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Day: May 30, 2023

Sports

After Haridwar huddle, wrestlers rethink move to drop medals in Ganga

ON A day of high drama, the protesting wrestlers, led by Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, announced on Tuesday that they would ‘immerse’ their medals in the Ganga river, and reached Har ki Pauri in Haridwar by evening. After sitting in a huddle on the banks of the river for over an hour-and-a-half, where some of them could be seen sobbing as they clutched their medals and citations, the wrestlers reversed their decision, soon after Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) president Naresh Tikait reached the spot and asked them to defer their decision by five days. Protesting wrestlers sit at Har ki Pauri, in Haridwar district. (PTI) Before Tikait’s arrival, as the crowd at the ghat grew bigger, a human chain of family members and oth...
Sports

Global Olympics body steps in: Very disturbing, protect athletes

FOR the first time since India’s top wrestlers, including two Olympics medal winners, alleged sexual harassment by their federation chief, BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the International Olympic Committee has stepped in. The statement came hours after the wrestlers — including Bajrang Punia (Olympics Bronze, 2021) and Sakshi Malik (Olympics Bronze, 2016) — threatened to drop their medals into the Ganga at Haridwar. The IOC spokesperson from Lausanne, Switzerland, in a response to a query from The Indian Express, said that the “treatment” meted out to the athletes over the weekend, when they were manhandled and detained for hours, was “very disturbing.” Protesting wrestlers sit at Har ki Pauri, in Haridwar district. (PTI) The IOC asked for an “unbiased, criminal investigation” into...
Sports

Sai Sudharsan — all class and confidence

Electrifying: Sai Sudharsan lit up the final with a sizzler. Photo: VIJAY SONEJI From being retired out for not sufficiently accelerating (43, 31b) in Gujarat Titans’ Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians, to scoring a 47-ball 96 against Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League final, a lot changed for Sai Sudharsan in under 72 hours.In a stunning transformation, the Tamil Nadu batter played the best innings of his nascent IPL career – Monday was only his 13th match – that nearly carried GT to its second title in as many years. It was also the highest for an uncapped Indian player in an IPL final. It didn’t matter that he came at the fall of Shubman Gill, the most prized wicket for any opponent playing GT. The 21-year-old handled the pressure remarkably well. He was watchful for a...
Sports

How the old found sanctuary and the new blossomed under CSK umbrella

Resplendent yellow: Dhoni’s Super Kings had the final say in a thrilling summit clash against Hardik’s Titans on Monday.  Photo: K.R. DEEPAK “Football is a simple game: 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win,” English footballer Gary Lineker once said. Indian Premier League cricket and Chennai Super Kings come very close. Injuries, bad form, rotten luck… nothing seemingly dims the chances of M.S. Dhoni & Co. And unlike the straightjacketed Germans of yore clothed in black and white, the men from Chennai do it with panache and more than a dash of resplendent yellow.The five-wicket triumph in the final over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the wee hours of Tuesday best embodied this. After a bad bowling and fielding performance, CSK se...
Sports

IPL to WTC | Fitness and adaptability are the keys; how about the Dhoni Cup?

Virat Kohli with bowlers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj at a practice session ahead of the World Test Championship final cricket match between India and Australia, in the U.K., on May 29, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI In about a week, two sets of players, many of whom were engaged in the IPL, will be squaring off at the World Test Championship final in England. Whichever team — India or Australia — does worse will face one line of criticism. It will be said that playing the IPL so close to the Test final was a mistake, and that players did not have sufficient time to acclimatise themselves.But such thinking, plausible till recently, doesn’t hold true anymore. The modern cricketer is a model of adaptability, and can go from format to format, from centre to centre, or from continent to conti...
Sports

Fitness and adaptability are the keys; how about the Dhoni Cup?

In about a week, two sets of players, many of whom were engaged in the IPL, will be squaring off at the World Test Championship final in England. Whichever team — India or Australia — does worse will face one line of criticism. It will be said that playing the IPL so close to the Test final was a mistake, and that players did not have sufficient time to acclimatise themselves.But such thinking, plausible till recently, doesn’t hold true anymore. The modern cricketer is a model of adaptability, and can go from format to format, from centre to centre, or from continent to continent without his game suffering. This is partly owing to superior fitness and partly because playing competitive cricket (in any format) is good preparation anyway. Most international series are played these days wi...
Sports

Top seed Swiatek enjoys winning start to French Open title defence

World number one Iga Swiatek launched her French Open title defence on Tuesday by easing past Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-4 6-0 to move into the second round. The Pole, chasing a third French Open title in four years, got off to a sluggish start on a windy afternoon on Philippe-Chatrier court. She had beaten the Spaniard in under an hour, losing just one game, at this year’s Australian Open but Swiatek had a less than perfect run-up to Paris, retiring from her Italian Open quarter-final after suffering a thigh injury two weeks ago. The 21-year-old triple Grand Slam winner was broken twice in her first three service games as a determined Bucsa, ranked 70th in the world, mixed it up and initially succeeded in throwing her opponent off balance. But the top seed heeded that wake-up call toward...
Sports

