Sports

Dharamshala, March 7 (IANS) With Ravichandran Ashwin taking the field for his 100th Test match through the last game of the series at Dharamshala, top-order batter Shubman Gill said he’s learnt from the veteran India off-spinner that there is no end point about picking up new skills.

Ashwin, who debuted in November 2011, becomes the 14th Indian player to play 100 Test matches for India. The veteran off-spinner also becomes just the second bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to achieve 500 wickets in less than 100 Test matches.

“He is a terrific, terrific bowler and more importantly, he’s someone who is always wanting to improve and add new skills in his game be it batting or bowling. That’s one thing I have learned from him that even though you have played for India for so many years, you still want to add something new to your game and make a difference to your skillsets. That’s why he’s one of the best spinners that the world has ever seen,” said Gill to JioCinema.

Asked if India can win the series 4-1, Gill opined, “In all the four matches we’ve played, there were moments where things were either 50-50 or we might have been behind on some days.”

"But the way the team has come back has been the turning point, the way the youngsters, players who don’t have that much of experience have responded. I think that has been the turning point. Hopefully, even if we don’t play that well in a particular period in this match, we will be able to turn it around,"

Gill has scored 342 runs in four matches, with impactful second-innings performances like 104 in Visakhapatnam, 91 in Rajkot and 52 not out in Ranchi, where he shared a vital 72-run partnership with Dhruv Jurel.

"Honestly, I have loved this series so far, especially the breaks we have been getting. I never felt tired or fatigued or exhausted during the series. Obviously, the breaks we got after every two matches have definitely helped us. Now, every time we come back, we feel fresh, we feel motivated to go.

"Something really strange happened in the last innings that I played. My heartbeat was normal when I went into bat and even when we lost wickets, I never felt the pressure. Nothing fazed me. It was completely opposite when I batted in Vizag.

"So, both these innings taught me a lot in terms of how to handle things. It also taught me that ‘this is the way things can be’. I had not experienced something like this earlier," said Gill about the learnings he's taken about himself from this series.

Even when he wasn’t getting runs at number three, Gill felt he had no thoughts over going back to opening the batting."I don’t think there was any doubt that I should go back to opening the innings because I was not scoring runs at No. 3. It’s not that I had not played at No. 3 or No. 4 before.

"Actually, playing for India ‘A’, I have three double centuries. One of them came batting at No. 3 and two at No. 4. So, I was used to playing at No. 3. Unfortunately, the runs didn’t come in the first few matches. But, I was always focused on what I needed to do, not that I want to go back to opening or anything else.”

The right-handed batter also talked about his relationship with fellow youngsters like Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sarfaraz Khan. “The relationship is great between us. Dhruv and Yash played together in the U-19 and they are very close and the relationship between the four of us is fantastic. We laugh a lot, we spend a lot of time together off the field, so it’s great.”

Gill signed off by being pleased over achieving things he aimed to get better at. “As far as individual targets, I am very far from that. I don’t really set series-wise targets but the things I have been working on are coming off nicely. Hopefully, by the end of this year when we’ll be in Australia it will be even more exciting times for us."

--IANS

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Dharamshala, March 7 (IANS) India veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin achieved another milestone in his career when he becomes the 14th Indian player to play 100 Tests.

Ashwin joined an elite list of players with his 100th appearance in Test match for India during the fifth Test against England at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday.

India head coach Rahul Dravid presented a special memento to Ashwin on the occasion of his 100th Test match

During the third Test in Rajkot, Ashwin became only the second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble to clinch 500 Test wickets joining the elite club of bowlers such as Muthiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Kumble, Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh and Nathan Lyon.

He also became only the second bowler after Muralidaran to achieve 500 wickets in less than 100 Test matches.

The 37-year-old, who made his Test debut in 2011, claimed 507 Test wickets. He has also scored 3309 runs in the format, including five centuries and 14 fifties, with a batting average of 26.47.

Only Nathan Lyon (527 wickets) has claimed more wickets than him in the format, making him one of the most prolific modern-day Test bowlers.

