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Fletcher is still the boss: Dhoni
R Ashwin and Shikhar Dhawan will need to be at their best if India are to win the five-match ODI series against England. file photo
Time for us to show character: Raina
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Brilliant Bolt shatters another record
Usain Bolt, centre, sets the best time in the 100m indoors clocking 9.98 seconds in Warsaw on Saturday night.
AP/PTI
Deepika eyeing Asiad medal
Ricciardo wins Belgian Grand Prix
Ledecky makes a splash, breaks 1500m world record
world kabaddi league
Murray ready for US Open
Sluggish United held by Sunderland, Spurs pip QPR
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Fletcher is still the boss: Dhoni
Bristol, August 24 After taking over his director’s role, Shastri did mention that the new coaching staff, including Fletcher, will report to him during the limited-overs series. After Dawes and Penney’s ouster, former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and ex-pacer Bharat Arun were appointed assistant coaches with R. Sridhar as the fielding coach. Dhoni though clarified that Shastri’s role is more of a manager. Shastri to oversee operations from outside “Ravi is here to oversee the operations from the outside, what he feels and everything else. It’s good to have him. He is a very proud (former) Indian cricketer, and at the same time, very positive. He believes a lot in fighting and having the right instincts, going over and giving his hundred percent. It is obviously good to have him. He also speaks the same language and can interact a lot with the players. Same is the case with other support staff, so it is good to have them here,” said Dhoni. When asked if he was happy with the timing of the changes, the skipper replied, “It’s a bit tough on Trevor (Penney) and Joe (Dawes), especially when fielders drop catches and the fielding coach has to miss the series. But let’s hope for the best. We are welcoming the new guys because that is very important. They will be part of the dressing-room family as of now. We will have to give them some time to adjust to how we operate, and see what kind of input they bring to the table.” Dhoni are also stressed that the change in format will certainly help reigning ODI champions India bounce back after the Test loss. “There is no need to remind anyone that we are World Champions. England are quite an intelligent side. Not to forget when we last came here, we won the Champions Trophy. We have had the success. It’s just that we have to stand up and take responsibility, back each other up. Those things will in turn take us forward. It will change the tough times we have had to successful times,” said
Dhoni. Have prepared well, ready for ODI challenge “Our preparation has been really good. Whatever days we got we have used them in the best possible way. The psyche also changes with the format. If you see, you are under pressure to survive in Test cricket. If you get out playing a shot, there is uproar as to how Test cricket is different and how can you get out playing a shot. That also creates pressure. This format is about expressing yourself and you spend some time on the wicket, and then you have to play big shots,” he added. England have brought in the hard-hitting Alex Hales into their squad and he is set to form a new opening partnership at the top of their order with skipper Alastair Cook. For India, there are still question marks about Rohit Sharma opening with Shikhar Dhawan as this combination hasn’t worked in South Africa and New Zealand in the past. In the 50-over practice game against Middlesex -- which India won by 95 runs -- though, this same duo opened the innings and it is tough to see any changes coming through as of now. “We watched Hales’ hundred in the World T20, and not only the hundred, even the last few times he came to over to play T20, we have seen him play. He is a fantastic batsman, a tall guy so he has a different reach. He also plays the spinners well. It will be a good acquisition for the English side,” said the Indian skipper. On the question of Rohit as opener, Dhoni replied, “He has been a good opener. Wait and watch. Let there be some excitement about tomorrow’s playing eleven too.” Live on Star Sports, 3pm The squads
* India: MS Dhoni (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Dhawal Kulkarni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. *
England: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes. |
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Time for us to show character: Raina
Bristol, August 24 “The new players will bring freshness in the squad which will help the guys who have been here for the Tests regain the positivity. They are striving to learn from their mistakes and we will add fresh spirit,” he said. India were humiliated 1-3 in the Test series -- the last two defeats coming inside three days. Raina said he always tries to bring positivity and exuberance in the camp. “I always try to maintain the cheerfulness in the team, on and off the field. I am the first person to run to the bowler or fielder when a wicket falls. Small things like running to the bowler at fine leg or third man to fetch his sweater can make a huge difference in the team`s atmosphere,” he said. “It is contagious when one player starts doing it, another follows, and before you know the whole team is pumping with energy and high spirits. This energy takes time to build sometimes four overs, at times 10 overs. To create that atmosphere someone has to take a lead and make that extra effort. Everyone is either thinking about their own batting or bowling,” he added. “If I just stand there minding my own business, everyone will just go through the motions. But if I go and pat someone, he will come and do the same when I do something good. That creates a positive aura around in the field, makes you feel lighter and lifts everyone around. That is something that`s in my hands and something I have been doing for the last 10 years,” said Raina. Asked about his preparations before heading to England, Raina said he took tips from Sachin Tendulkar and was feeling confident. — PTI
