Robin Uthappa had made quite an entry to international cricket, nearly becoming the first India batsman to hit a century on ODI debut in 2006

Robin Uthappa has said he pursued Test cricket at the wrong age which cost him some of his batting aggression and consequently, became his undoing.

Uthappa had made quite an entry to international cricket, nearly becoming the first India batsman to hit a century on ODI debut in 2006. Known for his aggressive approach, he was part of India squad that went on to win the inaugural ICC World T20 in South Africa.

However, his international career fizzled out as he brought out a change in his technique to realise the dream of playing Test cricket.

“My biggest goal was to play Test cricket for India,” Uthappa said during a Rajasthan Royals podcast session. “Had I pursued that at 20-21, I probably by this time would’ve played Test cricket. I wanted to have no regrets at the end of my career and wanted to be sure that I brought the best out of me.”

To tune himself to the rigours of Test cricket, Uthappa took the help of Pravin Amre and improved his technique to bring in consistency but in the process lost his natural flair.

“Hence at 25, I decided to overhaul my batting technique under Pravin Amre and became a technically better batsman who could be there for long and bat for long hours and be more consistent, which made me let go of some of my batting aggression in the process,” he said.

Uthappa played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India but never played Test cricket and at 34, it seems a distant possibility that he’ll ever make his international comeback.

“I thought to play Test cricket for India, I needed to alter my technique …….In hindsight, I may have pursued the goal at the wrong time at 25 years of age,” he said.

However, during his India career, Uthappa managed to become a world cup winner.

Under MS Dhoni, India beat Pakistan in the final to lift the silverware and Uthappa recounts the days following that historic win.

“After winning the World Cup, I did not sleep for three days straight. It didn’t really hit us initially; we were just ecstatic that we beat Pakistan in the finals,” he said.

“The enormity of it hit us when we landed in India. The reception we received was massive, I mean Bombay doesn’t stop for anyone, that day the entire city came to a standstill and moved only in the direction our bus was moving. Bizarrely we went through all of the Indian weather in that one day.

“What would usually take 45 minutes to an hour on a normal day, took us 5 and a half hours on that particular day. It went from being cold to rainy to humid and then hot. By the time we reached Wankhede, we were famished.

“I remember people throwing water, fruits, and chocolates at us so that we don’t lose energy and keep going. It was fun and all of us really cherished those memories. It was a massive relief to win a World Cup after 1983.

“I don’t think words do justice to the emotion of being a World Cup winner. It surpasses pretty much everything you feel as a cricketer. It’s a bit complex but it’s one of the most amazing feelings you get as an athlete.

“Simply because it makes you feel proud that you made a difference and added value to your team at that point in time to win a world championship. You have played your part and everybody has to play their part to win a World Cup.”

source: http://www.india.com / India.com / Home> Sports / by india.com sports desk / edited by Feroz Khan / May 20th, 2020

Apart from giving players a much-needed workout, the slot has given all of them something to look forward to on a daily basis.

Chennai :

Every day at around 4.55 pm, Rohan Bopanna goes inside his room and logs on to Zoom. For the next hour, he will lose himself in core training sessions along with 20-25 others, mostly Indian players, to ensure he remains fit during the lockdown.

It’s not even remotely close to the hours logged on the court, but elite athletes have had to find creative ways to ensure they keep doing the bear minimum, fitness-wise. “That kind of has been my routine now,” Bopanna says.

Apart from giving players a much-needed workout, the slot has given all of them something to look forward to on a daily basis. “At some level, it has given us a routine, something that we know we will be doing between 5-6 pm everyday, so this thing helps us.”

At 40, he is one of the elder statesmen of the fraternity in India but he is not leading the sessions. “Ramkumar (Ramanthan) was the one who drove all of us to start doing this. It was completely his initiative. Most of the session is focussed on the core because we are sitting at home (laughs) most of the time without doing anything.”