Josh Tongue to make England debut in Ireland Test | Cricket News – Times of India

LONDON: Josh Tongue is set to make his England debut after being named Tuesday in the XI to play Ireland in this week's one-off Test at Lord's.The 25-year-old Worcestershire quick was initially only called up as cover due to injury concerns over pacemen James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, both of whom are now being rested prior to the start of the Ashes next month.But Tongue has been chosen ahead of the more experienced duo of Chris Woakes and Mark Wood after England took the unusual decision to name their side two days before Thursday's start at Lord's.He will be a member of a pace attack led by veteran seamer Stuart Broad and featuring Matthew Potts in a team that will again be captained by star all-rounder Ben Stokes."It's an amazing feeling," Tongue told reporters on Tuesday. "Speech...
Sports

Medvedev gets Wild shock, Djokovic accused of fanning political flames

Daniil Medvedev became the highest-ranked player to exit the French Open after a five-sets first-round defeat by Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild on Tuesday while Novak Djokovic was accused of fuelling tensions with his political stance. World number two Medvedev was tipped as a surprise contender for the Paris title following his Rome triumph, but the Russian was blown away by Wild in gusty conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier and crashed to a 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-4 defeat. “I watched Daniil play since I was junior and beating him on such a court is a dream come true,” world number 172 Wild said after the gruelling encounter that lasted more than four hours. Meanwhile, Kosovo’s tennis federation said Djokovic risked aggravating an already tense situation after the world numb...
Sports

Roma must fight history to beat favourites Sevilla, says Mourinho

AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho said all the pressure to win the Europa League final on Wednesday is on six-time champions Sevilla, with his side having to fight against history to beat the Spaniards in their favourite competition. However, Mourinho said that history does not step onto the pitch and that his players share a unique enthusiasm to win Roma’s first Europa League title. “For them (Sevilla), playing in a Europa League final is almost normal, for us it is an extraordinary event,” Mourinho told a press conference on Tuesday. “For Sevilla fans, travelling to a European final is like travelling to a game in Spain; for us, however, it is something historic. So we want to make history.“History doesn’t play the game but history makes them the favourites, we respect it. “They have the ...
Sports

UWW condemns detention of wrestlers, threatens to ban WFI if polls not held in time | More sports News – Times of India

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (SWITZERLAND): The United World Wrestling (UWW) on Tuesday condemned the detention of India's top wrestlers during their protest in Jantar Mantar and threatened to suspend the national federation WFI if it fails to hold its election within the stipulated time.The world body said it has been keeping an eye on the protest by the wrestlers against the outgoing Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for allegedly sexually harassing several women."For several months, United World Wrestling has followed with great concern the situation in India where wrestlers are protesting over allegations of abuse and harassment by the President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)," UWW said in a statement."It has taken due note that the WFI President has...
Sports

It will be a big challenge for India to come out of T20 mould and play WTC final: Gavaskar

Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said among all the India players only veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara was well acclimatised to the longer format as he has been playing county cricket. File | Photo Credit: ANI Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels emerging from the IPL T20 mode will be the biggest challenge for the Indian players when they take on Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia next week.Rohit Sharma's India will play the WTC final at The Oval from June 7 with a majority of the players having come through the rigours of IPL, which concluded on Monday with Chennai Super Kings lifting the trophy for a record-equalling fifth time."The biggest test will be the fact that just about everybody will be coming out of a T20 format, and Test cricket is ...
Sports

Medvedev knocked out of French Open by 172nd-ranked Seyboth Wild | Tennis News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: World number two Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock exit from the French Open in the first round, losing in a five-set battle against 172nd-ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil.Wild, who advanced through the qualifiers and had never won a Grand Slam match before, emerged victorious with a score of 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Paris.This defeat marks Medvedev's fifth loss in the opening round at Roland Garros out of his seven appearances in the tournament. The early exit comes as a big disappointment for the Russian tennis player, who is currently ranked second in the world.The match showcased the unpredictable nature of Grand Slam tournaments, where lower-ranked players can produce exceptional performances and cause major upsets against higher-ranked opponents. Seybot...
Sports

Sri Lanka call up IPL star Matheesha Pathirana for Afghanistan series | Cricket News – Times of India

