Sports

Zaheer Khan and Sagarika Ghatge, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Nupur Nagar got married yesterday, see photos

Former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan, and ‘Chak De! India’ actress Sagarika Ghatge got married on Thursday in a private wedding ceremony. Soon after the ceremony, pictures of the duo surfaced on the social media. In the photos, Sagarika is seen wearing a beautiful maroon traditional saree with an elaborate necklace while Zaheer is sporting a kurta. With the marriage date preponed to November 23, the reception will reportedly be held on November 27 in Mumbai. In April this year, Zaheer had announced his engagement to Sagarika on Twitter.

See the photos of the wedding here:

 

Star India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Thursday tied the knot with fiancee Nupur Nagar in Meerut, his hometown. Bhuvi, who man of the match in the 1st Test against Sri Lanka, was released from the squad after the drawn contest at the Eden Gardens. The 27-year-old will play no part in the remaining two Tests. The wedding will be followed by a reception in Bulandshahr, Nupur’s hometown, on November 26. The couple will also host a reception in New Delhi on November 30. Team India members, who will be in Delhi for the Sri Lanka series at the time, are expected to attend the reception.

See the wedding pictures here:

 

 

India clinches the ODI series with 2-1 in Green Park, Kanpur

On Sunday, at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, Indian bowlers held their nerves in the death overs to help the Men In Blue beat New Zealand by six runs in a thrilling third and final One-Day International. India, thus, clinched the three-match ODI series 2-1. Chasing a mammoth 338-run target, New Zealand fell agonizingly short after managing 331 for seven in their allotted 50 overs. Colin Munro (75), skipper Kane Williamson (64) and Tom Latham (65) were the major contributors to New Zealand.

For India, pacer Jasprit Bumrah scalped three wickets and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets.

New Zealand needed 15 runs off the last over. Kohli’s decision of giving the ball to the death-over specialist Bumrah worked perfectly for India as the right-arm pacer hardly gave anything away.

Bumrah conceded just eight runs in the final over to deny Kiwis a series win.

Put in to bat, India rode on centuries from Rohit Sharma and captain Virat Kohli. A brilliant performance from Rohit and skipper Virat helped India post a daunting 337/6.

Rohit was the top scorer for India with 147 runs while Kohli slammed 113 to cross the milestone of 9,000 ODI runs.

Rohit struck his 15th century in ODIs, the fifth of this year and the first against New Zealand. Kohli slammed his 32nd ton and the fifth against the visitors to help India score the highest total in 15 ODIs here.

The previous best was 303 by South Africa against India in 2015.

It was also Kohli’s sixth century in 2017, the most by a captain in a year. Previously, Sourav Ganguly (2000), Australia’s Ricky Ponting (2003, 2007), South Africa’s Graeme Smith (2005) and AB de Villiers (2015) struck five.

Ind Vs Nz 2nd ODI: India levels the 3 match series with 1-1, tweeple feel relaxed

India on Wednesday beat New Zealand in the second ODI by six wickets in Pune to level the series 1-1. India rode on half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik to chase down a 231-run target against Kane Williamson’s side, who won the toss and chose to bat first. India bowlers produced a spectacular performance against the opponents to restrict the Black Caps to 230 for 9 in 50 overs.

Twitter praised the Indian side’s comeback in the must-win game, calling it ‘back to winning ways’. Here are few of the best reactions from Twitter:

 

Virat Kohli to tie the knot with Anushka Sharma this December

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s recent advertisement was a teaser to their wedding news? Well, we certainly think so. After declaring their vows in this ad looks like Anushka-Virat are all set to make the same promises in real life too.

According to the reports, the couple is all set to get hitched this December. Buzz is that the couple has already started prepping for the wedding that barely a month away. In December last year reports suggested that Anushka and Virat had got engaged in an intimate ceremony. And with these new speculations, it looks like indeed the couple had a Roka ceremony that was attended by near and dear ones.

The reports also stated that Virat has cited a personal reason and bowed out of the selection of a test match and will also not be playing the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka which will take place in December. The report also confirms that the Virat and Anushka will be going in for a December wedding and the dates are being finalized by the couple.

