Tokyo Olympics 2021 Live Updates: Hot favourite Bajrang Punia lost his semifinal match 5-12 against Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan in men’s freestyle 65kg.

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Bajrang Punia hails from Khudan village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district and is a beacon of hope for Indian wrestling. He comes back from a very humble background, Punia didn’t have great financial standing and nor had the money take up sports such as cricket or badminton which requires expensive equipment. He like other children from his hometown. He started his training when he was only seven-year-old under the guidance of his father, Balwan Singh who was a wrestler himself. The 27-year-old started training in the akhara at 14-year-old and it is here he met Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, who has been Punia’s mentor and an also sparring partner. He is currently works as a travelling Ticket Examiner with Indian Railways.

Punia first time came to the limelight when he clinched a bronze medal at the Asian wrestling championships and world championships, both in the men’s freestyle 60kg category. He had a great year in 2014 where he won a silver medal at the Asian championships, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. In order to train better Punia family shifted base to Sonipat in 2015 and Bajrang started practicing at the local Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre but a back injury side-lined his career by about nine months. Bajrang Punia won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships in 2016 and became Asian champion in 2017, both in the 65 kg.

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He even had a successful year in 2018 when he won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games as well as bronze at the Asian championships. It was a historic moment, as he became a silver medallist at the world championships and in doing so became the only Indian wrestler to win two world championship medals. Bajrang Punia went on to win his third world championship medal – a bronze – in 2019, which helped him to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Punia was also awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award – India’s highest sporting honour – in 2019. Bajrang has been regarded as India’s strongest medal contenders at the Tokyo Olympics. He has been training with coach Shako Bendinitis, who has worked on improving his psyche, and also his breathing during bouts, the result is for all to see.

Bajrang rose to the occasion and put his strength to good use in the second period to pin Iran’s Morteza Cheka Ghiasi for a semi-final berth in the men’s free-style 65kg event which took him closer to an Olympic medal on debut. Bajrang was trailing in the bout even after being brutally crippled by Ghiasi’s defensive tactics, particularly the body-locks. But Bajrang got free out of that clutch, he locked the neck of Ghiasi and moved into a position from where he turned his rival, pushed him on the mat and held him with his immense strength to emerge victorious by fall. Today he faced Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliev for a place in the gold medal bout. Haji is three-time world champion and bronze-winner from the Rio Games.

Bajrang Punia’s perennial leg-defence came back to haunt him and he lost the men’s freestyle 65kg semi-final to three-time world champion Haji Aliev today. Now he will now fight for bronze medal at the Olympic Games.

A resolute Indian men’s hockey team rewrote history as it claimed an Olympic medal after 41 years, defeating Germany 5-4 to win the bronze in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match of the ongoing Games!

Major Dhyan Chand is one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the sport He created history through his goal-scoring ability and went on to won three Olympic gold medals in 1928, 1932 and 1936 respectively. The Hockey legend has been bestowed by the Government of India awarded Chand India’s third highest civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1956. Dhyan Chand had outrageous skills on the field and his natural ability to find the back of the net which was unmatched. This led him to his selection in the Indian Army team at the age of 20 and was part of the New Zealand tour in 1926, the team won 18 out of 21 matches out of which drew two and lost one. This led to Dhyan Chand Ji to be promoted to the rank of Lance Naik on his coming back to India.

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Indian men’s hockey team recreated history as it won an Olympic medal post 41 years by defeating Germany 5-4 to clinch the bronze in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match of the ongoing Games which took place today morning at Tokyo. Stars of today’s match were Rupinder Pal Singh, Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Simranjeet Singh who saw India through.  It was very close game in which at a particular time India were 0-1 and then 1-3 down but soon found their footing, playing aggressive style of the game. This led to them going 5-3 but had its own challenge as they underwent some nervous moments, display willpower and defensive resolve to end one of the longest droughts in Indian sport.

