CHENNAI:  In what was a long overdue appointment, the BCCI named former cricketer and coach Amol Muzumdar as the head coach of the Indian senior women’s team on Wednesday.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has been without a head coach since Ramesh Powar was reshuffled to NCA last december. Since then, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Nooshin Al Khadeer acted as head coaches on different occasions, with the former heading the team during Asian Games. 

Muzumdar’s appointment comes at a time when India are looking to build a strong team for next year’s T20 World Cup and the home ODI World Cup in 2025. “The next two years are extremely important as two World Cups are scheduled in the period. Together with the coaching and support staff, we will look to tick every box and give ourselves the best chance to succeed,” Muzumdar said in a statement released by BCCI.

RANCHI: The Indian women’s hockey team secured its second Women’s Asian Champions Trophy title after beating Japan by 4-0 in the title clash at Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi, Jharkhand on Sunday.

Sangita Kumari (17′), Neha (46′), Lalremsiami (57′) and Vandana Katariya (60′) registered their names on the scoresheet to lead India to an incredible win and their first women’s Asian Champions Trophy title after 2016, as per Olympics.com.

“Hockey India has announced a reward of Rs 3 lakh each for all the players and Rs 1.5 lakh each for all the support staff of the winning team of the Jharkhand Women’s Asian Champions Trophy Ranchi 2023. Congratulations to #TeamIndia #HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #JWACT2023,” tweeted Hockey India.

Following a 45-minute delayed start, the opening quarter was a closely-contested affair and India enjoyed the majority of ball possession. Japan looked to counter-attack, Yuri Nagai had a good opportunity to put his team to an early lead, but his attempt was thwarted by Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia’s timely interception.

Deepika came close to scoring for India, but she shot a little too much and missed the target.

World No. 11 Japan was compact defensively in the opening quarter but shortly after the second quarter started, Sangita Kumari opened India’s goal tally and gave them the much-needed lead. The local girl received the ball in space and converted the opportunity into a goal with a couple of touches.

Japan upped the attack and equalized via a strike from Shiho Kobayakawa, but a video review showed that the ball touched her hand while scoring and the goal was cancelled.

Towards the first half end, Japan won many penalty corners but Savita Punia guarded the goal well along with the rest of the defenders.

After the third quarter went goalless, India got their second goal through Neha via a penalty corner in the start of the final quarter.

Japan could have scored a goal through a penalty corner but Savita defended well.

After a goalless third quarter, India finally found their much-needed second goal in the third quarter. A well-worked penalty corner was finished off by Neha.

Lalremsiami and Vandana Katariya came through with two late goals after that to round off the victory for India.

Following the title win, Indian coach Janneke Schopman said, “You do not expect a scoreline of 4-0 in the final. It was tough, it was 2-0 and they got a penalty stroke and had they scored a goal, the game would have been wide open. I hoped we played better on the ball in the first half, we were a little hesitant. Savita is a great goalkeeper and did well today. The support here is amazing from fans and girls get a lot of energy from it.”

Indian skipper Savita said, “It feels good. When we came to play, we were tense because Japan is a great team. We wanted to start well. Japan gave us a good fight for three quarters. Attacking hockey is our strength. We got a bit defensive after a goal in the first quarter. We talked about playing an attacking game later.”

New Delhi: Finishing inside top seven on the ongoing World Cup table will have an added incentive to the teams as they will receive qualification for the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 alongside designated hosts Pakistan.

The ICC had revived the Champions Trophy in 2021 for the international calendar of 2024-2031 and the two editions of the tournament will be staged in 2025 and 2029.

The Champions Trophy is also set to follow the traditional format four teams divided into two groups with top two sides from each group entering the semifinals which is followed by the final.

But this qualification system, which was approved in 2021 during an ICC board meeting, might hamper the prospects of teams like England and Bangladesh in getting a Champions Trophy slot.

Looking at the scenario, England are currently placed 10th on the World Cup chart with just two points, and Bangladesh are on ninth with two points.

Both the teams have three more matches left in the tournament and need some massive turnaround to lift themselves among the top seven.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan had asserted the importance of finishing inside the top seven in the World Cup.

