Nasheman News : Traditionally a tough, rural sport practised by ‘pehlwans’ in villages across the length and breadth of India, kabaddi has been flying high in recent years due to the money and glamour brought in by the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL).

This new-found professionalism has certainly helped the top-level players and turned this typically ‘desi’ sport into a lucrative career option.

But going by a longstanding trend in Punjab, the benefits are yet to trickle down to the average athlete at the village level in the state.

Generally considered to be one of the traditional powerhouses of kabaddi in the country, players from Punjab are making news in faraway Canada for the wrong reasons. 

Nearly 47 per cent of the youth going to the country in the name of participating in Kabaddi tournaments have failed to return, a confidential report of the Canadian government has pointed out.

“In 2015, 2016 and 2017, visas were issued to 261 kabaddi players. Forty seven percent of them failed to report back to the migration office in Chandigarh, 26 per cent obtained work permits after entry to Canada and 1 per cent made refugee claims,” the internal report of Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (Ministry), which is with media, has stated.

“While the rate of return increased from 42 per cent in 2015 to 62 per cent in 2017, the rate of persons obtaining work permits unrelated to Kabaddi has also increased from 21 per cent to 30 per cent,” it pointed out.

The youth are invited to Canada by kabaddi federations based there to play matches organised by the strong Indian community residing in the country.

“The rate of players who obtained work permits after entry to Canada (26 per cent) in 2015, 2016 and 2017 suggests that they intended to enter Canada primarily for long-term work unrelated to playing Kabaddi,” the report said.

Selection by a Canada-based kabaddi federation for visa facilitation effectively allowed the players to circumvent the conventional examination of work permit applications at a migration office outside of Canada. 

With an increasing number of youth applying for Canadian visa in the name of kabaddi, the Canadian ministry, in 2017, had invited kabaddi federations in Canada to participate in a pilot programme related to the sport. 

Players and federations were informed of the requirement to report back to the migration office at the conclusion of the season in Canada in December 2017. That year, 78 kabaddi players’ applications were approved for the four inviting federations. Of these, only 62 per cent reported back while 30 percent stayed back and obtained a work permit by presenting themselves with a labour market impact assessment at a land port of entry as “visa exempt” clients.

Among the four federations, according to the report, players of two federations had a rate of return of 29 per cent only. Players of the other two federations had an 88 per cent rate of return.

When contacted by media, officials at the national kabaddi federation refused to comment on the issue.

“The federation has nothing to do with this issue. These players go abroad on their personal initiative and at the behest of tournament organisers over there,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, rate of refusal of visa applications for Kabaddi players was as high as 65 per cent (in 2014). 

Canada’s Chandigarh visa office receives the vast majority of temporary resident applications from kabaddi players wishing to play in Canada. 

“Kabaddi players applying through Chandigarh are typically young, single unsalaried males with limited economic prospects in their home county. Most belong to rural agricultural families with modest land holdings which may be held in common with several persons. Most applicants play for their village club which is usually supported by local patrons. It is difficult to gauge a player’s skill or standing in the sport as there is no formal structure at this level,” the report pointed out.

“Misrepresentation and fraudulent documentation are of concern. Fraudulent documentation, including photo-substituted evidence of applicants playing kabaddi, have been encountered among the supporting documentation submitted with applications,” it added.

Nasheman News :  Serena Williams used the 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska’s inexperience to her advantage as she overpowered the Ukrainian to make it to the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday.

She routed her opponent 6-2, 6-1 in a match that lasted an hour and seven minutes, reports Efe.

“I’m taking every match as it comes, but I’m playing as hard as I can, the best I can do and I love it out here,” Williams said.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion and seven-time Australian Open champion, is now set to play against either World number one Simona Halep from Romania or her elder sister Venus Williams.

Serena, who was defeated by Venus 7-6(4), 6-1 in their first Australian Open face-off in the second round in the year 1998, defeated Yastremska with her strong serves and stalled the Ukrainian’s attempt to make a comeback in the match.

“You did amazing. You did so well. You did amazing. Don’t cry. You did really well,” Serena told Yastremska after the match.

“I thought she played amazing, came out swinging. I felt like she came out ready to go,” she added.

Nasheman News : India rode a third consecutive half-century by former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to defeat Australia by seven wickets in the third One-Day International (ODI) here on Friday.