Team India were constant threat to the position which penalty corner and also were dangerous in open play, also troubling the Germans with swift counter-attacks. On the other hand, Germany players who scored were Timur Oruz, Niklas Wellen, Benedikt Furk and Lukas Windfeder.

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Though Team India didn’t have good start of the games when they lost to Australia 1-7 mauling from the hands of Australia. But they bounced back by winning our four matches before going down 2-5 to world champions Belgium in a high-quality semi-final.  They didn’t have time to feel sorry for themselves post losing the match and showed great strength physical and emotional energy to get across the today’s match.

But today when the final whistle as announced the whole team along with staff were emotional and were saying hugging each other. The whole formed a huddle along with head coach Graham Reid and skipper Manpreet Singh talked about the importance of what they have achieved and the sacrifices they have made to get there.

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Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh once again rose to the occasion once again, as India thwarted the late German charge. They had to defend a penalty corner awarded with 6.8 seconds left on the clock, but as the ball went out of the Indian D, the podium place was secured, adding a new and glorious chapter in the history of Indian hockey that could very well spark a long-term turnaround and interest in the Indian national game.

Hearty Congratulations: India’s bright medal contender Neeraj Chopra qualified for the final of the javelin throw event at the Olympic Games with a Superb first attempt of 86.65m.

Neeraj Chopra is known for his grit and determination as well as bringing laurels to the nation time and again. He hails from Haryana’s Khandra village and was on born 24 December 1997. But one day his eyes caught attention of few seniors throwing javelins at the stadium and got hooked to the sport. To get into the shape, he cut down on having fatty foods, in particular deep-fried items and sweets, it was an uphill task but he was determined to get into shape and do well in his newfound passion in his life. Panipat’s Shivaji Stadium didn’t he best of facilities, coaches or tracks as a result he relocated to the Athletics Nursery and started training at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula. Another reason to shift base was that Tau Devi Lal Stadium had a synthetic track and was visited by many national-level javelin throwers.

He first came into the limelight in the National Junior Athletics Championship in 2012 when he won the he gold medal and scored managed a record throw of 68.46 metres. This paved the way for many more splendid years in the sport. Though he struggled for some years but bounced to clinch gold at the IAAF World U20 Championships, where he managed a junior record throw distance of 86.48 metres.

This remarkable performance made Chopra the first-ever world-champion of the country, and helped put India on the map for javelin throw. His hard work paid dividend when Neeraj Chopra became India’s first ever javelin thrower to win a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games.  He improved his Commonwealth Games performance of 86.47 metres with a throw of 88.06 metres at the Asian Games.

In May, 2019, Neeraj Chopra had undergone elbow surgery but he came back with a bang and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the Athletics Central North East Meeting League. India’s bright medal contender Neeraj Chopra once again rose the occasion today, when he qualified for the final of the javelin throw event at the Olympic Games. with a stunning first attempt of 86.65m. He kept India’s hopes alive of an elusive Olympic medal by qualifying into the finals with a superb throw of 86.65m that put him on the top of the Group A.

This is the first Olympics for the Star javelin thrower and made it to the final round in a few second which will be held on Saturday as he sent the spear well past the qualifying mark of 83.50m in his first attempt. The twenty-three-year-old performance will be one of the best performances by an Indian in the Olympics and gave tough competition to 2017 world champion Johannes Vetter of Germany. The 23-year-old spoke about facing Vetter ‘struggle’ in his first attempt was quoted saying “He is a world champion and a world class thrower but was struggling a bit so I thought, ‘conditions seem to be tough. It’s the first time we are competing at this hour. So that was another adjustment we had to make.”

He started day by doing stretches, ate a light breakfast and reached the stadium two hours before his event and was quoted saying. “There were nerves. I had tried to imagine what throwing at an Olympics would feel like but I was still a little nervous. But the moment I stepped on the track; all my nervousness was gone.”

