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Virat throws down a challenge
World championship
game 10
Anand hasn’t been able to breach Carlsen’s defence despite his best efforts. |
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vijay hazare trophy
Srini wants court to reinstate him CHAMPIONS TENNIS LEAGUE
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Virat throws down a challenge
Mumbai, November 21 "It has to be caution with aggression. First priority is to be positive and aggressive and then we dictate terms when we can. The intent has to be positive and aggressive and have that mindset. We obviously will have Plan B and C to fall back on," said the 26-year-old Kohli, who will lead India in the first Test in Brisbane, which begins on December 4. Regular captain MS Dhoni has been rested for the first Test as he is recovering from a right thumb injury and he is expected to lead the side from second Test (Adelaide, Dec 12-16) onwards. The third and fourth Tests will be played in Melbourne (Dec 26-30) and Sydney (Jan 3-7). Kohli said it was imperative to pick the right combination in Tests and not tinker much with the playing XI. "We have to figure out the best combination for the Test series. The Test series is all about sticking to a particular combination and giving them confidence and not let them feel there are guys sitting out to replace them. We can't go with a mindset that we will go there and see what happens." Kohli, who will captain India in a Test match for the first time in Brisbane, said personally also he would be looking forward to the tour after a decent performance in his previous visit to Australia in 2012. "For me personally, the last tour was a milestone in my career. I was a different person and a different cricketer when I left the shore of Australia in 2012," said Kohli, who scored 300 (with one century and one half-century) runs in four matches in series, which India lost 0-4. "I am glad that I got the opportunity to captain the Test side, it is a dream come true for me. Hopefully we can start off on the right foot," he said. Asked if the cricketers were affected by the recent off-field happenings in Indian cricket, Kohli said, "Our focus has been on cricket throughout and we have not really focused on things that have been happening off the field. Anything regarding those things, the management will have a quote or an explanation.” "I would like to talk about cricket only and I can assure you the focus has been on cricket and what we want to achieve in the next six months. We have not been distracted by any off the field issues," he said. Team director Ravi Shastri said it was important to enjoy the Australia tour, rather than be wary of the opposition. "It is very important when you tour Australia that you enjoy the trip, and not be intimidated by Australia's record in Australia. It demands tremendous self-belief and I believe this team has it," he said. "We have got an exciting bunch of young players but that does not mean they should be intimidated by the opposition. If you are prepared to guts it out, then there is no reason why you can't perform. They are good competitors but we can show them that even we are good competitors. This bunch has it," the former India captain said. Coach Duncan Fletcher was not present at the press conference. Kohli said he learnt a lot from the 2012 tour of Australia as he had never experienced an aggressive and hostile reception like that from the opponents. "The last tour to Australia, I never experienced the aggression and that kind of an atmosphere. I will try to impart that experience to other players, of what to expect and what sort of mindset to go with. Once we go with a negative mindset that will keep catching up. You have to be positive every single day. That is something we will focus on going in this tour," said Kohli. "The way I batted in South Africa Tests, personally they were quite memorable for me. I am hopeful that experience will count. It helps mentally as well because you have performed well in difficult conditions," he said. He said travelling with an 18-member squad would help the team. "It is not about having more options because as I said, you need to back a certain XI. Where it helps is the players who are sitting out can actually prepare in those conditions and if there is injury and someone else has to step in, he knows the culture, he knows what we are trying to achieve. — PTI Kohli’s recipe to conquer Australia Caution and aggression Giving confidence Staying positive
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Again, Anand fails to go past dogged Carlsen
SOchi, November 21 The scoreline now reads 5.5-4.5 in Carlsen's favour. He will play with white pieces in the penultimate game of the 12-games match on Sunday. Anand, playing with white pieces, tried hard but failed to breach the defence of his opponent. Experts are divided over whether he could have pushed Carlsen more to extract the desired result. Anand went all out from the word go but yet again found Carlsen adequately prepared in one of the topical variations. It was a mild surprise when Carlsen started with the Grunfeld defence, to leave the Indian think-tank guessing on his openings. It may be recalled that Carlsen had played this opening in the first game and had suffered before pressing for a victory that didn't come. Team Anand, it seems, had been expecting Carlsen to go down the same path. Anand was following a game played by one of his seconds — Radoslav Wojtaszek —and many believed that he had a promising idea up his sleeves in the middle game. However, as the game progressed, it was Carlsen who came up with a new move and his speed was better than Anand in the middle game. The Norwegian retained his lead on the clock and gave away little even when various engines suggested that Anand probably had an edge. "Unfortunately Anand decided not to go for sharper positions when he had a chance. It allowed Magnus to equalise," said Susan Polgar, a former women's world champion in one of her tweets. The pieces kept changing hands and the players reached a rook and pawns endgame fairly quickly. Anand decided not to push for more in a fairly level position and the draw was a just result after 32 moves. With just two games to come, Anand will now have to pin his hopes on the final game if he can draw the next one in which he will play with black pieces. The title seems to be slipping unless the magician from Chennai can pull a rabbit out of his hat in the final game. In the 11th game, Carlsen is unlikely to push for more. Anand summed up his chances in a few words in the post-game conference. "I know I have to play. We know the score and the situation, but I am still there". — PTI
