Nasheman News : Two-time world champion Vanesa Kaladzinskaya has said that Indian wrestling has now started becoming more professional than it had been a few years ago.

The Olympian from Belarus, who is a key member of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) side UP Dangal in Season-4, was referring to the Indian wrestling scenario from when she saw Geeta and Babita Phogat during their bronze-medal winning performance at the World Championships in Strathcona County, Canada, six years ago. Vanesa won a gold there.

“Not only those two girls — Geeta and Babita — but Indian wrestling has now started doing things more professionally and you can see more and more improvements in every department and the level has become better day by day. I have been to India last year also for the PWL and I can see a lot of promising wrestlers, both male and female in the league here. They have also started winning in big events like the world championships and the Olympics,” Vanesa told IANS in an interview.

She asserted that the PWL is a key catalyst for this change as it gives Indian wrestlers much needed exposure and has turned the sport into a lucrative career option.

“Youngsters get inspiration when they see such a big league like this from up close. They want to come out and take up wrestling which is a big boost for the sport. It is helpful for the current athletes too because more people will get to know them and they will get more support from their countrymen when they go for bigger competitions abroad,” said the 2018 European championships silver medallist.

Vanesa took a sabbatical after her World Championship gold in 2012 to raise her child and returned to win her second World Championships gold in Paris five years later. 

“I participated in the 2013 European Championships where I was placed third. After that there were some health issues for which I missed another year and started training again in 2016. The next year, I became the world champion again,” said the mother of a five-and-a-half-year-old boy who has already started taking gymnastics lessons from his grandparents who are gymnastics coaches.

“I also started with gymnastics as both my mom and dad are gymnastic coaches. My father Valery is an international coach while mom does coaching in Belarus. It was much later that I shifted to wrestling,” said Vanesa who has become a huge fan of the Indian sweet gulab jamun and doesn’t mind having some even if her diet plan doesn’t approve of it.

“Oh I love them! I have started liking a lot of things here and the sweet is one of them. I also watched a lot of Hindi movies when I was here last year but not many this time,” she added. 

Vanesa, who misses her five-year-old a lot and tries to spend as much time with him as possible when not travelling or training, said: “That is all part and parcel of an athlete’s life. I miss him a lot, but I also need to train and compete to improve. My immediate focus is the world championship and then, of course, winning a gold in the Tokyo (2020) Summer Games.” 

Nasheman News :  Jhulan Goswami’s 3/23 and half-centuries by Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj helped India thrash New Zealand by eight wickets and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ICC Women’s Championship one-day international series here on Tuesday.

Like the first match, New Zealand struggled against India’s bowlers. Apart from Amy Satterthwaite, who scored a gritty 71 runs, no other batswomen contributed handsomely as Goswami led the charge and restricted the hosts to a modest 161 at the Bay Oval here, according to an ICC release.

Coming in to bat, India’s Mandhana (90 not out) dominated the proceedings, forging an impressive 151-run partnership with Mithali Raj (63 not out off 111) for the third wicket. 

But the victory was set up by the bowlers. Goswami’s opening over accounted for Suzie Bates for a duck, and that was a big blow for New Zealand. Then, Shikha Pandey trapped Sophie Devine in front for seven.

When Ekta Bisht removed Lauren Down and Amelia Kerr for 15 and 1 respectively, the hosts were left tottering at 38/4. Maddy Green looked to knuckle down with her captain, but fell to Poonam Yadav after a 28-ball 9.

Satterthwaite took the lead and stitched together a relatively brisk 58-run stand with Leigh Kasperek before finally being dismissed by Yadav. There were some handy contributions from the lower order, but Goswami helped end the resistance, dismissing Kasperek and Lea Tahuhu for 21 and 12 respectively.

Goswami finished with 3/23, while Bisht, Deepti Sharma and Yadav chipped in with two wickets each.

India’s chase had a rather wobbly start, though, with Anna Peterson and Tahuhu accounting for Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma early. Unfortunately for the hosts, that was all the success they were allowed.

Mandhana just picked up from where she had left off in the first ODI, when she had scored her fourth century in the format. Once again, she scored freely and found a solid partner in captain Raj at the other end.

Raj scored relatively slowly, but hit a couple of sixes off Kasperek, and as the target came in sight she too scored boundaries more regularly. 

Mandhana remained unbeaten and her knock featured 13 fours and a six. Raj scored 63 from 111 deliveries, including two sixes and four fours. Her second six brought the winning runs for India.

With the win, India have moved to No.2 on the Championship table, on 12 points after 11 games, ahead of New Zealand on net run-rate.

Nasheman News :  Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was crowned champion of the Indonesia Masters 2019 on Sunday after her opponent Carolina Marin pulled out of the summit clash due to an injury.

Marin, the reigning Olympic champion and three-time world champion, twisted her right knee after landing awkwardly following a smash in the first game itself. 