Post the first warm-up throw, which fell below his expectations, there were some nervousness. Chopra ran hard and released the spear with all power he could generate to make his body ready for the main event. The javelin took off, went as high as the third tier of the stadium, suddenly dipped and fell way short. This was Chopra’s seventh best throw and third best of the season 2021.

HBD Sunil Chhetri: Here are Interesting facts about the Indian football Captain that you should know!

Every minute went by like an hour | By Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri is one of the prolific footballers to don the national jersey and is lovingly called ‘‘Captain Fantastic’ ‘ by his fans. He has come a long way from being a middle-class kid to becoming an Indian football great.  A country that never got anywhere on the football map, is known by one name Happy 37th to Captain, Leader, Legend. He was born in Secundarabad in then Andhra Pradesh, His father was in the Indian Army, while his Sushila had played for the Nepal national football team.

Due to his father profession, he had to travel all across the country but one thing that never changed was his passion for football. He did his schooling from Bahai School, Sikkim and did his graduation from Asutosh College, Kolkata. While growing up, Sunil’s family had to face with a lot of financial trouble and he didn’t have enough money to complete his goals.

Sunil Chhetri started his professional journey with Mohun Bagan Athletic Club of the National Football League post playing with City FC of New Delhi. In his first season in 002-03, he went on to score four goals and the club finished at 7th in the table. In 2003-04 season, Chhetri managed to score only two goals and the club finished at 9th in the table.  In his last outing with club, he scored two goals and the club finished at 8th in the table. He also went on represent JCT, Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer. He has been leading the Bengaluru FC from 2013 to 2015. During the 2015 Indian Super League, Chhetri was picked up by Mumbai City for Rs. 1.2 crores, making him the most expensive Indian player at the auctions.

Pic Credit – TimesOfIndia

Chhetri is one of the most loved sportsmen in the country and keeps aging like a fine wine. The Indian football captain is the highest goal scorer from the nation, he has scored 74 goals in 118 appearances. He is also the fourth-highest in international football among current footballers. He is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (109 goals), Ali Makbout of UAE (76) and Lionel Messi (76). Chhetri is one of the most prolific goal scorers in Indian football history and also one who was able to bring changes in other player’s philosophy regarding football. He is currently playing for Bengaluru FC for whom he has scored 58 goals.

While growing up, like other kid in India wanted to become a cricketer but chose football over cricket only because it was a more affordable sport. He used look upto God Of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar but due to his family circumstances couldn’t buy a kit broke his dream. He was quoted saying “I used to steal money from my mom out of desperation.”

sachin tendulkar shared a video in support of sunil chetri watch here - विराट के बाद तेंदुलकर भी आए छेत्री के सपोर्ट में, शेयर किया ये Video

Chhetri also added there was an incident in his life which completely changed his life and was quoted saying “My father used to cycle till the bus stop and he used to give me the exact change. And I was a cheat, I sometimes used to keep the money in my pocket and not buy tickets. I used to steal money. I asked my mum, ‘I want 50 bucks’. She said, ‘no chance’. I was so desperate that I stole the 50 bucks. She came to know, of course. She tied me to a chair and gave me the beating of my life for 2 hours. It really shook me. That’s something that really changed things for me. Then I realised that I cannot act like a mischievous, stupid kid.”

This led to make a career in a living out of football and there was no stopping the Blue Tiger thereon. Due to his sheer hard work and dedication led to him been catching the eye of Mohun Bagan scouts in 2002, which followed with the national selectors. “I never thought I would make a living out of football.” Today he earns a whopping Rs 8 lakh (approx.) per match.

Football skipper Sunil Chhetri's home is about understated elegance | Beautiful Homes

The Indian captain has played crucial roles in a number of victories for the country, such as the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, 2011 SAFF Championships, and 2012 Nehru Cup. In the qualifying campaign for the 2019 Asia Cup, Chhetri scored 8 goals, also ensuring India’s qualification in Asia’s premier football tournament for the only third time in history.