“I mean, not the semifinal hope. It is not a semifinal possibility. At least, we need to do a little better. Suppose, you have to be in the (top) ranking 8 if you want to play in the Champions Trophy (2025).

“So, there are still three matches left considering that in mind,” Shakib said on Saturday after Bangladesh’s defeat against the Netherlands.

The Dutch outfit and Afghanistan are currently eighth and seventh respectively in the table and can realistically dream of getting a berth in the Champions Trophy.

Another drawback of this system is that teams like West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe stand no chance to qualify for the Champions Trophy because they are not playing in this World Cup.

LUCKNOW: Indian cricket team continued their supreme run in the ongoing edition of World Cup and defeated England by 100 runs in Lucknow on Sunday. 

The emphatic win would not have been possible without the special effort of skipper Rohit (87 off 101 balls), whose sublime knock stood out as most Indian batters fell by the wayside on a two-paced pitch.

Suryakumar Yadav (49) got the much needed runs in the death overs to push India to 229 for nine. Shami (4/22) and Bumrah (3/32) stole the show with the ball for the unstoppable hosts as England batters once against cut a sorry figure as they slumped to 129 all out in 34.5 overs for their fifth loss in six games.

England are virtually out of semifinal contention while India, the only unbeaten side in the tournament, are almost there. Having put up a below par total, India needed early wickets to put pressure on a struggling England batting unit.

Bumrah and Shami hunted in tandem to deal a decisive blow, leaving England at 39 for four in the 10th over. Play and miss was a regular feature of the powerplay as both Bumrah and Shami troubled the batters with a Test match length.

Bumrah got rid of Dawid Malan (16) and Joe Root (0) off successive balls to be on a hat-trick while Shami also did the same by castling Jonny Bairstow (14) and Ben Stokes (0), who had a moment of brain fade after being beaten multiples time.

Stokes wanted to make room to smash Shami out of the park but got himself in a nothing position to see his stumps rattled.

Bumrah and Shami’s first spell figures read an envious 5-1-17-2 and 4-0-5-2 respectively. Kuldeep Yadav made it 52 for five by dismissing skipper Jos Buttler (10) with a stunning ball that pitched way outside the off stump and turned back sharply to crash the stumps. Shami came back into the attack and had Moeen Ali (15) caught behind for his third wicket.

At 81 for six, there was no coming back for a clueless England. There was plenty of dew on the park in the evening but it wasn’t an issue for the India bowlers. Earlier, India got to bat first for the first time in the tournament. It was, however, only Rohit and Suryakumar who found a way to bat on a tricky pitch that had a two-paced wicket while the others perished trying to force the pace.

The 91-run partnership between Rohit and K L Rahul (39 off 58) stabilised the innings after India found themselves at 40 for three in the 12th over. Rohit also added 33 valuable runs with Suryakumar but the skipper’s fall led to a clutch of wickets.

New Delhi: Captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday became the first Indian to score seven world cup hundreds, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar during their clash against Afghanistan here.

While Tendulkar recorded six centuries in as many editions of World Cups that he played — 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, Rohit achieved the feat in only three: 2015, 2019 and 2023.

Rohit also holds the record of scoring most centuries (five) by any batter in a World Cup edition — a feat that he achieved in 2019 in England.

Rohit’s ton against Afghanistan was his 31st overall, taking him past Australian legend Ricky Ponting. He is now behind India’s Virat Kohli (47) and Tendulkar (49) in the history of ODI cricket.

Rohit also broke Kapil Dev’s (72) record of fastest ODI century for India in World Cup history, moving into triple figures off just 63 balls (12x4s, 4x6s).

In imperious form during India’s chase of 273 against Afghanistan, Rohit also went past West Indies’ Chris Gayle (553 sixes across formats) to record most sixes hit in international cricket across formats.

Rohit completed his half-century off just 30 balls second fastest in the edition so far while hitting three sixes and seven fours to make 60 unbeaten off 32 balls at the end of the eighth over.