Last year, Anushka and Virat had a brief breakup after which the couple came out stronger than before. Apparently, Virat was insecure about his ladylove and his over possessiveness was one of the key reasons for their split. It was also widely speculated that while Virat wanted to get married at the earliest, Anushka wanted to focus on her career. All this was in the past though, Virat and Anushka have been standing by each other, walking red carpets together and even featuring as a couple in commercials. In fact, this couple literally stole the thunder from Zaheer Khan and Sagarika Ghatge at the wedding this year in May.

So this December Indian cricket’s heartthrob, Virat Kohli and Bollywood’s one of most talented beauty, Anushka Sharma will let go their single status and will finally get married.

 

Indian football team is debuting in FIFA World Cup under-17, today against USA

The FIFA Under-17 World Cup kicks off on Friday with New Zealand taking on Turkey in the tournament’s opening match. But all eyes will be on the day’s second match that sees hosts India, who would be making their FIFA World Cup debut across all age groups, male or female, face the USA at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. India might be the underdogs in the tournament but the entire country has come together to wish and pray that the team puts on a good show on such a grand stage.

Wishes poured in for Team India ahead of their opener with cricketers from Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif to other sporting stars like Yogeshwar Dutt, egging the team on. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to be part of the U-17 World Cup’s opening day proceedings, tweeted on his official Twitter handle, welcoming all the teams and wishing them well.

See some tweets here-

 

 

Indian Cricketer Murli Vijay and wife welcome their third child

Indian batsman Murali Vijay announced that he and wife Nikita welcomed a child on Monday. Vijay uploaded an image with his eldest son holding the newborn in his hands. “Two Rockstars!! One introducing the other to the world. Feeling Blessed,” said the Test opener in his caption. Vijay has two more children – a son and a daughter – with Nikita, who he married in 2012.

Although he has struggled to find a place in the limited overs sides, Vijay is India’s first choice opener in Test cricket. He last played for India in their Test series against Australia. He had been slated to play in the Indian Premier League 2017 but was one of the many Indian players ruled out due to injuries from the long home Test season that preceded the tournament.

Because he was still recuperating from the injury, he did not make an appearance in India’s Test series in Sri Lanka. Shikhar Dhawan was chosen in his stead and the Delhi batsman scored centuries in both Tests that he played. He is now expected to play for India when they embark on a tour of South Africa before which he will play for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy opener.

Nicknamed ‘Monk,’ Murali Vijay is known to possess a calm head on his shoulders and has been integral to India’s recent success in Test cricket that has seen them remain no. 1 in the ICC rankings since they hosted New Zealand in 2016. He and KL Rahul formed a formidable opening pair for India when they subsequently hosted England for a five-match series, a one-off Test against Bangladesh and a four-match series against Australia.

Initially, Nikita got married to her childhood sweetheart cricketer Dinesh Kartik but then divorced when she was expecting her first baby because she had an affair with Dinesh Kartik’s close friend Murli Vijay. After getting divorced she got married to Murli Vijay. Now they have 3 cute kids (2 boys and a baby girl).

 

 

Indian Women Cricket Team’s Captian Mitali Raj steals the Limelight in Vogue Magazine Cover

 

India women’s team captain Mithali Raj showed her glamorous side as she graced the cover of international style magazine Vogue, along with superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Nita Ambani.

The appreciation she is getting from all over the country shows that finally, Indian Women Cricket Team is also getting an exposure like the Men Cricket Team.

Earlier, Mithali Raj had posted a photo in black spaghetti top on Twitter, where she got trolled badly. However, the captain responded to such critics in style. She was even defended by a legion of her fans. Mithali Raj had earlier revealed her calm personality, and when she was seen reading a book before going out to bat.

I don’t like to prepare myself ahead of the match as I like to play according to the situation. I feel that if I am calm and composed while going to bat, I will be able to play much better cricket. That is why I carry a book along with me. I read a lot during the course of the tournament as it was a long one, but in that particular match, I was reading the biography of Nasser Hussain,” revealed Mithali during the press meet.

Not just that, Mithali and fellow teammate Veda Krishnamurthy were seen dancing in the dug-out during India’s crunch semi-final clash against Australia — who were also the defending champions.

When asked about it, Mithali said: “Veda and I were signing songs while sitting in the dugout during Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbelievable innings against Australia. Veda is a really good dancer and she couldn’t hold herself back and I decided to join in as well. If I remember it correctly, the song was ‘Shape of You’.”

 

 

India locked the series with a 3-0 win and become World No. 1 in both ODIs and Tests

The Virat Kohli-led Team India kicked out South Africa from the top of the ICC ODI rankings as they beat Australia by 5 wickets to lock the five-match series with a 3-0 lead at Indore on Sunday.

India is now leading with 120 points while the Proteas trail them by just one.

With the climb to the top spot in the ODI rankings, India now holds the No. 1 position in both the Test and ODI rankings.

India claimed their sixth straight ODI series on Sunday with their last five series victories coming against Zimbabwe (2016), New Zealand (2016), England (2017), West Indies (2017) and Sri Lanka (2017).

In doing so, Kohli’s troops have become the first ever Indian team to reach the number one position in both Test and ODI rankings (since its inception).

India can maintain their number one position in ODI if they win one of the remaining two matches in the Australia series. While a 4-1 result will enable them to maintain their 120 rating points, a 5-0 clean sweep will propel them to 122 rating points.

Until now, India has spent a total of 14 months at the top of the ODI rankings. Since the inception of the ICC rankings, they have attained the number one position on three different occasions.

 

That Death Stare of MS Dhoni to Kedar Jadhav after a run-out scare

Mahendra Singh Dhoni produced yet another magical innings to dig India out of a massive hole and inspire the team to a 26-run (DLS) win over the visiting Australians in the first ODI of the five-match series at Chennai on Sunday. In the process, Dhoni became only the fourth Indian — after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly — to score a century of the fifties in international cricket. However, things could have been very different if Australia had taken the chance to run out the former India skipper after he was left stranded in the middle of the pitch by Kedar Jadhav. Dhoni, known for his calmness on the field, wasn’t too pleased and what followed next can be dubbed as a rarity.

In the 22nd over of India’s innings, things were looking bad for the hosts but Kedar Jadhav had held one end up and was joined by Dhoni. Dhoni on 7, at the time, played the ball to cover and set off for the run but got no response from his partner.

Dhoni turned to get back but slipped a little and was left stranded, Hilton Cartwright got to the ball and hastily tried to throw down the stumps but missed. It resulted in an overthrow and the two Indian batsmen completed the run but right after that Dhoni turned and gave Jadhav a death stare and shook his head that surely must have ruffled Kedar’s feathers.

The very next ball, Jadhav, batting on 40, tried to pull a Marcus Stoinis short delivery but only managed to give an easy catch to none other than Cartwright, who was standing at short mid-wicket.

https://twitter.com/_/status/909356074427236353

India Vs Sri Lanka: The most dominating series ever as India clean sweeps Sri Lanka by 9-0

Indian cricket team completely whitewashed Sri Lanka in all the formats with a seven-wicket win in the mere T20. After winning 3-0 in Tests, 5-0 in ODIs, Virat Kohli-led side chased down a target of 171 to conclude their tour of Sri Lanka winning 9-0. The Indian skipper, who has been in sublime form in all three formats, once again displayed another instance of ruthless efficiency in a chase. Kohli along with Manish Pandey forged a 119 run second wicket partnership after the visitors lost KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma early in their chase.

Sri Lanka triggered in the first innings with quick fire 29-ball 53 from Dilshan Manweer and Ashan Priyanjan’s unbeaten 40, India romps home with four balls to spare with Kohli blasting a 54-ball 82 and Manish Pandey scoring a 51 not out. The 28-year old Kohli has established a formidable batting reputation while chasing and he once again came up with a master-class when he smashed the Sri Lankan bowlers all-over the ground. His knock included seven boundaries and a six, to anchor India’s chase.

While the visitors had an easy outing with the bat, spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav shared five wickets between them to restrict Sri Lanka to just under the 175-mark.

On India’s biggest win, commentators and former players congratulate Virat’s brigade on twitter. Some of the tweets are here-

With his 17th fifty in his 50th T20, Kohli also became the third-highest run scorer in the shortest format. With 2140 runs, former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum tops the list while Sri Lanka’s Dilshan is second with 1889 runs.

 

 

 

Akshay Kumar Cheers Up The Indian Women’s Cricket Team After They Lose To England

In the recent past, Indian women’s cricket team had exhibited a magnificent performance to pave their way to the final and everyone was hugely excited and confident to see them win the much coveted World Cup. Even though the Indian women’s cricket team lost the match, they managed to win a million hearts. One such person was the inimitable Akshay Kumar, who had posted a heartfelt video on the social media in which he wished the Indian women’s cricket team before the match.