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Brilliant Bolt shatters another record WARSAW, August 24 The Warsaw stadium had its roof closed for the event. “Above all I wanted to get through this season without any injury as I’ve suffered enough over the past few years,” said Bolt. Bolt had run his only 100m of the year in an exhibition race at Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach on August 17 in a time of 10.6sec. His last competitive appearance in the 100m came in Brussels last year; at last month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow he was part of the victorious Jamaican 4x100m relay team. Bolt will compete in his final Olympics in Rio in 2016 before calling time on his career in 2017 after the world championships. Bolt to skip Zurich The Jamaican sprinter has decided to end his 2014 season. He will not compete in the 100 meters in Thursday’s IAAF Diamond League Final in Zurich, organisers said on Sunday. “His coach Glen Mills feels it is now time to shut it down while he is healthy and injury free with a view on his preparations for the 2015 season,” said Zurich organisers. Bolt had delayed the start of his season to recover from injuries and had run only three races this season. — PTI
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Kolkata, August 24 That the three-time 'World Cup Final' silver-medallist is peaking at the right time is a welcome sign, India coach Dharmendra Tiwary, who is incidentally her personal coach since she picked up the bow at the Tata Archery Academy, said from New Delhi. “She's showing signs of her old form after changing the equipment. In archery, a comeback player usually peaks after a month after getting back to the rhythm. I'm happy that she's enjoying her shootings. I'm hopeful of seeing her on the podium for the first time,” the coach, who has been given a contract till the Asian Games, said. The former world No 1 Deepika slipped to 19th in rankings on the back of a string of poor show this year as she could not make to the senior squad for the State I and III of the World Cup. — PTI
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Sindhu, Saina lead Indian challenge
copenhagen, August 24 Sindhu, fresh from a bronze in Glasgow Commonwealth Games, would try to ensure that she ends up better than third, a position she managed in the previous edition which made her the first Indian to win a medal at the prestigious event. Saina, on the other hand, is back in action after taking a break to recover from the leg injury she sustained during her Australian Open triumph in June, as a result of which she was forced out of the Commonwealth Games. “Till the end of July, I had not fully recovered from the injury which I sustained after Australian Open. This has affected my training but in the last three weeks, I have caught up and feel I will do my best in this tournament,” Saina said ahead of the mega-event. Seeded seventh, Saina has been handed a first-round bye and she will open her campaign on Tuesday against the winner of the match between New Zealand's Anna Rankin and Russia's Natalia Perminova. Sindhu, seeded 11th, has also received a first-round bye and will start against the winner of the match between Russia's Olga Golovanova and Bulgaria's Linda Zetcheri. In men's singles, Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Parupalli Kashyap will be India's best bet for a medal. He will be up against Germany's Dieter Domke in the first round tomorrow. Among others in the fray, Ajay Jayram will face fourth seed Kanichi Tago of Japan in his opening match, while the fast-rising K Srikanth will square off against Slovenia's Iztok Utrosa. Another strong medal contender for India is the women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, who had won a bronze in the 2011 edition of the Championship. The duo has got a walkover into the second round to start with. The pair is now up for a stiff fight as the fifth-seeded Chinese team of Quing Tian and Yunlei Zhao awaits the two in the second round. — PTI
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Ricciardo wins Belgian Grand Prix
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, August 24
Hamilton failed to finish after fighting with a damaged car but Rosberg, blamed by his bosses and booed by the crowd on the podium, finished second to extend his championship lead to 29 points with seven of the 19 races remaining. The victory, on a surprisingly dry afternoon at a circuit famed for rapid changes in weather conditions, was Ricciardo's second in succession and third of his first season with the reigning champions. It was also his team's second in succession in Belgium after four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel triumphed last year and set off a run of nine wins in a row. Finland's Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams.
Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolf slammed the incident as 'absolutely unacceptable' and blamed Rosberg, who refused to comment on the incident until he had seen replays. “Lap number two of a long race and a crash between two team-mates, we have often discussed the situation and it happened today,” he told the BBC. “You don't try to overtake with the knife between your teeth in lap number two and damage both cars.” The team's non-executive chairman Niki Lauda was also fuming. “It is unacceptable. If these things happen at the end of the race, when they are fighting for the win then you discuss it but in the second lap to hand the victory to Red Bull,” said the former champion. “I thought they were clever enough to know that but obviously they aren't.” Decisive moment Hamilton had passed pole-sitter Rosberg at the start but his race was effectively over moments later when Rosberg tried to retake the lead in a misjudged move that could cost prove extremely costly for Hamilton. The German's front wing made contact with Hamilton's rear tyre and punctured it, leaving the Briton having to nurse his car back to the pits in a trail of tyre debris. He rejoined a minute adrift of Rosberg. After complaining that he had no downforce and repeatedly asking the team to save the engine, the Briton was recalled to the pits five laps from the end and retired. Mercedes have been struggling to keep the peace between the evenly-matched team mates since the start of the year and arrived at Spa after a controversy in Hungary in July, where a 'team orders' controversy left Rosberg aggrieved. Hamilton had started last in that race and finished third, with Rosberg going from pole to fourth and complaining that his team mate had not let him through. Then, as on Sunday, the team made clear their support for Hamilton and they will have their work cut out again in the days ahead. “This is a decisive moment in the battle between the two of them and for the team. Lewis is very upset, we kept him out there for a long time with a damaged car. He will recover quickly. It is going to be handled,” said Wolff. — Reuters
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Ledecky makes a splash, breaks 1500m world record
GOLD COAST, August 24 Ledecky hacked almost six seconds off her 1,500 metres freestyle world mark, which she set in Texas in June, when she charged through the 30-lap event in 15 minutes, 28.36 seconds. The 17-year-old finished almost half a minute ahead of her nearest rival — an almost unimaginable margin in a sport where medals are often decided by hundredths of seconds — to collect her fifth title of the championships. Ledecky broke her 400m world record on Saturday and came within a whisker of eclipsing her 800m world best on Thursday. She also won the 200m individual event and anchored the United States to victory in the 4x200m to emerge as the biggest winner of the four-day meet at Australia's Gold Coast. "That was probably one of my most painful races, I don't know whether to throw up or not," Ledecky told reporters. "But it paid off in the end. Pretty early on it felt like I was on world record pace. "I was pretty sure I had it. Still, six seconds is pretty surprising." Ledecky's performances have caught the eye of Phelps, who said: "She's a stud. Watching her swim, it's remarkable." Third gold Phelps picked up his third gold medal of the meet when he helped the U.S. win the men's 4x100m medley relay after he was surprisingly beaten in the 200m individual medley, an event he had won at the last three Olympics before his short-lived retirement after London 2012. Still struggling to find his best, Phelps was touched out by Japan's Kosuke Hagino, who got his hand on the wall first in 1:56.02 to claim his second gold after also winning the 400 IM. Asked about his week after signing off with gold in the medley relay, Phelps said in a pooldeck interview that it had been "up and down" but added "there's no better way to end a great week of racing then being with these guys and finishing with a win." Phelps, once the master of winning tight races, finished just 0.02 behind Hagino while his team mate Ryan Lochte was left wondering what might have been after he took it too easy in the morning heats and failed to qualify for the final. Lochte won the consolation final in the same time as Hagino won the main event to join Phelps in the American team for next year's world championships in Russia, but didn't get a medal. Japan also won both 200m breaststroke finals with Yasuhiro Koseki taking out the men's race and teenager Kanako Watanabe clinching the women's. Brazil claimed their first win of the championships when Bruno Fratus won the men's 50m freestyle sprint in 21.44 while Canada also picked up their first when Ryan Cochrane won the men's 800m title. — Agencies
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Yo Yo Tigers beat Royal Kings
Gaurav Kanthwal Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 24 Defender Sohan Raunki was the star performer of the day, pulling out six daring stops for the Tigers. Sohan, known as 'Steel Body'among his peers, suffered a cut on his hand towards the end of the match but carried on to take his team to victory. Captain Manminder Singh (18 raids) was declared man of the match. The victory did not come easily to Yo Yo Tigers. They were leading 16-13 in the first quarter but trailed by one point (28-29) after the end of second quarter. Yo Yo Honey Singh's team fortunes did not change in the third quarter also as they were still trailing by one point (41-42) after the third round. However, the team raced ahead just when it mattered as they opened up a four point lead and maintained it till the end. Yo Yo Tigers have registered their second win from three games in the tournament, while Royal Kings USA have lost two out of three games. Meanwhile, Lahore Lions made their presence felt for the first time in India as they took a 16-12 lead in the first quarter against Punjab Thunders. The Lahore team is not in its full strength as some the players could join the team due to VISA issues. Though the franchisee-based model is being said to be organized in a professional way, there are glaring shortcomings in the presentation. The match begins all of a sudden with teams being identified and players name announced for the spectators. Neither there is any commentary or an effort to simplify rules for the audience. Even though a dash of Bollywood has been added to the league by incorporating celebrities as owners, on the ground there is no trace of Bollywood personalities to whet spectators 'appetite.
