. Williams first became World No.1 in at the age of
20 and will take top spot for the sixth time her career, the report
added. Williams, at 31, is already six months older than Chris Evert. —
AFP |
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SA fast bowlers strike early
Cape Town, February 16 At tea Pakistan were 100 for 3 in 40 overs, an overall lead of 112, after dismissing South Africa for 326 in their first innings. Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed both succumbed lbw to Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander respectively, leaving Azhar Ali on 19 and Younus Khan on five the task of rebuilding the innings in the face of some top-quality swing bowling. Earlier, Robin Peterson had powered South Africa to within 12 of Pakistan's first innings total with his highest test score of 84 from 106 balls that included 15 fours. His only previous test half-century came against Bangladesh a decade ago. The left-arm spinner has not had a great game with the ball, but showed his value as an all-rounder at number eight as he completely changed the momentum of the innings. It was tough again early on for the batsman. AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar added 25 runs to South Africa's overnight 139 for five before the latter became Saeed Ajmal's sixth victim of the innings. Left-hander Elgar (23) flashed at a tossed-up delivery that gripped on the surface and caught the edge, flying to Younus Khan at slip. Peterson joined de Villiers at the crease and the pair stepped up the scoring rate, adding 46 for the seventh wicket in 11 overs with the former reaching his 32nd half-century.
— Reuters |
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When Pranab turned down offer to head BCCI
New Delhi, February 16 Delivering the first NKP Salve Memorial Address at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Saturday, Mukherjee recalled that some people close to him proposed his name for the BCCI President's post in 1982. But he decided against it as he had never played cricket and did not know much about the sport. "Though I read some literature on cricket and have watched games, I have never held a cricket bat," Mukherjee said, explaining why he declined. Mukherjee said he then proposed the name of his friend and fellow Congress leader Salve and the suggestion was accepted. Salve was BCCI President from 1982 to 1985 and India won its first cricket World Cup in 1983 during his tenure. He was also instrumental in bringing the Cricket World Cup to India and Pakistan in 1987. The two countries had jointly hosted the World Cup that year. Other than his avid interest in cricket and contribution to the game as an administrator, Salve also served as a member of the Lok Sabha twice and of the Rajya Sabha for four terms till 2002. — PTI
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‘WI playing final is good for women’s cricket’
New Delhi, February 16 "West Indies reaching the finals is good for our game. People were becoming used to Australia-England finals in the big events. It will be an interesting final," Mithali said. Mithali said she wasn't suprised to see West Indies reaching the finals of the quadrennial event. "They have been consistent in the tournament. They are an improved side and have been good in all disciplines. They richly deserve it," she said about the Carribean eves whom India comprehensively beat by 105 runs in the opening match of the ongoing World Cup. The West Indies will take on five-time champions Australia in their maiden final at the Brabourne Stadium. Mithali said women's cricket has become more professional and entertaining and will only grow with time. "These days there is lot more physical strength involved in our game along with technique. You see lot many teams scoring over 250 runs and the number of sixes hit have also increased. This is good from fans perspective," she added. — PTI
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Fed stunned by Benneteau in Rotterdam
Rotterdam, February 16 Federer, who lifted the trophy in his last two appearances in 2005 and 2012, last suffered defeat in the event against Tim Henman in 2004. "I'm very disappointed, I have some regrets about this match," said Federer, who came back from two sets to love down to beat Benneteau in the third round of Wimbledon last year. "He played great and created more chances than I did. He deserved to win. It was a tough loss, but they do happen. Being broken so many times (five) indoors won't get the job done. My game was up and down overall. "He made it difficult and generated pressure.”
— PTI |
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Chennai, February 15
Chennai, February 16
Qatar, February 16
New Delhi, February 16
New Delhi, February 16
Both Gambhir and Rohit earmarked Agar as the weak link among the spinners as he was repeatedly lofted for over boundaries. It turned out to be a satisfactory outing for Rohit also as he flopped badly in the Irani Cup game failing to reach double digits in both innings. He hit eight fours and three sixes in 144 balls and was severe on Agar, repeatedly carting him to every corner of the ground.