'This is not our home' - Rohit plays down India's venue advantage
DUBAI : India captain Rohit Sharma dismissed suggestions that they have had an unfair advantage by being allowed to play all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai.
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DUBAI : India captain Rohit Sharma dismissed suggestions that they have had an unfair advantage by being allowed to play all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai.
MUMBAI : India's cricket board defended its World-Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma on Monday after comments about his lack of fitness from a spokesperson for the Congress, the country's main opposition party.
DUBAI : Blessed with a venue advantage and with a depleted Australia at their disposal, India will be gunning for revenge when the familiar foes clash in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI : Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders appointed veteran top order batter Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday.
History weighs heavily against them but India would rely on a potent spin battery and familiarity with the conditions to break the knockout jinx against an undermanned Australia when the two formidable cricket forces clash in the Champions Trophy semifinal in Dubai on Tuesday. It will not be a straightforward task, though, as the Aussies are a resilient beast in global tournaments even without their lead cast of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Their stunning chase of 352 against England at Lahore a few days back validates the thought.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa scored his second victory on the trot, outwitting Vincent Keymer of Germany to join compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram at the top on three points after the end of the fourth round of the Prague Masters. Aravindh survived some initial hiccups before signing peace with Sam Shankland of the United States, while top seed Wei Yi of China finally found his form at the expense of local star David Navara. Anish Giri of Netherlands played out his fourth draw in as many games with Gurel Ediz of Turkey, while Czech GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van also drew with Quang Leim Le of Vietnam in the other two games of the 10-player round-robin tournament.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with fellow Indian Aravindh Chithambaram as the two stayed a full point ahead of nearest challengers after the fifth round of Prague Masters chess tournament. With 3.5 points in their kitty, Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa are now followed by top seed Wei Yi of China, Anish Giri of Holland, Quang Leim Le of Vietnam and Vincent Keymer of Germany, who all have 2.5 points apiece. Sharing the sixth spot are the remaining four contestants, Czech duo of David Navara and Nguyen Thai Dai Van, Sam Shankland of United States and Gurel Ediz of Turkey.
The Indian cricket team booked their Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal berth without a single loss after they defeated New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday. India are the only side in the competition till now who have won all three of their encounters. However, there has been claims of 'unfair advantage' from both past and current players due to the fact that India are playing all of their games in Dubai. The Indian government did not allow the national side to travel to Pakistan and the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to host the competition in a 'hybrid manner'. Ex-England cricketers like Naseer Hussain and Mike Atherton were not pleased with the scheduling while Jos Buttler and South Africa batter Rassie van der Dussen also echoed similar sentiments when asked about the topic.