Sports

Hyderabad, April 2 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson heaped praise on Jos Buttler and Yashaswi Jaiswal and said that the team could anticipate record-breaking performances in the powerplay with batters like them in the lineup as team scored their highest-ever powerplay total in the history of the IPL on Sunday.

Jaiswal and Buttler smashed half-centuries to provide RR with a record-breaking start in their 2023 IPL campaign opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad. They helped the Royals post their highest powerplay score 85/1.

"I am just wondering how we will start the season and very happy with the win. Having batters like Jos and Yashasvi, we can expect that (breaking records in the powerplay). I think we definitely are a very good side but in this format and this league, you never know," Samson said after the match.

Buttler went back to pavilion after bringing up his half-century in just 20 balls and Samson then joined forces with Jaiswal to take over the aggressor's role and went on to score 28-ball fifty before getting dismissed by Natarajan.

"We have to keep our heads down, focus on our processes. I personally wanted to stay there and finish the innings off. I think we did reasonably well. There should be strengths, but there should be weaknesses also. We will find out if there are any weaknesses as the tournament goes on," Samson added.

It was a complete team performance from Royals as batters Buttler (54), Jaiswal (54) and Samson (55) helped the visitors post a mammoth 203 for five and then Yuzvendra Chahal (4/17) and Trent Boult (2/21)) led the charge to take the team to 72-run win over SRH.

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Former captain MS Dhoni has shared an anecdote from India's historic World Cup win in 2011, revealing that he became 'emotionally high' when people started singing 'Vande Mataram' just 15-20 minutes before the winning moment in that summit clash.

Sunday, April 2 marked the 12th anniversary of India's celebrated victory in the 2011 World Cup, where Dhoni played a crucial part in leading the team to triumph, ending the wait of 28 long years.

"The best feeling was 15-20 minutes (before the winning moment). We didn't need a lot of runs, the partnership was well-placed, there was a lot of dew. And the stadium started to sing Vande Mataram. That atmosphere I feel is very difficult to recreate – maybe in this (upcoming 2023) World Cup, there is a similar scenario, once the stadium, the fans start contributing," Dhoni was quoted as saying by ICC.

It's a very difficult (atmosphere) one to replicate. But it can only be replicated if the occasion is similar to that (in 2011) and there are like 40, 50 or 60,000 people who are singing.

To me, it was not the winning moment, it was 15-20 minutes ago when emotionally I was very high. And at the same time, I wanted to get done with it. We knew that we will win this from here, and it was very difficult for us to lose.  So yes, you know it was more of a sense of satisfaction, job done, let's move on from here," he added.

The day of the 2011 World Cup victory was also a momentous occasion for the Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar, who had been striving for more than 20 years to lift the coveted trophy.

Dhoni revealed there were times when he wondered if Tendulkar would claim that elusive prize.

"Yes, we all knew that it was paaji's (Tendulkar) last World Cup and throughout the tournament, we had the feeling that we want to do it for him," the former India captain said.

"But at the same time, often you have something going in your mind where you say, God has given him everything. And God keeps one thing away from every individual. Is it that 50-over World Cup that God has decided that he will keep with himself?

We said we will try our best, we will make sure that we are giving a 100% when it comes to the cricket matches and we will accept the results. At the end, I was very happy to be on the winning side, but it took a lot from the full team and the support staff," he added.

--IANS

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Mumbai, April 2 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mourned the demise of former India all-rounder Salim Durani, who passed away on Sunday at his residence in Jamnagar after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 88.

The all-rounder played 29 Tests for India scoring 1202 runs and took 75 wickets. He played a key role with the ball in the famous 1971 Port of Spain Test, where legendary Sunil Gavaskar made his debut. In a span of few balls in the second innings, Durani dismissed both Clive Lloyd and Gary Sobers, paving the way for India's first Test victory in the Caribbean. He conceded just 21 runs from the 17 overs that he bowled.

"It is with great sadness and a deep sense of loss that BCCI has learnt of the sad demise of Shri Salim Durani on Sunday, 2nd April 2023. A charismatic all-rounder, Durani played the game for two-and-a-half decades," the Indian cricket board said in a statement.

Blessed with a unique ability to hit monstrous sixes on demand, Durani's aggressive left-hand batting had a huge following and his left-arm spin bowling was equally effective.

In 1961-62, he bowled India to victory over England, taking a series haul of 23 wickets. In the Eden Gardens Test, he took 8 wickets and followed up with a match haul of 10 wickets in Chennai.

