NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: When Rishabh Pant makes his much-awaited comeback with the Delhi Capitals later this month (or next), he will feel like a debutant. “I’m excited and nervous at the same time,” he was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the franchise. “It feels like I’m going to make my debut again.”

The wicketkeeper-batter has not featured in a competitive game since the serious car crash in last week of December 2022. Following the accident, the southpaw had to undergo extensive treatment and rehabilitation.

“To be able to play cricket again after everything I have been through is nothing short of a miracle,” Pant, who has been out of action for 14 months, said. “I am grateful for all my well-wishers and fans, and most importantly, BCCI and the staff at the NCA. All their love and support continues to give me immense strength.”

After an extensive process, Pant was declared fit by the NCA on Tuesday. A day earlier, BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, spoke about the prospect of Pant featuring for India at the T20 World Cup. “”If he can play the T20 World Cup for us, that will be a big thing for us,” Shah had said. “He is a big asset for us. If he can keep, he can play the World Cup. Let’s see how he does in the IPL.”

Upon joining with the franchise for the pre-season camp in Visakhapatnam (Delhi will play a couple of home games there in the first few weeks of the upcoming season), the 26-year-old added: “I am excited to return to Delhi Capitals & the IPL — a tournament I enjoy so much. Our team owners and support staff have been by my side throughout with their full support, guidance and co-operation at every step, for which I am deeply grateful. I can’t wait to re-unite with my DC family and play in front of the fans again.”

Franchise chairman, Parth Jindal, spoke about Pant’s resilience. “We are delighted to welcome Rishabh back to the Delhi Capitals family,” Jindal said. “The kind of grit and resilience he has displayed in overcoming challenges is inspirational to say the least. We are humbled to have been a part of his journey to recovery, which has been exceptional. Rishabh’s return is one of the most highly anticipated ones in recent times, and I can’t wait to see him compete again.”

New Delhi: A clinical Royal Challengers Bangalore won the Women’s Premier League 2024 title with an eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in the final here on Sunday.

Batting first, DC were bowled out for 113 in 18.3 overs. RCB chased down the target of 114 with three balls to spare, much to the disappointment of the weekend crowd that turned out to support the home team.

With Shafali Verma (44 off 27 balls) going great guns, DC were cruising at 64 for no loss in 43 balls before they committed harakiri, losing 10 wickets for just 49 runs.

Spinners Shreyanka Patil (4/12) and Sophie Molineux (3/20) helped RCB stage a remarkable recovery after Shafali’s exploits at the top of the order.

Brief scores:

Delhi Capitals: 113 all out in 18.3 overs (Shafali Verma 44; Shreyanka Patil 4/12, Sophie Molineux 3/20).

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 115 for two in 19.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 31, Sophie Devine 32, Ellyse Perry 35 not out)

Mumbai: In his desperation to regain fitness for the remaining World Cup matches last year, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya said he resorted to extreme measures like taking multiple injections and removing blood clots from his ankle but pushing the boundaries only aggravated the injury, forcing him to sit out of the showpiece.

Pandya injured his ankle during India’s fourth World Cup game against Bangladesh while bowling his first over of that match, and had to limp off the field with the help of the team physio. He did not play any further part in the tournament.

“I got injections done on my ankles at three different places and I had to remove blood from my ankle because of the swelling. I didn’t want to give up (on playing the remainder of the World Cup); for the team I will give my best. If there is one percent chance that I can be with the team I will try my best,” Pandya told Star Sports.

However, Pandya said he was aware that pushing himself hard could bring adverse results, but that’s the risk he took to be with the team during a home World Cup.

“I was aware that (if) I keep pushing myself I might get injured for (a) long time. For me, that was never the answer.

“While I was pushing myself, I had this re-occurrence (of injury) and it became a three-month injury. I was not able to walk but I was trying to run (at) that point of time,” Pandya recalled.

At that time, the 30-year-old was confident of coming back in five days, but the recuperation took much longer than he expected.

“When I came out (of the field following injury), I informed team that I will be back in five days. I tried to push myself for 10 days, took pain-killers to make a comeback and rejoin the team. But this was a freak injury and very few people know about it.

“My injury got extended and I had to take more time because when I got injured, it was a 25-day rehab injury,” he added.

Pandya said that not being able to play fully in the World Cup would always weigh heavily on his heart.