To inspire some of the lesser-known players on the call, Bopanna once invited his regular doubles partner (singles World No 16) Denis Shapavalov to the session.

“I invited him once so that he could inspire the group and talk to the group.” Apart from training this way, his only connect with tennis has been hitting a few balls against the wall. “I do have a hit against the wall in my house every day.”

Apart from that, the doubles exponent has tried his hands at making butter the traditional way. Firstly, though, he calls this ‘break’ from the game a blessing in disguise.

“This is the first time I have stayed at home in Coorg for such a long time since I started playing at the age of 15 or 16. So around 24-25 years. In that aspect, it is special. I don’t think I have ever stayed here for more than a week to 10 days. It’s been more than a month that I have stayed here. Spending time with my 11-month old daughter, my wife and parents… it’s been good.”

He has also tried his hands at churning butter using traditional equipment. “Our house has had these tools even before I was born. A few weeks ago, I suggested to my mother let’s make some butter in the traditional manner so that’s how that idea came about.”

As the topic shifts to one of te­nnis’ current debates — a possible merger between the WTA and the ATP — the World No 37 wants to see how the situation develops.

“It’s been an idea that has been in the works for a long time. It will be interesting to see how it develops considering the two tours don’t have many overlapping tournaments. It’s in the discussion stage I think. Let’s give it some more time.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport> Tennis / by Swaroop Swaminathan / Express News Service / April 30th, 2020

S V Sunil is well known for his speed and dribbling prowess on the hockey field. With the clock ticking fast and the score board favouring the ‘common invisible enemy’, he too agrees that countering the surging attack from coronavirus is way trickier than penetrating through the best rival defenders to score goals.

The 30-year-old forward, with 264 caps and 72 international goals, is looking at the positives to face the Covid-19 situation. Currently, the entire team is based out of Sports Authority of India (SAI) facility here with all the precautionary measures taken to ensure no outsider is allowed inside the campus and people working at the centre are being screened at the gate before entering.

Born to a humble family in Somvarpet of Kodagu district, the soft-spoken attacker is known as a fighter. With the words ‘Harder the battle, sweeter the victory’ inked on his bicep, Sunil says he has gone through worse compared to the current situation of being locked-up with all the facilities available.

“As athletes we have been through far more difficult challenges,” Sunil, who underwent two career threatening injuries in the prime of his career, tells DH. “I have had a few major injuries in my career as a player and during our recovery phase we are advised bed rest with absolutely no physical activity and this could last for weeks. I feel having been through such phases in life, sports people are better equipped mentally to deal with this kind of situation.”

The news of postponing the Tokyo Olympics broke out when the team was in the middle of a high-intensity training programme that started from the beginning of March. Sunil says the team has overcome the news that they won’t be boarding the flight to Tokyo this year. “Though we were initially disappointed, it is behind us now and we continue to be focused on our goal of winning an Olympic medal. While the hockey training is suspended, we are using this period to de-load and cool-off physically and mentally, as we spend more than 300 days a year in training and competition.”

However, the team is following a strict fitness regimen set by the coaching staff who have made significant changes in the schedule to ensure social distancing norms. “Each of us has been given independent workout charts which involves distance-running. We do individual bodyweight training in our rooms, using stretch chords and basic weights of our own and avoid using the gym. For meals in the canteen, we go in batches and sit far away from each other,” he said.

“They have also been assigned various tasks such as analysing different teams and their strategies by the coaching staff who are present in full strength. We use a software to do this and have individual video meetings with our chief coach,” he adds.

Staying away from family is not something new for the right-winger, who has had a stint as captain and vice-captain of the national team. “I decided to stay here although my wife and child live only 20 kms away from the SAI campus because it’s safe for all of us.”

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by Hita Prakash, DHNS, Bengaluru / April 25th, 2020

Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy, doubles specialists, after an underwhelming season last year, have started analysing their past performances.