Manchester United have agreed a deal in principle to sign France centre back Raphael Varane from La Liga side Real Madrid, the Premier League club!

Soccer: The Theatre of Dreams

Manchester United is one of the most reputed clubs in the Premier League and based in Old Trafford, England. It’s not necessary whether you’re a football fan or don’t know the first thing about it, Manchester United is one club you surely must have heard of. The club boast of royal fans following across the world and royalty matched by none. The Club has produced great players with superb skills who enthralled the football fans whether played for the club or while representing their country. Red Devil ever-growing fanbase makes it one of the most followed clubs in the world. Manchester United is the biggest club in the world and their Old Trafford home is known the Theatre of Dreams by one of their greatest legends, Sir Bobby Charlton.

The club confirmed the news that Manchester United and Real Madrid have completed the transfer of French center-back Raphael Varane, who will leave the club after a decade with the club. During his time with Real Madrid has won 18 titles: 4 Champions Leagues, 4 Club World Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 3 LA Liga titles, 1 Copa del Rey and 3 Spanish Super Cups. Varane was one of the most successful defenders in recent history of the CLUB. During his 10 seasons with the club, he won three league titles, four Champions Leagues, three European Supercups and four FIFA Club.

Raphael Varane is set to make the move to Old Trafford after Manchester United and Real Madrid though No fee has been disclosed but British media reported value the deal at £34 million ($47 million) rising to £48 million with add-ons. Another interesting fact, it was Ferguson who first tried to bring Varane to United, with Jose Mourinho also interested in signing the defender during his time in charge.

Jadon Sancho: Manchester United complete transfer from Borussia Dortmund - The Athletic

Varane has become 2nd major signing of the transfer season for United’s following the arrival of Jadon Sancho, who the English club signed earlier in the month for £73m ($101m). Manchester United released the statement, “Manchester United is delighted to announce the club has reached an agreement with Real Madrid for the transfer of French international defender and World Cup winner, Raphaël Varane, subject to a medical and to player terms being finalised.”

France centre back had one year left in his Real Madrid contract and appeared in more than 350 games for the club. He had crucial role in France lifted the World Cup with France in 2018 and was part of Euro 2020, played in ALL FOUR GAMES before being eliminated by Switzerland in the last 16. Varane will bring a lot of stability to United’s defence as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer team look to challenge for the Premier League title AS last year they finished second last season, 12 points behind arch rivals as well as champions Manchester City.

Manchester United 'Hours Away' From Completing Raphael Varane Transfer

Varane’s first competitive match in United colours could likely come when they start their Premier League campaign on August 14 vs Leeds United at Old Trafford.

Watch Trailer: MX Player’s upcoming historical series Chhatrasal starring Ashutosh Rana, Jitin Gulati’s web series to premiere on 26th July!

The forgotten brutality of the 1857 Mutiny - Rediff.com India News

India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world with a colourful variety and rich cultural heritage. Today we will talk about another freedom fighter who brought battle with ruthless the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Yes, you guessed it right, its none other than Bundelkhand Kesri Maharaja Chhatrasal who was Bundeli warrior and planned to establish his own kingdom in Bundelkhand. He was born in Kachar Kachnai on the 4th of May in 1649, to Champat Rai and Lal Kunwar.

His father was the first person to raise the spirit of freedom from the Mughals but was killed in battle with the Mughals post himself killing the favourite of the emperor, Abu Fazl. Chhatrasal started his revolt with Mughal at the young age of 22 years, along with an army of 5 horsemen and 25 swordsmen, in 1671.  During the first decade he and his troops conquered area between Chitrakoot and Panna on the east and Gwalior on the west.  Post which stretched from Kalpi in the north to Sagar, Garah Kota and Damoh in the south. He also went to defeat few of the accomplished Mughal generals such as Rohilla Khan, Kaliq, Munawwar Khan, Sadruddin, Sheikh Anwar, Sayyid Latif, Bahlol Khan and Abdus Ahmed.