Rohit unleashed his signature pull shot to hit Afghanistan bowler Naveen-Ul-Haq on the penultimate ball of the eighth over to overtake Gayle. Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi is third in the list with overall 476 sixes.

In the process, the Indian skipper also joined Australia’s David Warner in taking least number of innings (19) to complete 1,000 runs in World Cup history.

Among other Indians, Tendulkar (20) and Sourav Ganguly (21) feature among those with quickest to 1,000 runs in World Cups.

New Delhi (PTI): India continued their winning run with an eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the World Cup here on Wednesday.

Chasing 273 to win, Rohit Sharma went on a six-hitting spree, smashing an 84-ball 131 to record the most number of centuries in World Cup history, while Ishan Kishan (47), Virat Kohli (55 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (25 not out) chipped in with use contributions as the hosts romped home in 35 overs.

Rohit and Ishan shared a 156-run partnership for the opening wicket to set the platform for the chase.

Earlier, Afghanistan posted 272 for 8 after opting to bat.

Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (80) and Azmatullah Omarzai (62) struck fine fifties but Afghanistan had a slump between 35th to 45th over as they eventually just managed a decent score.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (4/39) was the pick of the bowlers while Hardik Pandya (2/43), Kuldeep Yadav (1/40) and Shardul Thakur (1/31) also contributed well.

Brief Score:

Afghanistan: 272 for 8 in 50 overs (Hashmatullah Shahidi 80, Azmatullah Omarzai 62; Jasprit Bumrah 4/39).

India: 273 for 2 in 35 overs (Rohit Sharma 131, Virat Kohli 55 not out, Ishan Kishan 47; Rashid Khan 2/57).

HANGZHOU: Two-time former champions India stormed into their fourth successive final of the Asian Games with a commanding 61-17 win over Nepal in the women’s kabaddi event here on Friday.

India, the last edition’s runners-up, faced little challenge from their rivals and led 29-10 at half time with Pooja Hathwala and Pushpa Rana spearheading the raids.

For India, Jharkhand youngster Akshima who was making her Asian Games debut was also impressive, making successful raids and earning two touch points.

The Indian men’s team, which finished with a bronze medal in the 2018 edition, will take on Pakistan in the semifinal later in the day

HANGZHOU: Title favourites India confirmed a medal in men’s cricket competition with a crushing nine-wicket win over Bangladesh to storm into the final of the Asian Games here on Friday.

India skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s decision to field first after winning the toss was vindicated by his bowlers, who produced a disciplined effort to restrict Bangladesh to a below-par 96 for nine.

India lost the talented Yashasvi Jaiswal for zero in the very first over but that was the only success Bangladesh had as skipper Gaikwad (40 not out off 26 balls; 4×4, 3×6) and Tilak Varma (55 not out; 26b; 2×4, 6×6) sealed the win with 64 balls to spare in the T20I match.

Rising allrounder Varma, who struck a 25-ball fifty, had an emotional celebration after reaching the milestone when he lifted his shirt to reveal a tattoo dedicated to his parents.

India will take on the winners of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the gold medal clash on Saturday.

Sai Kishore was the most successful bowler for India as he finished with excellent figures of 3/12 from four overs, while Washington Sundar also bowled impressively to end with a tidy 2/15 in his full quota of overs.

There was a wicket apiece for Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi and Shahbaz Ahmed.

The duo of Gaikwad and Varma toyed with the Bangladesh bowling and were mostly dealing in fours and sixes at the small Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field.

Bangladesh’s bowlers had no answer to the onslaught launched by Ruturaj and Tilak who seemed to be competing with each other in hitting fours and sixes.

Earlier, Sai Kishore and Washington struck in tandem to restrict Bangladesh who struggled against the slow bowlers.

For Bangladesh, Parvez Hossain Emon (23), Jaker Ali (24 not out), and Rakibul Hasan (14) were the notable contributors with the bat.

While Ali remained not out, Shahbaz ended Rakibul’s cameo when he had the batter caught in the 17th over.

Before that, Tilak cut short Emon’s 32-ball stay in the middle.

In Arshdeep, India has surprisingly picked only one seamer in their playing XI, while Shahbaz Ahmed made his T20I debut for India.