timesofindia.indiatimes.com - It won't take too long for Virat Kohli to be back in form: Kapil Dev

It won't take too long for Virat Kohli to be back in form: Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev has said that star batter Virat Kohli looked good on his comeback against Pakistan in the team's Asia Cup 2022 campaign opener and it will not take him too long to be back in form. India won their opening match against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday by five wickets and chased down the target of 148 in a thrilling last-over finish. Kohli was the joint top-scorer for India, along with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, as the former India captain played a solid knock of 35 of 34 balls. "Good to see him come back. I saw a couple of shots where he really made an impact. I just want him to be more sure about that. So far, he is coming back, he looked good. He was lucky in the first over when he was dropped. I like his attitude, not only today but from the last ten years. This makes him a bigger player than anyone else," said Kapil in an exclusive interview with ANI. Questioned on how Virat can evolve from criticism coming his way, the 1983 World Cup-winning captain suggested that Kohli needs to understand that ups and downs are part of a sportsperson's career. "It is much bigger than anything else. No player will get runs in every match, no player will get a zero in every match. I think with his ability, his talent, it should not take him that long to come back in form. Just waiting for one big knock. He will be back, I have no doubt about it," he added.

Defending champion Emma Raducanu crashes out in first round of US Open

The 11th seeded Briton becomes the first defending US Open champion to lose in the first round since Germany's Angelique Kerber in 2017. Raducanu captivated the sporting world when she became the first qualifier to claim a Grand Slam title, winning 10 matches in New York without dropping a set, catapulting her career into the stratosphere and making her one of the most marketable athletes on the planet.

My father was upset at me taking up javelin throw: Annu Rani

Commonwealth Games at Birmingham recently, narrate her struggles in reaching here, gives you goosebumps. As she celebrated her 30th birthday at a Athletics Federation of India sponsorship event here on Monday, Rani, in an exclusive conversation with TOI, revealed the tale of how she managed to finally convince her father, Amarpal Singh, a farmer who was extremely reluctant about her becoming a javelin thrower, while she was growing up in Meerut's Bahadurpur village. "No one in my family knew that I had picked up the javelin throw in school.

Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek advance at US Open; Elena Rybakina, Venus Williams crash out

World number one and French Open champion Swiatek eased past Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-0 in just 67 minutes. Victory was a relief for the 21-year-old Pole who had suffered early losses at warm-up events in Toronto and Cincinatti. "In matches, being a little bit stressed and tight, it can get a little bit worse, but still, I feel like my level is just better," said Swiatek who next faces 2017 champion Sloane Stephens. "We'll see if I'm going to hold on to that." Alcaraz, the 19-year-old world number four, was made to sweat by battling Sebastian Baez, winning the first two sets 7-5, 7-5 before the Argentine retired injured 0-2 down in the third.

Asia Cup 2022: Time for coaches to pick formats too?

Sriram says all-format coaching is very difficult in packed scheduleDUBAI: With a packed international calendar and three different formats jostling for relevance and financial viability, cricketers have already started to pick and choose their formats. Quinton de Kock abruptly called it quits in Test cricket earlier in the year and Ben Stokes ruffled a lot of feathers when he decided to give up ODIs last month. As international cricket faces a threat from proliferating T20 leagues, no doubt the players are bearing the brunt of the unrelenting schedule. It's clear that cricket is slowly headed towards three types of international players to suit each format of the game, leading to another question: should coaches too pick their formats? Former India cricketer turned coach Sridharan Sriram, who is a technical consultant to the Bangladesh team for the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup, feels the time will soon come when format-specific coaching will become the norm.

Stuttering Chelsea beaten at Southampton, Leeds United hold Everton to a draw

Tuchel's side blew the lead at St Mary's after Raheem Sterling put them ahead midway through the first half. England forward Sterling bagged his third goal in two games with a close-range strike in the 23rd minute. But Chelsea had squandered a host of chances before Sterling's opener and, not for the first time in Tuchel's reign, their profligate finishing came back to haunt them. Romeo Lavia equalised in the 28th minute with his first goal for Southampton, curling home from the edge of the area after Chelsea failed to clear a corner. Adam Armstrong put Southampton ahead on the stroke of half-time as he took Romain Perraud's pass and drilled a deflected shot past Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy. Chelsea, beaten 3-0 at Leeds in their previous away fixture, were unable to muster a response as they slipped to a second defeat from their last three games.

Asia Cup 2022, India vs Hong Kong: Ravindra Jadeja, the buffer for rusty top-order

All-rounder's evolution as a batter in focus as India hope star players Rohit, Virat and Rahul strike form against Hong Kong todayDUBAI: As the Indian players deboarded the team bus for an optional practice session here at the ICC Academy on Tuesday evening, the photographers trained their lenses on Virat Kohli. As it turned out, this is the second practice session Kohli had decided to skip on either side of the Pakistan match last Sunday. As everyone looked around for Kohli, it turned out regular captain Rohit Sharma too was missing. So was head coach Rahul Dravid. India's top-three - Rohit, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli - have looked rusty and nowhere close to being at their fluent best, so Wednesday's match against minnows Hong Kong here at the Dubai International stadium could be just the right opportunity for them to get going.

Asia Cup 2022, Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Highlights: Spinners, Najibullah Zadran take Afghanistan to Super 4s

Najibullah Zadran helped Afghanistan record a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup here on Tuesday. Afghanistan's star spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/16) and Rashid Khan (3/22) ran through a reckless Bangladesh batting line-up to restrict the opposition to 127. Bangladesh stifled Afghanistan in the run chase before Najibullah's belligerent 43 not out off 17 balls, comprising six sixes, got his team over the line in 18.3 overs. As it happenedIbrahim Zadran also contributed with 42 off 41 balls as he shared an unbeaten 69-run stand off 36 balls with Najibullah.

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Timesofindia.indiatimes.com Sport News

It won't take too long for Virat Kohli to be back in form: Kapil Dev

Defending champion Emma Raducanu crashes out in first round of US Open

My father was upset at me taking up javelin throw: Annu Rani

Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek advance at US Open; Elena Rybakina, Venus Williams crash out

Asia Cup 2022: Time for coaches to pick formats too?

Stuttering Chelsea beaten at Southampton, Leeds United hold Everton to a draw

Asia Cup 2022, India vs Hong Kong: Ravindra Jadeja, the buffer for rusty top-order

Asia Cup 2022, Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Highlights: Spinners, Najibullah Zadran take Afghanistan to Super 4s