The visitors thus clinched the three-match series 2-1.

Dhoni anchored the innings with a steady unbeaten 87 off 114 balls as the Indians chased down the 231-run target with four balls to spare.

Nasheman News :  On a day when there were only four gold medals at stake, hosts Maharashtra made a clean sweep of all four in the Kho-Kho competition at the Khelo India Youth Games here on Thursday.

They won the gold medals in Boys and Girls Under-17 and Under-21.

With the sweep in Kho-Kho, Maharashtra have moved to 68 gold, 51 silver and 62 bronze. Delhi are still waiting to get past the 50-gold mark as they have 47 gold, 32 silver and 44 bronze. Haryana had 38 gold, 36 silver and 38 bronze. The Top-10 on the tally stayed unchanged from the previous day.

Kerala, showing that they have adapted to the tactics of the sport, picked two silver medals, both in Under-21 section. Delhi (Girls Under-17) and Andhra Pradesh (Boys Under-17) won the other silver medals.

Barring the Boys Under-17 final against Andhra Pradesh, the hosts Maharashtra were made to fight in all the other finals, though they came through with the gold in all with the crowd cheering them hard.

The most entertaining match was in Under-17 Girls’ final where Maharashtra beat Delhi 19-17 as the match was decided through an extra innings which Maharashtra won 7-5, after both teams were level at the end of the second innings.

As the focus shifted to team events, Haryana reached three of the four semi-finals of the Kabaddi competition. The only exception was in Boys Under-21 section, where Haryana was surprisingly knocked out in the League stage.

Haryana beat surprise semi-finalists West Bengal by a massive 36-point margin to reach the final, where they meet Chhattisgarh who edged past beat Uttar Pradesh by three points to reach the final showdown.

The Haryana girls continued their performance in the U-21 category as well as they beat Uttar Pradesh by a handy margin of 32-26. They will meet Himachal Pradesh for the gold. Himachal fought a close match with hosts Maharashtra before winning 22-19.

The boys category, U-17 semi-finals were close. Chattisgarh had to sweat it out before earning a 29-27 win, while Delhi took on Kabaddi powerhouse Haryana in the second semi-final. This was the only semi-final, where Haryana were strained a little. After an initial fight from Delhi, Haryana went on to win 44-37.

In tennis, third seed S. Manish of Tamil Nadu stayed on course for the gold medal by reaching the final of boys U-21 singles. He overcame Nitin Sinha of West Bengal 6-3, 6-2. Manish will now take on unseeded Dhruv Sunish of Maharashtra, who upset fourth seed Paramveer Bajwa of Chandigarh in the other semi-final. Dhruv beat Bajwa 6-4, 6-2.

In the U-17 girls singles semi-finals, Prerna Vichare of Maharashtra, who trains at Khar Gymkhana, overcame Lakshmi Reddy of Andhra Pradesh 7-5, 6-4 and will play Priyanshi Bhandari of Gujarat for the gold medal. The Gujarat girl beat top seed Gargi Pawar of Maharashtra 6-2, 6-2.

In the girls U-21 doubles semi-finals, Telangana’s Rashmika Bhamdipaty and Humera Shaik reached the final without conceding a game 6-0, 6-0 against Tamil Nadu’s K. Balasubramanian and Sai Avanti Revevanur. They face Gujarat’s Zeel Desai and Vaidehi Chaudhari who defeated Sai Dedeepya and Aditi Aree of Telangana 6-0, 6-2 in the other semi-final.

In hockey, Jharkhand came back from a huge 0-3 deficit to turn the tables on Odisha and emerge 4-3 winners set up a title clash with Haryana in the girls U-17 hockey competition on Thursday. In contrast, Haryana turned the second semi-final into a one-sided affair, hammering neighbours Punjab 4-0.

Nasheman News : Australia’s vulnerability to quality leg-spin was exposed by Yuzvendra Chahal, who returned with his second overseas fifer to help India restrict the hosts for a megre 230 in the series-deciding third ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Friday.

Playing his first match of the series, Chahal wrecked havoc in the Australian line-up, returning a career-best 6/42 as the home batsmen seemed to have no clue playing the leggie.

Australia’s top order conundrum, especially the off-colour opening duo of skipper Aaron Finch (14) and his deputy Alex Carey (5), continued to hurt them even though contributions from the middle order gave their bowlers something to defend.

After pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar got rid of the openers and reduced the hosts for 27/2, Chahal ripped through the middle order, taking the crucial wickets of the in-form Shaun Marsh (39) and Usman Khawaja (34) in his very first over.

The leggie then returned to remove all-rounder Marcus Stoinis (10) before ending a stiff 45-run seventh wicket stand between top-scorer Peter Handscomb (58) and Jhye Richardson (16).

His sixth victim was his opposite number in the Aussie camp Adam Zampa (3).

Pacer Mohammed Shami also contributed with the wickets of the dangerous Glenn Maxwell (26) and the tailender Billy Stanlake for a duck as the Aussie innings folded in 48.4 overs.

Earlier, after being put in to bat with rain interrupting the very first over, Australia had themselves to blame for the lack of application of the openers against an in-form Bhuvneshwar.

While Finch tried hard to get the rust off his willow, Carey was dismissed defending a shortish delivery bringing Marsh and Khawaja together for rebuilding the ship.

Marsh and Khawaja repeated their act of the second ODI, by putting up a 73-run third wicket stand before Chahal was employed by Virat Kohli.

The leg-spinner responded in style dismissing both the set batsmen in a span of two deliveries, with Marsh brilliantly stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off a wide delivery while Khawaja falling to a simple caught and bowled chance.

The rest of the batsmen, barring Handscomb, too failed to read Chahal’s trajectory but the leg-spinner had the final laugh getting rid of the right-hander, who faced 63 balls and struck two fours.

Brief Scores: Australia 230 (Peter Handscomb 58, Shaun Marsh 39, Usman Khawaja 34; Yuzvendra Chahal 6/42, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/28) vs India.

Nasheman News : India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl against Australia in the third and final one day international (ODI) of the series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Friday.

India made three changes in their playing eleven as all-rounder Vijay Shankar, who makes his ODI debut, replaces Mohammed Siraj while Kedhar Jadhav and Yuzvendra Chahal comes in for Ambati Rayudu and Kuldeep Yadav respectively.

Meanwhile, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa replace Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Lyon in the Aussie team.

The series is currently tied at 1-1.

Playing XI:

Australia:

Alex Carey (Wicket-keeper), Aaron Finch (Captain), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Peter Siddle, Adam Zampa

India:ARohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (Captain), MS Dhoni (Wicket-keeper), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal

Nasheman News :  With the three-match ODI rubber tantalisingly poised at 1-1, the task is cut out for both India and Australia to pull up their socks in the series decider at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Friday.

India bounced back from the 34-run loss in the series opener at Sydney, with another Virat Kohli masterclass century combined with his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s vintage finish to pull off a 6-wicket win at Adelaide.

Going into the final ODI, India will be aiming to take the winning momentum and end the ongoing tour Down Under without losing a series.

The Virat Kohli-led side started their tour with a three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series that ended in a 1-1 draw, followed by a historic first-ever 2-1 Test series win for India on Australian soil.

In the crucial series decider at the MCG, India will once again hope for their in-form top order, comprising Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Kohli to score the bulk of the runs.

With Dhoni marshalling the less-tested middle-order, and Kedar Jadhav still warming the bench, both Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik will aim to get some runs if they are to stay in contention for a berth in the 2019 World Cup squad.

While the bowling department led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar has impressed in both the games, with pacer Mohammed Shami and the spin duo of chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja providing good support, India’s main point of concern will be the fifth bowler in the absence of suspended all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The Men-in-Blue tried left-armer Khaleel Ahmed in the first ODI before handing a debut to Mohammed Siraj in the second, but neither could make an impact.

In that scenario, the team management could be tempted to test all-rounder Vijay Shankar on Friday or may opt for the leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, who has been warming the bench for the first couple of matches.

Meanwhile, the hosts have made two changes to their playing XI on the eve of the decider. Pacer Billy Stanlake replaced Jason Behrendorff, who has been ruled out with back soreness, while off-spinner Nathan Lyon has been dropped to make way for leggie Adam Zampa.

Lyon’s axing from the side comes just two matches after he’d replaced Zampa in the side for the series opener in Sydney. Pacer Kane Richardson has also been called into the squad as a cover.

While the bowlers have done a decent job, Australia will hope for their ODI skipper Aaron Finch to find some form with the willow.

