1
THE HIMALAYAN MAIL 7 JAMMU THURSDAY JULY 30, 2020 NEW DELHI:Domestic veteran Rajat Bhatia on Wednesday announced re- tirement from all forms of cricket and he looks back at his long career with "no re- grets" after coming close to play for India in 2014. The 40-year-old all- rounder started his career with Tamil Nadu in 2003- 04 but played most of his cricket for Delhi. In the 2018-19, he guided new en- trants Uttarakhand to the Ranji Trophy quarter-fi- nals. Bhatia, who was consid- ered Delhi cricket's crisis man, played 112 first-class games, scoring 6482 runs at an average of 49.10 apart from taking 137 wickets at 27.97. He also played 119 List A games and 146 T20s. Last season, the Delhi- born cricketer played List A cricket in Bangladesh. "I had decided last year only (about retirement). I was not playing domestic cricket here and then got to do commentary. Then I was playing as a profes- sional in Bangladesh but this year they stopped hir- ing professionals and then coronavirus happened. Therefore, I thought it was time to retire," Bhatia told PTI. "Having said that, I feel fitter than ever and very much open to playing in overseas leagues." He came closest to play- ing for India in 2014 when he was picked among the probables for the T20 World Cup. However, he has no regrets about not getting that coveted India cap. "I don't want to think about my career that way. It would be immature of me. There is so much I was able to do and I am grateful about that. There are no re- grets. "The highs would surely be winning the Ranji Tro- phy for Delhi (2007-08), the IPL in 2012 (with KKR) and personally getting Sachin Tendulkar out thrice in the IPL, which I was able to play for 10 years. That is something I would always remember." Bhatia has done a course in bio-mechanics from an institute in Hawaii and wants to explore a career in that field. "I have cleared stage 2, now I will be doing bio-me- chanics 3. We have many bio-mechanics specialists in bowling but not in train- ing. I can catch the move- ments of players and help them." Asked about the differ- ence in domestic cricket standards now from the time he started playing, Bhatia said, "The structure has improved to make the game more competitive. But surprisingly, when it comes to injury manage- ment, we are still behind." "When you are starting your career in India, you tend to get injured a lot, there is lack of knowledge on that front. It is not cricket-related, it is just about understanding your body and its movements. "Thanks to this course that I have done, I know my body much better and feel have not moved as well as I have been moving over the last three years. I want to help the youngsters on that front." Domestic stalwart and Tendulkar nemesis in IPL, Bhatia retires NEW DELHI:Stuart Broad progressed seven places to grab the third posi- tion among bowlers in the latest ICC Player Rankings after a stellar show in the fi- nal Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford. England won the third and final game by 269 runs to clinch the series 2-1 on Tuesday. The formerly top-ranked bowler, who finished with a match haul of 10 for 67 dur- ing which he touched the milestone of 500 Test wick- ets, has reached his best po- sition since August 2016 when he was third. The 34-year-old has also gained seven places with the bat after his quick-fire 62 off 45 balls in the first innings, the joint-third fastest for England in Test history, and risen three places among all-rounders to 11th. However, with Broad moving seven places to break in to the top 10, In- dia's Jasprit Bumrah was pushed down a spot to be placed eighth in the bowlers list. Another England bowler to advance in the rankings was Chris Woakes, whose five-wicket haul in the sec- ond innings lifted him to 20th position and a career- best rating points tally of 654. Indian cricketers, who have not taken the field since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, re- tained their positions in the top-10 of batsmen rankings. Skipper Virat Kohli re- mains second in the bats- men standings behind Steve Smith while Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane remain seventh and ninth respectively. In the list of all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin con- tinue to occupy the third and fifth spot respectively. England opener Rory Burns gained 13 spots to reach 17th position after scores of 57 and 90 at Old Trafford, the first time the 29-year-old left-hander has moved into the top 20. Ollie Pope reached a ca- reer-best 46th position, gaining 24 slots on the back of his 91 in his only innings of the match, while wicket- keeper Jos Buttler's knock of 67 lifted him from 50th to 44th. For the West Indies, Shai Hope has gained two slots to reach 68th position while pacer Kemar Roach has moved a place to reach 15th place after grabbing four wickets in England's first in- nings. ICC Test rankings: Broad leaps to 3rd spot among bowlers ' This was that gift from all of those people for him because he kept giving, giving, giving for In- dia and I thought what bet- ter way at his home ground to realise his dream and then he gets a lap of hon- our. So, we felt like this is the ideal thing to do for him, and we went ahead and did it' Indian skipper Virat Kohli has revealed why the team decided to lift leg- endary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on shoulders af- ter the World Cup win in 2011. On April 2, 2011, India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets at Wankhede Sta- dium in the final to lift their second ODI World Cup. Af- ter the win, the whole team had carried Sachin on their shoulder in a lap of honour. The right-handed bats- man was speaking to In- dian cricketer Mayank Agarwal in the Latest Episode of the 'Open nets with Mayank' when the skipper was asked about 'lap of honour' given to Sachin. "Firstly my feeling was of gratitude that we had won the World Cup. I felt ab- solute joy. But invariably everyone's feeling was cen- tred around Paaji (Sachin Tendulkar) because we knew this was his last chance to win the World Cup and whatever he had done for the country for so many years, n number of games he has contributed to India's winning cause and given us all motivation and inspiration," said In- dian skipper during the candid chat with Mayank. "This was that gift