India shuttlers Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy have finally got some time to pause and reflect due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they are making the most of it by creating a database to analyse their past performances while waiting for another shot at Olympic qualification.

The coronavirus outbreak has left over 1.2 lakh people dead and infected nearly two million globally, and brought all sports activities, including badminton, to a halt after countries imposed lockdowns.
Ashwini and Sikki are doubles specialists and endured an underwhelming season last year. The time at hand has given them a chance to analyse the past performances.

“We don’t have any one to sit and do analysis for us, so now that we have time, I’m doing some analysis of our performance. I am jotting down points, about areas where I can improve. I started with my matches and then other players on tour,” Ashwini, who represented India at the London and Rio Olympic Games, told PTI.

“You can always watch and analyse and understand the patterns but it is different when you see things on paper. It is more concrete. So trying to set up a complete database. My brother will help me out. He made an app for me in the past.”

Ashwini and Sikki fell at the first hurdle 13 times in 20 tournaments last year, and exited from the second round thrice.

Ashwini also picked up a calf injury during the Syed Modi International but the duo was still confident of qualifying by performing well in the remaining Olympic qualifiers.

But with Badminton World Federation (BWF) cancelling all tournaments due to the pandemic, their fate remains uncertain.

“The problem is we don’t know the new BWF rules regarding the qualification. There is one year left now, you can’t take a two-year-old performance to select for Olympics, it has to be present performance, so we have to wait,” said Sikki.

“In badminton, there is a ranking cut off, so how will they accommodate the cancelled qualifiers, how will they count the ranking points, everything is too messed up now,” she added.

Sikki and Ashwini had reached the finals at Hyderabad Open Super 100 and Maldives International Challenge, last year.

The Indian pair is ranked 28th and will need to be inside top-16 on April 29, 2021 — the new Olympic cut off date.

Ashwini said: “Me and Sikki were confident of doing well in the 4-5 tournaments left but now no one knows what would be the criteria of Olympic qualification and BWF can’t really say anything with things changing every moment.”

They are using the coronavirus-forced break to learn cooking, besides doing some wall practice and exercises for physical fitness.

Talking about the effects of the lockdown on mental health, Sikki said: “We have been travelling a lot all these years and now for a month, we are at home, it is fine. But what if it is for 2-3 months, then it will get tough to stay away from the game.

“So it is important to stay motivated till the lockdown is lifted because you will be in a comfortable zone in the break and then all of a sudden you will need to push yourself.”

Ashwini added: ”…now that Olympics have been postponed, nothing is certain and it is tough, you have to be really strong.”

The economic fallout has hit sports hard and Ashwini said badminton too will be affected.

“It will hit in terms of sponsors, in terms of tournaments being conducted because countries need sponsors to host events, and after this, I’m not sure what the economic status of many countries would be.

“The way things are, it is will be tough to host tournaments, it will not be easy for countries to have tournaments with many big companies shut and struggling to survive,” she signed off.

source: http://www.sportstar.thehindu.com / Sportstar / Home> Badminton / by PTI / New Delhi – April 15th, 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown has meant that Ashwini is stuck at home in Bengaluru.

Chennai :

It’s a strange time for Ashwini Ponnappa. Under normal circumstances, she would have been crisscrossing the globe with her partner Sikki Reddy, attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. But then, these are not normal times.

The COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown has meant that Ashwini is stuck at home in Bengaluru. “It’s strange to be home and not go out,” she says. “It’s strange that it’s been like that for a couple of weeks and we’re not really sure how long it’s going to be for. “I’m in Bengaluru right now. I got here immediately after the tournament (All England, where she and Sikki crashed out in the second round). I’m at home, I haven’t really met my family so it’s been just my husband and me. It’s very strange being in Bengaluru, having all this time and not really venturing out or meeting anyone. Normally, if I had the time, that’s the thing I would have done, calling people and spending time with family and friends. Fortunately, we have two dogs who are with us, so they’re keeping us well entertained.”