The Spanish shuttler was leading 10-4 before her discomfort and pain made her pull out of the mega final.

Saina was the runner-up in the 2018 edition of the Indonesia Masters.

Nasheman News : India’s Ambati Rayudu has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after the part-timer’s action was reported during the first ODI against Australia earlier this month, the ICC announced on Monday.

“The International Cricket Council today announced that Ambati Rayudu has been suspended from bowling in international cricket,” an ICC statement read.

“The player elected not to submit to a test of his bowling action within the stipulated period of 14 days of being reported for a suspect action, and therefore he has been suspended with immediate effect in accordance with clause 4.2 of the ICC regulations, which can be found here.”

“The suspension will remain in place until he is tested, and can demonstrate he is able to bowl with a legal action,” it added.

The 33-year-old India player was reported on January 13 for a suspect action during the first ODI of the three-match series against Australia in Sydney.

The ICC also announced that Rayudu may however continue bowling in domestic cricket without being tested.

“However, according to Article 11.5 of the Regulations and with the consent of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Rayudu may be allowed to bowl in domestic cricket events played under the auspices of the BCCI,” the statement further read.

Nasheman News :  India rode on another all-round show to thrash New Zealand by seven wickets in the third ODI at the Bay Oval here on Monday and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match rubber.

This is India’s first ODI series win in New Zealand in a decade. The Men-in-Blue last achieved the feat under Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2009.

Chasing a below-par 243, India lost opener Shikhar Dhawan after a breezy 28 off 27 balls, but fellow opener Rohit Sharma struck his 39th ODI fifty to lay the foundation in the company of the skipper Virat Kohli, who also got to his 49th ODI half century.

Rohit (62 off 77 balls; 4X3, 6X2) and Kohli (60 off 74; 4X6, 6X1) forged a 113-run second wicket stand to ease the work for the middle order, weakened by the absence of the in-form former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was left out of the playing XI after suffering a hamstring injury.

Rohit appeared the more aggressive in the second wicket stand, stamping his authority over the Kiwi bowlers and smashing them all over the park before racing to his half century and taking India’s total to the three figures.

Kohli wasn’t left much behind and the Delhi right-hander gradually matched his partner shot by shot to eventually get to his fifty even as the India total swelled past the 150-run mark.

Just when the duo looked set to take the men-in-blue to another easy win, left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner deceived Rohit with a flighted delivery to be stumped only for the second time in one-day internationals.

Three overs later, Kohli also followed Rohit back to the dressing room after being spooned by Henry Nicholls at cover off Trent Boult, leaving the untested middle order to fetch another 76 runs from 113 balls.

The new pair of Ambati Rayudu (40 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (38 not out) showed no nerves and went about the business in their customary fashion.

While Rayudu, who was on Monday suspended by the ICC from bowling in international cricket, started off aggressively, Karthik was welcomed by a bouncer and the Tamil Nadu stumper didn’t look back from there on, playing his natural game and eventually sealing off the deal in India’s favour.

Earlier, pacer Mohammed Shami starred with the ball taking three wickets to help India overcome veteran Ross Taylor’s defiant 93 and Tom Latham’s 51, and restrict the hosts to 243 in 49 overs.

Shami accounted for the wickets of opener Colin Munro (7), Taylor and Ish Sodhi (12) while fellow quick Bhuvneshwar Kumar accounted for the scalps of the other opener Martin Guptill (13) and Trent Boult (2).

Electing to bat on a slow track, New Zealand once again lost the momentum quite early after the cheap dismissals of the openers before skipper Kane Williamson (28) and Taylor steadied the ship with a brief 33-run third wicket stand.

The middle overs witnessed comeback man Hardik Pandya (2/45) and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/51) ripping through the Kiwi middle and lower order even after Taylor and Latham were engaged in a 119-run fourth wicket stand.

Barring that, New Zealand fans had hardly anything to cheer for as the tail also failed to wag as the innings eventually ended in the penultimate over.

Both the sides will now move to Hamilton for the fourth match on Thursday.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 243 (Ross Taylor 93, Tom Latham 51; Mohammed Shami 3/41, Hardik Pandya 2/45, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/46) lose to India 244/3 (Rohit Sharma 62, Virat Kohli 60, Ambati Rayudu 40 not out; Trent Boult 2/40) by 7 wickets.

Nasheman News :  An unbeaten 201-run partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Sheldon Jackson against hosts Karnataka on Sunday brought Saurashtra to the verge of sealing a Ranji Trophy final berth.

Chasing a moderate target of 279 runs, Saurashtra suffered a top-order collapse before Pujara (108 batting) and Jackson (90) put on a rescue act with their side now just 55 runs away from victory with seven wickets in hand.

