Luckily, the KKR skipper had wife Dipika Pallikal, the international squash player, also dealing with the situation and he drew inspiration from her.
Talented Joshna Chinappa put paid to the aspirations of compatriot Dipika Pallikal, scoring a thrilling 3-2 win over the highly-ranked Indian in the semi-finals of the WISPA Challenger Squash championship in Chennai on Friday. World number 32 Joshna beat the 23rd-ranked Pallikal 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-6 in a marathon 60-minute game.
Indian women squash team on Sunday created history by winning its maiden Asian title by defeating top seed Hong Kong 2-0 in the final in Kuwait.
Dipika Pallikal equalled the highest ranking ever achieved by an Indian women squash player when she obtained a career-best 27th rank in the Women's International Squash Player's Association (WISPA) charts.
Dipika Pallikal Defeated Emma Beddoes of England 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6 to win the WISPA Indian Challenger squash tournament at Calcutta Racket Club squash courts on Saturday.
India's top ranked female player Dipika Pallikal put up a spirited display before going down 2-3 to second seed Kasey Brown of Australia in the quarter-finals of the Punj Lloyd WISPA Masters 2010 squash event in New Delhi.
India's top-ranked female player Dipika Pallikal kept the tri-colour fluttering by progressing into the quarter-finals of the women's singles squash event, even as compatriots Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa bowed out at the Punj Lloyd PSA and WISPA Masters in New Delhi.
Indian hope Saurav Ghosal scripted the biggest win of his career when he upstaged world no 13 and reigning champion Adrian Grant to sail into the semi-final of the Indian Challenger squash tournament in Kolkata on Thursday.
Dipika Pallikal saved seven match before edging past Nour El Sherbini in a thriller but India lost 1-2 the summit clash to Egypt to end ruuners-up in the Chennai Open World Junior Cup Team championship in Chennai on Sunday.
Indian women's squash team settled for a bronze medal in the Asian Games after slumping to a 0-2 defeat at the hands of favourites Malaysia in the semi-finals in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
India's hopes of winning its first medal in squash at the Commonwealth Games received a severe blow when top female player Dipika Pallikal pulled out of the women's and mixed doubles due to mild fever which she developed before the start of the October 3-14 event. The promising 19-year-old had earlier opted out of the singles due to the illness.
It was curtains for India in the Hong Kong Squash Open after national champion Saurav Ghosal went down fighting to World No 3 Egyptian Amr Shabana in the first round men's singles match of the $147,500 PSA event at HK Squash Centre.
India's challenge at the 2010 Australian Open Squash Championship came to a premature end on Wednesday after unseeded Dipika Pallikal bowed out in the first round of the tournament in Canberra.
Unseeded Indian Siddharth Suchude moved into the quarterfinals of the Rhode Island Open squash tournament in the US, beating Malaysia's Muhd Asyraf Azan in a tough five-game affair.
India's challenge at the Malaysian Open Squash championship came to a premature end after qualifiers Dipika Pallikal and Siddharth Suchde bowed out in the first round of the tournament in Kuala Lumpur.
Dipika Pallikal's dream of winning the World Junior Squash Championship title went up in smokes after the Indian suffered a 13-15, 9-11, 9-11 defeat at the hands of fourth seed Nour El Tayeb of Egypt in the semi-final at Cologne, Germany on Monday.
Indian ace Dipika Pallikal is on course for her maiden World Junior Squash Championship title as she stormed into the semi-finals after defeating Kanzy El Dafrawy of Egypt in Cologne, Germany.
World junior number one Dipika Pallikal and third seed Saurav Ghosal kept alive Indian hopes sailing into the women's and men's semi-inals respectively in the 15th Asian Squash Championship in Chennai on Sunday.
Saurav Ghosal failed to build on a bright start and went down fighting against third seeded Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt in the semi-finals of the five-star PSA Indian Challenger at the Calcutta Racket Club courts on Friday.
India's number one female squash player Dipika Pallikal came up with an upset win over higher-ranked Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand in her final qualifying match to make it to the main draw of the CIMB Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
Upset with the 'manipulative' singles draw, India's top squash player Dipika Pallikal is "seriously considering" pulling out of the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon.