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London, August 24 The Briton's Wimbledon title defence ended in the quarterfinals in July, and he then fell at the same stage in Toronto and Cincinnati. But Murray remains happy with his form ahead of his first-round match against Robin Haase on Monday. Murray, who has not won a tournament since his Wimbledon victory last year, said that physically he is better prepared than he was for the other Slams, The BBC reported. The Scot underwent back surgery in September ruling him out of the latter part of 2013. Despite his failure to win a title in 2014, he has reached two quarterfinals and a semifinal at the three Grand Slams. — PTI
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Sluggish United held by Sunderland, Spurs pip QPR London, AUgust 24 After Tottenham Hotspur had made it six points from two games with players condemned as expensive mistakes last season starring in a 4-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers, United's frailties at both ends of the pitch were there for all to see. Juan Mata's opening goal on 17 minutes proved a unique scoring opportunity while their lack of a commanding centre half was exploited by an unmarked Jack Rodwell for Sunderland's equaliser. Goals were not in short supply at White Hart Lane where Harry Redknapp endured a miserable return to his former club. Nacer Chadli scored twice while record signing Erik Lamela was pivotal in a playmaker role, sparking celebrations for new Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, whose side sit top of the fledgling table, and more gloom for Redknapp. QPR have no points from their first two games after being promoted back to the Premier League after a season in the second tier. Ten-man Hull City came within six minutes of holding on for victory over Stoke City but Nikica Jelavic's opener was cancelled out by Ryan Shawcross's scrambled effort late on. — Reuters
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Youth Oly: Solanki loses in semis, to play for bronze
Bangladesh's Gazi reported for suspect action Double podium for Armaan Ebrahim in Slovakia Derbyshire agrees to sign Pujara for county season
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Ending speculation about coach Duncan Fletcher’s role in the five One-dayers against England, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday said that the Zimbabwean will stay as “boss” of the team until the 2015 World Cup.
Claiming to have done his bit to infuse some positivity into the beleaguered Indian cricket team, ODI specialist Suresh Raina says the side will have to show character to get over the Test debacle and clinch the limited overs series starting here on Monday. “The team is going through a difficult phase right now and it is time for us to show character. It can be difficult sometimes to move on from such defeat but you have to fight your way out of it when you`re playing at the international level,” said Raina.
WARSAW, August 24
Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Belgian Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday while Mercedes title rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton provided the drama of the day by colliding on the second lap.
Hamilton failed to finish after fighting with a damaged car but Rosberg, blamed by his bosses and booed by the crowd on the podium, finished second to extend his championship lead to 29 points with seven of the 19 races remaining.
American teenager Katie Ledecky broke her second world record in less than 24 hours while Michael Phelps suffered a rare defeat at the Pan Pacific championships in Australia on Sunday.
Ledecky hacked almost six seconds off her 1,500 metres freestyle world mark, which she set in Texas in June, when she charged through the 30-lap event in 15 minutes, 28.36 seconds.
The World Kabaddi League showed the first glimpse of how the sport would be played competitively in urban environs at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. Even on the second day of the Indian leg, a handful of spectators chose to watch the contact sport on Sunday. However, it did not stop Yo Yo Tigers to register a close victory (58-54) over Royal Kings USA.
After the 1-3 Test debacle, Team India witnessed a major reshuffle on the coaching front with bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding consultant Trevor Penney forced to go on a break and the BCCI appointing Ravi Shastri as the Team Director. But on the eve of the first ODI, Dhoni said that Fletcher is still “the boss”. “He will lead us into the World Cup,” said Dhoni referring to the coach. “Also he is still the boss. We have Ravi Shastri who will look into everything, but Fletcher is the boss. It’s not as if his powers or his position have been curtailed. I don’t know what you feel from the outside, but operations still remain the same. We have a few other support staff coming into the dressing room, but overall the operation remains the same.”
Ricciardo's win was almost a sideshow to the major talking point, a further stirring up of already troubled waters at Mercedes. The two team mates had been expected to dominate the race after qualifying on the front row but the intense rivalry between them blew up in their face.
Ajmal’s bowling action to
be tested on Monday