Having faced the wrath of social media users for a couple of days after publicly lashing out at a fan, India skipper Virat Kohli tried to tone down the issue somewhat on Thursday, saying he is “all for freedom of choice”.

“I guess trolling isn’t for me guys, I’ll stick to getting trolled! I spoke about how “these Indians” was mentioned in the comment and that’s all. I’m all for freedom of choice. Keep it light guys and enjoy the festive season. Love and peace to all,” Kohli said in a message on his official Twitter handle.

Earlier, the India skipper was trolled on social media after he asked a fan to leave the country if he did not like to watch Indian cricketers in action.

Kohli, who launched the ‘Virat Kohli Official App’ on his 30th birthday on Monday, faced the backlash after his reaction to a fan, who confessed his preference for English and Australian cricketers over Kohli’s blue brigade.

“He (Virat) is an overrated batsman. Nothing seems special in his batting. I enjoy watching English and Australian batsmen more than these Indians,” the fan wrote.

Kohli admitted that he was not personally affected by the criticism but pointed out that if someone does not like Indian players while living in India then they should not be living in the country.

“I don’t think you should live in India. Go and live somewhere else. Why are you living in our country and loving other countries? I don’t mind you not liking me. I don’t think you should live in our country and like other things. Get your priorities right,” Kohli replied.

The right-hander, who struck three consecutive centuries in the just-concluded five-match ODI rubber against the West Indies, has surpassed batting legend Sachin Tendulkar to become the quickest to reach 10k One-day International (ODI) runs.

IANS

Greater Noida Jaipur Pink Panthers registered their second win in the ongoing sixth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) after defeating Haryana Steelers 38-32 here on Tuesday.

Jaipur’s Deepak Hooda collected 12 raid points, while Haryana’s Vikas Kandola bagged 10 points.

The Anup Kumar-led Jaipur Pink Panthers were desperate for a win as they had entered the match after losing their last four games.

The score was tied at 2-2 in the 2nd minute but regular mistakes by Haryana caused Jaipur to take the lead and inflict an All-Out in the 9th minute to make it 11-6 in their favour.

However, it looked like Vikas had other plans as he constantly bothered Jaipur’s defence with regular bonus and touch points.

Haryana made a comeback in the final minutes of the first half as they took a 16-13 lead. They then continued this form and inflicted an All-Out in the last raid of the half to make it 20-18 in their favour.

The second half saw Haryana continue with the positivity of the first half and dominate Jaipur as Kuldeep Singh got Anup with an ankle hold to make it 23-18 for Haryana in the 22nd minute.

Jaipur stepped up to bring out a response and made the issue 20-23. Jaipur then blocked Haryana from running away with the lead as Nitin Rawal and Mohit Chhillar blocked Vikas near the midline after a failed ankle hold by Young Chang Ko in the 27th minute to make it 22-24.

Mohit continued to create problems for the Haryana raiders as he got a strong block on Mayur Shivtarkar to inflict another All-Out as Jaipur extended their lead to 28-25 in the 30th minute.

Jaipur then increased the lead slowly to 4 points by the 34th minute as Mohit got a double thigh hold on Monu Goyat and made it 32-28. Nitin continued to cause trouble for Haryana as he blocked Monu from returning to the midline and made it 34-30 for Jaipur.

Deepak got his first Super 10 of the season as he got a bonus point in the 38th minute and made the contest 35-30. Jaipur collected three points in the last two minutes, while their opponents could only manage two as the former clinched the issue 38-32.

(IANS)

Lucknow An all-round show guided India to a thumping 71-run victory over West Indies in the second contest of the three-match T20 international series at the newly inaugurated AB Vajpayee Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.

It was a completely one-sided affair as the hosts dominated the visitors in every department of the game and with the thumping win India also took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the rubber.

After Rohit Sharma took every West Indian bowler to the cleaners to bring up his fourth T20 ton as India put a mammoth 196-run target before the visitors, the bowlers also rose to the occasion to restrict the opponents to 124/9 in the allotted 20 overs.

Chasing the huge target, the visitors were off to a poor start as openers Shai Hope (6) and Shimron Hetmyer (15) were packed back by Khaleel Ahmed as the West Indies’ scorecard read 33/2 in 5.2 overs.

