Category: Sports

ndia fast bowler Deepak Chahar brought in his international form into domestic cricket as he bagged yet another hat-trick inside three days in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match between Rajasthan and Vidarbha on Tuesday.

Deepak finished with figures of 4 for 18 in 3 overs which also included a hat-trick and a maiden over as Rajasthan restricted Vidarbha to 99 for 9 in 13 overs in Thiruvananthapuram.

Chahar’s hat-trick included the wickets of Darshan Nalkande, Shrikant Wagh and Akshay Wadkar, all of which came off the final three legitimate balls in the 13th over. Akshay Wakhare did not come out to bat for Vidarbha due to an injury which brought an end to their innings with 7 overs still to go.

Aniket Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Chandrapal Singh and captain Mahipal Lomror managed to pick up a wicket each for Rajasthan.

This was Chahar’s second hat-trick in three days after his heroics in the Nagpur T20 international against Bangladesh.

Chahar registered the best-ever bowling figures by a bowler in the shortest format in international cricket with 6 wickets for 7 runs as India (174 for 5) defeated the visitors (144) by 30 runs in the final match to clinch the series 2-1 on Sunday.

While doing so, Chahar also picked up a hat-trick – the 1st by an Indian in T20Is. Thus, Chahar’s feat now means that Indians can now lay a claim to a hat-trick in all 3 forms of the game.

India batsman Shreyas Iyer revealed that skipper Rohit Sharma’s pep-talk to all team-mates proved as a motivation to win the Nagpur T20I against Bangladesh on Sunday. Iyer admitted that India was feeling the pressure in the third T20I before turning things around.

Deepak Chahar picked up 6 wickets for just 7 runs while Shivam Dube scalped 3 after Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul hit quickfire fifties to guide India to a 30 run victory in Nagpur thereby sealing a 2-1 series victory over Bangladesh.

Delhi Capitals skipper was pleased with his own effort as he registered his maiden half-century off just 27 balls and accelerated India’s innings when the hosts were in trouble.

Shreyas Iyer came to bat after Shikhar Dhawan was outfoxed by the slower ball of Shafiul Islam and changed the course of the match with his well placed innings of 62 runs. Iyer, who made a sedate start to his innings, went ballistic after KL Rahul’s departure. He was especially brutal against the spinners and hit three sixes over long-on off Afif Hossain.

Mohammad Naim played an 81-run knock to give Bangladesh a glimmer of hope in the match, but his dismissal at the hands of Shivam Dube ended the Bangla Tigers’ hopes of going away with a victory.

Team India chased down a 154-run target with ease against Bangladesh in their must-win 2nd T20I in Rajkot. Shikhar Dhawan was involved in a century stand with Rohit Sharma to help India keep the series alive.

Rohit was in good touch in the second T20I, scoring 85 off just 43 balls in an innings that was punctuated by six fours and as many sixes. His 118-run opening stand with Shikhar helped India chase down a target of 154 with more than two overs to spare.

With this century stand, Shikhar Dhawan also broke the record for the most number of 100-plus stands in T20I cricket along with his opening partner Rohit Sharma.

After the victory, Dhawan took to Instagram to share a video where he, Yuzvendra Chahal and Khaleel Ahmed can be seen recreating a scene from recently released Bollywood movie “Housefull 4” starring Akshay Kumar.

Khaleel Ahmed failed to hold the fort for Team India in absence of premier pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami as he conceded aplenty of runs in the first and second Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Bangladesh. Khaleel Ahmed was mercilessly trolled on Twitter and was criticised for conceding seven consecutive boundaries against a ninth-ranked Bangladesh side. After conceding four boundaries in the Delhi T20I, Khaleel Ahmed started from where he left, as he went on to be hit for three more in the Rajkot clash.

Fans were unhappy with his effort and made a mockery of the fast bowler for his poor shows.

Star opener Smriti Mandhana became the 3rd fastest woman to score 2000 runs in ODI cricket when she hit a match-winning fifty against West Indies in Antigua on Wednesday.

Smriti Mandhana needed just 51 innings to go past 2000 runs in ODI cricket. She thereby became only the 2nd fastest Indian after Shikhar Dhawan (48) to reach the milestone.