Ashwin recorded his 35th five-wicket haul in Test cricket in the Ranchi Test, equalling Kumble's record for the most five-fors by an Indian in Test cricket.

India great Sachin Tendulkar, with 200 Test matches, holds the record for most appearances in the format internationally.

--IANS

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Ayodhya (UP), March 7 (IANS) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh subsidiary ‘Krida Bharti’ will organise ‘Run-for-Ram' half marathon in Ayodhya on March 10.

Krida Bharti state president and MLC Avanish Kumar Singh said on Thursday that participants from the country and abroad will participate in a half-marathon named ‘Run-for-Ram’ in Ayodhya.

More than 3,000 Indian and foreign runners have registered themselves on the special website for the half marathon on Ram-Path and Bhakti-Path in Ayodhya.

Singh added this was an important and exciting sports event to provide opportunity to the local and foreign competitors. Such events are organised by Krida Bharti from time to time and the event is important also from a fitness point of view.

Those above the age of 12 years can participate in this event, he said.

--IANS

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Ranchi, Feb 26 (IANS) India need 74 more runs to win the fourth Test over England at Ranchi, but lost captain Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rajat Patidar in the first session of day four’s play at the JSCA International Stadium on Monday.

At lunch, India are 118/3, with Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja batting at 18 and three respectively. Resuming from 40/0, it was a gripping session where India were initially ahead, thanks to Rohit’s fifty and him sharing an 84-run opening stand with Jaiswal.

But Joe Root, Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley took a scalp each as India slipped from 84/0 to 100/3. Gill and Jadeja looked tentative, but managed to hold their ground for 45 minutes till lunch arrived.

In the morning, Rohit took India past fifty by timing a lofted flick off Anderson over wide long-on for six. He and Jaiswal would take a boundary off Bashir, before the latter survived an lbw appeal off Hartley.

Jaiswal collected a few fours via reverse-sweep, sweep and cut before his attempt to clear extra cover off Root resulted in a thick edge caught by forward diving short third man. Rohit reached his fifty off 69 balls with a brace off Hartley, but was stumped on 55 after being drawn out of the crease by the flighted and wide ball from the left-arm spinner.

Bashir joined the wicket-takers column by getting some turn and drift to catch the inside edge of Patidar and the ball lobbed to short leg taking a catch to his right, with the batter dismissed for a six-ball duck.

From there, England kept Gill and Jadeja on a tight leash and would fancy their chances for an unlikely win after taking three wickets in 16 balls of the morning session to derail India’s morning. India, on the other hand, would wish for Gill and Jadeja, followed by Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel to steer the hosts’ to a series-sealing win.

Brief Scores: England 353 and 145 lead India 307 and 118/3 in 37 overs (Rohit Sharma 55, Yashasvi Jaiswal 37; Joe Root 1-21, Shoaib Bashir 1-40) by 74 runs.

--IANS

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Navi Mumbai, Feb 26 (IANS) Fast-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya is making a return to competitive cricket via the DY Patil T20 Cup, starting from Monday in Navi Mumbai.

Pandya will be captaining the Reliance 1 team which begins its campaign through the opening game of the competition against Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

Pandya was out of competitive cricketing action since sustaining a left ankle injury during India’s league match in 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup game against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19. Shortly after, he was ruled out of the campaign and put on a long recovery plus rehab route to ensure his long-term availability for future events.

In December 2023, he was traded to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans and became the side's skipper, replacing five-time championship winning captain Rohit Sharma in the top job ahead of IPL 2024, starting on March 22.

In the DY Patil T20 tournament, Pandya is leading the Reliance 1 team which also features the likes of Tilak Verma, Nehal Wadhera, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal and Vishnu Vinod. The BPCL team includes players like Sandeep Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Anukul Roy, Shreyas Gopal, and Ramandeep Singh.

Ishan Kishan, who has been out of competitive cricket after pulling out of India’s Test tour of South Africa last year due to personal reasons, is expected to play in the tournament possibly for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) side, though a confirmation is yet to arrive.

