The Indian Weekender, 13 November 2020

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SPORTS
Friday, November 13, 2020 The Indian Weekender
NEWS in BRIEF
Pakistan drop Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Amir from
35-member squad for New Zealand tour
A
day after appointing Babar Azam as the
new Test captain, Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) announced a 35-member squad for
their upcoming tour of New Zealand from which
the national men’s and Shaheens (Pakistan A team)
squads will be selected. The players, along with
20-member players support personnel, will depart
for Lincoln on 23 November where they will spend
the mandatory 14-day quarantine period. Pakistan
will play three T20Is on 18, 20 and 22 December, and two Tests which
will be a part of ICC World Test Championship in Mount Maunganui and
Christchurch on 26-30 December and 3-7 January, respectively.
“Apart from the 35 players involved in pre-series intra-squad matches as
part of their preparations, Pakistan men’s national team players not involved
in international matches against New Zealand will be available for selection
for the Shaheens’ matches against New Zealand A.
Tendulkar, Lara easily best two batsmen I've played
with or against: Warne
Former Australia leg-spinner Shane
Warne has heaped praise Sachin
Tendulkar and Brian Lara, saying
the duo were the 'best two batsmen'
he played with or against during his
illustrious career.
"These two guys were clearly and easily the best two batsmen I played
with or against and the best of my generation too (1989-2013) Sachin
Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Did you like watching the three of us play and
do battle out on the field?" wrote Warne along with the picture which he
posted on his Instagram account on Tuesday.
Tendulkar made his debut against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989 as a
16-year-old. He went on to play 200 Tests for India, scoring 100 centuries
across Tests and ODIs. In 463 ODIs, Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs including
49 tons and in Tests, he has 15,921 runs to his name, including 51 centuries.
Trailblazers beat Supernovas to
clinch Women's T20 Challenge
Trailblazers, led by captain Smriti Mandhana's 68 and ably supported by
spinners Salma Khatun and Deepti Sharma, clinched the Women's T20
Challenge beating Supernovas by 16 runs in the final match.
Batting first, Trailblazers scored 118 for eight wickets in 20 overs, with
Smriti being the top scorer with 68 off 49 balls (5x4s, 3x6s), and left-arm
spinner Radha Yadav bagging five wicket hauls. Chasing, Supernovas were
restricted to 102 for seven wickets in 20 overs, largely due to off-spinners
Salma Khatun of Bangladesh(3/18) and Deepti Sharma (2/9).
Also, veteran Jhulan Goswami bowled a tight line, conceding only 17
runs in her four-over spell, though she didn't take a wicket. For the losers,
captain Harmanpreet Kaur was the top scorer with 30 off 36 balls. But no
other batswoman could get going.
Barcelona wants Neymar to pay back
nearly $12 million
Barcelona is suing Neymar
for nearly $12 million,
the amount the club believes it
overpaid the Brazilian during the
time he played in Spain, a person
with knowledge of the case said.
He said Barcelona overpaid
Neymar to avoid possible tax
irregularities while authorities investigated his transfer from Brazilian club
Santos in 2013. Calculations recently concluded by tax authorities showed
that the club didn’t have to pay the 10 million euros ($11.8 million), so
it is requesting that the player returns that amount. The person spoke to
The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person
was not authorized to make public comments about the issue. Neymar’s
representatives told the AP that they would not comment on the case.
Neymar played for Barcelona from 2013-17 before joining French club
Paris Saint-Germain on a record transfer fee of 222 million euros ($262
million).
Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay all face injury issues
ahead of World Cup qualifiers
Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay are all facing injury problems ahead of
upcoming World Cup qualifying matches. For Brazil, forward Philippe
Coutinho is out.
Argentina will be missing striker Paulo Dybala. And Uruguay will have
to do without midfielder Federico Valverde.
Brazil has the added problem of missing Neymar for the team’s match
against Venezuela on Friday because of a groin injury. But he could return
against Uruguay on Tuesday.
Brazil and Argentina lead the 10-team qualifying group with six points
from two matches, followed by Colombia and Paraguay with four points
each. Uruguay has three points.
IPL 2020: Five big
ticket players who
flopped this season
The 13th edition of the Indian
Premier League was totally
different from the previous
seasons. Firstly, the coronavirus
pandemic forced the tournament to
be carried out in empty stadiums of
UAE. The next unusual thing was
big cricketing stars going out of
firepower.
The league was studded with a
number of uncapped cricketers who
produced some stellar performances.
But there were certain big players
who took the cricket fans by surprise
with their out of fuel appearances
on the field. Let’s have a look at
those cricketers who went from
IPL Superstars to massive flops this
season.
1. Rishabh Pant: The Delhi
Capitals wicket-keeper-batsman
struggled with his fitness and poor
show throughout the tournament.
He was a far cry away from his
big hitting self as his move to be
overcautious led to his failure.
He showed glimpses of his
attacking ability in the final against
Mumbai Indians and scored halfcentury.
He mustered a below-par
343 runs from 14 outings, with a
solitary fifty to his name.
2. MS Dhoni: Cricket lovers were
eagerly waiting to see their all-time
favourite cricketer in action since his
international retirement. They waited
to see some Dhoni fireworks for
more than a year. Unfortunately, their
wishes didn’t turn real. The Chennai
Super Kings skipper had his worstever
IPL season, scoring 200 runs at
an average of 25, without any fiftyplus
score.
3. Glenn Maxwell: The Australian
all-rounder was re-bought by Kings
XI Punjab with a hope that his
presence will boost the team with
some firepower. Maxwell even
slammed a century against England
before joining KXIP camp in UAE.
But things changed as soon as the
tournament commenced.
A player like Glenn Maxwell
ended the entire season without
hitting as single SIX. Just 108 runs
under his belt and 9 boundaries from
14 games.
4. Dinesh Karthik: The veteran
Indian wicket-keeper had a rather
confusing season altogether. Firstly,
he took too much of time to settle
himself in the batting line-up. Then
he decided to step down as Kolkata
Knight Riders captain.
All this while the only thing that
suffered was his batting. Just 169
runs from 14 games including a fifty.
This was his third-worst IPL season
in terms of runs scored.
5. Andre Russell: Russell’s bighitting
prowess made him the most
feared asset in the Kolkata Knight
Riders line-up. The Caribbean allrounder
is known for hurting the
best bowlers in the business. But
this season, all he could hurt was his
hamstring and knee.
He scored only 117 runs from 10
games, averaging 13 and no fifty-plus
scores at all. Russell was the biggest
disappointment for KKR this season.
Cricket Australia unveils
Indigenous jersey for India T20Is
The Australian men’s cricket team is set to wear
specially-designed Indigenous shirts in the
upcoming T20 series against India, a move
aimed at recognising and encouraging the Indigenous
Australians’ role in the sport. Cricket Australia on
Wednesday unveiled the design, a collaboration between
manufacturer ASICS and two Indigenous women, Aunty
Fiona Clarke and Courtney Hagen.
“Clarke is a direct descendent of late cricketer
‘Mosquito’ Couzens (known as Grongarrong), one of
the Aboriginal players who toured England in 1868
as part of the first sporting team from Australia to play
abroad,” cricket.co.au reported. The design is an ode
to the ancestors and past, present and future aboriginal
cricketers. The Australian men’s team, thus, will be
following their women counterparts, who first wore an
Indigenous shirt of their own in a match against England
earlier this year. Australia premier fast bowler Mitchell
Starc, who displayed the first look of the jersey, said he
was excited about sporting the new shirt.
“...it’s really exciting to have the chance as a men’s
team to wear our first Indigenous jersey,” he was quoted
as saying by the website.