Returning to the ODI squad after recovering from a toe injury that kept her on the sidelines during home series vs South Africa, Smriti Mandhana came up with a stroke-filled 74 off just 63 balls in India’s 6-wicket win over West Indies in the 3rd ODI.

Smriti Mandhana smashed 9 boundaries and 3 sixes as India chased down 195 with ease and sealed a 3-match series 2-1 in Antigua.

Smriti Mandhana, who has 2025 runs from 51 matches at an average of 43.08, has got to 2000 runs in ODI cricket faster than Virat Kohli (53), Sourav Ganguly (52), and Navjot Sidhu (52).

Former Australia batter Belinda Clark holds the record for fastest to 2000 runs in women’s cricket – 45. Meg Lanning had reached the milestone in just 45 matches.

In men’s cricket, retired South Africa batsman Hashim Amla holds the distinction of being the fastest to 2,000-ODI runs. He had achieved the landmark in 40 innings.

On Wednesday, Mandhana dominated the West Indies bowling attack in what turned out to be a relatively easy run chase for India in the series decider.

 Mahesh Bhupathi says he does not mind being fired as the Indian Davis Cup team’s captain but what is unacceptable to him is the tennis federation’s allegation that he refused national duty.

Bhupathi, one of the most successful players in India’s tennis history, insisted that he never made himself unavailable for the Pakistan tie, which has now been shifted out of Islamabad by the ITF due to security concerns.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) chose former Davis Cupper Rohit Rajpal as Bhupathi’s successor.

“I am not going to sit back after winning 12 Grand Slams and playing for country for 25 years to allow someone to say I am fired because I did not show up for national duty,” a fuming Bhupathi told PTI in an exclusive interview.

“I don’t mind being fired. They can say it’s time for a new captain. But nobody can say that I refused national duty. I genuinely thought it’s unsafe to travel to Pakistan which the ITF has validated. So, they are going to penalise me and players for this, it’s not going to work.”

Bhupathi, whose tenure as captain began in Bengaluru in April 2017 with a tie against Uzbekistan, said AITA did not have the courtesy to inform him that he won’t continue as captain.

“I need some form of communication from AITA that I am not the captain anymore. I have not heard anything from them except that since Rohit is fine to travel to Islamabad and I am not, they will take him for this tie. And this was hours before the neutral venue was announced.”

However, when contacted, AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee said he did call Bhupathi to inform him about the change in captaincy.

“I personally called him on the evening of November 4 to inform that we have opted for a new captain,” Chatterjee claimed.

Bhupathi insisted that the communication to him was that Rajpal was being appointed just for the tie in Islamabad as he was unavailable and it was never conveyed that he was being removed for good.

“I have personally been involved with the sport at a macro level in India. Be it the Mittal Champions Trust or JSW’s IIS. I have raised money for Karman Kaur (Thandi), Sumit (Nagal).

“If these guys (AITA) don’t want me, I can disconnect but don’t tell the country that I did not show up for national duty. That’s unacceptable.”

Arguing his case further, Bhupathi said it defies logic that AITA first announced him as captain for the tie against Pakistan, involved him in selection discussions followed by deliberations with the ITF before suddenly announcing his sacking.

“The easiest way to fire me was when we lost to Italy (in February this year). They could have said I did not take the team to World Group so they are firing me. Why have they fired me just before the ITF meeting? There is no logic.”

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Saturday thanked both India and Bangladesh cricket teams for playing the first T20I game in Delhi, which is facing challenging weather conditions.

Despite high levels of pollution in the national capital, both the cricket teams played the match and the visitors turned out in large numbers to witness a massive seven-wicket victory over India after successfully chasing down the target of 149 runs.

Taking to Twitter, Ganguly said, “Thank u to both the teams to play this game @ImRo45 @BCBtigers under tuff conditions .. well done Bangladesh ..”

Bangladesh managed to pull off a big victory because of Mushfiqur Rahim’s unbeaten knock of 60 runs. Also, this was their first victory over India in the shortest format of the game.

With this victory, Bangladesh has taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. The second T20I between both teams will be played on November 7.