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka called up Indian Premier League winner Matheesha Pathirana on Tuesday into the 16-member ODI squad for the upcoming three-match home series against Afghanistan.If he is included in the final team, it will be the 20-year-old Pathirana's debut for Sri Lanka in a one-day international.Pathirana, nicknamed "Baby Malinga" for his slingshot action similar to Sri Lanka great Lasith Malinga, has played two T20s for his country.All three matches on June 2, 4 and 7 will be played at Hambantota in the island's south, which has not hosted any international matches since February 2020.Pathirana was a key player in the Chennai Super Kings team that won the IPL finals in Ahmedabad on Monday for a record-equalling fifth time.With a vicious yorker he took two for 44 in the game and gr...
Sports

Ambati Rayadu announces retirement from all forms of Indian cricket | Cricket News – Times of India

AHMEDABAD: Indian batter and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Ambati Rayudu who retired from the Indian Premier League (IPL) following his sixth league title win, has now announced retirement from all forms of Indian cricket.Rayadu took to Twitter to make the announcement."It has been an emotional night that culminated in a special IPL win. On that high note, I would like to announce my retirement from all forms of Indian cricket," Rayudu penned down his emotional journey."When I took up the cricket bat as a kid playing with the tennis ball at home, I didn't imagine the wonderful journey that would follow for more than two decades," he added.CSK's IPL 2023 win and the big reasons for their incredible consistency so far in the cricket leagueThe Andhra boy has played 55 ODIs for India whe...
Sports

CSK – The ‘Kings’ of consistency | Sports – Times of India Videos

May 30, 2023, 09:33PM ISTSource: TIMESOFINDIA.COMConsistency has been Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) forte in the Indian Premier League (IPL). CSK have made it to the playoffs 12 times in 14 editions after having missed two years due to a spot-fixing ban in 2016 and 2017, and then bounced back to win the title in 2018, 2021 and once again in 2023. CSK's success can be attributed to their astute team management led by captain MS Dhoni,!(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) { function loadFBEvents(isFBCampaignActive) { if (!isFBCampaignActive) { return; } (function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) { if (f.fbq) return; n = f.fbq = function() { n.callMethod ? n.callMethod(...arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments); }; if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n; ...
Sports

It will be a big challenge for India to come out of T20 mould and play WTC final: Gavaskar | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Indian players will face their biggest challenge in transitioning from the fast-paced IPL T20 format to the longer format of the game when they compete against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final next week, feels legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indian team will participate in the WTC final at The Oval starting from June 7. Most of the players in the Indian squad have recently been involved in the intense competition of the IPL, which concluded on Monday with the Chennai Super Kings claiming their fifth title, equalling a record.The shift from the T20 format to Test cricket requires players to adjust their mindset, techniques, and approach to the game. Gavaskar highlighted the importance of adapting to the different demands of T...
Sports

Curious case of Wriddhiman Saha’s WTC Final omission baffles many | Cricket News – Times of India

KOLKATA: Sidelined wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha, who had yet another successful IPL stint with consecutive IPL finalists Gujarat Titans, is back in discussion for his omission from the Indian squad for next week's World Test Championship Final.Days after former India coach and captain Anil Kumble said the selectors "missed a trick" by not selecting Saha for the WTC Final, his fellow IPL commentator Deep Dasgupta echoed the same views and termed the stumper as one of the "best"."He (Saha) is like evergreen man, he is like 38-39, still seems to be one of the best glovesman in the world," Dasgupta, a former India wicket-keeper turned commentator, told PTI Tuesday.Continuing his incredible record in the IPL Finals, Saha struck 54 off 39 balls to give GT a brisk start. Saha now has on...
Sports

‘Minor’ girl’s uncle claims wrestlers misleading his family, using them to frame Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh | More sports News – Times of India

ROHTAK: Claiming to be the uncle of the "minor" girl, Amit Pehlwan has hit out at the protesting wrestlers, saying that they are "misleading" his family and using them to frame Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.The protesting grapplers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, have been demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan, who they have accused of sexually harassing several women wrestlers, including a minor.However, Amit claimed that the wrestlers are carrying out a scam as his brother's daughter's (niece) age has been changed to 16 years, so that the grapplers can "wrongly utilise" the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. He said the girl's date of birth is 22-02-200...
Sports

‘The ball landed where it shouldn’t have and Jadeja got his bat. I tried, I tried my best’: Mohit Sharma on what happened in last six balls

With 13 runs required for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to register a thrilling win, Shivam Dube had one last conversation with Ravindra Jadeja. And in those late night crunch moments they told each other that they just need two big shots, and they would be through. “Last over we spoke and said that somehow we need two good shots. It could be two fours or two sixes. We had belief that we can’t lose from here on,” Dube told The Indian Express. The plan seemed perfect, it was a matter of two biggies which would see CSK lifting their fifth crown. In reality all planned things don’t always go the way they should though. Especially in big games between two quality oppositions. Hardik Pandya, skipper of Gujarat Titans, had kept the last over for his most trusted pacer and their man in form, Mohit...