“For me the biggest pride is to play for the country. This was my baby; playing the World Cup at home is my child. So, I wanted to be there for them (the team).

Nonetheless, whether we win or not, all I wanted (was) to be there for my child. Obviously, I missed out and that is something which is always going to (be) heavy on my heart,” he detailed.

Pandya said he had started preparations for the 50-over World Cup more than a year in advance.

“I am such (a) kind of cricketer who doesn’t start 2-3 months before; I started my journey one year back for this World Cup. I already planned my routine one-and-half year before and worked accordingly.”

But now, Pandya, who had led Gujarat Titans to IPL title in 2022, has another heavy job at his hands, leading five-time champions Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024.

“From my journey as a young lad in Baroda to Mumbai, this city has taught me growth, instilling in me humility and resilience. The city’s love and teachings are invaluable to me, shaping me into the cricketer I am today.

“Mumbai always challenges you to be better and now with the IPL, I have returned home after two years,” he said.

Pandya had joined the Titans ahead of the 2022 season, but he returned to Mumbai before this edition and replaced Rohit Sharma as the team’s captain.

The Baroda man said the IPL 2015 season with MI was pivotal to transforming his career.

“Coming from Baroda, it was a life-changing experience for me when I remember the 2015 IPL. That year was pivotal in my career. Representing Mumbai Indians amidst seasoned players was a turning point for me. When you get a chance to play with such established players on such a big platform, your life changes.

“I was fortunate enough that I was able to contribute on a much larger scale in the knockout games. Bagging two ‘Man of the Match’ awards during crucial knockout games was surreal. It marked the beginning of an extraordinary journey for me.”

Shreyanka Patil

New Delhi: Over the last few years, the Ee Sala Cup Namde (The Cup is ours this time) slogan of Royal Challengers Bangalore has remained the pet troll of social media army. But not anymore after this Sunday!

The RCB have finally managed to bring one trophy home, when they defeated Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) final by eight wickets here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

RCB off-spinner Shreyanka Patil, who ended up as the highest wicket-taker in WPL with 13 scalps, shared that sentiment and relief after the triumph.

“They keep saying ‘Ee sala cup namde’ and we got it. That’s it guys, it is for the fans,” said Patil.

She lauded RCB women’s head coach Luke Williams for keeping the dressing room calm.

“Day in and day out we put our hard work. We felt like family. We did not know Luke much. During the last game that we won against Mumbai, he had tears. We are looking forward to continuing this,” she added.

The talismanic Elysse Perry topped the run-makers’ chart in this WPL with 347 runs, and the Australian all-rounder said the support for the teams throughout the event was very heartening.

“Pretty bonkers, to be honest. It’s another level for us – the support for all the teams has been phenomenal and it’s been unbelievable,” she said.

Perry praised spinner Shreyanka and her compatriot Sophie Molineux for changing the complexion of the match after DC raced to 64 for no loss.

“She turned the match on its head. The rest of the spinners backed her up.

“Shreyanka is such a young player and she has got the world at her feet. It was a special performance,” said Perry.

Lifter Achinta Sheuli

New Delhi: Commonwealth Games gold medallist weightlifter Achinta Sheuli has been expelled from the Paris Olympics preparatory camp after he was caught entering the women’s hostel at night at NIS Patiala.

The disciplinary breach occurred on Thursday night. The 22-year-old, who competes in the men’s 73kg weight class, was caught by security personnel, who made a video of the lifter.

“Obviously, such indiscipline will not be tolerated. Achinta was asked to leave the camp immediately,” an Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

The Sports Authority of India and NIS Patiala Executive Director Vineet Kumar were immediately made aware of the incident. Since there was video evidence of the incident, SAI did not constitute an investigating panel.

“The video was sent to NIS Patiala ED Vineet Kumar and the SAI headquarters in New Delhi and IWLF was asked to remove Achinta from the camp,” a SAI source said.

Sheuli, who won the gold medal at the 2022 Birmingham CWG with a Games record, left the camp on Friday.

The facility in Patiala has separate hostels for men and women athletes. Currently, women boxers, athletes and wrestlers are stationed at the NIS.

This is not the first time the IWLF has taken strict action against a lifter for a disciplinary breach. CWG and Youth Olympics champion Jeremy Lalrinnunga was evicted from the national camp on grounds of indiscipline before.