"Shri Salim Durani played the game with grace, flair and a lot of passion. With his demise, we have lost one of India's iconic cricket heroes. While his performances in international cricket are inspiring, his feats in domestic cricket still act as a motivation for our cricketers. I extend my condolences to his family and friends," said BCCI president Roger Binny.

Jay Shah, Secretary BCCI said,"Shri Salim Durani's contribution towards Indian Cricket will forever be remembered. With his demise, we have lost one of Indian cricket's crown jewels. His eye-catching batting style and his overall aura made him special. The BCCI prays for the departed soul and shares the grief of the family and his loved ones."

Durani also played 170 first-class games, scored 8545 runs and took 484 wickets and represented Saurashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan in domestic cricket. Durani, the first cricketer to receive the Arjuna Award was honoured by the Board in 2011 with the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

He was BCCI's special guest in 2018 when the Board hosted Afghanistan for its first-ever Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where he presented a memento at the toss to Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai.

-- IANS

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Hyderabad, April 2 (IANS) Impressive half-centuries from top-order batters -- Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson -- followed by Yuzvendra Chahal's superb four-fer (4/17) powered Rajasthan Royals to a thumping 72-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the fourth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Sunday.

Riding on fifties from Buttler (54 off 22), Jaiswal (54 off 37) and Samson (55 off 32), RR posted a massive total of 203/5 on the board. In response, SRH suffered early batting collapse as they managed to score 131/8 in their 20 overs with Abdul Samad top scoring with unbeaten 32.

Chasing a big total of 204, Sunrisers got early blows as Trent Boult dismissed opener Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi for ducks. Abhishek was completely outplayed by Boult's sizzling yorker as the ball flattened the off stump in the third delivery of the innings.

A dot ball later, the Kiwi pacer struck again to remove Tripathi, who got caught at the slip by Jason Holder. But Tripathi went for a review, thinking that he had not nicked it at all. However, the replay confirmed that Tripathi had nickled the ball and he had to walk back.

Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal cautiously took the innings forward with RR bowlers keeping a tight leash on SRH's run-rate as the Bhuvneshwar-led side managed to score 30 for a loss of two wickets in the powerplay.

After the powerplay, Sunrisers kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Yuzvendra Chahal put another dent on SRH's batting in the seventh over as he cleaned up debutant Harry Brook and the hosts went into deep trouble in the ninth over when Jason Holder removed Washington Sundar for 1.

In the next over, Ravichandran Ashwin too joined the party and sent Glenn Philips back to the hut with Sunrisers reeling 48 for 5 after 10 overs. Chahal struck again in the 11th over to dismiss Agarwal, who holed out to long-on for a six where Buttler completed the catch comfortably.

It almost became an impossible task for the Sunrisers to pull off a win with half of their side heading back to pavilion. At the end of the 14th over, SRH lost Rashid, who went down the track and missed Chahal's slower ball by some distance and Samson did the rest behind the stumps to leave SRH seven down.

Chahal picked up his fourth in the 18th over as he cleaned up skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With some late hits, Abdul Samad and Umran Malik stitched an unbeaten 36-run partnership to take SRH to a respectable total of 131 in 20 overs.

Earlier, a minute of silence was observed to mourn the loss of the legendary all-rounder Salim Durani, who passed away at his residence in Jamnagar after a prolonged battle with cancer at the age of 88.

When the game started, the opening duo of Buttler and Yashaswi Jaiswal gave RR a strong start with 85 coming off the first six over for the loss on one wicket after they were invited to bat first.

Buttler completed his fifty off just 20 balls with two boundaries in the sixth over. But Fazalhaq Farooqi didn't let Buttler extend his stay on the crease as he sent the attacking batter back soon after his half-century, ending the 85-run opening partnership at the end of the powerplay.

After Buttler's dismissal, SRH run rate slowed down a bit but the skipper took over the aggressor's role and went for two boundaries in the eight over as RR crossed the 100-run mark. SRH bowlers were seen struggling to pick up wickets while Jaiswal continued to go on his merry way, putting the loose balls away. Halfway through the innings, Royals were 122 for 1.

Jaiswal brought up his fourth IPL fifty off 34 deliveries in the 12th over. In the 13th over, Jaiswal's inning came to an end as he fell to Farooqi while going for a big shot but did not get hold of it and the ball went to Mayank Agarwal at deep mid-wicket.

Very soon, Umran Malik picked up his first as he cleaned up Devdutt Padikkal cheaply for 2, pushing RR to 151/3 14.1 overs.