Marathas & Bundelkhand II – Chhatrasal Bundela & Peshwa Bajirao! | IndiaFactsIndiaFacts

Chhatrasal was trained by Pran Nathji and accepted him as his teacher as well as Pranami Dharma.  The feud between Bundelkhand and Mughal began when the people of Bundelkhand refused to submit ‘Jizyah’ tax and started the revolution and with the sole purpose of freedom. The battle lasted for over nearly fifty years, each consecutive assault brought with it the desecration of Hindu temples and population, including cold-blooded murder of unarmed civilians, the rape of women and slavery for captured women and children.  This only intensified the Bundela strength for the fight for freedom and retaliation.

The Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb led a huge expedition vs Bundelkhand to smash the ‘idol worshippers’ in 1684 but was forced to retreat without achieving any lasting successes, leaving behind trails of horror and destruction but still failing to subdue Chatrasal and the Bundala’s.

Chhatrasal MX player Webseries Release Date, Cast&Crew, Storyline And How To Watch?

Today’s generation will get to see the journey of Great warrior King Bundelkhand Kesri Maharaja Chhatrasal as MX Player’s launching a show on the legend. The show is titled Chhatrasal featuring Ashutosh Rana, Jitin Gulati and the historical drama will be narrated by Neena Gupta. Post watching the trailer we get to see that its heavy dependency on visual effects for re-creating historical drama. Also, the show is relying heavily on Rana’s image of playing the bad guy successfully over the years.

Chhatrasal | Official Teaser | Historical Drama | Ashutosh Rana | MX Player - Global Circulate

Ashutosh Rana is essaying the role of Aurangzeb and was quoted saying “Aurangzeb is one of the most feared & powerful emperors in history. While I have played negative characters in the past, to play a character like this was daunting, but at the same time, it allowed me to explore a different genre of acting. I hope that the audiences relive the bravery of Maharaja Chhatrasal with this web series. It is through stories like this that our rich history and heritage prevails. I hope viewers are inspired by the tale of this unsung warrior,” said Jitin Gulati, who plays the titular role.

The show has been directed by Anadii Chaturvedi, also featured Vaibhavi Shandilya, Manish Wadhwa, Anushka Luhar and Rudra Soni who are playing an integral role. MX Player’s upcoming historical series Chhatrasal is set to premiere on July 26.

Mary Kom is currently in Japan for Tokyo Olympics. Here’s what she ate for breakfast and what you can make too!

MC Mary Kom is one of the most prolific boxers in our country and bestows rare feet of being the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the seven world championships, also became the first woman athlete to be recommended by the Sports Ministry for Padma Vibhushan. She is been one of India’s leading sporting superstars for the past two decades, won a total of 19 medals in her career across different international tournaments. She holds rare record to being six times, the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships, and the only boxer to win eight World Championship medals.    

Ever since the women’s world boxing championships was introduced way back in 2001, the Indian boxer has won a medal at each of the eight editions so far. These days Mary Kom prepares for her dream of winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics and was quoted saying “My goal is to win the elusive Olympic gold medal. And I hope my last Olympics turns out to be the most memorable one and I can inspire people and bring some joy in these challenging times.”

Her journey has inspired many young girls taking up boxing, recent times we have seen the steady churning out of women boxers in the nation, three of whom will be joining her in Tokyo. Magnificent Mary opened how she has handled one and a half years fight vs an opposition as formidable as Covid-19. She added saying “It was a tough time in general with the second wave rampant and everything happening so quickly. The training camp had to be stopped temporarily but we were in touch with each other through video calls and we devised a new plan.”