The DY Patil T20 Cup is deemed by many Indian players to get crucial game time ahead of IPL by playing for their office teams. 16 teams will be divided in four groups of four each, following which quarter-finals will be played on March 7 and 8 respectively. The tournament will end with the semi-finals and final on March 9.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANSlife) As a part of the 71st Miss World Pageant, the sports challenge for the Miss World Sports/Miss World Sportswoman title was held at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on 24th February. During this challenge, the delegates were tested on their fitness, good health, sports skills, and positive mindset.

The top 32 delegates were announced to compete in the sports finals and Luciaja Begic from Croatia claimed the first spot. The Sports Challenge involved competitions in cricket, football shootout, shuttle run, hockey shootout, and 400mtr race. Hockey India, India's national hockey federation, supported the event by providing local women players and coaches to showcase hockey skills and #indiakagame. The All India Football Federation, India's national football body, sent a selected team including coaches to engage with the delegates and represent Indian women in football. Delhi Capitals' academy coaches and women cricket players conducted a clinic and gave guidance on cricket.

As the winner of the Sports Challenge was announced, the Chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, Julia Morley CBE, shared, “We are thrilled to announce that Luciaja Begic from Croatia has won the coveted Miss World Sports Challenge this year. She embodies the spirit of fitness, health, and positivity that this competition seeks to highlight. Her dedication and excellence left no doubt that she deserves this honour. Winners like her exemplify why the Miss World Organization remains committed to testing delegates on more than just their outward beauty. We want to celebrate women who are actively bettering themselves in body, mind, and spirit. Congratulations again to our new Miss World Sports Challenge winner!”

The Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, named after India's legendary hockey player, provided the perfect setting for competitive sporting events. As the only international pageant with a dedicated sports challenge, Miss World continues to test delegates on more than just their outward beauty by celebrating fitness, health, and an active lifestyle.

IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in

--IANS

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Ranchi, Feb 26 (IANS) India’s left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav revealed that veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s advice to bowl a little bit quicker, as well as mixing variations with his run-up worked well for him to pick four wickets in bowling out England for 145 in their second innings.

England had a first-innings lead of 46, but Ashwin wreaked havoc with the new ball to pick his 35th five-wicket haul in Tests via a splendid 5-51. He was ably supported by Kuldeep taking a brilliant 4-22. "Ashwin told me to bowl a little bit quicker because the wicket is so slow. I tried that and tried my variations, and mixed up my run-up.

"The wicket was quite slow and the odd one keeping low so I thought that bowling finger spin worked to begin with. But I'm happy with how I bowled, in the end," said Kuldeep in a chat with broadcasters ahead of day four’s play.

Kuldeep was resolute with the bat too, making 28 off 131 balls while sharing a crucial 76-run stand for the eighth wicket with Dhruv Jurel, who made a terrific 90, to help the hosts’ fight back in the match by narrowing the deficit to 46.

"Dhruv Jurel is very composed, he was very calm out there. I have played a lot of cricket with him so we were just thinking about the next ball, not the runs because we were still quite far behind. We just tried to bat for as long as we can yesterday morning," added Kuldeep.

England opener Zak Crawley felt the pitch should do enough for England to seal an unlikely win. "It's a bit warmer today so hopefully the cracks open up, it turns a bit more and only gets harder. We are still in the game."

"We're well up for it. We're going for it. We've got an unbelievable opportunity but everyone's pretty relaxed, we know the pitch will do enough for us so we want to win and we'll do all we can."

On Sunday, in dismissing India for 307 in first innings, Bashir took 5-119, his first-five wicket haul in first-class cricket, which left Crawley impressed. "He's been unbelievable. He's impressed a lot with his attitude, even before he played, he doesn't seem to fazed and it's like he's been around for 10 years."

--IANS

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Wolverhampton, Feb 26 (IANS) Pablo Sarabia’s goal proved the difference as Wolverhampton Wanderers claimed a 1-0 win over Sheffield United at Molineux.

The Spaniard headed home from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross after 30 minutes to secure back-to-back wins late on Sunday night and move Gary O’Neil’s men up three places to eighth in the Premier League table.

Wolves controlled the opening stages at Molineux and were on the front foot, dominating possession and tenacious to win the ball back.