Australia’s top-order batting has mainly revolved around their No.3 and No.4 in Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh, with the latter blasting a 123-ball 131 in the second match, albeit for a losing cause.

The middle-order, comprising the likes of Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have also been among the runs this series, and the hosts will be hoping to put on a 300 plus total to challenge the strong Indian batting.

A victory for Australia at the MCG on Friday would hand them their first series win in almost two years, having won just four of their past 23 One-day Internationals.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Vijay Shankar.

Australia: Aaron Finch (Captain), Alex Carey (WK), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake.

Nasheman News :  Former Indian cricket team skipper Sourav Ganguly has defended cricketers Hardik Pandya and K.L. Rahul over their “Koffee With Karan” episode controversy. saying people make mistakes but everyone should move on and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Ganguly spoke at the trailer launch of the Hindi film “22 Yards”, with the cast members Barun Sobti, Geetika Tyagi and Chaiti Ghoshal and director Mitali Ghoshal here on Wednesday.

Pandya and Rahul were slammed over their sexist comments on “Koffee with Karan”. Despite an apology to fans and their own teammates, Pandya and Rahul were suspended by the BCCI and ousted from a three-match ODI series against Australia in Sydney.

Asked if modern day cricketers should be responsible while giving statements on a public platform as a whole lot of youngsters look up to them, Ganguly said: “I haven’t watched that episode. I watch ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’. Jokes apart, I feel that you can’t generalise that only modern day cricketers should behave responsibly. People make mistakes. Let’s not get too far into that. 

“I am sure whoever has done it will realise that and come out as a better person. We are all human beings. We are not machines that everything you put in comes out perfect. You have just got to live life and let others live. They are responsible people. They may be role models but they are under pressure all the time to perform. Certain things happen in life and as everyone, we should move on and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.” 

Does he feel modern day cricketers of India aren’t responsible in their behaviour as compared to the past generation of cricketers?

Ganguly said: “I feel modern day cricketers are also responsible, disciplined and obedient. In life, certain things happen and you make some mistakes so, let’s not get too far into that. Look at Virat Kohli, he is such a fantastic role model. India is a fortunate country. Every generation produces players who all of us cherish.”

He said India has produced great cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli over the years.

“There was Sunil Gavaskar and when he retired, people thought who is next, then Sachin Tendulkar came and when Tendulkar retired, people again asked who is next then people saw Virat Kohli. So, we are a very fortunate country in terms of sports and a lot of these cricketers are fantastic human beings because they come from very middle class backgrounds and fight their way up.”

Bollywood has made films on the life of sports personalities like Milkha Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and now Kabir Khan is making a film on the Indian cricket team’s World Cup victory in 1983. 

If a biopic is made on Ganguly’s life, then which actor should play his role?

“It is difficult for me to answer that question because I haven’t thought about a biopic on my life. People should first make a biopic of other sports personalities and if people have an interest in my biopic, then we will see. 

“I really liked the biopic of Milkha Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The film on Sachin Tendulkar was a bit different. Now, I have heard that the film on India’s 1983 World Cup win is being made. I feel that was a great time for Indian cricket, so I am looking forward to see that film. As far as my biopic is concerned, we will wait and see as at the moment I haven’t thought about it.”

Asked if he has been approached by ALTBalaji to make a web series on his life, he said: “Is it Miss Ekta Kapoor’s production house? Because I am not aware of production houses and if yes, then I have spoken to her but nothing more than that.”

“22 Yards” is releasing on February 22. It is a triumphant tale of two individuals, a cricket agent and a young cricketer, overcoming numerous barriers and winning the toughest battle of life against all odds.

Barun Sobti plays the lead role of Ron Sen, while Panchi Bora will essay Sonali in the film, which will introduce Amartya Ray as Shome Ray. Other main cast members include Rajit Kapur, Rajesh Sharma, Chaiti Ghoshal, Geetika Tyagi and Mrinal Mukherjee.

Nasheman News :  Srihari Nataraj emerged as the most prolific gold medal winner, as he added two more on Tuesday, to reach a total of seven at the Khelo India Youth Games.

With S.P. Likith picking up five, the Karnataka duo were the most decorated gold medallists of the Games. Karnataka won a total of 21 swimming gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze for 51, while Delhi had 19 gold, 13 silver and 16 bronze for 48 and Maharashtra 18 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze.