May Kom Personal Coach, Chhote Lal Yadav gave insight into the training session and was quoted saying “Sumya (Halder, her physio) was in touch with her and made sure that all the good work that we did in the past months continued. After a few weeks, we went to SAI, Pune, and trained there. We took it as another challenge and did everything possible. I was doing my best with whatever was possible, keeping myself fit and training and brushing up on my techniques,” added Mary Kom. My experience also helped me in such tough circumstances as I knew it wouldn’t be long before things changed again for the better. With Asian Championships and Olympics around, I had enough motivation to train hard.”

During this pandemic, Mary has remained optimistic and has been pillar of strength for her family, also has been keeping herself mentally strong even when she couldn’t train and sparring. She stayed indoor during these tough times and was also down with dengue. “It was a bit strange as I am not used to staying at home for a long time. I made sure that I was giving ample time both to my family and my training. My kids also understand the responsibility that I have towards my country and my game.”          

      

In her first outing post the pandemic went on win a bronze and followed it up winiing Silver medal at the Asian championship which took place in Dubai and was quoted saying “I lost a very close final and was disappointed in the beginning but it is in my nature to look at the positives, work on my mistakes and come back strongly.”

The prolific boxers who was former world No. 1, who currently holds the third spot in AIBA rankings ahead of the Games, is rearing to make her last Olympic sojourn memorable.

Do you think Vettel will inspire other drivers on the grid to talk about the importance of the environment?

Career & Records – Sebastian Vettel Fan Page

Sebastian Vettel hails from Heppenheim, West Germany and became the youngest person to win the Formula One (F1) world drivers’ championship. He also went to win the title in 2011–13. While growing up Vettel looked upto German racing icon Michael Schumacher. Despite being a racing prodigy, Vettel had a bumpy ride in his F1 circuit: he finished no higher than fourth in his first 21 races. His first win came at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, in which Vettel set a record, at age 21 years and 2 months, becoming the youngest F1 race winner ever.

Vettel joined Ferrari team for two solid seasons but did not reach his previous heights, he went on to finishing in third place in 2015 and fourth in 2016. His 2017 season he won three of the first six races. Though, he managed only two more victories, and this led to end the year in second place, behind Lewis Hamilton. Vettel had similar results in 2018, winning five races and finishing the season as runner-up to Hamilton. He struggled over the next two seasons, winning only one event in 2019 and none in 2020. This led to part ways with Ferrari and in 2021 he signed with Aston Martin.

Vettel still has everything to prove at Aston Martin

Sebastian Vettel has time and again stressed about the sport’s need to become more sustainable, a compulsion born out of the German’s active interest in the environment and sustainability issues. While interacting with CNN was quoted saying “If we can be the formula to actually develop what the world can use and needs, that would be great. Because then any question or doubt you have about Formula One, whether it’s necessary or not, if we can provide a solution to the future to make a giant leap forward, then that’s great.”

Sebastian Vettel took to social media by storm when a video went gone viral in which , he can been clean all the garbage along with a group of fans.  It is so common to see Fans buying snacks and beverages  for the event, but the sad part is many of them leave their rubbish in the stands. The environmentally-conscious Vettel was seeing wearing  t-shirt urging race fans to ‘keep it clean’ – stayed behind to help cleaners get rid of the garbage.

The video was shared by Formula One’s official Instagram account and fans can see Vetter carrying two bin bags full of rubbish from one of the stands and wrote  “He had a tough race, but it didn’t stop Sebastian Vettel keeping to his word and staying behind with a group of fans to help clear the litter in the stands.”

SEBASTIAN VETTEL showed his class after the British Grand Prix by helping Silverstone staff clear litter from the stands. The four-time world champion was certainly heartbroken not to finish the race. But he didn’t let his emotions ruin his day, and went out of his way to clean up the mess left by fans after the British Grand Prix.

Vettel is not having the best of seasons this year as he is struggling for consistency. In the 2021 drivers standings, currently being led by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing with 185 points, Vettel stands at tenth place with just 30 points alongside his name.

Former India Test opener Wasim Jaffer has been selected as chief coach of the Odisha senior side for the upcoming domestic season.