The Red Bull athlete, however, plans to make the most of the extra time she has and work on her fitness. “It’s all about making the most of the time you have at home,” she says. “Luckily in this day and age, there are a lot of exercises you can do at home. But I do miss going on court. As much as we can do home exercises, it’s just not the same as going on court. It’s harder when you’re at home and you have more time to be disciplined. I do try to wake up early and try and do some breathing exercises, stretches and strength training. I also do a bit of cardio. It’s all about doing things that can be done at home.”

If she needed any extra motivation, she has a steady source for that in the form of national coach P Gopichand. Ashwini and India’s other top shuttlers are in WhatsApp groups where Gopichand sends them routines to stick to. “We have our doubles group and the singles players have their own group,” she says. “The fact that we are getting daily updates and ideas as to what we can do at home is really encouraging and motivating. After that, I’ve started waking up early as before, I was sleeping really late and waking up really late. But he is quite particular that we all wake up early and stick to the routine and do our exercises. I think that really got me back on track and got me more motivated.

“Because of the fact that I have a calf muscle tear and knee tendinitis (injuries she sustained towards the end of last season), I am not following the entire routine. I need to be a little more careful when I’m home so I’ve modified it accordingly.”

After normalcy is restored, Ashwini will have her focus back on the Tokyo Games. While she is not sure how postponement of the Games will affect her and Sikki’s chances, she believes it was the right decision. “Given how bad things have been, I think it has been the right decision to postpone the Olympics,” she says.

“It is quite tough for players to focus on the Olympics. That will tempt players to do things that they wouldn’t be doing like getting outside because everyone wants to do well. Badminton, we hadn’t really finished our qualifying and we still had about 4-5 tournaments that were left.“Sikki and I, we hadn’t really qualified but we were hoping that we would fare well over the next 4-5 tournaments and there was a chance of qualifying. I think at the end of the day, it depends on what BWF decides on what the qualifying criteria are going to be.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport> Others / by Vishnu Prasad / Express News Service / April 06th, 2020

Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna cancelled his US trip at the right time; at present, he is having a happy family time at his coffee estate in Coorg, Karnataka.

These are difficult times, but Rohan Bopanna has no complaints. He is at his coffee estate in Coorg, huddled with family.

“We are tackling things on a day-to-day basis. It is not easy to ask the plantation workers to stop. We take precautions. One day we had only the men working. We make sure that they don’t stand close to each other. We are creating awareness. They wash their hands before they go home. It is a challenge for everybody. No matter who you are, it is not easy,” said the former world No. 3 doubles tennis player.

Bopanna, who had helped India win the doubles rubber with Leander Paes against Croatia in Zagreb in losing cause in the Davis Cup in March, feels that he was lucky to be in Coorg instead of the US.

“During the Davis Cup, everything was fine.

After the tie I was in Doha, waiting overnight for the flight to Los Angeles. Sumit Nagal and Prajnesh Gunneswaran travelled through Europe to the US. Since doubles was on Friday, I had booked through Doha. I had the option of a hotel in Doha, but stayed at the airport. Physio Gaurang Shukla had also joined me to be on the same flight. About an hour and a half before the morning flight, we got the news that Indian Wells tournament had been cancelled.

We managed to change our ticket to India, for the evening. We spent time at the airport, using the swimming pool and the gym, on a pay-and-use basis. We spent nearly 18 hours at the airport. My wife and daughter were supposed to join me in Doha for the US trip. But we had cancelled the plan because the coronavirus situation had started getting serious. We didn’t want to expose the kid,” recalled Bopanna, who was obviously thrilled to spend time with his family in the serene atmosphere of Coorg…

Read the full story when the latest issue of Sportstar magazine is available on April 8.

source: http://www.sportstar.thehindu.com / SportStar / Home / by Kamesh Srinivasan / April 04th, 2020