Yet the distribution was such that Maharashtra in Under-21 and Delhi in Under-17 were the winners of the combined team championships at the Balewadi Complex swimming pool.

In the overall tally, Maharashtra stayed way ahead of the pack with 64 gold, 51 silver and 62 bronze for a total of 177, while Delhi trailed in second place at 47 gold, 31 silver and 43 bronze and a total of 121. Haryana are third with 37 gold, 35 silver and 38 bronze for a total of 110.

Nataraj was a comfortable winner in both 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle. He faced no challenge in winning the 50m backstroke (Boys U-21) in 26.16 seconds with Goa’s Xavier D’Souza (26.74) more than half a second behind him. Haryana’s Vedant Seth (27.14) was third.

Nataraj won his second individual gold of the day in the 100m freestyle clocking 52.37 seconds. He again finished way ahead of D’Souza (53.15) and Maharashtra’s Aaron Fernandes (54.11).

Delhi’s Swadesh Mondal, who started the day with four gold medals already in his bag, added a fifth by winning the 200m breaststroke in the Boys U-17 event in 2:26.91.

On the last day of the competition, Delhi bagged four of the 13 gold at stake while Karnataka and Maharashtra clinched three and two gold, respectively.

In shooting, Punjab’s Patiala-based 16-year-old Sartaj Singh, who travels twice a week to Chandigarh for training, hung on to a slender lead to beat a charge by National Junior Champion Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar (Madhya Pradesh) and won the gold medal in the 50m 3-position rifle competition. 

Telangana’s 13-year-old Esha Singh and Maharashtra’s Harshada Nithave won the girls under-17 and under-21 10m air pistol gold medals respectively. Esha Singh was unstoppable in the final, shooting 241.3 points, including 14 10s, despite a niggle in the back, which saw her finish third in qualification.

Harshada Nithave, who won the Asian youth bronze medal in 2015, had also finished third in qualification today but asserted her intention from the start of the under-21 final and won the gold.

Maharashtra’s Snehal Bhongale and Ashwini Malage gave their team two more gold medals as the weightlifting competition came to an end on Tuesday.

Bhongale grabbed the gold in 87kg, while Malage won the Over-87kg, as the host state finished the competition with a total of nine gold medals, with Punjab had five and Tamil Nadu four.

The final day’s other two gold were won by Tamil Nadu and Punjab but in contrasting fashion. B. Mukesh in 109kg won a tight contest, while Punjab’s Tejpal Singh Sandhu won the Over-109kg gold by a massive 20kg margin.

It brought an end to a competition that produced a massive number of records. KIYG 2019 saw a number of records being set across different categories, 26 in the U-21s with woman power ruling this category. Fourteen records were created by girls and 12 by the boys. In the U-17s, boys won the race with 26 records against six by the girls. That brought the total number of records to 58.

Maharashtra won nine gold in weightlifting, while Punjab with five and Tamil Nadu with four were behind them,

Meanwhile, Odisha thwarted Haryana from completing a hockey double as they beat them 4-2 in the Boys Under-21 hockey final of the Khelo India Youth Games in a penalty-shootout at the Mahindra Hockey Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. Punjab edged Uttar Pradesh also in penalties for bronze.

On Monday, Haryana had beaten Punjab for the Boys Under-17 gold medal.

In a pulsating Under-21 final, Odisha and Haryana were evenly matched and put two goals each past the other in open play, but could not decide the issue, for which penalties were needed.

In football, Punjab staged a fine recovery to down Goa 2-1 to maintain an all-win record, even as both teams made it to the semi-finals from Pool B of the boys U-21 football competition.

The semi-finals will see Maharashtra meet Punjab while Karnataka take on Kerala in Boys Under 17, even as Punjab meet Kerala and Goa clash with Mizoram in Boys Under 21. In Girls Under-17, it will be Odisha v Manipur and Kerala v Jharkhand and in Girls Under-21 Maharashtra meet Tamil Nadu and Mizoram take on Manipur.

Nasheman News : Mahendra Singh Dhoni silenced his critics with a brisk unbeaten half-century while skipper Virat Kohli scored a century as India clinched a series levelling six-wicket win in the second ODI against Australia here on Tuesday.

The former captain showed glimpses of his trademark ability to pull off difficult run chases with a 54-ball 55.

Dhoni has now notched up half-centuries in contrasting style in two back-to-back matches. 