Wasim Jaffer Picks India's Best-ever White-ball Cricketer

Wasim Jaffer who is a former Indian cricket batsman and was known as a batsman with a hunger for big scores. He hails from Maharashtra. He was a right-handed batsman and an intermittent right-arm off break bowler. His playing style was very much similar to legendary Mohammad Azharuddin. Jaffer is the top scorer in India’s domestic cricket tournament, Ranji Trophy.  He showed signs of greatness from his schooling days, when he went on to make 400 not out as a 15-year-old.

He scored a 314 not out knock in another match and helped out Mumbai to win. This was also the first time a batsman had crossed the triple three-digit mark. With a partnership of 459 runs, Jaffer along with Sulakshan Kulkarni were the first ever opening pair to have passed 400 marks together.

Irani Cup: Wasim Jaffer misses triple ton but Vidarbha reach 702/5 on rain-hit day | Sports News,The Indian Express

Jaffer made his Test match debut vs South Africa in February 2000. But he didn’t have a good outing as Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock proved too hot to handle and his international career was put in a state of uncertainty. This led to being dropped from the Indian team, but Jaffer took positively, worked on his craft and made a successful comeback into the international arena by piling runs as an opener.

He made his return after 2 years in May and a decent knock vs the West Indies side, scoring a 51 in Bridgetown and 86 in Antigua. This led to scoring his maiden test century against England in March, 2016. In the next few months went on to score a double century, started opening along with Virendra Sehwag for the next tests. Jaffer scored an emphatic 202 in the first innings of the second test at Eden Garden, Kolkata. vs arch rivals Pakistan. 

Communal Charges Leveled Against Ex-Uttarakhand Coach Wasim Jaffer; Latter Refutes Them

Jaffer has played 260 first-class games, scoring 19,410 runs at an average of 50.67. He has scored 57 hundred and 91 fifties with 314 being his highest score. In March 2020, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and released a statement, “First of all, I would like to thank The Almighty Allah, who gave me the talent to play this beautiful game. I’d like to also thank my family – my parents and brothers for encouraging me to pursue the sport as a profession and my wife, who left a cosy life of England to create a lovely home for our children and me.

“A special thanks to all my coaches, right from my school days to professional cricket, for helping me polish my skills. A heartfelt thanks to the selectors who showed faith in me. My gratitude to all the captains I played under and all my colleagues from whom I learnt so much about the game and shared some lifelong memories. I would also like to thank all the support staff who were a constant pillar of support in my long journey.”

I Will be Lying if I Say Records Don't Really Matter to Me: Wasim Jaffer

As per official report, Former India Test opener Wasim Jaffer has been selected as chief coach of the Odisha senior side for the upcoming domestic season. If sources are to believe he was approached by a few more teams but the domestic cricket legend opted for Odisha. The news was confirmed by Subrata Behera, Odisha Cricket Association CEO who was quoted saying that He (Jaffer) will be the head coach. He has been given a two-year contract. Jaffer will be replacing former state captain Rashmi Ranjan Parida, who was at the helm for two seasons.

Odisha Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Behera further added “Besides the development of cricket across all age groups, he will also be a part of coaches development program across the state. Jaffer is one of the legends of Indian cricket who hails from Mumbai and holds a very impressive playing & coaching profile. He holds three records in his name as the highest run-scorer in the First-Class matches and has the highest number of hundreds to his name in the First-Class cricket matches.”

KXIP Coach Wasim Jaffer Hails Chris Gayle's Positive Vibes | Cricket News

He also added “Prior to accepting the Chief Coach offer from the Odisha Cricket Association, he was also the Head Coach of Uttarakhand Ranji Trophy Team for the year 2020-21. I’d like to wish him the very best for this new assignment and hopefully, he can rejuvenate Odisha Cricket and propel them to newer heights under his able leadership.”