The visitors were once reeling at 23/3, thanks to pacer Vinay Kumar, who struck twice to pack off Vishvaraj Jadeja (0) and Snell Patel (0). However, Pujara and Jackson’s sensible batting not only repaired the damage but also took Saurashtra to the brink of victory with the fifth and final day left.

Saurastra were 224/3 when stumps were drawn for the day.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka resumed from the overnight score of 237/8 and could add just a couple of runs before being bowled out.

Left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja starred with the ball for Saurashtra with figures of 5/78.

Brief scores: Saurashta 236 all out, 224/3 (Cheteswar Pujara 108 batting, Sheldon Jackson 90 batting; Vinay Kumar 2/48 ) need 55 runs to win vs Karnataka 275 and 239 all out (Shreyas Gopal 61, Mayank Agarwal 46; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 5/78)

[Nasheman news] Mount Maunganui (New Zealand) Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed out of Monday’s third ODI against New Zealand with a hamstring injury, making it only the third occasion when the veteran stumper was forced out of the playing XI.

At 37, Dhoni has been one of the fittest Indian cricketers of the current generation and very less often do fans witness an Indian line-up sans his name in white-ball cricket.

Interestingly, this is only the third time the Ranchi wicketkeeper-batsman has missed out with an injury.

The last time he was out of the playing XI was way back in 2013 when he missed three ODIs due to a hamstring injury in a tri-series in the West Indies.

While the first time, he missed out was 12 years ago when he was out of two ODIs against Ireland and South Africa in Belfast in 2007 due to viral fever.

On Monday, with India leading 2-0 in the five-match ODI rubber against the Kiwis, the talismanic stumper was once again troubled by his hamstring, which provided the men-in-blue with an opportunity to test out Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps.

With India slated to play a handful of international games ahead of the ICC World Cup in May and June, this experiment could come handy for Virat Kohli’s team, in case Dhoni picks a niggle or injury in the showpiece tournament in England and Wales.

[Nasheman news] Mount Maunganui (New Zealand) Pacer Mohammed Shami starred with the ball taking three wickets helping India overcome veteran Ross Taylor’s defiant 93 and restricting New Zealand to a below-par 243 in the crucial third ODI at the Bay Oval here on Monday.

The former New Zealand skipper stood out with a 106-ball 93, laced with 9 boundaries to anchor the Kiwi innings that once again crumbled in good batting conditions.

Besides Taylor, wicketkeeper Tom Latham contributed with a 64-ball 51, laced with a boundary and a six, even as the rest of the Kiwi batting looked pedestrian against the disciplined Indian bowling attack.

Electing to bat on a slow track, New Zealand once again lost the early momentum after losing both openers — Colin Munro (7) and Martin Guptill (13) in the first power play, to the pace duo of Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, respectively.

Skipper Kane Williamson (28) joined forces with Taylor to steady the ship with a brief 33-run third wicket stand, but the former succumbed to a blinder of a catch by comeback man Hardik Pandya off leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, while trying to break the shackles.

Taylor continued in his customary fashion, meddling the odd ball to the boundary while trying to build a partnership with the stumper Latham, who supported the veteran well by keeping the scoreboard ticking.

The fourth wicket partnership between Taylor and Latham flourished to 119, before Chahal was brought back and the wrist spinner responded in style by dismissing Latham, caught by Ambati Rayudu at deep midwicket.

At 178/4 and with Taylor getting to another half century, New Zealand were on track but Pandya removed Henry Nicholls (6) and Mitchell Santner (3) in similar fashion, caught behind by Dinesh Karthik to reduce the hosts to 198/6.

Taylor, who by now had reached the nervous 90s was eager to get to the three figure mark briskly and up the ante but the right-hander’s plans were dashed by Shami, who got his victim caught behind.

India, thereafter did not allow the Kiwi tail to wag this time around and skipper Virat Kohli quickly made up for dropping Ish Sodhi (12) off Shami, by comfortably latching on to the New Zealand leggie off the same bowler in the same over.

Kohli immediately ran Doug Bracewell (15) out before Bhuvneshwar came back to pack off Trent Boult (2) to end the Kiwi innings in the penultimate over of the innings.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 243 (Ross Taylor 93, Tom Latham 51; Mohammed Shami 3/41, Hardik Pandya 2/45, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/46) vs India.

[Nasheman news] Mount Maunganui (New Zealand) Maintaining their winning streak, a dominant India outclassed New Zealand by 90 runs in the second match of the five-game rubber at the Bay Oval here on Saturday to go 2-0 up in the series.

After the Indian openers — Rohit Sharma (87) and Shikhar Dhawan (66) handed a solid start to the visiting side, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (4/45) starred with the leather to help India register a thumping win.

Chasing a challenging 325 for victory, the hosts suffered another batting collapse as most of their batsmen succumbed before a clinical Indian attack. The Indian bowlers struck at regular intervals, denying the Kiwi batsmen to build any big partnership.

