Category Archives: Sports

Abu Nechim Ahmed to lead Assam in Buchi Babu

Sports

Kolkata:

Assam will be led by medium pacer Abu Nechim Ahmed, as Orissa and Bengal too have named their respective squads for 2011 edition of the Buchi Babu All-India invitation cricket tournament to be held in Chennai from August 11-30.

The Assam Cricket Association also announced the roping in of Abu Nechim`s Mumbai Indians teammate in IPL Rajagopal Sathish and Royal Challengers Bangalore`s left arm spinner J Syed Mohammad and retained veteran Maharashtra skipper Dheeraj Jadhav, though the trio will not be available for the TNCA tournament.

“It is the first time I am going to lead the side. The squad is a balanced one with good bowling and batting line-ups. I am looking forward to it,” Abu Nechim said.

Bengal and Orissa, on the other hand, picked new-look squad with the former side to be led by Subhomoy Das.

The experimental Bengal outfit has three from the current under-19 team, some new players and a few seniors including skipper Das.

Wicket-keeper batsman Haladhar Das has been retained skipper of the Orissa squad that has 11 newcomers.

Only five players in the Orissa line-up — skipper Das, Paresh Patel, Subit Biswal, Dhiraj Singh and Basanta Mohanty – have the experience of playing for the senior side.

Sixteen state teams and two local sides – TNCA President`s XI and TNCA XI- will vie for top honours in the tournament carrying a prize purse of Rs 1 lakh, while the runners-up will get Rs 50,000.

The Squads

Assam: Abu Nechim Ahmed (c), Tarjinder Singh (vc), Kunal Sakia (wk), Pallav Das, Rishav Das, Amit Sinha, Abhijit Singha Roy, Gokul Sharma, Swarupam Purkayastha, Prakash Bhagat, Dhiraj Goswami, Roshan Basfore, Sujoy Tarafdar, Arup Das and Prasanta Sonowal.

Orissa: Haladhar Das (c), Paresh Patel, Kameswar Barik (wk), Subit Biswal, Arya Debasis Bhatt, Barun Panigrahi, Arvind Singh, Tukuna Sahu, Debasis Mohanty Junior, Dhiraj Singh, Basanta Mohanty, Sukanta Das, Saiba Singh, Soumendra Das, Ananda Sahoo and Jayanta Behera

Bengal: Subhomoy Das (c), Partha Sarathi Bhattacharya, Rohan Banerjee, Arindam Ghosh, Arnab Ghosh (wk), Arjun Das, Sandipan Das, Sayan Shekhar Mondal, Arnab Nandi, Anirban Gupta, Mohammad Shami Ahmed, Ravikant Singh, Arunlal Yadav, Koushik Ghosh and Uddipan Mukherjee.

PTI

source: http://www.zeenews.india.com / Z News / Home> Sports> Cricket / August 09th, 2011

Abu Nechim becomes the first bowler to achieve hat-trick in Ranji Trophy

Sports

Assam’s promising fast bowler Abu Nechim Ahmed on Friday created history by becoming the first cricketer from the state to take a hat-trick in the Ranji Trophy, a feat which he achieved against Goa in a plate-B match at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati.

Abu Nechim, who plays for reigning IPL champions Mumbai, scaled five wickets including a hat trick on day 2 of the match.

However, despite his heroics, Assam conceded a lead of 82 runs in the second innings as Assam failed to wrest the initiative after restricting minnows Goa to 101 for 7 before lunch.

Goa batsman RJ Pinto scored an unbeaten 115 to steady Goa past the initial hiccups. Talking to the media after the day’s play, Abu said that it was an exciting experience at becoming the first player in Assam’s history to scalp a hattrick and promised to work even harder on his bowling to help Assam reach Plate A in the Ranji trophy.