After his expensive first over, Natarajan came into attack again in the 17th over to dismiss Royan Parag just after the timeout. Then, Shimron Hetmyer came in and started off with a single. The next ball Samson completed his 28-ball fifty with a single.

Natarajan got his second in the penultimate over by dismissing Samson, who went for a maximum but Abhishek Sharma was there on the edge of the cushions to complete the brilliant catch while juggling his left-foot to not touch the skirting.

With 10 runs coming off the final over, Royals posted a total of 203 for the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 203/5 in 20 overs (Yashaswi Jaiswal 54 off 37, Jos Buttler 54 off 22 and Sanju Samson 55 off 32; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/41, T Natarajan 2/23) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 131/8 in 20 overs (Abdul Samad 32 off 32, Mayank Agarwal 27 off 23; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/17, Trent Boult 2/21) by 72 runs

--IANS

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Lucknow, April 2 (IANS) Pritam Siwach Sports Foundation and SAI Shakti Team registered victories in their respective games on the fifth day of the Khelo India Women's Hockey League (U-21 - Phase 2 )here on Sunday.

In the first game of the day, HAR Hockey Academy and Sports Hostel Odisha played out a 1-1 draw. Bhateri (21') continued her good form as she put HAR Hockey Academy in the lead with a clinical finish. But Sports Hostel Odisha equalised through Sunelita Toppo (56') in the dying moments to rescue a point from the game.

Pritam Siwach Sports Foundation recorded a 9-0 victory against Bhai Bhelo Hockey Academy, Bhagta in the second game of the day. The goal scorers were Sakshi Rana (13', 19', 34'), Manisha (15'), Kanika (35'), Ritika (36'), Team Captain Dimple (38'), and Tannu (58', 60').

In the final game of the day, SAI Shakti Team defeated Khalsa Hockey Academy Amritsar 2-1. SAI Shakti Team took the lead through a goal from Khushi (7') but Khalsa Hockey Academy Amritsar soon equalised through a goal from team captain Sukhpreet Kaur (25').

It was Sakshi Shukla's (45') goal in the last quarter of the game that sealed the win for the SAI Shakti Team.

--IANS

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Auckland, April 2 (IANS) Spinner Ish Sodhi blasted a six off the final delivery of the match to level scores but his effort went in vain as Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand in a Super Over in the first T20I here on Sunday.

Needing 13 from the final over to win the three-match series opener after Sri Lanka posted 196/5 in 20 overs, Sodhi and Henry Shipley scrambled six runs from the first five balls to set up a thrilling finale.

Leg-spinner Sodhi then flicked Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka high over mid-wicket for a six to tie the match and send it into a one-over decider.

However, New Zealand's hopes ended in the Super Over as spinner Maheesh Theekshana restricted the Black Caps to just nine runs, which Charith Asalanka easily overhauled with a six and a four off Kiwi quick Adam Milne.

Earlier, Asalanka smacked a 41-ball 67, clearing the modest Eden Park boundary six times as the visitors set New Zealand 197 to win.

Kusal Mendis got Sri Lanka off to a good start with 25 off nine balls before Kusal Perera smashed an unbeaten 53 from 45 balls as Milne, Ben Lister and Shipley all conceded more than 10 runs per over.

In their reply, New Zealand were off to a shaky start and lost two wickets for three runs in the first seven balls. The hosts then rode on Daryl Mitchell's 66 and Mark Chapman's 33 before some explosive hitting by Rachin Ravindra, who blasted 26 off 13 balls, took them close to the target.

Dilshan Madushanka conceded 45 runs from his three overs, while Wanindu Hasaranga and Shanaka each claimed two wickets for 30 and 20 runs respectively.

But despite the adrenaline boost of a final-ball six to tie the game, New Zealand lost two wickets in the tie-breaker, which their chances of putting up a strong total.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 196/5 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 67, Kusal Perera 53 not out, Kusal Mendis 25; James Neesham 2-30) beat New Zealand 196/8 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 66, Mark Chapman 33, Rachin Ravindra 26; Dasun Shanaka 2-20, Wanindu Hasaranga 2-30, Pramod Madushan 2-37) the match in a one-over eliminator.

--IANS

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By Niharika Raina
New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) 2023 will always be remembered as the year where the inaugural edition of the revolutionary Womens Premier League (WPL), which ended with Mumbai Indians clinching the glittering trophy, showing bright promise of changing womens cricket in India for the better.


