International
Dominic Drakes guides Delhi Bulls into Abu Dhabi T10 final
Barbadian left-arm pace bowler Dominic Drakes bowled a spectacular two overs in which he took four wickets, as the 23-year-old guided Delhi Bulls to the final of the Abu Dhabi T10 with a huge 49-run win over Team Abu Dhabi in Qualifier 2 here.
The Bulls will be up against the Deccan Gladiators in the final, while Team Abu Dhabi will take on Bangla Tigers in the third-place play-off later on Saturday.
After the Delhi Bulls recorded an imposing 109/7 in their 10 overs, Team Abu Dhabi were bowled out for 60 in 8.3 overs, with Drakes returning figures of 4/13 in his two overs.
Philip Salt and Paul Stirling began Team Abu Dhabi’s innings in typical fashion, gathering 23 runs off the first over. Salt struck two boundaries and a six off the first three deliveries and Stirling smacked consecutive boundaries off Chandrapaul Hemraj’s bowling.
However, Drakes brought the Delhi Bulls back into the match by taking the wickets of Salt and skipper Liam Livingstone in the second over. Fazalhaq Farooqi made matters worse for Team Abu Dhabi when he dismissed Stirling in the fourth over, leaving Team Abu Dhabi at 39/3.
Romario Shepherd tilted the match in favour of Delhi Bulls when he removed West Indian talisman Chris Gayle for 14 from 11 balls and Danny Briggs for nought in consecutive deliveries in the fifth over. Team Abu Dhabi were reduced to 44/6 and from thereon, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually folded up for 60.
Earlier, Sheldon Cottrell got Team Abu Dhabi off to a great start by bowling out Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the first delivery of Delhi Bulls’ innings. Sherfane Rutherford tried to gain momentum for the Bulls as he struck a four and a six in the second over. However, he was dismissed by Livingstone for 19 runs from eight balls in the next over.
Team Abu Dhabi continued to put pressure on their opponents by picking up wickets at regular intervals. Livingstone led from the front with magnificent figures of 2/7 in his two overs.
Shepherd tried to take the responsibility of getting the runs for the Bulls as he smacked Marchant de Lange for consecutive boundaries in the seventh over, but he was removed by Cottrell for 26 runs from 16 balls in the ninth over. Adil Rashid’s breezy cameo of 13 runs from five balls helped the Bulls post 109/7 in their 10 overs.
Brief scores: Delhi Bulls 109/7 (Romario Shepherd 26, Sherfane Rutherford 19; Liam Livingstone 2/7) beat Team Abu Dhabi 60 (Philip Salt 15, Chris Gayle 14; Dominic Drakes 4/13) by 49 runs.
International
CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources
New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”
“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”
The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.
Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.
Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.
International
It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027
India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.
The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.
This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).
It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.
International
‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global
New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.
Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.
Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.
Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.
He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”
He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.
“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.
He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”
Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.
“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”
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