Abu Nechim had earlier achieved a hat trick in an under-19 match against a visiting Australian team. Nechim also said that if he continues to bowl as good as today, no one could stop him from breaking into the Indian team.

source: http://www.taratv.com / TARA Tv / Home> News> Sports> Article / November 11th, 2011

Mohammed Shami becomes 2nd fastest Indian to take 50 wickets in ODIs

Sports

Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami  has completed 50 wickets in one day internationals. In the 9th match of Asia Cup 2014 between India and Afghanistan, Shami picked up two wickets which helped him to reach the landmark.

Mohammed Shami is the second fastest Indian to 50 wickets in ODIs. Shami reaches the landmark in his 29th innings. Samiullah Shenwar was his 50th victim.

Ajit Agarkat  is the fastest Indian to 50 wickets in ODIs. Agarkar reaches the landmark in his 23rd innings.

Here is the list of top 5 fastest Indians to 50 wickets in ODIs:

ChartsMPOs17may2014

Note: Stats updated till 5th March 2014

source: http: //www.sportskeeda.com / SportsKeeda / Home> News> Cricket – One Day International Cricket / by Sarath – Cricket Analylst / March 05th, 2014

An open letter to Mohammed Shami

Sports

Mohammed Shami

Dear Shami,

First of all, congratulations on your first full season, and a great one at that, in Indian colours. In the last few tours, you have enthralled us all with pace and swing alike. You have shown big promise, and you certainly have the potential to fill the one void that Indian cricket has in an otherwise complete set-up: that of a genuine fast bowler.

India has never had a plenitude of bowlers who can clock speeds of 140 kilometres per hour constantly and swing the ball at that pace, not since the days of Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath anyway. In you, we now have one who can do just that.

Albeit briefly up until now, you have shown us that you have it in you to mature into a genuine fast bowler. You can clock 140+ kilometres per hour on a regular basis and swing the new ball as well as reverse the old one. There is nothing as potent and dynamic as swing coupled with pace. Do not let go any of these traits, and we will have a world class fast bowler, one that we’ve been waiting for.

That brilliant opening spell in an ODI against the Aussies at Ranchi, your fifer on Test debut that broke the backbone of the Windies’ line-up and a few great spells against the Proteas and the Blackcaps have led us to believe that, potentially, we now have a bowler who can challenge the best in the world.

All we ask is for you not to fail us.

In the last decade or so, we have been searching for someone who can lead the bowling attack, someone who can be called “the spearhead of the pace attack” in the right sense of the phrase. Alas, all in vain.

Yes, a few people came along who showed promise for a brief period of time but could not live up to it in the long run. We pinned our hopes on Irfan Pathan before he  faded away into oblivion.   We  believed in Lakshmipathy Balaji before he  was plagued with injuries. Ishant Sharma got Ricky Ponting and a few more batsmen to dance to his tunes before he lost his rhythm and pace.

How so many Indian bowlers have gone from lethal to innocuous in the space of a few years is an enigma. Maybe they cut down on pace to gain accuracy or to try and prolong their careers by avoiding injuries. Maybe someone has advised them to do so. Do not let these thoughts creep into your head, and, if someone gives you such advice, please turn a deaf ear to them, for god’s sake.

Hope can be a treacherous thing. Our hope for a fast bowler who won’t just be fiery for a few years and then fizzle out, but one who will sustain his lethality throughout his career, has certainly been treacherous.

Us fans, we’ve done our share of waiting and hoping, Shami. But all we can still do is hope against all hope that you will be able to put an end to it. Let our hope not betray us this time.

– An ardent and hopeful fan.

source: http://www.sportskeeda.com / SportsKeeda / Home> Opinion> Cricket / by Kunal (cricket fan) / May 15th, 2014

I am… Fousiya M – Football coach

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Fousiya M. / Photo: K. Ragesh / The Hindu
Fousiya M. / Photo: K. Ragesh / The Hindu

Train journeys are a nightmare for me since I am responsible for all the young girls. While everyone sleeps, I stay awake

“I am a football coach of the Kerala Sports Council who has been on an assignment at the Nadakkav Girls Higher Secondary School for the past 12 years. I have trained many young girls who have gone on to play in the junior international, national, state and district teams. Two of my girls, Nikhila and Ashily, have played in the junior international team and Nikhila even attended the senior’s camp.