Before the WPL, there was the Women's T20 Challenge from 2018 to 2022, where three teams played in a round-robin group followed by the final. But there were always a voice about having a full-fledged IPL-style like tournament, which was always delayed with excuse related to bench strength.

But once the plunge to get the WPL up and running was taken, the Brabourne and D.Y. Patil Stadiums became witness to excellence from uncapped India players, who were either young or had done the hard yards in domestic cricket for a long time.

Left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque took 15 wickets for Mumbai while Shreyanka Patil and Kanika Ahuja shined for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Parshavi Chopra, the India U19 leg-spinner, was impressive for UP Warriorz, a side which gave consistent chances to young Indian players like Shweta Sehrawat, Simran Shaikh and S Yashasri.

Though captain Harmanpreet Kaur acknowledged that domestic talent didn't get that much roles to burst on the big stage, people like Asha Sobhana, Tanuja Kanwar, Amanjot Kaur and Jintimani Kalita did their best whenever a chance to shine came by.

Harmanpreet, who finally had her hands on a major trophy, had also wished after the end of the tournament that young and uncapped Indian players would emerge wiser from their experiences of WPL, and become more aware of what needs to be done consistently to achieve excellence on-field.

"How to keep calm in a pressure situation and do well for your team - that is something you need to learn. Otherwise, skill-wise, I don't think anybody is inferior because everybody is working so hard. Even in fitness, they are doing so well," she added.

Granted that the tournament was held in a very short span of time, but the learnings which young and uncapped Indian cricketers had in three weeks of WPL from highly-experienced coaches and many international stars being their team-mates, will be priceless for them.

The impact of listening and learning from experiences of overseas stars, especially from the hugely successful Australian cricketers and coaches, would be huge in terms of technical skill, work ethics, training drills and mentally too, something which will reward unheralded Indian cricketers in the long run.

"The turning point for me as a cricketer was in 2016 when I was going to play WBBL for the first time. I travelled alone, and I did everything alone. During that time, I learnt a lot. I wanted to do something different. I wanted to improve myself and bring back learnings for my India teammates."

"After that, we did well in the 2017 World Cup. When I was there (playing WBBL), I saw how they trained and what their mindset was. The approach of many (Indian) players has changed after I told them about all these things," added Harmanpreet after the end of the final.

From the fan base point of view, many had that bit of uncertainty about the two stadiums being full for watching women's cricket. With free entry for women spectators and nominal ticket prices on the whole, the pricing strategy looked good enough to fill the stands irrespective of whether the matches were held on weekdays or weekends.

Mumbai didn't disappoint in that aspect, as people from various age groups, right from young kids with their parents to middle-aged persons, travelled to be a part of unfolding of a revolution named WPL. The atmosphere created by the fans on matchdays was rare to witness, including on weekdays, where the crowd was loud and made for an amazing spectacle.

Even before the WPL had begun, it had started to change so many lives in Indian cricket through the financial deals the young and uncapped players got. Through WPL, they got to pick brains of many superstars of the game and took invaluable learnings from them for a lifetime. The future is indeed bright for women's cricket in India through the WPL.

--IANS
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New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) With Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 set to begin on March 31, former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has joined the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp where he decided to roll his arms during the franchise's training session.

Fans were amazed to see the wicket-keeper batter bowling and wondered whether the CSK captain might have a surprise in store for fans in the upcoming IPL edition.

CSK shared a video of Dhoni on social media titled "The Multiverse of Mahi," which sees the skipper having some fun while batting and bowling in the nets.

Dhoni is among the few players to have played more than 100 IPL matches. Despite playing 234 matches to date in his IPL career, Dhoni has never bowled an over in an IPL match.

With the 2023 edition likely to be Dhoni's last in the IPL, the yellow brigade will look to get back to high standards after a forgetful 2022 season, where they finished ninth in the table just ahead of Mumbai Indians.

The Dhoni-led side will open their campaign against defending champions Gujarat Giants in the curtain-raiser on March 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

--IANS

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By Niharika Raina
Ahmedabad, March 23 (IANS) Vikram Solanki, the director of cricket of Gujarat Titans franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), believes that the impact player rule, set to be introduced from the upcoming season, will be bringing an interesting dynamic to the cash rich league.



For the upcoming IPL season starting from March 31, teams have to name five substitutes apart from the playing eleven after the toss is conducted. A captain can pick one of the four substitutes as impact player at any juncture and can bring him at the start of the innings or at the end of an over or when a wicket falls.

"It's going to be an interesting change to the dynamics. It will bring for some tactical decisions to be made. But essentially the way we are looking at it at the moment, especially naming your eleven or bigger squad of 15 after the toss, that has a slightly different bearing as well."

