logo
India A mens hockey team ends Europe tour with 2-8 loss to Netherlands

India A mens hockey team ends Europe tour with 2-8 loss to Netherlands

News184 days ago
Eindhoven (Netherlands), Jul 21 (PTI) The India A men's hockey team ended its campaign in the Europe tour with a 2-8 loss against the Netherlands here.
Young Indian midfielder Rajinder Singh and forward Selvam Karthi scored the two goals for India A in the final match on Sunday. India A had lost their previous game against the Netherlands 0-3 last week.
India A began the tour on July 8 and played a total of eight matches against five European teams.
The team travelled across three cities to compete against some of the top teams in the sport, including world number 1 Netherlands and world number 3 Belgium.
Talking about the overall experience, India A coach Shivendra Singh said, 'While we might have had more losses than wins during this European Tour, it was never about the results and more about learning and experience we gained from this tour as a team." He added, 'We had a mix of senior and junior players as part India A, and they gained very valuable experience during the past two weeks.
'As we head back to India, I am confident that all these players will use this valuable experience and incorporate it to better their game for all their future matches." India A played against, Ireland, France, England, Belgium and the Netherlands during this exposure tour and won three of their eight matches. PTI AH APA APA
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Flat Jasprit Bumrah, tired Mohammed Siraj, nervy Kamboj, how India's nightmarish day unfolded at Old Trafford
Flat Jasprit Bumrah, tired Mohammed Siraj, nervy Kamboj, how India's nightmarish day unfolded at Old Trafford

Indian Express

time12 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

Flat Jasprit Bumrah, tired Mohammed Siraj, nervy Kamboj, how India's nightmarish day unfolded at Old Trafford

India could blame the weather but that would still sound like an excuse. When England bowled in the morning, there was cloud cover and rain. Late in the afternoon when Indians got the ball in hand there was bright sunlight. Data also showed that the swing and seam movement dropped drastically as the day progressed. Indian pacers surely didn't get favourable conditions but they didn't help their cause by having their worst day of the tour. Pedestrian first spells by the entire pace unit helped England to pull away. The 166-run opening-wicket stand between Ben Duckett (94) and Zak Crawley (84) at over 5 runs per over tilted the balance of the game on England's side. At 225/2, England trail by 153 runs. By the end of the day, India's first innings total of 358 looked insufficient on this track that kept changing its character based on the cloud cover and sunshine. This clearly was a game of two halves. After the engrossing session-and-half in the afternoon, the evening lacked drama or intrigue. Jasprit Bumrah had an off-day—he was off-target and his pace too was off. Debutant Anshul Kamboj didn't live up to his promise of being accurate and owner of the 'heavy ball' that troubles batsmen. Mohammed Siraj lacked sting. Shardul Thakur was ineffective. After the pace department had collectively failed and were wicketless in the early part of the England innings, captain Shubman Gill threw the ball to Ravindra Jadeja. On the second ball of India's spinner-in-chief's first over, England opener Crawley stepped down the surface and smashed the ball over long-on for a six. It was at this point, probably for the first time in the series that India looked deflated. Nothing seems to be working for them. The England opening pair of Crawley and Duckett hadn't looked this solid in the last three Tests like they did at Old Trafford. Forget getting them out, they weren't even beaten in the first couple of hours of their stay. Like was the case when the Indians batted, there was hardly any play and miss. But for a couple of balls that Bumrah bowled from round-the-wicket and beat Duckett's bat, it was the case of tight batting against undisciplined bowling. Bumrah bowled to a packed off-side field to Crawley. The plan was to invite him to swing his bat freely and try one of his booming drives. It wasn't that the England opener had gone into the shell, it is just that most times the ball was so wide outside off stump that the batsman wasn't tempted. The famous Bumrah consistency was missing and even his pace seemed to have dropped. When attempting to change his line, he would often drift down the leg-side. Siraj looked tired. There was nothing amiss in his action, his stride had the usual rhythm, the jump too was also in place but the balls lacked the zip. Like most bowlers with diminishing energy levels, Siraj's effort balls would tail on the leg of the batsmen, making the off-side heavy field redundant. England commentator Nasser Hussain made a sharp observation about the two England openers Duckett and Crawley. He said they both had it in them to punish the bad balls but Duckett was more focused and apt in dealing with the good balls. But at least in this Test, Crawley's shot-selection had improved. There was a Thakur over where he bowled a couple of great balls—they came in, bounced and seamed away. These balls he left and when the bowler erred in his length he pulled it to square leg for a boundary. Duckett, like he always does, jumped on loose balls and there were many. If a ball was marginally short on the off-side, he would bring out his tight jab to the cover region. When the ball was short, he didn't go blind to the fielders on the fence, like the Indians. India's two left-handers Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar were both out to Stokes' leg-side trap. He would bowl a sharp short ball that climbed towards the head of the batsmen. Sudharsan and Washington both ended up guiding the ball into the hands of the lone fielder on the fine-leg boundary. India too tested Duckett with the short ball but he had control over his shot, he kept it down and played square of the wicket. Both Duckett and Crawley missed their centuries. First Crawley edged a Jadeja ball to slips and Duckett was out flashing at a Kamboj short ball outside the off-stump. They certainly weren't top wicket-taking balls but they got the batsmen to commit unforced errors. As the day ended and players were in the dressing room, two worried men, in India blues, walked up to the pitch. After a brief inspection, coaches Gautam Gambhir and Shitanshu Kotak walked on the turf, talking while staring at the grass blades. India might be feeling the ground under their feet shaking.