Sheuli out of Olympic race

Following his expulsion, Sheuli’s chances of qualifying for the Olympics have also ended as he will not be travelling for this month’s IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, which is a mandatory event for Paris Games qualification.

Sheuli is currently placed 27th in the Olympic qualification rankings and had a chance of making the cut via the continental quota.

“It is such a pity because he had actually started getting back on track after his injury,” the source added.

Only Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu (49kg) and CWG silver medallist Bindyarani Devi remain in contention for the Paris Games.

The two will be travelling to Thailand later this month to take part in the IWF World Cup.

The tournament will mark Chanu’s return to competition after suffering a hip tendinitis injury in August last year.

Under the 2024 Olympic qualification rule, a lifter has to compulsorily compete in the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 World Cup.

Apart from the above, the lifters also have to participate in three of the following events — the 2022 World Championships, the 2023 Continental Championships, the 2023 Grand Prix 1, the 2023 Grand Prix II and the 2024 Continental Championships.

New Delhi: BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Saturday dismissed speculation that the IPL would be shifted to the UAE due to the upcoming general elections in the country between April 19 to June 1.

There were endless rumours about the IPL being shifted to the Emirates due to the elections which will be held in seven phases with the reports filling social media about players being asked to deposit their passports with respective franchises.

However, Shah set the record straight.

“The entire IPL will be held in India. We will be formulating the remaining schedule very soon and announce it.

The schedule for the first two weeks has been already released with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore at home on March 22.

In earlier conversations with PTI, BCCI secretary Shah had categorically maintained that the full tournament will be held in India, just like it happened in 2019, the year of previous Lok Sabha election. They were only waiting for the Election Commission to announce the poll dates.

In the morning, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had also said there was no chance of shifting the IPL out of the country and all the reports of the tournament being held in UAE were baseless.

However, the league was moved out of the country during the general elections in 2014 when the UPA government was in power. Then the first phase was held in the UAE before returning to India for the second phase.

Birmingham: World No. 1 Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out in the men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals of the All England Badminton Championships after a straight game defeat against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana of Indonesia here.

Satwik and Chirag on Thursday night lost 16-21 15-21 against the Indonesians, who were champions here in 2022.

The top seeded Indian shuttlers, who had won the French Open last week, could not sustain the pressure on their rivals, the third seeds, and went down in a little over an hour.

Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa also exited in the women’s doubles round of 16, after a 21-11 11-21 11-21 defeat against Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu of China.

Later today, India’s Lakshya Sen will face Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, a 2021 champion here, in the men’s singles quarterfinals.

Earlier, Sen had recorded a stunning three-game win over world No. 3 Anders Antonsen to progress to the quarterfinals. Sen won 24-22 11-21 21-14.

However, it was curtains for double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu as she slipped to a 19-21 11-21 loss to her nemesis and world No. 1 An Se Young of South Korea.

Cricketer Rishabh Pant

New Delhi: The BCCI on Tuesday declared Rishabh Pant fit to play as a wicketkeeper-batter in the upcoming IPL, brightening his prospects of a national comeback in the T20 World Cup after suffering multiple injuries in a harrowing car crash 14 months ago.

Pant, who will once again be back as Delhi Capitals skipper, has undergone extensive rehabilitation and is ready to shoulder the dual responsibility in the event starting March 22, ending weeks of speculation surrounding his exact role in the league.

“After undergoing an extensive 14-month rehab and recovery process, following a life-threatening road mishap on December 30th, 2022, near Roorkee, Uttarakhand, Rishabh Pant has now been declared fit as a wicket-keeper batter for the upcoming IPL 2024,” said the BCCI in a statement.

The T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in the West Indies and the USA in June.

A few weeks back, Pant, in an interaction with Star Sports, had recalled telling his doctor that he would shave off at least six months from his recovery timeline.

“I asked the doctor how long will it take for me to recover. I told him that everybody is speaking different things, but you will give me the most clarity about it. He (Doctor) said it would take 16 to 18 months. I told the doctor from whatever timeline you give me, I will reduce six months from it,” Pant had told the official TV broadcasters of IPL.

The National Cricket Academy had declared him fit a week back after he passed all the fitness tests related to his ‘Return To Play’ (RTP).

It has been learnt that he batted for long hours and more importantly, kept wickets for extensive periods in match simulations organised by the NCA.

There was speculation that he might play only as an ‘Impact Player’ or batter but one of India’s biggest match-winners in the past six years has managed to get back in shape to go full throttle.