My day starts at 6.30 a.m. when I am at the ground. Practice goes on till about 8.30 a.m. and then I come back in the evening by 4 p.m. and coach children till about 6.30 p.m. I formed a Women’s Football Club in 2007 and every April-May we conduct training camps to which children from all backgrounds come. If about 100 come, there would be 20 who are really interested in the game. One knows how serious they are when they arrive for practice on time every day. That is the first sign. If they show promise we get them admission in the school and training begins.

For me, football is passion. My favourite footballer is Argentina’s Gabriel Batistuta, though as a team I tend to root for Brazil for their complete football. I studied in this school and my sports began here. As a student, I played a bit of everything — football, handball, cricket, hockey. The school boasted an active sport culture. I remember being the goalkeeper in Kerala handball team at the junior championships. I was also active in power-lifting and even won medals in it. But football is my enduring love. Initially at school, the seniors never let us play. All you could do was collect the ball when it went out, dribble for a while and give it back. We mostly practised at the Mananchira Square and the handful of us knew every blade of grass on that ground.

I was always the goalkeeper. Though short, I could dive well. I played at the national level, both junior and senior, for four to five years. Most of my friends who played with me have a Government job now. I met with an accident a few years ago and it interfered with the movement of my left hand. I could not undertake the mandatory training at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Ludhiana. Though I used to play till about a few years back, the accident has made it impossible now.

When it comes to coaching, I impart all that I have imbibed from my coaches. I also constantly interact with trainers who have NIS training and pass on what I gather to my children. Earlier, women’s football was not part of school championships and now after constant requests from our side it has been included.

I am mostly travelling with my children taking them to different championships. In fact, I returned from Jharkhand two days ago. Most parents send their children as a woman coach is accompanying them. So train journeys are a nightmare for me since I am responsible for all the young girls. While everyone sleeps, I stay awake. But coaching and being on the ground is what I love, for football is part of life now.”

(A weekly column on the men and women who make Kozhikode what it is.)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by  P. Anima / Kozhikode – March 21st, 2014

Abdul Hai takes a trip down memory lane

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PIONEERING FEAT: Mohammed Abdul Hai entered the record books in 1973-74 as the first century-make in Deodhar Trophy. / The Hindu Photo Archives
PIONEERING FEAT: Mohammed Abdul Hai entered the record books in 1973-74 as the first century-make in Deodhar Trophy. / The Hindu
Photo Archives

Mohammed Abdul Hai became the country’s first century-maker in the earliest avatar of abridged cricket, introduced through the Deodhar Trophy in 1973-74.

“The first doctor to play for India was my dream, but that was not to be,” the general physician settled in Michigan sighed wistfully, when reminiscing with The Hindu.

“There was a fairly large turnout at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium for the 1974-75 quarterfinal in Chennai,” continued Hai. For taking on North Zone was a star-studded South, led by S. Venkatraghavan.

Legends lined up were M.A.K. Pataudi, G.R. Viswanath, Abid Ali, Jayantilal Kenia and E.A.S. Prasanna, all of them Test players, three of whom were Hai’s Hyderabad Ranji teammates.

A consistent scorer in the event’s opening edition a year before and having played for Brondesbury CC alongside Mike Gatting in the Middlesex league, Hai felt equipped for the 60-overs-a-side challenge. With one opener gone for no score, the stylish southpaw walked in and began scoring at a brisk pace.

“Raj Singh Dungarpur’s eyes widened with amazement at what was then an astonishing rate — four runs an over — as also on South ‘amassing’ 248 for nine,” Hai recalled, his endeavour ending at 101, castled by Madan Lal.

