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India captain Virat Kohli blamed his team`s timid approach for their "bizarre" defeat in Sunday`s Twenty20 World Cup match against New Zealand but has not given up hopes of making the semi-finals of the tournament.

India slumped to fifth place in Group II after their second successive defeat in the Super 12 stage and even winning the remaining three matches would not guarantee a place in the last four.

"Quite bizarre," a dejected Kohli said after New Zealand thrashed them by eight wickets at the Dubai International Stadium.

"I thought we were to be very brutal upfront. I don`t think we were brave enough with the bat or ball."

It was a snowballing effect after India's loss to Pakistan in their opening game as from the team selection to the captaincy of Virat Kohli to the fitness of Hardik Pandya and his place in the playing XI, everything was questioned. Many felt that if Hardik Pandya isn't bowling, he should make way for a proper batter, who is in form.

Now a recent report in a English daily suggests that selectors wanted to send back Hardik Pandya to India since he didn't bowl in the second half of the IPL, however, the mentor for Team India for the T20 World Cup, MS Dhoni vouched for his finishing skills and he stayed back.

"The truth is that the selectors wanted to send him back to India after he didn't bowl in the IPL, but MS Dhoni (appointed Team India mentor) vouched for his finishing skills," a source was quoted as saying by TOI.

Usain Bolt pushed his body to the limits to break records in the Olympics.

But time off from the gym was essential for his performance, too.

Bolt, who won eight gold medals from 2008 to 2016 and became the first man in history to set three world records in Olympic competition, kept a close eye on his body and performance, trying to hit a sweet spot of strength and agility.

When his muscles got too big, he and his trainer Glen Mills would pause his gym routine for a few weeks, Bolt told Insider.

"If you get too big, then your muscles get too tight. And if your muscles get too tight, there's one of two things that's going to happen. Either you're going to get injured or you're going to slow down," Bolt said in an interview about his new partnership with 3D dental printing technology company, SprintRay, which is providing dental care to underserved communities in his home country of Jamaica.

Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya rolled his arms and started bowling in the nets on Wednesday ahead of the crucial Super 12 contest against New Zealand. India suffered a massive 10-wicket defeat in their opening match of the T20 World Cup against arch-rivals Pakistan. It was Men in Blue’s first defeat to Pakistan in the ICC World Cup events. With only five bowling options available in the XI, India lacked a bit of balance against Babar Azam and Co.

Hardik was seen bowling in the nets which was shown on air just before the Super 12 match between Scotland and Namibia in Abu Dhabi. He bowled close to 20 minutes to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur in one of the nets as head coach Ravi Shastri and mentor MS Dhoni monitored his progress.

Celebrated former captain Rahul Dravid is all but certain to be the Indian cricket team’s next head coach after he formally applied for the high-profile position on Tuesday.

With Dravid, the current head of National Cricket Academy applying, the job for the Cricket Advisory Committee becomes easier as there aren’t any big names in fray who can match the batting great’s stature.

Also, it is reliably learnt that he is the first and only choice of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah.

“Yes, Rahul has formally applied today as it’s the last day of the deadline. His team at the NCA, bowling coach Paras (Mhambrey) and fielding coach Abhay (Sharma) have already applied. His application was just a formality,” a senior BCCI official told a news agency on Tuesday.