Pant keeping wickets also means that he would have a fair chance of playing the T20 World Cup if he can come up with some impactful innings during the IPL season.

“If he can make the T20 World Cup for us, that will be a big thing for us. He is a big asset for us. If he can keep, he can play the World Cup. Let’s see how he does in the IPL,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah had recently told PTI in an exclusive interaction.

Pant was present at the Capitals table during the IPL auction last year, and has been working on his fitness at the NCA after recovering from the injuries sustained in the unfortunate incident.

The accident had left Pant with a severe right knee injury that required a ligament reconstruction surgery besides a fractured wrist and ankle. But he has done well to bounce back.

“If there was any nerve damage, there was a possibility of amputation. That is when I felt scared,” Pant had said in Star Sports series ‘Believe: To Death & Back’ which documented his recovery.

“I had taken an SUV, but what I was seeing was a sedan,” he quipped as he remembered his mangled vehicle.

“There was someone around so I asked if he could help getting the leg back in the position. He helped the knee get back in place.

“It was the first time I had such a feeling in life. At the time of the accident, I was aware of the wounds, but I was lucky as it could have been even more serious,” he recollected.

The big-hitter had said the process of recovery was boring at best and frustrating at worst.

“I was focusing on recovery cut off from the world. It helped me in recovering fast, especially when the injury is so serious. For recovery, you have to do the same thing every day. It’s boring, it’s irritating, it’s frustrating, but you have to do it,” he elaborated.

New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore, riding on Ellyse Perry’s best-ever bowling figures in the history of Women’s Premier League, defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets to make it to the playoffs in the Women’s Premier League match here on Tuesday.

Perry snapped six for 15 runs as RCB dismissed Mumbai Indians for 113 runs.

The Australian allrounder then struck an unbeaten 40 and shared a 76-run stand with Richa Ghosh (36 not out) to take RCB to the winning score of 115 for 3 in just 15 overs.

Brief scores:

Mumbai 113 in 19 overs (Hayley Matthews 26, Sajeevan Sajana 30; Ellyse Perry 6/15).

Royal Challengers Bangalore 115 for 3 in 15 overs (Ellyse Perry 40 not out, Richa Ghosh 36 not out).

Mumbai: KVN Bangalore Strikers registered their second win of the tournament as they beat Majhi Mumbai by six wickets, here at the Dadoji Kondadev Stadium in Thane here on Tuesday. The win kept Bangalore Strikers in the hunt to qualify for the play-offs.

Majhi Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat first. For Majhi Mumbai, Ajaz Qureshi and Shreyas Indulkar opened the innings. Shreyas, who was looking dangerous was dismissed by Saroj Pramanik for 6 runs. Ajaz Qureshi and Raviraj Ahire slowly started building a partnership. Ajaz quick fire knock of 34 runs from 16 balls helped Mumbai change gear but he was sent back to the pavilion after he was caught at the boundary by Captain Ankur Singh off Kulwinder Singh’s ball.

Abhishek Kumar Dalhor made sure that the momentum continued for Majhi Mumbai. The team after 5 over were at 45/2. In the 50-50 over, Kulwinder made sure that the Majhi Mumbai didn’t get to the 16-run mark. Dahlor, who made 19 runs from 7 balls, was dismissed by Pramanik after Sharik took the catch in second attempt. Majhi Mumbai’s Captain Yogesh Penkar made 22 runs from just six balls, which included three huge sixes, ensured that that the team reach the total of 100 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 10 overs.

Chasing down the target, KVN Bangalore Strikers opened the innings with Thomas Dias and Sunil Chawri. The team didn’t get the start they were looking for as Thomas was sent back to the pavilion by Abhishek Dalhor for 7 runs. However, in the 50-50 over, Saroj Pramanik hit 22 runs in the over. In the fourth over, after Saroj was earlier dropped, a moment of brilliance from Abhishek Dahlor and Raviraj Ahire, a relay catch, sent back Saroj to the dugout who made 26 runs from 10 balls.

KL Mansoor (9 from 6 balls) and Bunty Patel ensured that the team chased down the target giving them an all-important win. For Bangalore Strikers, Sunil Chawri (33 from 25 balls) and Saroj Pramanik (26 from 10 balls) were the highest scorers, while Abhishek Dalhor picked 2/12 for Mumbai.