Gautam Gambhir hugged Rishabh Pant for playing 27 balls with fracture; India keeper refused help: 'Main kar lunga'
Gautam Gambhir hugged Rishabh Pant for playing 27 balls with fracture; India keeper refused help: 'Main kar lunga'

Hindustan Times

time16 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Gautam Gambhir hugged Rishabh Pant for playing 27 balls with fracture; India keeper refused help: 'Main kar lunga'

The legend of Rishabh Pant today expanded beyond imagination. Not because of his batting. Well, he has already reached that status despite spending just 7 years in Test cricket, but because of the heart he put on display on Day 2 of the 4th Test between India and England at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium. Pant cracked his right toe when a yorker from Chris Woakes hit him flush on his foot. As Pant was driven out in an ambulance, you knew his participation in the remainder of the Test match was going to be dicey. Rishabh Pant and Gautam Gambhir have fun in Manchester(AFP) Team India's worst nightmare came true around 12 PM on Thursday when sources confirmed to the BCCI that Pant has indeed picked up a fracture and is asked to rest for between 6 and 8 weeks, pretty much ruling him out of the series. The chances of Pant playing any part in the Manchester Test were as good as Mohammed Siraj hitting Jofra Archer for 6 sixes in an over. Exactly. Zero. But when the BCCI sent out a post on X saying, Pant can bat depending on the team's requirements, the first thing that came to mind was 'You've got to be kidding me'. Well, turns out the board wasn't. Pant indeed walked out to bat at the fall of Shardul Thakur and India's sixth wicket to one of the loudest cheers ever by an English crowd ever reserved for an Indian batter. Limping out to bat, Pant practically batted on one leg, completing his fifty and ensuring India breached 350 to eventually finish on 358. Also Read: 'You've handed Rishabh Pant's runs back to England', Nasser blasts Shubman Gill after England openers run riot During his stay at the crease, Pant smashed a six off Jofra Archer and a four against Ben Stokes. England, sensing blood, went for the jugular, darting more yorkers at Pant's injured toe, which the batter saw off carefully. In the end, a peach from Archer uprooted Pant's off-stump, sending it cartwheeling. Pant's innings was over, but his stature as a never-give-up cricketer had grown by leaps and bounds. Pant refuses teammates' help As Pant made his way back to the Old Trafford dressing room, a couple of his teammates, Akash Deep and Kuldeep Yadav, had sprinted near the boundary to help him. However, as they tried to assist Pant in climbing the change room stairs, Pant said a defiant 'No'. "Main kar lunga," (I'll do it myself), he could be heard saying. Pant gingerly, but more importantly, climbed the stairs all by himself. It took him time, but the moment he approached the dressing room, there they were, head coach Gautam Gambhir and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, offering Pant a big, warm hug. Pant had played 27 balls with a fractured foot. Cricket has seen several heroic knocks. Who can forget Graeme Smith walking out with a fractured arm, or Brett Lee bleeding after suffering a cut on his head against India during the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal? And hey, is there a better courageous effort ever seen in world cricket than Anil Kumble bowling with a broken jaw, sending down 14 consecutive overs and picking up the wicket of West Indies legend Brian Lara. Irrespective of the outcome of this match – Manchester Test at Old Trafford has, in all likelihood, cemented Pant as a bonafide legend.

When Xavi stumped AIFF with a too-good-to-be-true entry
When Xavi stumped AIFF with a too-good-to-be-true entry

Time of India

time25 minutes ago

  • Time of India

When Xavi stumped AIFF with a too-good-to-be-true entry

Former Barcelona coach Xavi has previously said he 'sometimes (follows) the Indian League because many Spanish coaches are there' Panaji: The technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) rubbed their eyes in disbelief when they saw the long list of candidates for the India coaching job. There were the familiar names like former national team coach Stephen Constatine, Liverpool star Harry Kewell, former Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean, India's own Khalid Jamil, and coaches like Kibu Vicuna and Eelco Schattorie, whose work is known in the country. But at the bottom of a list prepared by AIFF's national team director Subrata Paul, there was Xavi Hernandez. Marked in green, the former Barcelona coach and legend, someone who made more than 700 appearances for the Spanish giants, was shown to have sent the application from his own email ID. Unlike other shortlisted applications, the contact number column was blank. 'It's correct that Xavi's name was there,' Paul told TOI on Thursday. 'The application was emailed to the AIFF.' According to sources, the technical committee did not consider Xavi for the final shortlist due to the high financial cost. As player, the Spanish midfielder enjoyed a historic career, winning the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and two European championships. With Barcelona, he became the symbol of the club's possession-based style of football and won 25 trophies, which includes eight La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top 15 Most Beautiful Women in the World Undo Xavi kickstarted his coaching career with Al Sadd in Qatar, then returned to Barcelona as coach, but left after guiding the club to two trophies in two and a half seasons in charge, including the 2022-23 La Liga title. 'Even if Xavi was genuinely interested in Indian football and could be convinced to take up the job, we would need a lot of money,' said a member of the technical committee who attended the virtual meeting on Wednesday. In a previous interview with The Athletic, Xavi said he 'sometimes (follows) the Indian League because many Spanish coaches are there.' The technical committee has recommended three names to the AIFF executive committee to replace Manolo Marquez, who quit early this month. Jamil is the lone home-grown coach in the list, which also has Constantine, hoping for a third stint with the national team, and former Kyrgyzstan and Slovakia head coach Stefan Tarkovic. The shortlist was finalised by the technical committee chaired by former India captain IM Vijayan. Paul, and technical director Syed Sabir Pasha, were also in attendance, while inputs were sought from Dronacharya awardees Armando Colaco and Bimal Ghosh, who are advisors to AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store