Brewster had a shot blocked before his second effort was well saved by Jose Sa, and the forward then fired over after latching on to a flick from Jayden Bogle. Shortly after, James McAtee failed to make the most of a great opportunity, shooting tamely at Sa.

Sheff Utd were left to rue those misses as Wolves made the breakthrough on the half hour. Rayan Ait-Nouri cut back onto his right foot and his cross into the box was met by Sarabia, who glanced his header over Grbic and into the net for his third league goal of the season, Premier League reports.

Wolves had chances to double their lead before the break, but Pedro Neto and then Sarabia blazed shots over the crossbar as it remained 1-0.

Sheff Utd started the second half positively, with Wolves struggling to get going as Sa was again called into action to deny the lively Brewster. But the visitors were leaving spaces at the back, and Sarabia came close to scoring his second goal, unleashing a powerful drive from just outside the area which flew narrowly wide.

Wolves had one final chance to double their lead, with Joao Gomes testing Grbic with a strike from 25 yards out, but they held on for the win which takes them onto 38 points.

Sheff Utd, who lost for the 19th time in the league, remain bottom with 13 points.

--IANS

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Reigning National champion Velavan Senthilkumar sailed into the quarterfinals of the Pittsburgh Open squash, a prestigious USD 75,800 PSA World Tour Silver event, with an 11-6, 5-11, 11-5, 11-8 win over home favourite and No.8 seed Faraz Khan in a thrilling encounter.

This is the first PSA outing of the year for the 25-year-old Tamil Nadu player, ranked 63 in the world, after a breakout 2023 that saw him win four PSA titles in his first full year as pro.

Senthilkumar took an impressive early lead over the American, and cruised to an 11-6 first-game win. Khan regrouped, showing the World No.63 his strength as he levelled the match at 1-1.

The Indian reacted, storming to a 10-5 lead and Khan struck the tin on his return to put the 25-year-old within a game of his maiden Silver-event quarter-final.

The American pulled ahead in the fourth game as he took a 6-1 lead, but Senthilkumar upped his game, playing quick and accurate squash to level the game at 8-8. The Indian continued his late resurgence and won the fourth game 11-8 to secure the match, ending with a mistake from Khan on the match ball.

"It was really good. First of all, Faraz is a really good player. I’ve seen him play recently and he’s been having some really good results so going into the match I was a bit nervous, but at the same time really excited to be here competing. I was just there, enjoying my squash and enjoying myself," Senthilkumar was quoted by tournament's website.

The Indian ace will meet Egyptian world No 21 Youssef Ibrahim in the quarterfinals.

On achieving his maiden Silver-event quarter-final, he said: "I’m really happy, it’s something that I’ve always pushed for, and I’m always going to keep pushing for it as much as I can.”

"I’m excited to have this opportunity, I’m really happy to be here, and compete another day, and playing (Youssef Ibrahim) is going to be fun, and I’m really looking forward to it."

In the opening round, Senthilkumar beat Japanese Ryunosuke Tsukue 11-2, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8.

--IANS

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Johannesburg, Feb 9 (IANS) Former cricketer AB de Villiers lavished praise on the U-19 Indian team following their comeback win over hosts South Africa in the semifinal in Benoni earlier this week.

India tamed South Africa to stay on course for a record-extending sixth Under-19 World Cup title. The Uday Saharan-led side beat the Proteas by two wickets to book a spot in the summit clash for the ninth time and fifth time in a row.

The Boys-In-Blue will now face Australia on Sunday after the Hugh Weibgen-led side beat Pakistan by one wicket in a nail-biting thriller in the second semifinal at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, de Villiers expressed his disappointment over South Africa's loss but praised the way Indian team roared back to the victory in the semifinals.

"Yeah, I have been following U19 World Cup. There were two close semifinal matches, especially Australia-Pakistan match. Aussies were nine down but they managed to pull back like they do in big moments. It's good that these guys learnt it from very young age," he said.

"Also India-South Africa game was close. South Africa failed to put the pressure despite taking four early wickets. India made a great comeback and won the semis. That was fantastic. Yeah, it shows...amazing depth India have in cricket. It will be an interesting final."

--IANS

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