SPORTS

New Delhi: Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwala said that javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is recovering from his elbow surgery without complications but he will not be rushed into any competition, including the World Championships later this year.

The 21-year-old Neeraj, who won a gold in the Commonwealth Games as well as Asian Games last year, was successfully operated by celebrated orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala at the Kokilaben Dirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai on May 2.

The arthroscopic surgery on his throwing right hand was done to remove bone fragments from his elbow joint. His recovery is likely to take at least three months, putting his participation at the prestigious Doha World Championships (September-October) in doubt.

New Delhi: The Indian men’s hockey team ended its tour Down Under with a 2-5 loss to world no.2 Australia in the fifth and final match at Perth. Trent Mitton (11th and 24th minutes), Flynn Ogilvie (3rd), Blake Govers (28th) and Tim Brand (43rd) scored for the hosts while Nilakanta Sharma (12th) and Rupinderpal Singh (53rd) registered their names on the scoresheet for India.

The visitors had the opening chance in the match, but it was cleared by Eddie Ockenden, while on the counter Australia forced Indian goalkeeper Krishan Pathak to make a brilliant save towards his left side as deflected it outside for a long corner.

The following seconds saw Australia score the opening goal of the match in the 3rd minute as Ogilvie managed to get the final touch.

New Delhi: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly once again rued that young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant would be sorely missed during the ODI World Cup, commencing on May 30 in United Kingdom.

“India will miss Pant in the World Cup. I don’t know in whose place but he will be missed,” Ganguly told reporters at Eden Gardens.

The explosive 21-year-old Pant was a notable omission from the India’s World Cup-bound squad as the national selectors picked an experienced Dinesh Karthik as the second choice wicketkeeper.

New Delhi: India’s GS Lakshmi has created history by becoming the first female to be appointed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) International Panel of Match Referees. This comes close on the heels of Claire Polosak becoming the first ever woman umpire to stand in a men’s ODI earlier this month. Lakshmi will be eligible to referee international games with immediate effect.  

Meanwhile, Australia’s Eloise Sheridan has joined compatriot Polosak on the ICC Development Panel of Umpires, taking the number of women on that panel to an unprecedented eight.

Lauren Agenbag, Kim Cotton, Shivani Mishra, Sue Redfern, Mary Waldron and Jacqueline Williams are the other women officials on that panel. The first woman on the ICC Development Panel of Umpires was Kathy Cross, who retired last year.

New Delhi: Through twists and turns befitting the plot of a bestseller, the Indian Premier League final was decided off the last ball with spectators holding onto the edge of their seats and players chewing off their fingernails. Lasith Malinga turned hero from villain after conceding 20 runs in his previous over, trapping Shardul Thakur leg-before when Chennai Super Kings needed two runs of the last ball.

Shane Watson opened Chennai’s batting, stood like a rock when wickets kept falling and tore into the Mumbai’s bowling later, only to miss two balls in the end. Mumbai Indians turned the table in those two deliveries. With Jasprit Bumrah operating in tandem with Malinga, Mumbai held their nerve better but this was more a victory of cricket as an entertainer, and of the belief that experience always matters.

New Delhi: Sachin Tendulkar was well known for his batting but his bowling was also a major weapon for the Master Blaster and over the years, he has taken many important wickets with his brand of spin.

In a video posted on Twitter, Tendulkar and his friend Vinod Kambli were shown hitting the nets at the Tendulkar-Middlesex Global Academy camp in Navi Mumbai with Tendulkar bowling couple of trademark leg spinners.

“Felt great to be back in the nets with @vinodkambli349 during the @tendulkarmga lunch break! It sure took us back to our childhood days at Shivaji Park... Very few people know that Vinod & I have always been in the same team and never played against each other. #TMGA,” wrote Tendulkar on Twitter.

New Delhi: Australia coach Justin Langer has said that Steve Smith is in the "best physical condition of his life." Smith showed ominous form in Australia's practice matches against New Zealand scoring an unbeaten 91 on Friday to lead Australia to victory. This was after he had scored an unbeaten 89 off 77 balls in the previous match. Langer said one of Smith's goals when he started serving his one-year ban following the 2018 Newlands ball tampering scandal was to return to the squad in better physical shape. The 48-year-old former opener said that Smith has certainly done that in his time out.

"I think his skin folds are the lowest they've ever been and they're talking elite level," Langer told SEN. "I certainly slept a lot better last night. It warmed my heart to be honest. I actually watched him on the weekend, he had a nets session on Sunday night and I was sitting with a couple of coaches and I just said 'How good is this kid'."