SPORTS

Indian team is currently hosting South Africa for a five-match T20I series at home and the selectors have picked a mixed squad in the absence of some of the regular senior players. While the likes of Arshdeep Singh andUmran Malik received their maiden India call-up, experienced players such as Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya returned to the scene. 

When the team was announced for the home series against the Proteas, fans and experts were surprised that Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson, who did well in the Indian Premier League (IPL), were not named in the 18-member squad. 

While naming the T20I squad, the selectors also announced the Test team which will travel to England to play the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston next month. However, the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel once again came under the hammer as they overlooked a rare talent. 

Team India failed to defend 212 runs in the first T20I against South Africa at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday. Except for Avesh Khan, all five bowlers leaked runs at an economy of 10 and above. India's premier leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was hammered 26 runs in just 13 balls. It was one of those rare days that Chahal did not complete his full quota of four overs. Captain Rishabh Pant went with the pace of Hardik Pandya and the left-arm spin of Axar Patel, who also gave runs at an economy of 18 and 10 respectively. 

Former India cricketer Ashish Nehra feels that India missed a trick by not letting Chahal bowl four overs. Nehra also said that India head coach Rahul Dravid should have sent a message to Pant asking him to let Chahal bowl. 

"Rishabh Pant is a young captain, he will learn and hopefully he will get better. Now, if Dravid feels that Chahal should bowl an over, obviously a message can be sent. They have to keep things simple and be proactive," Nehra said on Cricbuzz. 

Team India scored 211/4 in 20 overs against South Africa in the first T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday. Ishan Kishan was the star performer who gave India a solid start with a 76-run knock in just 48 balls while vice-captain Hardik Pandya and captain Rishabh Pant gave the side a finishing touch. After the wicket of Pant, Dinesh Karthik joined Pandya in the middle. Karthik is making comeback into the Indian squad after three years, riding on his IPL 2022 heroics where he re-established himself as a finisher. However, Pandya refused to give Karthik a strike in the last over. 

Reacting to the incident, former India cricketer Ashish Nehra expressed disappointment and said that Karthik is not a tale-ender. "He should have taken a single before the last ball. It was Dinesh Karthik at the other end, not me," Nehra joked on Cricbuzz.

On the day one of the greatest cricketers, Mithali Raj, announced her retirement, her father Dorai Raj was a touch worried about what she would do with the newfound free time.

“She goes to the ground daily to train. Suddenly after retirement, she won’t be able to just sit at home. She has been playing cricket for 23 years. I hope her experience and services are used to take women’s cricket to the next level,” the senior Raj said on Wednesday.

Raj, who has worn many hats – coach, guide, sounding board, mentor – knows his daughter well enough to predict twiddling thumbs will leave the now-retired Mithali restless.

Saying that she feared for her “life”, a top Indian cyclist has accused the chief national team coach, R K Sharma, of allegedly forcing himself into her room, offering a “post-training massage”, “forcefully” trying to pull her towards him, and asking her to “sleep with him”, during a camp in Slovenia last month, according to her complaint emailed to the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

The complaint states that Sharma allegedly told the cyclist that he “wants” her “to be his wife”. When she resisted, the complaint alleges, the coach threatened to destroy her career by “removing her from the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE)”, and making sure she would “sell vegetables on the road”.

According to the complaint, when the cyclist decided to quit the camp and return to India, Sharma called her family and asked them to get her married as she did not have a future in the sport.