With the addition of another 15 runs in the visitors’ score, Kuldeep Yadav struck twice in his first over to dismiss Darren Bravo (23) and Nicholas Pooran (4) in the eighth over.

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar also joined the party to pick up the wicket of Denesh Ramdin (10), leaving West Indies reeling at 81/6 in 13.4 overs. A fine throw by Krunal Pandya in the very next ball saw incoming batsman Fabian Allen failing in making his ground as he departed without any contribution.

Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar then scalped one wicket each to dismantle West Indies’ lower order before skipper Carlos Brathwaite, who remained unbeaten, and Keemo Paul chipped in with 15 and 20 runs respectively as the visitors somehow managed to reach the three-digit mark.

West Indies could only manage to reach 124 runs losing nine wickets in 20 overs as the visitors lost the T20I series too, with one match to go.

For India, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Khaleel and Kuldeep bagged two wickets each.

Earlier, Rohit became the leading Indian scorer in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) as he cracked an unbeaten hundred to help the hosts post 195/2.

Rohit remained unbeaten after smashing 111 runs off 61 balls, his innings studded with eight fours and seven sixes as the tourists could not find an answer to the Indian stand-in captain’s brilliance after opting to bowl first.

Rohit, who hit counterpart Brathwaite for a four in the third ball of the last over to bring up his fourth T20 ton — the most by any batsman — now has 2108 runs in the shortest format of the game. Regular skipper Virat Kohli is behind him at 2102 runs.

The Indian openers had to weather some good fast bowling by West Indies at the start, but from the moment Rohit broke the shackles with a six off the first ball of spin he faced, he looked unstoppable.

Rohit smashed 20 runs off the last over with Lokesh Rahul (26 not out) for company. Rahul hit two fours and a six to further propel the score.

Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 41; 3×4) also returned to form and joined hands with Rohit for a 123-run opening wicket stand.

For the hapless Windies, Fanian Allen returned best figures of 1/33 as all the bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Rohit.

Pacer Oshane Thomas started proceedings with a maiden, clocking 146 kmph in the last ball of the first over.

Till the fourth over, there was no boundary hit as Keemo and Thomas restricted the hosts to 11/0.

It was only in the fifth over that Rohit and Dhawan changed gears, hitting Thomas for 17 runs to take the score to 49/0 at the end of the powerplay.

There was no stopping the pair from there on as India raced to 83/0 at the halfway stage with both batsmen looking good for big scores.

Rohit was dropped by Khary Pierre when he was batting on 27 with the bowler claiming he had completed the catch but action replays showing the ball bounced before reaching Pierre.

Dhawan was also dropped on 28 by Keemo Paul at the midwicket boundary off Brathwaite.

But just when Dhawan was looking good for a half century, Nicholas Pooran took a fine catch at the long leg boundary off Fabian Allen to get rid of the southpaw.

Pierre got the back of Risabh Pant who was caught on the midwicket boundary by Hetmyer.

Brief scores: India 195/2 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 111 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 43; Fabian Allen 1/33) beat West Indies 124/9 in 20 overs (Darren Bravo 23, Keemo Paul 20; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/12)

(IANS)

Lucknow An all-round show guided India to a thumping 71-run victory over West Indies in the second contest of the three-match T20 international series at the newly inaugurated AB Vajpayee Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.

It was a completely one-sided affair as the hosts dominated the visitors in every department of the game and with the thumping win, India also took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the rubber.

After Rohit Sharma took every West Indian bowler to the cleaners to bring up his fourth T20 ton as India put a mammoth 196-run target before the visitors, the bowlers also rose to the occasion to restrict the opponents to 124/9 in the allotted 20 overs.

Chasing the huge target, the visitors were off to a poor start as openers Shai Hope (6) and Shimron Hetmyer (15) were packed back by Khaleel Ahmed as the West Indies’ scorecard read 33/2 in 5.2 overs.

With the addition of another 15 runs in the visitors’ score, Kuldeep Yadav struck twice in his first over to dismiss Darren Bravo (23) and Nicholas Pooran (4) in the eighth over.

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar also joined the party to pick up the wicket of Denesh Ramdin (10), leaving West Indies reeling at 81/6 in 13.4 overs. A fine throw by Krunal Pandya in the very next ball saw incoming batsman Fabian Allen failing in making his ground as he departed without any contribution.

Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar then scalped one wicket each to dismantle West Indies’ lower order before skipper Carlos Brathwaite, who remained unbeaten, and Keemo Paul chipped in with 15 and 20 runs respectively as the visitors somehow managed to reach the three-digit mark.

West Indies could only manage to reach 124 runs losing nine wickets in 20 overs as the visitors lost the T20I series too, with one match to go.

For India, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Khaleel and Kuldeep bagged two wickets each.

Earlier, Rohit became the leading Indian scorer in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) as he cracked an unbeaten hundred to help the hosts post 195/2.

Rohit remained unbeaten after smashing 111 runs off 61 balls, his innings studded with eight fours and seven sixes as the tourists could not find an answer to the Indian stand-in captain’s brilliance after opting to bowl first.

Rohit, who hit counterpart Brathwaite for a four in the third ball of the last over to bring up his fourth T20 ton — the most by any batsman — now has 2108 runs in the shortest format of the game. Regular skipper Virat Kohli is behind him at 2102 runs.

The Indian openers had to weather some good fast bowling by West Indies at the start, but from the moment Rohit broke the shackles with a six off the first ball of spin he faced, he looked unstoppable.

Rohit smashed 20 runs off the last over with Lokesh Rahul (26 not out) for company. Rahul hit two fours and a six to further propel the score.

Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 41; 3×4) also returned to form and joined hands with Rohit for a 123-run opening wicket stand.

For the hapless Windies, Fanian Allen returned best figures of 1/33 as all the bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Rohit.

Pacer Oshane Thomas started proceedings with a maiden, clocking 146 kmph in the last ball of the first over.

Till the fourth over, there was no boundary hit as Keemo and Thomas restricted the hosts to 11/0.

It was only in the fifth over that Rohit and Dhawan changed gears, hitting Thomas for 17 runs to take the score to 49/0 at the end of the powerplay.

There was no stopping the pair from there on as India raced to 83/0 at the halfway stage with both batsmen looking good for big scores.

Rohit was dropped by Khary Pierre when he was batting on 27 with the bowler claiming he had completed the catch but action replays showing the ball bounced before reaching Pierre.

Dhawan was also dropped on 28 by Keemo Paul at the midwicket boundary off Brathwaite.

But just when Dhawan was looking good for a half century, Nicholas Pooran took a fine catch at the long leg boundary off Fabian Allen to get rid of the southpaw.

Pierre got the back of Risabh Pant who was caught on the midwicket boundary by Hetmyer.

Brief scores: India 195/2 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 111 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 43; Fabian Allen 1/33) beat West Indies 124/9 in 20 overs (Darren Bravo 23, Keemo Paul 20; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/12)

(IANS)

From the days of pioneers like Diana Eduljee and Shantha Rangaswamy in the early 1970s to the stars of today like Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur, the story of womens cricket in India will be chronicled in an upcoming book.

Titled “The Fire Burns Blue: A History of Women’s Cricket in India”, the book is co-authored by Karunya Keshav and Sidhanta Patnaik, and published by Westland.

“This is the first comprehensive history of women’s cricket that documents the entire gamut of the women’s game starting from its humble beginnings, its spirited journey through its early years to the present-day when truly, the game has come of age. Written by two of India’s most knowledgeable sports journalists as far as the women’s game is concerned, this book also has a comprehensive statistics section and some rare photographs,” Associate Editor of Westland, Karthik Venkatesh, said in a statement.

The book is said to provide an elaborate narrative of the game right from its origin to the present day. The publisher said that it will also present rare photographs that help in re-iterating the highs and lows of the early years of women’s cricket.

The book will arrive at the stands on November 30.

IANS

Bengaluru FC kept their perfect record against Kerala Blasters FC intact in the Indian Super League (ISL) with a 2-1 win at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Monday.

Captain Sunil Chhetri opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a neat finish past Naveen Kumar. Kerala equalised with a well-converted spot-kick by Slavisa Stojanovic in the 30th minute but an own goal by Nikola Krcmarevic in the 80th minute settled the tie in favour of the visitors.

The win means Bengaluru FC have now won all three of their away matches on the trot to maintain a perfect record.

