SPORTS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian men's cricket team as they beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in a nail-biter in Dubai to start their Asia Cup campaign on a triumphant note. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was the star with both bat and ball as he first picked three crucial wickets and then stayed unbeaten on 33 of 17 balls, hitting the winning six to help the Indian team avenge their defeat to the arch rivals last year in the T20 World Cup.

"#TeamIndia put up a spectacular all-round performance in today's #AsiaCup2022 match. The team has displayed superb skill and grit. Congratulations to them on the victory," PM Modi wrote in his tweet praising the efforts of the Indian team.

Saba Karim, the former India cricketer and ex-member of the senior selection committee, said that he would prefer to have Rishabh Pant in India's playing eleven for Asia Cup over Dinesh Karthik, citing the x-factor provided by the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter. With Virat Kohli and KL Rahul set to return to India's playing eleven ahead of their Asia Cup campaign opener against Pakistan on Sunday, it means that there is only one batting slot left for the wicketkeeper, implying a toss-up between Pant and Karthik.

Virat Kohli might have not been able to score a century in over two years now but that doesn’t mean he’s out of form. The majority of times he’s batted across formats, Kohli has looked quite confident and battled testing phases successfully.

However, he hasn’t been able to make those starts count, being regularly dismissed against the run of play. His teammates including Rohit Sharma have wrapped up a defensive shield around him during this slump and even overseas stars have been nothing but supportive.

Known as the Universe Boss, Chris Gayle seems like a retired cricketer already. He is 43 and out of shape. Often, he can be seen struggling to steal a quick single as was evident in the recently concluded 2021 T20 World Cup. And it surely would be a surprise for sure if he turns up for Windies in the upcoming T20 world event in Australia. Nonetheless, the senior citizen doesn’t think so as he gears up to play 6ixty-a new franchise 60-ball cricket tournament in the Caribbean Islands starting Wednesday.

And the explosive left hander did all the talking even before the first ball was bowled!

Team India batter Shubman Gill scored his maiden international hundred against Zimbabwe in the third ODI in Harare on Monday (August 22). Gill's brilliant 130 set up India's 13-run win over the hosts and ensured that KL Rahul's side whitewashed the ODI series 3-0.

The Punjab and Gujarat Titans opener was also adjudged the Player of the Series for scoring 245 runs in three matches - his second successive award after the West Indies ODIs. "It's a great bunch of players and I have been playing with them for sometime now. This one is for my dad as he has been my primary coach. I got a bit of schooling day before yesterday when I was out on 33. So this is for him," Shubman Gill said, dedicating his century to father Lakhwinder Singh, who was also his coach.