Bowling all-rounder Doug Bracewell chipped in valuable 57 runs down the order however, it wasn’t enough to help the Kiwis cross the line.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar came with an early breakthrough, dismissing Kiwi opener Martin Guptill (15) cheaply before Mohammed Shami packed back hosts’ skipper Kane Williamson (20) with New Zealand’s scorecard reading 51/2 in the eighth over.

With the addition of 33 runs in the Kiwi scorecard, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also joined the party, sending back a good looking Colin Munro (31). Just when the hosts touched the three-digit mark, Kedhar Jadav worsened New Zealand’s situation after dismissing Ross Taylor (22), who was stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Tom Latham (34) then tried to rescue his side but became Kuldeep’s victim in the 25th over. The chinaman then struck thrice in quick succession, sending back Colin de Grandhomme (3), Henry Nicholls (28) and Ish Sodhi, who failed to open his account, with New Zealand at 166/8.

Bracewell restored some respectablity for the hosts, smashing a 46-ball 57 to take New Zealand past the 200-run mark. The all-rounder’s firework was decoarted with five boundaries and three hits into the stands.

Bhuvneshwar finally applied brakes on Bracewell’s innings as the batsman, while trying to clear the fence, handed an easy catch to Dhawan at long-on.

Chahal put the final nail in the coffin, dismissing Lockie Ferguson (12) as India registered a thumping 90-run win. 

Earlier, a brilliant batting display helped India put a challenging 324/4 against the Kiwis. Opener Rohit and Dhawan were the top contributors with individual scores of 87 and 66 respectively.

Opting to bat, India were off to a perfect start, thanks to the openers, who forged a crucial 154 runs for the first wicket before Kiwi pacer Trent Boult gave some relief to his side, dismissing Dhawan in the 26th over. 

Ferguson struck soon, packing back a well-settled Rohit with India’s scorecard reading 172/2.

Skipper Virat Kohli (43) and Ambati Rayudu (47) were then involved in a 64-run partnership for the third wicket. Boult gave the visitors a major blow as a thick edge off Kohli was caught at fine-led by Sodhi.

Rayudu was then joined by Dhoni (48 not out) as the two steadily lifted India near the 300-run mark before the former fell to Ferguson in the 46th over.

Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav’s (22 not out off 10 balls) fireworks then accelerated the run-rate, taking India to a good total of 324/4 in the allotted 50 overs.

For New Zealand, Boult and Ferguson picked two wickets each, conceding 61 and 81 runs respectively.

Brief score: India 324/4 (Rohit Sharma 87, Shikhar Dhawan 66; Trent Boult 2/61) beat New Zealand 234 all out (Doug Bracewell 57, Tom Latham 34; Kuldeep Yadav 4/45) by 90 runs.

Nasheman News : All-rounder Hardik Pandya and opener Lokesh Rahul, whose bans were lifted on Thursday, have been included in the squad for the series against New Zealand and India A respectively.

“Following the CoA’s decision to lift the bans on Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, the Senior selection committee has decided to include Hardik Pandya in the squad for the series against New Zealand. KL Rahul will meanwhile join the India A squad that is playing 5 one-day games against England Lions in Thiruvananthapuram,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.

“Hardik Pandya will be sent to New Zealand to join the team at the earliest and KL Rahul will join the India A squad to play the last 3 one-day games against England Lions,” it read.

India are 1-0 up in the five-match ODI series and the second rubber is on Saturday.

India A team will play 5 one-day games against England Lions.

Skipper Virat Kohli has been rested for the final two ODIs and the subsequent three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series.

The Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) lifted the suspensions of Pandya and Rahul with immediate effect.

It was imposed for their objectionable comments on a television talk show.

The two players, who were sent home from the Australia tour, have already missed out on four One-Day Internationals (ODI), three against Australia and the opening match of the five-ODI series against New Zealand.

“The Committee of Administrators (CoA) had, by emails dated 11.01.2019, and in exercise of Rule 41(6) of the Constitution of BCCI, suspended Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul in view of the allegations of misconduct against them, pending adjudication of the allegations under Rule 46 of the approved BCCI Constitution,” a BCCI statement said.

“Since the adjudication of all allegations of misconduct against any cricketer registered with, inter alia, the BCCI is required to be undertaken by the BCCI Ombudsman, whose appointment is pending directions of the Supreme Court of India, the CoA is of the view that the interim suspension orders dated 11.01.2019 should be presently lifted with immediate effect.

“The above matter and decision has been taken with the concurrence of the Learned Amicus Curiae, P.S. Narasimha. In view of the above, the suspension orders dated 11.01.2019 is immediately lifted pending appointment and adjudication of the allegations by the BCCI Ombudsman,” the statement added.

When contacted by media, CoA member Diana Edulji refused to comment on the issue.