The home side could have earned an early lead had C.K. Vineeth kept his shot on target from Prasanth Karuthadathkuni’s low cross from the right. The forward sneaked into the box from the right but sent his effort over the bar.

Erik Paartalu had the goal at his mercy at the other end minutes later.

Dimas Delgado’s delivery from a free-kick was headed by Sandesh Jhingan into the feet of the Australian whose effort from the near post was cleared by Lalruatthara who was positioned near the goal line.

The Blues made a breakthrough in the 17th minute through a neat finish by Chhetri.

Miku’s terrific through-ball behind the Kerala defence allowed Chhetri to race into the box and put the ball into the net.

Blasters were back in the contest at the half-hour mark. Sahal Samad collected Cyril Kali’s throw-in from the right flank but was fouled inside the box by Nishu Kumar before he could get his shot away.

The referee pointed at the spot and Stojanovic stepped up to score an emphatic spot-kick.

The hosts, boosted by the equaliser, could have taken the lead before half-time. Nikola Krcmarevic’s excellent cross-field diagonal reached Prasanth on the right flank who found Doungel inside the box and the Indian striker forced Gurpreet to a good reflex save.

After the break, Erik Paartalu’s long ball into the box had the Kerala defence on alert.

Harmanjot Khabra headed the ball back to Chhetri who lobbed it forward for Miku but the Venezuelan’s deflected effort went wide.

Another long punt up the field, this time by goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh, allowed Miku to sneak into the box past Lakic-Pesic.

The Venezuelan found Udanta Singh in the centre but the winger’s powerful shot took a deflection and was parried away by Naveen.

In the final quarter of the game, Vineeth threatened again when he beat the offside trap to latch onto Prasanth’s delightful through-ball but his shot past Gurpreet rolled wide of goal.

Bengaluru broke the Kerala hearts with nine minutes to go. Xisco released Miku into the box and the latter’s return was sent goalwards by the Spaniard. Naveen’s save off the substitute’s shot hit Krcmarevic before rolling into the net.

Kerala hardly created any chance of note thereafter as their unbeaten start to the season came to an end.

IANS

Cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Monday stepped down as the captain of the Delhi Ranji team and said it was time for the young guns to lead the squad.

The left-handed batsman took to Twitter to announce his decision and said: “Time to pass the captaincy baton to youngsters, hence have requested the DDCA selectors not to consider me for that role. I will be in the background helping the new leader to win games.”

Reportedly, middle-order batsman Nitish Rana, 24, would be appointed as the new captain for the ongoing 2018-19 Ranji season after Gambhir’s decision .

Delhi is slated to face Himachal Pradesh on November 12 at their homeground Feroz Shah Kotla.

Earlier in the year, Gambhir had also stepped down from captaincy of Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit Delhi Daredevils and warmed the bench in the last eight games of the tournament.

In a bid to urge the Indian diaspora to show their support to players ahead of World Championship 2019 and Olympics 2020, ace Indian boxer Manoj Kumar has launched Indian Sports Fan drive here.

On the occasion of celebrating the rich culture of Haryana with the Haryanvis in London on November 1, at the Harlington Sports Centre, the boxer started the fan campaign with an aim to garner maximum support for the sport and Tokyo 2020.

On this unique occasion, Manoj said: “I am extremely gratified to launch the fan campaign from the grounds of London where we are already celebrating cultural diversity pumped up with sporting spirits.”

“The initiative is taken to strengthen the fan base of all Indian Sports Fan spread across the world,” he added.

The 31-year-old boxer, who bagged a gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, said that not only boxers, but all athletes need maximum support and blessings from their fans to get maximum number of medals from Olympic Games 2020.

The initiative is taken by Kuldeep Ahlawat, who recently inaugurated the extension of Indian Sports Fan, India’s largest sports fan community in London. The launch was followed by the first Women’s Exhibition encompassing 50 years of Indian Women Hockey on the occasion of Hockey Women’s World Cup 2018.

Extending the fan drive, UK Head of Indian Sports Fan expressed: “This is a matter of great pride for us to celebrate Indian sports even in London. Our aim is to create more sporting events in London and to promote Indian sports worldwide.”

With over 70,000 followers on its social media profile, the Indian Sports Fan team took shape in the form of an exclusive WhatsApp group that has 150-odd high powered fans, league team owners, sports media, and sportspersons.