But initially we are starting to have discussions about it and I repeat, it will bring an interesting dynamic to the IPL this year. We have had discussions about it and it will be interesting to see how the teams go about it," said Solanki while replying to a question from IANS in the pre-season virtual interaction.

Titans will enter IPL 2023 as defending champions after having won the title in their very first outing as a team last year, and will begin their campaign against Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 31.

Central to that stunning run to the trophy was the leadership skills as well as all-round performance shown by Hardik Pandya, with Solanki expressing confidence that the fast-bowling all-rounder will keep the side together, especially after having captained India in 11 T20Is as well as in one ODI.

"I don't think Hardik was new to the leadership role. I maintain that we viewed Hardik as a leader from the time he joined the team last year because he had the experience of winning four IPL titles with Mumbai Indians and played some leadership role there. It was very apparent from how he conducted himself," said Solanki.

"Hardik took to that leadership role almost seamlessly. We are looking forward to him joining the team, as he led us tremendously well last year. We don't know if there will be a change in his leadership since he has captained India. I am confident Hardik will be the same as he was last year and he will keep the whole team involved," he added.

Apart from Hardik, in-form Shubman Gill also holds the key for Titans' getting a good start with the bat. Gill had amassed 483 runs in 16 matches for the Titans' in IPL 2022 at an average of 34.5. He comes into IPL 2023 on the back of scoring centuries for India in Tests, ODIs and T20Is in this year. Solanki threw light on how Gill can be a leader for the future.

"Shubman Gill has been a leader in his own right for the simple fact that he takes on a lot of responsibility. Shubman adopted a leadership role last year by his conduct, the professional attitude ahead of every game."

"Do I think Shubman will be a leader in the future? Yes, absolutely. But no decision has been made on it. He is very mature and a considerate young man who has an abundant amount of talent, but he's also got a very smart cricket brain."

Asked about the pressure of going into the competition as defending champions, Solanki remarked the Titans' are aware of putting in hard yards more than ever to fend off the challenge from other teams.

"All teams go about working hard as possibly as they can and trying to put in place strategies and taking decisions for the betterment of their team. It is just that the decisions we took and things we did were successful last year. That's not a guarantee that it will be the case this year."

Everybody in their endeavour tries to possibly be the best team that they can be. I am confident that every team sets out to win every match and place themselves in the qualification arena to win the competition," said Titans's director of cricket.

"Every team sets out to do that; we were just the same and the decisions we took helped us to navigate our way to the championship. We know that we will have to work very hard to get into the positions we want to be in this year and are aware that the rest of the teams are doing exactly that as well," he added.

--IANS

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New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has asked Rohit Sharma & Co. to not forget the kind of loss they faced at the hands of Australian in the third and final ODI of the series in Chennai on Wednesday, saying that they could again meet the five-time champions in the ODI World Cup, to be held later in the year at home.

Chasing 270 on a slow and tricky pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where stroke-play wasn't easy, India were bundled out for 248 in 49.1 overs, losing the series 1-2. The match also meant that India lost a bilateral ODI series for the first time since 2019.

Co-incidentally, Australia were the last team to beat India in a bilateral ODI series back in 2019, winning the five-game series 3-2.

"It was the pressure created. They were not getting singles. The boundaries had dried up and they weren't even getting singles. When that happens then you try and play something that you are not used to."

That is something they will have to look at. But of course, now the IPL starts. This shouldn't be forgotten. India sometimes makes the mistake of forgetting this, but this one shouldn't be because, in the World Cup, we may face Australia again," Gavaskar told Star Sports after the end of the match.

India had a 65-run opening partnership, followed by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul putting on 69 runs for the fourth wicket. But after the duo followed by Suryakumar Yadav, who was out for a first-ball duck for the third time in the series fell in quick succession, India were put under pressure and could never recover from the setbacks.

Gavaskar pointed out that India unable to get a big partnership also cost them hugely in the ODI series decider defeat in Chennai.

"When you are chasing a score of 270 or nearly 300, you need a partnership of about 90 or 100 and that will take you close. But that didn't happen," he said.

"Yes, there were a couple of partnerships, one between Rahul and Kohli, but then you wanted another similar or bigger stand. Fielding from Australia was outstanding. Their bowling was very good. It was tight, stump to stump, but their fielding was very good. That was the difference," he concluded.

India will next play three ODIs at home against Australia again in September, before the ODI World Cup in October-November.

--IANS

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