Dipika Pallikal said the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) needs to have a structure in place for Indians to become a formidable force at the world level.
Indian Dipika Pallikal's dream run in the Swedish Squash Open came to an end as she lost to Annelize Naude of Netherlands in straight frames in the semi-final in Linkoping.
Minor upsets notwithstanding, matches went according to seedings in the 55th ICL National Squash Championship in Chennai on Wednesday.
Top seed Dipika Pallikal entered the finals of the Australian Open squash event, a PSA world tour event, after posting a 6-11 11-6 11-7 11-4 win over Hana Ramadan of Egypt. Dipika, who recently finished runner-up in the Victoria Open a few days ago, faced an initial scare from the Egyptian qualifier before she managed to grab an opportunity and turn the tables around in her favour.
India's Joshna Chinappa overcame a stiff challenge from compatriot Dipika Pallikal to set up a title clash with Orla Noom of the Netherlands in the WISPA Challenger-2 event at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai.
Local favourites Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal ensured India a place in the final of the WISPA Challenger-2 event as the duo set up a semi-final clash against each other in Chennai on Thursday. Both Joshna and Dipika met with hardly any resistance in their quarter-final matches. Second seeded Joshna outsmarted Laura Pomporters of France 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 in just 25 minutes, while sixth seeded Dipika overwhelmed England's Jenna Gates 11-2, 11-8, 11-4 in 17 minutes.
Squash player Dipika Pallikal, who was not selected for the upcoming Asian Championship, failed to get a reprieve from the Delhi high court, which she had moved to quash the selection of the Indian team.
Dipika Pallikal's exclusion from the Indian team for Asian Squash Championships may have kicked up a storm, but national coach Cyrus Poncha said the British Junior Open champion has only herself to blame for the omission by refusing to attend a mandatory trial camp.
Dipika Pallikal salvaged personal pride but second seeds India bowed out of the reckoning in the women's World junior squash team championship after a 1-2 defeat against sixth seeds Hong Kong in Chennai on Friday.
Top seed Dipika Pallikal brushed aside the challenge of Nouran El Torky of Egypt to advance to the semi-finals of the 13th World Junior Squash Championships in Chennai on Friday. Playing before a cheering crowd, the Indian beat the fifth seeded Egyptian 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6 in 37 minutes. She faces 13-year-old fourth seed Nour El Tayeb of Egypt in Saturday's semi-finals.
'In India we have a lot of superstar worship.' 'If we lose a match, but Tendulkar hits a century people are happy that their star did not let them down.' 'This should change. People should support the team and the sport and not individuals.'
The Indian team, comprising Joshana Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Sunayna Kuruvilla and Tanvi Khanna, are assured of at least a silver now and are likely to face Hong Kong in the final.
Dipika Pallikal stunned top seed Christina Mak of Hong Kong in straight games to storm into the semi-finals of the ICL Chennai Open Squash tournament on Friday. The fifth seeded Indian beat her higher-ranked opponent 9-7, 9-5, 9-3 in 34 minutes.
Anaka Alankamony bagged India's lone gold medal at the Asian Junior Squash championship, while Dipika Pallikal and Mahesh Mangaonkar settled for silver after losing their respective finals in Busan on Sunday. Anaka, the top seeded Indian, beat Hong Kong's Ho Ka Po 9-6, 9-6, 9-5 in the girls under-15 category final to clinch her eighth international title.
India's Saurav Ghosal upset world number 8 Miguel Rodriguez of Colombia to advance to the quarter-finals of the PSA China Open in Shanghai.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Dipika Pallikal and Surbhi Misra powered India past Canada and into the semi-finals in the 13th World Junior squash team championship in Chennai on Tursday.
Joshna beat second seed Dipika Pallikal in the women's final while Ghosal downed Maharashtra's Siddharth Suchde in the men's.
The top 16 seeds in the men's section sailed into the second round, evens as the women side saw a few upsets in the 55th Senior ICL National Squash Championships.
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