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Baltej bowls Punjab into semis
Sharing the new ball with Anureet Singh, medium-pacer Amit Mishra did pose a challenge to Punjab by picking up three wickets but the remaining batsmen stood up to the test. Still eyeing a 2015 World Cup berth, out-of-favour Yuvraj struck five fours and four sixes in his 52-ball stay while Gurkeerat hit seven boundaries in his 54-ball knock. Amitoze Singh (43), Manan Vohra (32) and Mandeep Singh (32) also chipped in with useful contributions. Earlier put into bat, Railways couldn't get the partnerships going. It was largely thanks to a 76-run knock by Anustup Majumdar, their No. 3 batsman, that they managed to put 242 runs on the board. For Punjab, medium-pacer Baltej Singh returned with a five-wicket haul. His regular strikes never allowed Railways to get partnerships and work towards a huge total. Brief scores: Railways 242/9 in 50 overs (Anustup Majumdar 76, Asad Ullah Khan Pathan 31; Baltej Singh 5-33); Punjab 247/5 in 47.2 overs (Yuvraj SIngh 56, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 56 not out; Amit Mishra 3-42). — PTI
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Srini wants court to reinstate him
New Delhi, November 21
In an affidavit filed in the SC, Srinivasan rejected the Mudgal Committee’s only adverse remark against him, that he was aware of the “misconduct” by a player (identified as Individual 3 in the probe report) but failed to take any action. He said he was not aware of the player’s misconduct as it was not brought to his notice since he was not heading the BCCI at that time and was its secretary. He said he had now come to know that the misconduct of the player in question had nothing to do with the IPL or with any corrupt activity such as betting, gambling or match-fixing. The BCCI corroborated Srinivasan’s contentions in an affidavit, saying that the misconduct by the player was of a minor nature. It said that the then BCCI president Shashank Manohar and team manager Ranjib Biswal were “satisfied” with the explanation given by the player and restricted the punishment to an oral reprimand. This penalty, the BCCI said, is provided under the amended BCCI Code 2008. Without disclosing the charge against the player, Biswal also filed an affidavit, stating that he had reprimanded the player at the instance of Manohar and after taking into account the “nature of the infraction, the attendant circumstances, his past record and his age”. “Later, at the end of the series, I prepared a report and emailed it only to the then president of BCCI, Mr Shashank Manohar,” he said. The Justice Mudgal Committee had said in its report that that Srinivasan, “along with 4 other BCCI officials was aware of the violation of the Players Code of Conduct by Individual 3, but no action was taken against Individual 3 by any of the aforesaid officials”. The SC will consider all the affidavits during the next hearing of the case on November 24. India Cements pleads against CSK expulsion Meanwhile, Srinivasan-led India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), has approached the SC, pleading against any order expelling CSK from the IPL for the misdeeds of Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of Srinivasan. The Mudgal Committee had found that Meiyappan was a CSK official and was involved in illegal betting.
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Punjab shatter Delhi dream
Chandigarh, November 21 It was a team effort from Punjab as Leander Paes and Garbine Muguruza took a big lead in the mixed doubles and then Somdev Devvarman beat Kevin Anderson 6-3 in the men's singles to create a major upset in the last match. Som is ranked No.141 in the world, while Anderson until recently was ranked No.
16. Paes however lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-5 in the legends category.
Paes/ Muguruza then combined to defeat Jelena Jankovic/ Kevin Anderson 6-1 in the mixed doubles. The 21-year-old Spanish player ranked world No. 22 in singles and world No. 18 in the doubles was in her elements on Friday. Her class was evident in the mixed doubles as she paired up with Leander to give a nightmare to the Delhi Dreams team. This was the match that swung the tie in Punjab's
favour. Punjab expectedly built on their lead in the following women's singles match. Muguruza proved out to be a better of the two players as the
Jankovic, the former world No.1, had no answers to Garbine's torrent of winners. Jankovic though managed to stretch the youngster to the tiebreak but the Spaniard was unstoppable (6-5). In the men's doubles, Paes and Somdev beat Anderson/ Sanam Singh 6-3. No uniform Whites seem to be the unofficial choice of colour when it comes to clothing in the Champions Tennis League but on the sidelines one can see myriad hues. Jankovic in pink, Somdev in green-white, Leander Paes in blue-black, Kevin Anderson in pure white and Sanam Singh in red. Clearly, CTL management and franchisees have not given a much thought to uniformity, leave alone the uniforms. Whether it's the sponsors' clause, contractual obligations or an oversight, it does not give a professional look
to the players. |
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hong kong jeju (south
korea) islamabad The win cements India's place as the dominant force in women's football in the region -- they have won all three editions of the championship since it was launched in 2010. Indian captain Oinam Bembem, who is retiring, voiced her jubilation at ending her career on such a high note. "I am very happy to lead my team to three title victories in the SAFF Championship. I am happier to leaving on a high," she said. melbourne mohali dubai new delhi
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Set to embark on a gruelling Test tour of Australia, stand-in captain Virat Kohli today said that India will play aggressive and positive cricket in the four-match Test series and his young side can beat the Aussies in their own backyard. "We are confident of our ability and character of players in the Test side. Everyone is keen to go out there and experience the condition in Australia and the challenge that it brings," Kohli said at the pre-departure press conference.
Viswanathan Anand failed to break the ice and played out another draw in the tenth game of the World Chess Championship here today.
With the seventh draw in ten games, Anand continues to trail Carlsen by a point, leaving the Norwegian just one point away from retaining the crown he won last year against the Indian ace.
Vadodara, November 21
Smith leads Australia to victory over South Africa: