Sports Express

India vs Zimbabwe: As seniors rest, skipper MS Dhoni must soon rediscover his best

Some Indian cricketers have left for foreign trips. Other too, are spending quality time with their families after yet another tiring IPL season. But MS Dhoni, the skipper with all ICC titles under his belt, voluntarily decided to lead a second-string team for the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe.

With the kind of form he has been since the beginning of this year, there is actually no time for him to go on vacations. Leading a new franchise in IPL 2016, Dhoni failed to weave his magic the way he did while leading the Chennai Super Kings for eight years in the tournament.

While injuries to several overseas players hampered Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign in IPL 2016, Dhoni's personal form too came under severe scrutiny. He did end the tournament with a brilliant finish, where he hammered 24 runs off the final over bowled by Axar Patel, but right throughout the season, he failed to dominate the proceedings with the bat, especially as the finisher – something he has done extremely well all these years.

Saina Nehwal trumps Sun Yu to bag second Australian Open title

A day after coach Vimal Kumar termed her performance 'perfect', Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal dished out a similar show against Sun Yu to defeat the Chinese 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 in a 72-minute thriller and win the Australian Open Super Series women's title on Sunday at the Sydney Sports Centre. This is her second Australian Open win and with this, the World No. 8 has managed to claim her maiden title this season.

Two years after she first lifted the title, Saina became the first shuttler to win the Australian Open for a second time. This was Saina's first final after she lost to Li Xuerui in China last November. The win also rapidly improves her chances of a second consecutive podium finish at the Rio Olympics 2016. Saina had an impressive 5-1 record prior to the final, with their last encounter taking place in China last year. On Sunday, the Indian only took the lead further with a clinical display in the second and third game.

Her return to form also comes at the right time. With the Olympics slated to get underway a little over a month from now, Saina regaining the Australian Open title is just the tonic she needed ahead of the sporting mega-event in Brazil. As evident as it's been from her performance in Sydney, the Indian has looked rejuvenated after finally having recovered from the nagging injuries that proved her undoing in the previous few tournaments. Having brushed aside her long-term nemesis and World No. 2 Yihan Wang in one of the most dominating performances, Saina needed nothing less than a repeat to break her title drought in 2016.

And a repeat is what she produced.

After looking off-colour in the first game, the World No. 8 roared back to clinch the second and third game quite comprehensively in the end. In the first game when both Saina and Sun were going neck and neck, Saina had squandered the advantage. It wasn't the case in the next one though, as Saina produced brilliant returns to catch the Chinese shuttler off-guard. From 4-4, the Chinese had raced to 8-4, and before Saina could regroup, the gap had already widened. It was only a matter of time before Sun sealed the first game 21-11. The World No. 12 stood out with her attacking ploys, forcing Saina to defend than lay out an attack of her own.

Debutant KL Rahul hits ton as India thrash Zimbabwe by 9 wkts in 1st ODI

 It was a dream debut for opener Lokesh Rahul as his attractive 100 not out enabled a new-look Indian team record a resounding nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first ODI of the three match series here today.

 Chasing a paltry target of 169, the Indian batsmen hardly broke sweat as they comfortably cruised home in 42.3 overs.

Playing his first ODI, Rahul completed his coveted three-figure landmark with a huge six over deep mid-wicket off seamer Hamilton Masakadza, when there was only two runs required to win the match.

He found an able ally in Ambati Rayudu (62 n.O.) as they added 162 runs in 38 overs for the unbroken second wicket partnership even though the Hyderabadi batsman was not at his fluent best.

When he reached 87, Rahul also became the highest individual scorer on debut eclipsing Robin Uthappa's 86 against England on his ODI debut in Indore, back in 2006.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team were in complete control of the proceedings right from the start as the hosts never looked like putting up a fight during the course of the match, once they were put into bat.

After Jasprit Bumrah (4/28), Dhawan Kulkarni (2/42) and Barinder Sran (2/42) made full use of the conditions where there was help for seamers, Rahul-Rayudu pair kept calm as they chased with minimum fuss.

They were effective without being scintillating as they did not play too many adventurous shots during their partnership.

While Rahul hit seven boundaries and a six in his 115-ball innings, a relatively subdued Rayudu picked up during the second half, hitting five boundaries in 120 balls.

Rayudu, who hit his sixth ODI half-century, also completed 1000 ODI runs during his innings, becoming the fifth fastest to do so in 29 innings.

While Rahul was impressive on debut, another debutant Karun Nair (7) could not cash in on the opportunity as he was dismissed cheaply.

With the pitch being a tricky one, the duo needed time before they started playing their shots. The Karnataka lad, who already has two Test hundreds against Australia and Sri Lanka respectively, hit some attractive cover drives as well as square cuts off both seamers and spinners.

Whenever pacer like Tendai Chatara provided width outside the off-stump, Rahul was equal to his task while skipper Graeme Cremer's leg-breaks were also treated with disdain.

With the target being a small one, building the innings was never a problem as the mediocre bowling attack of the home team hardly proved to be a threat to Rahul and Rayudu.

Earlier, Indian pacers made good use of the conditions to bowl out hosts Zimbabwe for a meagre 168 after Dhoni called it right at the toss.

The pace trio of Sran, Kulkarni and Bumrah responded well to their captain's call by sharing the bulk of the wickets amongst themselves. Even Axar Patel (1/26) and debutant leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (1/28) also were impressive.

Zimbabwe, all out in 49.5 overs, would have found it tough to cross the 150-run mark if it was not for the efforts of Elton Chigumbura, who made a gritty 41 off 65 balls in his 200th ODI for his country.

The Zimbabwe innings never got going with their batsmen struggling against the Indian pace battery.

It was an early morning start and the ball moved around. Sran, who did well in the IPL, was on the money from ball one. He could have had Chamu Chibhabha lbw on his very first ball the umpire thought the in-swinger did a bit too much.

The left-arm pacer, however, did not have to wait long for a wicket as he caught Chibhabha's opening parter Peter Moor in front of the stumps with another inswinger.

The batsmen found scoring extremely difficult before Kulkarni had the experienced Hamilton Masakadza caught behind to make it 30 for two in ninth over.

Soon first change Bumrah made his presence felt by removing Chibhabha (13) and Vusi Sibanda. The Zimbabwe looked more comfortable against the spin but the Indian tweakers too ended up with tidy figures.

The hosts had lost half their side after Axar Patel sent back seasoned batsman Craig Ervine, leaving Zimbabwe reeling at 77 for five in 24 overs.

Zimbabwe would have found it difficult to cross the 150-run if it wasn't for the sixth wicket stand between Chigumbura and Sikandar Raza (23), who shared a handy 38-run partnership.

Chahal, who was picked in the team after a productive IPL, bowled well on his ODI debut but had to wait as late as his 10th over to get off the mark in international cricket. His memorable moment arrived when he had Richmond Mutumbami caught at long-off.

All-rounder Chigumbura waged a lone fight as his partners succumbed at the other end. The innings highest-scorer also had a bit of luck on his side as he was out on a no-ball when Bumrah overstepped the line in 48th over.

Leander Paes to Partner Rohan Bopanna at 2016 Rio Olympics: AITA

Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will represent India in the men's doubles category of tennis at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the All India tennis Association (AITA) announced on Saturday.

The AITA also announced Sania Mirza will partner Bopanna in the mixed doubles category, according to AITA chief Anil Khanna. In the women's doubles, Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare will represent India.

Earlier, Rohan Bopanna, on the basis of his top-10 ranking, had named Saketh Myneni as his preferred partner for the men's doubles competition for the upcoming Rio Olympics, ahead of veteran superstar Paes.

After winning a direct ticket to the Rio Games by virtue of his top 10 ATP ranking, Bopanna has made his preference to the All India Tennis Association on Friday, but the national selectors indicated that they might have a different choice..

In a statement released to the media on Friday, Bopanna said: "A direct acceptance provides me the right to nominate my men's doubles partner, an opportunity for me to exercise my judgement as to the best possible partner for me. I have, earlier today, communicated my decision to the AITA."

But AITA CEO Hironmoy Chatterjee told NDTV.com that the final decision lies with the selection committee "which may or may not honour Bopanna's preference."

AITA rejects Bopanna's request

The AITA rejected Bopanna's request for Myneni as his partner, saying that India's best chance for a medal at Rio lay in him teaming up with Paes, who won the French Open mixed doubles title earlier this month.

"He (Bopanna) has given reasons to selection committee on why he feels Saketh could be a better doubles partner. But he has also made it clear that he wants to represent the nation. It was a well-meaning letter (which Bopanna wrote yesterday to AITA). Leander and Rohan have played four times in Davis Cup, they have a 2-2 record," Khanna said.

"Committee decided that the best bet for Indian tennis to win a medal at the Olympics would be Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna."

Khanna then named Bopanna and Sania as the best medal hopes in the mixed doubles category.

"The committee has decided to nominate Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza in the mixed doubles competition," he said.

India eyes a podium finish

Aiming to gain in confidence before the Olympic Games, the Indian hockey team will be eyeing a podium finish in the Champions Trophy, beginning with a clash against Olympic gold medallists Germany here on Friday.

Launching its campaign at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre, India is seeking to add to its only Champions Trophy medal — a bronze — it won at Amsterdam in 1982.

On seven occasions thereafter, India has been edged away from the podium as it lost crucial bronze medal encounters.

The last two Champions Trophy events in 2012 (Melbourne) and 2014 (Bhubaneswar) feature among the seven fourth place finishes that left the Indians dejected.

“A podium finish is a realistic target we’re chasing here at this Champions Trophy,” said coach Roelant Oltmans as the Indian team went through its training regimen ahead of the German encounter.

Returning to the Olympic Park in London also provides India a chance to erase the unhappy memories of the last place finish in the 2012 Olympics. Before that Indian hockey used to romance the 1948 Olympic gold medal it had won in London.

Starting with the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, where India got the silver behind world champion Australia, Oltmans is eager to test his junior players in stiff contests.

To do so, he has had to create space by shuffling the senior players in the squad.

Custodian P.R. Sreejesh, who will captain the squad at the Champions Trophy, and penalty corner shooter V.R. Raghunath are back in the squad after missing the Azlan Shah Cup.

For goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya and his junior colleague Pradeep Mor this is the biggest stage of their short playing career.

India’s league fixtures: June 10: vs Germany, June 11: vs Great Britain, June 13: vs Belgium, June 14: vs South Korea, June 16: vs Australia

For Team India's coaching job: List of all veterans who have applied for the prestigious position

 BCCI's advertisement for the next Indian coach has received a huge response, as several stalwarts of the game have applied for the prestigious job.

Former India medium pacer Balwinder Singh Sandhu is the latest Test player to apply for the position.

Former medium-pacer Venkatesh Prasad applied for the job of India coach on Wednesday.

Soon after the advertisement was posted by the Indian board, reputed names like Ravi Shastri, Lalchand Rajput, Sandip Patil and Vikram Rathour applied for the position.

Shastri is the biggest name that has so far applied for the coveted post apart from current chairman of selectors and another former coach Sandeep Patil , who has also thrown his hat in the ring.

Shastri had worked with the Indian team for 18 months as its director, before his contract came to an end after ICC World Twenty20.