Hai also played in Prof. D.B. Deodhar’s benefit match in Pune, the patriarch’s hometown.

He was offered an opportunity to play in/for Pakistan by Asif Iqbal, a senior at Hyderabad’s Nizam College.

The college’s alumni includes two India captains — Ghulam Ahmed and Mohd. Azharuddin — Test players M.L. Jaisimha, Abbas Ali Baig and Jayantilal Kenia besides Habeeb Ahmed, who led the Indian Starlets to the aforementioned nation.

“A decade after the Deodhar Trophy began, India clinched the Prudential World Cup in 1983, thus making the nation a cricket super power,” noted Prof. A. Prasanna Kumar, a Fulbright Fellow, sports columnist and author.

“If the sport’s reign was divided into eras, the 1970s belonged to Sunil Gavaskar, the ’80s to Kapil Dev, the ’90s to Sachin Tendulkar and thereon to M.S. Dhoni. Much credit is due to the limited-over version named after the Grand Old Man,” added Prasanna Kumar, who was a commentator during Visakhapatnam’s first One-Day International between New Zealand and India in 1988.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sports / by A. Joseph / Visakhapatnam – March 22nd, 2014

Can Kaif relive Lord’s magic in Phulpur ?

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Sports, , ,

It was a mammoth task: England had set India a target of 326 at Lord’s in the July 2002NatWest final. In those pre-T 20 days, teams seldom piled up such huge scores, forget chasing them. India, after a robust start, lost five wickets in five overs. Mohammed Kaif came in at no 7, when India were 5 for 146. What happened after that is history. Kaif went on to become the man of the match, hitting an unbeaten 87 off 75 balls, and steering India to a famous victory that most now remember as the match where skipper Sourav Ganguly took off his blue jersey and did a victory dance.

Twelve years later, Kaif has another big challenge. He is the Congress candidate from Phulpur in Allahabad, a onetime Congressbastion from where Jawaharlal Nehru, and then his sister, Vijaylakshmi Pandit, contested. But the last time Congress won there was in 1984. Kaif is pitted against BSP’s Kapil Muni Karwariya, the sitting MP, and SP’s Dharma Raj Patel. BJP is yet to announce its candidate.

“I realize it is a Herculean task,” says 33-year-old Kaif, who is from Allahabad. “I am a newcomer to politics. But as an internationalcricketer, I am ready to take up the challenge and give it my best shot.”

A couple of weeks back, he was in a mall in Delhi and bumped into Rahul Gandhi. “He asked me if I was interested in contesting. He told me that more and more youngsters need to join politics from all walks of life. He inspired me to take up the challenge… I agreed to his offer,” says Kaif.

His cricket career was going nowhere. He was dropped from Team India in 2006. He was playing domestic cricket and IPL matches, but this seasos, he was ignored at the IPL auctions.

But he knew people in the Congress inner circle like Union minister Rajiv Shukla. Besides, he “met Rahulji whenever he came to watch our matches”. “I am no stranger to the party,” he says.

Kaif is married to Noida-based journalist Pooja and has a two-year-old son. “Our family has been a very liberal, sporting family. My father Tarif played first-class cricket for UP and Railways. So did my brother Saif. We have always been told to respect all religions and cultures. Besides, onsports fields only your performances and behaviour matter, not your religion or caste.” UP politics, though, is another story.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Specials / by Santosh Suri , TNN / March 17th, 2014

Confirmed: Sporting Goa’s Adil Khan close to making Mohun Bagan switch

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(PHOTO: Mango Peel)
(PHOTO: Mango Peel)

The versatile player is all set to take the plunge to play for Karim Bencherifa’s side in the next I-League season…

Sporting Clube de Goa’s defensive midfielder  Adil Ahmed Khan has agreed a year long deal to play for Mohun Bagan in the next I-League season 2013-14, GOAL™ can reveal.

