Indian defence crumbled under the onslaught of a rampaging Australia as they were handed a 1-5 thrashing by the world champions in their second league fixture of the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia on Thursday. Australia, the eight-time winners of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, launched their campaign to reclaim the title they lost to New Zealand last year with a dominant performance against the Indian side seeking to provide exposure to several youngsters. Blake Govers (fifth minute), Jacob Whetton (13th), Eddie Okkenden (20th), Simon Orchard (25th) and Matt Ghodes (53rd) scored for Australia, who have brought virtually their full-strength squad to prepare for the Olympic Games. India's lone goal came through a penalty corner conversion by Rupinder Pal Singh in the eighth minute. This was Australia first outing in the round-robin league, while India prevailed 2-1 over Japan on Wednesday in an unimpressive campaign opener.
Vidarbha piled up a mammoth 511 in their first essay and then reduced Mumbai to 169 for six on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy Game in Nagpur on Monday.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to assert their supremacy, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on mind when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator in New Delhi on Wednesday. Both Sunrisers and KKR finished their league engagements on 16 points each but the Gautam Gambhir-led side ended fourth behind Sunrisers due to inferior net run rate. But going into the do-or-die game, KKR have psychological advantage over the Sunrisers having beaten them on both the occasions during the league stage. KKR thrashed Sunrisres by eight wickets in their first meeting this season and came out victorious by 22 runs in a must-win match last Sunday to qualify for the play-offs.
'For men to find their centre of gravity, it will only come when they are settled in their head.'
An unbeaten 93 by Robin Morris helped Mumbai take a 127-run first inning lead over Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' clash.
Mumbai restricted Uttar Pradesh to 169 for seven at the K D Singh Babu stadium in Lucknow.
'The one thing that a cricketer aspires for is earning the respect of the dressing room and that respect is earned only when any player puts his hand up in adverse conditions and does his job for the team.'
India picked up two bronze medals from the Asian Games rowing arena in Incheon on Thursday as army man Swaran Singh Virk rowed his way through exhaustion to the third spot in single sculls before the men's squad added the eights title.
Former Army Chief and now Bharatiya Janata Party's Ghaziabad constituency candidate is never away from controversy, says R S Chauhan
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday
Talismanic midfielder Sardar Singh will lead an experimental 18-member India hockey team, which will be without as many as seven players including senior goalkeeper and vice-captain P R Sreejesh, in the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia next month.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Delhi Daredevils by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
Promising Delhi batsman Unmukt Chand will lead India 'A' in three one-day matches against a visiting New Zealand 'A', while Abhishek Nayar will captain the side for the three-day and four-day games in the series, starting in Visakhapatnam on August 31. Chand has also been named for three-day and four-day games.
Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a clinical performance to seal their place in the Qualifier 2 as they crushed the hopes of two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders with a comfortable 22 runs win in the IPL Eliminator.
Coach Stephen Fleming said nothing was wrong with the captain.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Defending champions Ranchi Rays displayed their class and routed Uttar Pradesh Wizards 6-0 in a round robin match to seal their semi-final berth in the fourth edition of the Hockey India League, in Ranchi, on Saturday.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday defeated title holders Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-truncated Indian Premier League Eliminator to set up a meeting against Mumbai Indians in Friday's Qualifier 2.
Kolkata Knight Riders are back in familiar home conditions but can ill-afford to take Kings XI Punjab lightly, who are showing signs of improvement under a newly-appointed skipper, when the two teams clash in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Sukanya Verma lists significant memories in our 1996 recap.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
The India Test spinner had one wicket to show in 21 overs during Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy Group B match against Madhya Pradesh.
Here are some Images from match 27 of the Indian Premier League...
World champions Australia completed their all-win sequence in the round-robin league competition of the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament by posting a facile 3-0 victory over Canada, in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Friday.
Mumbai Indians had things well in control before losing the plot in the last two overs that cost them 41 overs but opener Parthiv Patel refused suggestions that it affected their chances in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL.
India squandered numerous scoring chances before two late goals sealed their 3-1 victory over Canada in the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey in Ipoh on Sunday. Failing to exert pressure despite taking an early lead, India hung on grimly against several threatening Canadian raids to clinch their second victory in three outings. Chandana Thimmaiah opened the Indian account in the third minute, but Keegan Pereira equalised for Canada in the 23rd minute to be 1-1 level at half-time. Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner in the 41st minute and Talwinder Singh capitalised on a Sardar Singh cross into the circle in the 67th to seal the fate of the match.
In the other matches, Manipur trounced Nagaland by 10 wickets in the battle of newcomers while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh by five wickets.
Traditional textile and art forms are being adapted into modern-day garments, ranging from the super-luxurious to the casual.
Taking note of the fatigue factor, India are likely field a second string team for the forthcoming limited overs tour of Zimbabwe next month.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
A class XI student was killed after school students demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit system in Manipur clashed with police.
Sunil Narine's blistering half-century made all the difference and paved the way for Kolkata Knight Riders' winning start in the Indian Premier League in Kolkata on Sunday, Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Mandeep Singh said.
Top-ranked India were held to a 1-1 draw by the brisk-moving South Koreans in the round-robin league encounter of the fourth Asian Champions Trophy hockey, in Kuantan, Malaysia, on Saturday.
The win at Edgbaston was not the first time an Indian team had vanquished Pakistan in an ICC competition. Rajneesh Gupta surveys the landscape of India-Pakistan encounters in ICC contests.
Shubman Gill's unbeaten half-century and Dinesh Karthik's quickfire knock helped Kolkata Knight Rider crush Chennai Super Kings by six wickets, in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets at the Eden Gardens to begin their Indian Premier League (IPL) defense on an emphatic note.
Yuvraj Singh feels it moved a bit more than SG Test ball while Robin Uthappa's observations varied from colour change to lack of reverse swing as the first set of inputs on the much talked about 'Pink ball' Day-Night experiment in the Duleep Trophy came to the fore.
Seamers Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay Kumar wreaked havoc as Karnataka reduced Uttar Pradesh to 221 for nine, giving themselves a good chance to grab first innings lead, on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Bangalore.
Kolkata Knight Riders will have no margin for error when they take on hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will fancy their chances despite coming off a defeat, in the Indian Premier League match in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Young pacer Tushar Deshpande recorded his career-best figures of six for 70 to help Mumbai earn a sizeable first innings lead against Railways on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group A encounter in New Delhi on Saturday.