from all of those people for him because he kept giving, giv- ing, giving for India and I thought what better way at his home ground to realise his dream and then he gets a lap of honour. So, we felt like this is the ideal thing to do for him, and we went ahead and did it," he added. Kohli recollects lap of honour given to Sachin after World Cup win F ormer India opener Gautam Gambhir believes that the Virat Kohli-led side has the bowling attack to rattle the Australian bat- ting line up Steve Smith and David Warner had missed the last Test series in Australia in 2018-19 as they were serving ball-tampering bans.India are slated to tour Australia in Novem- ber for a gruelling four- Test series. "…India has got the bowling attack to rattle the Australian batting line-up even with David Warner and Steve Smith, but yeah, it's going to be a different challenge than what it was last time around," Gamb- hir said on Star Sports show Cricket Connected. "So, you would want Vi- rat Kohli to fire plus the bowlers as well because it's the bowlers that will win you the Test matches," added the southpaw. Last time in 2018-19, In- dia registered their first ever Test series in Australia but Australia had missed the services of Smith and Warner. Gambhir, who was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup- winning teams, said this time it will be a different challenge for the visi- tors."Whether it was his (Kohli's) first tour, whether it was second tour, this time around, obviously, he (Kohli) would be gearing up for it because it's going to be a different challenge with David Warner and Steve Smith coming back into the Australian Test line-up," he said. Gambhir says India bowlers can rattle Australia again but .... NEW DELHI:Nick Kyr- gios hit back at Borna Coric on Wednesday after the Croat said he was not both- ered by criticism of Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour exhi- bition where several players tested positive for COVID- 19. Djokovic, Coric, Grigor Dimitrov and Viktor Troicki all tested positive during the event in Serbia and Croatia, which was later abandoned. "I read what he wrote, but I simply don't care because he likes to be a general after a battle," Coric told Croatia's Jutarnji List newspaper. "If someone else was teaching lessons I would have understood, but Kyr- gios ... it's somehow not real- istic." Kyrgios had also criticized Alexander Zverev after a video of the German player dancing at a crowded club emerged online despite the world number seven pledg- ing he would self-isolate fol- lowing his appearance at the Adria Tour. "I agree that was not good, Zverev acted badly," said Coric. "But I don't see the need to criticise fellow players in such a way. I wouldn't do it, but again — it's Kyrgios." Kyrgios shot back at Coric, saying he "should care" about his comments. "Do you have rocks in your head?" Kyrgios said on Twitter. "Again, you can stand up for your mates, I'm just try- ing to hold them account- able. They are tennis play- ers, they aren't special." Fiery Evans warns Ed- mund over 'belting' racket in Battle of Brits Handshakes across the net have been replaced by the tapping of rackets amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but a fired-up Dan Evans took umbrage at Kyle Ed- mund "belting" his frame after their Battle of the Brits match on Tuesday. Evans, ranked 28, de- feated the 44th-ranked Ed- mund 6-4, 6-4 in a high- quality encounter between Britain's top two players. However, Evans's fist- pumping celebrations after sealing the win were fol- lowed by an encounter at the net that saw Edmund strike the frame of Evans's racket with what the latter said was undue force, trig- gering an angry response. "Be very careful, Kyle. Be very careful mate," Evans said. "Did you see what he did to my racket? He just teed my racket," the 30-year-old told teammates sitting courtside. "When I put my racket there, he just absolutely belted it." However, Edmund said he later approached Evans to smooth things over. "Dan said he misinter- preted it," the 25-year-old Edmund said. "A racket touch is not that big a deal, to be honest." Tennis: Kyrgios hits back at Coric for Adria Tour comments NEW DELHI:Former world champion Viswanathan Anand crashed to his seventh de- feat at the $US150,000 Legends of Chess online tournament, going down 0.5-2.5 to world No.3 Ding Liren in the eighth round. Going into the match against the Chinese after ending his six-match losing streak, Anand surrendered the first game in just 22 moves late on Tuesday. The duo settled for a 47- move draw in the second before Liren sealed victory in the third game with black pieces in 41 moves. Anand lies last in the table with six points with Liren and Peter Leko. The 50-year old Indian takes on Vasyl Ivanchuk in the ninth and final round. World No.1 Magnus Carlsen overcame the chal- lenge of Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi after the four-game contest ended at 2-all. The Armageddon (a tie- break) also ended in a stale- mate but the Norwegian won and picked up three points because he played black. The Norwegian player maintains his position at the top of the table with 22 points followed by Nepom- niatchi (19) and Anish Giri (15). Carlsen has won all the eight matches he has played so far. Giri lost 2-3 to veteran Ivanchuk but is in line to qualify for the last four. Legends of Chess is a unique event where Carlsen, Liren, Nepomni- achtchi and Giri, semifinal- ists at the Chessable Mas- ters (part of the Magnus Carlsen Tour), received an automatic invite and are up against six legends aged 40-52, who have been at the top of world chess at various points in their ca- reer. The tournament is part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The winner of this event will qualify for the $US300,000 Grand Fi- nal scheduled from August 9 to 20. Results of Round 8: Ding Liren (China) beat Viswanathan Anand (In- dia) 2.5-0.5; Magnus Carlsen (Norway) beat Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia) 2.5-2.5 (Carlsen won after drawing Armageddon with black); Peter Svidler (Rus- sia) beat Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 2.5-1.5: Vasyl Ivanchuk (Russia) beat An- ish Giri (the Netherlands) 3-2; Boris Gelfand (Israel) beat Peter Leko (Hungary) 3-2. Legends of Chess: Anand slumps to seventh defeat