The video was shot in the train in which Akshay Kumar said “This is how excited I am, never in my life have I run for a train barefoot to make it in time for a match!! Come on #WomenInBlue #WWC17Final. I am so, so excited just to go and watch this match. At the moment, I am in the train. I am traveling from Leeds to London, which is around two and a half hours. And I am just waiting for this train to move as fast as possible. The score is 116 for 3 and in 26 overs. Just cross my fingers and hope India wins this time. Let’s hope for the best.”

Like every Indian supporter, Akshay Kumar also got up from the stands and waved the Indian flag in support of the woman in blue when the match was at its peak. But unfortunately, the Indian cricket team lost to England and then Akshay Kumar went to meet up with the players and encouraged them for their future matches. While Akshay Kumar posted the adjoining photograph in which he is seen interacting with the players after the match, he captioned the same as “Even Broken Hearts Can Laugh!! These Women have started a revolution & I couldn’t be more proud #WWC17Final”.

On the films’ front, Akshay Kumar will be seen in an array of films including Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, Gold, Padman, 2.0 and Bhushan Kumar’s Mogul.

Virat Kohli – Anushka Sharma Spending A Quality Time on New York’s Street

India’s West Indies Tour has been ended now. All the players of Indian Cricket Team came back to India except Virat Kholi.  The Indian skipper headed to New York for a much needed break where his “lady love” Anushka Sharma was already present for the IIFA Awards 2017 which is going to be held on 14th-15th of July’17.

Kohli posted a selfie of Anushka with himself on Instagram and wrote, “Much needed break with my ❤”. Apart from that another photo of Virat-Anushka walking hand in hand on the streets of New York was going viral on Intagram.

 

Wearing an off-shoulder chequered tee and black hot pants, Anushka looked amazing whereas Virat was dressed up in black tee with off-wight pants and was looking cool.

The break from cricket for Kohli is indeed a much needed one as he was quite busy from a very long time in back to back cricket series like a long home season of Test Cricket, followed by Indian Premier League and then the ICC Champions Trophy.

The Indian Team directly flew to West Indies from London after the tournament. Cricket, coupled with controversies regarding his fall-out with former India coach Anil Kumble, has kept Kohli in the news and could be the reason for his “much needed” caption of the photo.

 

Fourth ODI: West Indies win by 11 runs; defend a total of 190 against India

West Indies won their first match against India in the fourth ODI by 11 runs, while India still leads the series with 2-1

Until the penultimate ball of the match, nobody could think that West Indies would beat India. That was when MS Dhoni, who had labored to 54 off a massive 114 balls decided to try and lift it over long on. It was full as MS Dhoni could not get enough elevation on it and went straight down the throat of Alzarri Joseph at long on instead. After Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket Dhoni’s departure indicated the end of India’s deep batting order. India fell 11 runs short of a target of 190 runs.

India lost their first wicket in the form of Shikhar Dhawan during the third over of the match. The next was that of Virat Kohli who was caught behind the wicket on a short ball. Nearly six overs later, Dinesh Kartik, replacement of the misfiring Yuvraj Singh, fell to Alzarri Joseph. India had reached to 47 runs by then and MS Dhoni came to the crease.

The fall of wickets didn’t seem to affect India much as they continued maintaining a slow but steady pace to the innings. Ajinkya Rahane got his fifty in that time. He then dismissed by Devendra Bishoo and then West Indies must have got a sniff of actually winning the match.

Dhoni stayed at the crease and saw Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya departed one after one. The slow pitch and a difficulty in getting his timing right meant that he ended up getting to the slowest half-century of his career. It came off a whopping 108 balls. Even then, with him and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle, there was little doubt of India managing to see this through. Jadeja then went for a big shot at a time when India only needed to steal singles. It went straight down the throat of Kieran Powell and a look at Dhoni’s face and Virat Kohli in the dressing room showed that they were quite disappointed by Jadeja’s decision. It brought out Kuldeep Yadav, batting for the very first time in India colors. Soon, Dhoni was dismissed and Jason Holder wiped out the remains of the Indian batting line up in the final over.

West Indies didn’t cross the 200-run mark in this series till now and the trend continued in this match as they were restricted to making just 189 in their innings.

It was a rare victory for the struggling West Indies. India still lead the series 2-1 and if West Indies can somehow match this performance, they may just eke out a draw, a result that was, before this series, considered almost as impossible as West Indies winning this match at the halfway mark.