Although the 96-ball 51 in the first One-Day International (ODI) came in difficult circumstances, it was slammed by critics who claimed that the 37-year-old is now over hill.

But Tuesday’s innings have surely silenced all the questioned and strengthened Dhoni’s claim for a spot in the World Cup squad.

Chasing a competitive 299 for victory, the tourists suffered an early jolt when Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed in the eighth over.

But a collective batting effort from the top order, and a 82-run fourth wicket stand between Kohli and Dhoni ensured the team’s win with four balls to spare.

Coming in to bat after the fall of Shikhar Dhawan in the eighth over, Kohli anchored the Indian innings with 104 runs off 112 balls.

After the skipper was dismissed in the 44th over, Dhoni produced his trademark finish to keep India in the hunt for the series.

Medium-pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar also starred in India’s win by picking up four wickets, while Mohammed Shami contributed well with three scalps. 

Apart from Kohli and former skipper Dhoni, opener Rohit Sharma (42), Shikhar Dhawan (32) and Dinesh Karthik (25 not out) made valuable contributions.

India started its innings safely as Rohit and Dhawan took their side near the 50-run mark before Jason Behrendorff drew first blood for Australia, dismissing the latter with the score reading 47/1.

Incoming batsman Kohli then joined the opener and the duo took their side past the three-digit mark in 17.4 overs before Rohit fell in the next delivery by Marcus Stoinis. Rohit’s top edge was taken safely by Peter Handscomb at deep forward square.

Ambati Rayudu then ably supported his skipper, chipping in with 24 runs before falling in the 31st over and forging a 59-run partnership for the third wicket as India were still 139 runs away from victory.

Kohli was then joined by Dhoni and their crucial 82-run partnership drew India closer to a victory. Enroute, Kohli also notched up his ton off 107 balls. However, the Indian run-machine failed to carry India through the finishing line as Jason Behrendorff sent him back in the 44th over with India’s score reading 242/4.

Dhoni however continued marshalling the forces along with Karthik to help India cross the line with four balls to spare.

For Australia, Behrendorff, Richardson, Stoinis and Maxwell picked up a wicket each.

Earlier, the hosts rode on a laborious century from Shaun Marsh in energy sapping conditions to post a competitive total.

Marsh, who struck 11 fours and 3 sixes in his 123-ball 131, was instrumental in rebuilding the Aussie innings that saw him sharing half-century stands with Usman Khawaja (56 for the third wicket), Peter Handscomb (52 for the fourth), Marcus Stoinis (55 for the fifth) and Glenn Maxwell (94 for the sixth). 

Electing to bat, Australia’s start went off-track after both the openers — Aaron Finch (6) and Alex Carey (18) departed in successive overs bringing Marsh and Khawaja (21) together.

However, Ravindra Jadeja’s brilliance on the field cut short Khawaja’s stay.

New man Handscomb, then joined Marsh to add another vital 52 runs before being undone by Dhoni, who stumped the right-hander for 20 from 22 balls off Jadeja.

All-rounder Stoinis (29) was then promoted ahead of the swashbuckling Maxwell and the former responded in style with a flashy 36-ball 29 before getting a bottom edge while attempting to pull a short ball from Mohammed Shami.

Maxwell blasted his way to a 37-ball 48, laced with five boundaries and a six and went on to almost take the game away from the Indians with his 94-run stand with Marsh, who also started pressing the accelerator after reaching the three-figure mark.

Comfortably placed at 283/5 by the 47th over, India’s death over specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar then produced a magical spell that saw the Aussies lose four wickets in a span of just four runs.

Bhuvneshwar brought India back with the wickets of Maxwell and Marsh in three deliveries before Mohammed Shami also struck with the wicket of Richardson (2).

Bhuvneshwar then packed off tailender Peter Siddle for a duck even as Nathan Lyon struck a four and a six in the final over to take the total to 298/9.

Besides the excellent run out of Khawaja, left-arm spinner Jadeja also picked up one wicket even as Mohammed Siraj had a forgettable debut leaking 76 runs off his 10 overs.

Brief scores: 

Australia 298/9 (Shaun Marsh 131, Glenn Maxwell 48; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/45, Mohammed Shami 3/58) lose to India 299/4 in 49.2 overs (Virat Kohli 104, MS Dhoni 55 not out; Glenn Maxwell 1/16) by six wickets.