Prominent players such as Asian Game Gold medalist, Ashish Ballal (Olympian and former goalkeeper, Hockey), Boxer Akhil Kumar, former goalkeeper Baljeet Singh (Hockey), India’s first woman Olympic medalist Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting), sportscaster Sahil Khattar, and Sunil Taneja along with various other sports media people and fans are a part of the worldwide group.

IANS

Gujarat Fortunegiants maintained their winning streak after a 45-38 win over Dabang Delhi KC in the ongoing sixth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League here on Sunday.

Delhi’s Chandran Ranjit and Naveen Kumar tried their best to make an impact on the match by getting 11 and 8 raid points however, they were let down by the experienced corner pair comprising Ravinder Pahal and Captain Joginder Narwal, who collected three tackle points in total between them.

Also, Gujarat’s raider Dong Geon Lee, who was brought in for Sunday’s match, caused problems for Delhi after getting a super 10, while Rohit Gulia collected seven raid points.

Gujarat started the match with a toe touch by Rohit on Vishal in the first raid of the match. They continued to dominate Delhi with Rohit getting a super raid with a bonus point and touch points on Vishal and Yogesh Hooda to make it 5-1 in Gujarat’s favour by the 3rd minute.

Gujarat later inflicted an all-out on Delhi by the 6th minute to take a huge 11-3 lead.

It looked like Delhi were moving towards another loss, but they got a boost of optimism with Naveen and Ranjit, who managed regular touch points on Gujarat.

The first-half ended with Gujarat taking a 9-point lead with the score reading 27-18 in their way.

In the second-half, Delhi came with a positive attitude to get the Gujarat defence weakened by getting Parvesh and Sunil out by the 23rd minute to make it 20-29. Later, Gujarat got a super tackle as Naveen entered the lobby without a touch while Sachin got out of the mat.

Rohit Gulia was also giving soft points to Delhi as he tried to tackle the raiders regularly.

Parvesh Bhainswal got a super tackle with a strong thigh hold on Ranjit to extend Gujarat’s lead to 24-36 by the 27th minute.

Delhi tried to make a comeback by inflicting an all out on Gujarat when Ranjit got Parvesh and Sachin out in the 30th minute to reduce the lead to 7 points.

Lee was causing trouble for Delhi with his agility and quick movements by regularly getting Ravinder to make mistakes. The 36th minute saw Ruturaj Koravi dash onto Ranjit to cause an injury to both of them.

The 37th minute saw Yogesh Hooda concede a super tackle by Sachin Vittala as Gujarat stretched their lead to 44-38.

Gujarat made sure to win the contest by slowing down the match with empty raids and hence won it 45-38.

Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who starred in India’s five-wicket win over the West Indies in the first T20I here, said his long stint with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL helped him do well on Sunday.

Kuldeep, who returned match-winning figures of 3/13, restricting the Windies to a paltry 109/8 in 20 overs, has been a regular feature for KKR for the last five years.

The 23-year old snared the wickets of Darren Bravo, Rovman Powell and skipper Carlos Brathwaite in a devastating spell over four straight overs in tandem with debutant Krunal Pandya.

“It plays a part. It’s been five years with KKR. I have played all the IPL games there. It gives you massive advantage. It gives confidence as well. I know ground and wicket as well,” Kuldeep told reporters at the post-match press conference.

“I know the ground well, the pitch here does not offer much turn. I know the speed of the outfield and every angle. So it helps a lot and gives me immense confidence,” he added.

Kuldeep also completed 100 wickets in T20 cricket. Asked about his faster delivery, Kuldeep said it helps break the rhythm of the batsman and keep him in check.

“This delivery is faster one. I am working on it. In T20 format, to break the rhythm of batsman. These kind of deliveries to control run and check what he will do.”

West Indies left-arm spinner Fabian Allen, meanwhile, rued the absence of star all-rounder Andre Russell who was ruled out on the eve of the first T20 due to injury.

“Andre Russell is a crucial player in the West Indies team. He is a hard hitter. Those guys are important like Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. Also we young players try to contribute as much as we can.”

Allen, who top-scored for the Windies with a counter-attacking 20-ball 27, added that they would look to comeback in the next rubber in Lucknow on November 6.

“It’s one of those days. We will look to comeback in the next game.”

IANS