The 24-year-old had joined the ranks of the Flaming Oranje, where he eventually featured in the top flight of Indian football under his former Sesa FA coach Vishwas Gaonkar, who was at Sporting Goa at the time, in the year 2007.

It was understood that the Maroon and Green were interested in acquiring the services of Khan three years ago, which was when current Bagan head coach Karim Bencherifa was at the helm of the Kolkata outfit before the Moroccan had joined Salgaocar FC.

“It was too early for me that time (to join Mohun Bagan),” revealed Adil Khan.

The former India U-23 however did take the time to recognise where his roots lie. “Sesa FA gave birth to me and Sporting [Clube de Goa] gave me the stage,” he told GOAL™.

Now that Mohun Bagan have successfully beaten the odds to stay in the first division after their points weredocked following the Kolkata derby fiasco against East Bengal, Khan also hopes that he will win his first major title with the Mariners next season.

“It’s really good to see the way Mohun Bagan fought back (in the relegation battle) from zero points to the 10 wins [and seven draws]. They (Bagan) were championship contenders if nothing had happened against East Bengal,” he said.

“Hopefully it will happen (Mohun Bagan win the I-League) next year when I am with the club,” Khan signed off optimistically.

source: http://www.goal.com / Goal.com / Home / by Anselm Noronha / Photo by Mango Peel / May 03rd, 013

City boy’s chopper bike burns rubber

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Science & Technology, Sports, , ,

Zakir’s 10-feet long Captain America-style bikesports monster Trepador tyre; actor Upendra asked him if the bike can be used in one of his movies.

The bike sports a converted 500 cc Royal Enfield engine
The bike sports a converted 500 cc Royal Enfield engine

If you find a monstrous 10-feet long bike zipping around the streets of Bangalore, ridden by a young lad, don’t mistake him for a ghost rider. It is actually 25-year-old interior designer Zakir Hussain Khan, who has passionately created this unique chopper bike which sports a converted 500 cc Royal Enfield engine.
Zakir Hussain, aka Zak as he’s popularly known among motorcycle enthusiasts, was inspired by the intriguing ‘Captain America’ chopper bikes in the West. Choppers are handcrafted or modified bikes. Captain America is the lead character in the counterculture 1960s movie Easy Rider, in which the two protagonists ride a chopper bike.
It took Zak three months to create this mean machine, which he calls the ‘Big Indian’. He now has Sandalwood bigwigs queuing up to feature this monster in their movies.
“Actually, I was test-riding the bike near actor Upendra’s house when his son saw the bike and called his father to check it out. He seemed quite impressed,” said Zak.
Uppi, known to wow his audience with his exuberant and larger-than-life characters, has even asked him if the bike can be used in one of his movies — this of course, after spending a few minutesinspecting the bike and its unusually big hind wheel.
The young designer, who invests most of his earnings from interior designing on modifying bikes, used the imported Maxxis Trepador tyre made by Taiwanese company Cheng Shin Rubber, doing business as Maxxis International, for the hind wheel. The tyre, made to be used on light trucks and SUVs, reportedly cost Zak a whopping Rs 60,000 to import from Germany. He thinks it gives the machine a mean look.
The bike cost him Rs 6.25 lakh to make from scratch. Another of its unique features is its silencer, which emits fire from its exhaust. This lone cost him a cool INR 1,50,000. Some of the characteristic features of this single-seater bike, now grabbing onlooker eyeballs, are its lengthened frame, extended forks, a skull for headlight, and Gatling-style (a forerunner of the modern machine gun) barrels, extending from one side of both the fork tubes.
Zak, always keen on wanting to make something different, started modifying cars and bikes since he was an 18-year-old. “I want to create another chopper bike which is 18-feet long,” said the ambitious Zak. And what is he going to do with this one? “I want to auction it after a few months,” he said.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Nandini Kumar, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / March 08th, 2014