Post retiring from cricket, he has been served as batting coach of Kings XI Punjab, which plays in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. The Mumbai stalwart, who later played for Vidarbha at the end of his illustrious career winning back-to-back Ranji Trophy as well as Irani Cup. 

Odisha had last reached quarter final in the 2019-20 season but they lost to Bengal and batting has been the team’s weakness for sometime now. The camp for the senior team is slated to commence from July 25, subject to the state government’s approval keeping mind of the COVID-19 guidelines.

India’s 1983 World Cup hero Yashpal Sharma, who was admired for being a gutsy middle-order batsman at the peak of his prowess, has died of massive cardiac arrest!

1983 World Cup winner Yashpal Sharma dies of cardiac arrest

Former Indian cricketer and 1983 World Cup winner Yashpal Sharma has passed away post suffering from a heart attack today at the age of 66. He is survived by his wife Renu Sharma, two daughters Puja, Preeti and son Chirag Sharma. Although Yashpal Sharma had technical limitations but he never let his shortcoming be overshadowed by his courage, concentration, determination and patience, qualities that made his add substance to the Indian middle order from 1979 to 1983.

He used to give fight to the opposition through his solid defence, and though he might not have been a very attractive batsman to watch, but none could argue against his value addition to the team.

The Weekend Leader - 1983 World Cup winner Yashpal Sharma no more

Yashpal first time came into limelight in 1972 when he scored 260 runs for Punjab schools vs the Jammu and Kashmir schools. This was turning point in his life and within the next two years he started playing for the state team as well as the North Zone team which won the Vizzy Trophy. He also played crucial role in North Zone victory over South Zone in Duleep Trophy (1997/98) and went on score of massive individual score of 173 runs. This led him to getting a very close to a national team call.

Though he scored a 99 in the Irani Trophy next year, earned Yashpal a place in the team to Pakistan. He played only two ODIs in Pakistan, but was not selected for the Test team. He was picked up for the England series in 1979, but didn’t play any of the World Cup games. He got his chance to feature in 3 out of 4 test matches before the World Cup. He went on to score 884 runs with of 884 runs with an average of 58.93 on the England tour. Post the successful England tour, he became a regular member in the Indian squad. This led to him being selected for the Tests vs Pakistan and Australia in 1979/80. He notched up his maiden Test century in the fourth Test against Australia, post getting out on a pair in the previous Test at Kanpur.

He continued his good form in 1980/81, Yashpal made on his highest first-class score of 201* against Victoria. But things went downhill with his two back-to-back forgetful series in Australia and New Zealand and was eventually dropped from the team. He made his fighting comeback with in less than a year’s time. In his comeback match took to fight to England bllers in Chennai and went on to score 140 and put on a 316-run partnership for the third wicket with Gundappa Vishwanath. His tight defensive technique made him a difficult batsman to knock over.

We never thought of winning 1983 World Cup when we left India: Krishnamachari Srikkanth - Sportstar

He was known for his gutsy attitude and was also a member of the Kapil Dev-led World Cup-winning team as well as played a key role in India’s success. In the first match vs the West Indies, he top scored with 89 and won the Player of the Match, helping India win by 34 runs. He was again the top scorer with 61 against England in the semi-final, helping India win by 6 wickets. Post the World Cup win his career took a downturn and was dropped from the Test team after performing poorly against Pakistan and the West Indies in 1983/84.

During his illustrious career, Yashpal represented India in 37 ODIs and 42 Tests and played an important part of the Indian middle-order from 1979-83. Post-retirement, Yashpal tried his hand at umpiring for some time. He also worked as a selector for two years till December 2005 and was reappointed in 2008. Madan Lal was quoted saying “Can’t believe that he is no more. I have a lot of memories with him. We started off from Punjab, played the world cup with him. Just now Kapil called. Everyone is shocked now. His cricket career is the best. We met at a book launch recently. I can’t believe it. He is survived by his wife and 3 children. His son is in London for studies. Close relatives are in Ludhiana.”