India’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur is among the finest fielders in world cricket. Kaur, who is known for her safe pair of hands, came up with a stunning catch in India’s ODI against West Indies women at North Sound, Antigua on Friday.

Harmanrpreet Kaur took a one-handed stunner at the long-on boundary at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to dismiss West Indies captain Stafaine Taylor. Harmanpreet steadied herself at the boundary rope even as Taylor came up with a big swing of her bat in Ekta Bisht’s over.

While it looked like the ball would sail over the boundary ropes for a Taylor hundred, Harmanpreet came up with a big jump to snatch the ball with her non-throwing arm. The India star got herself into an awkward position but managed to hold on to the catch with one hand.

As the Indian cricket board (BCCI) gears up to host its first day-night Test in less than a month’s time, focus is now on how the pink ball will behave. BCCI has asked SG, the makers of the red balls used in first-class cricket in India, to provide 72 new balls for the Test match against Bangladesh that is scheduled to be played at Eden Gardens from November 22.

TOI has learnt that the Indian team management has asked for balls that behave similar to how the red balls do in India. Confirming the development, SG’s director Paras Anand told TOI: “We have taken feedback from the players. Our thought process is to make the pink ball as similar to red ball as possible.”

The major problem with the pink ball is retaining the colour and shape of the ball. In this case, retaining reverse swing – a phenomenon which is an intricate part of how Test cricket is played in this part of the world – is a huge challenge.

“The red ball has a dark colour. That allows the players to shine the ball to help it swing all day. Pink ball already start with a bright colour. Balancing that is something that we are working on,” Anand revealed, adding that the balls would be sporting the traditional pronounced seam.

Once the lacquer of a regular red ball wears off, teams usually shine one side of the ball while the other side is allowed to lose its colour and get scuffed up.

The Indian team management has rallied around its incisive pace attack even on Indian pitches and reverse swing has played a key part in the pacers’ stellar show. With the Eden pitch likely to be wearing more grass than usual and with dew likely to have some impact in the evening, spinners won’t be expected to play the lead role.

The balls are likely to be delivered to BCCI by next week. That leaves the board to give the Test specialists- like Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara – enough time to get used to the balls.

Interestingly, the Indian team had complained about the quality of red balls last year. However, Anand believes that they have resolved the issue. “We have made the balls harder and the Indian team gave a positive feedback. We have tried to replicate the hardness in the pink balls as well,” Anand claimed.

When the BCCI had decided in 2016 to use the Duleep Trophy as a platform to test the pink balls, the survey wasn’t very encouraging. A member of the Indian team who has played with the pink ball told TOI: “The ball lost colour drastically. Picking it up got difficult, especially at twilight, and the spinners found it very soft after 30 overs. It was difficult to derive bounce and zip off the pitch.”

However, the BCCI cricket operations team’s failure to host Duleep Trophy with pink balls this year- something present BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had strongly advocated as the then chairman of the technical committee – has created a sense of uncertainty albeit there are plans to host some of the matches in the upcoming first-class season under lights.

Environmentalists wrote to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday, requesting him to consider moving the first India-Bangladesh T20 outside Delhi as the rapidly deteriorating air quality could prove a health risk for the players and thousands of spectators.

The rapid spike in the pollution level after Diwali has become a cause for concern ahead of the international match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on November 3.

Care For Air and My Right To Breathe are clean air awareness and advocacy non-profit organisations.

“Thousands of innocent spectators at the venue will also be putting themselves at risk in order to watch the match in the prevailing situation.” they said.

The environmentalists said outdoor aerobic activities raise the respiration rate of the human body, thus depositing even higher levels of toxins into our lungs and organs.

“This puts our sportspersons at even greater risk when they play outdoors. Any match played outdoors harms the health and very lives of the players and it is irresponsible to schedule such sporting activities during times of such toxic air quality.” they said.

On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had hoped pollution will not affect the T20 match, emphasising that his government has been taking steps such as the odd-even scheme to improve the air quality.

A day later, a smoky haze turned Delhi’s skies grey as the air quality dropped further and entered the second-worst “severe” category. At 6.45 pm, Delhi’s overall AQI stood at 410, while the situation was worse in the satellite towns of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida.