Bapu Nadkarni passes away
Mumbai: Former Test all-rounder Rameshchandra Gangaram ‘Bapu’ Nadkarni passed away here on Friday at the age of 86. Nadkarni, best known for bowling a record 21 consecutive maiden overs in a Test match, is survived by his wife and two daughters. A left-arm batsman and slow-left arm orthodox bowler, Nadkarni played 41 Tests for India between 1955 and 1968. He scored 1,414 runs and took 88 wickets. His debut and final Tests were both against New Zealand. Nadkarni was known to be one of the toughest bowlers to score runs against with an astonishing economy rate of 1.67 in 65 innings that he bowled in Test cricket. (IANS)
Prajnesh out of Oz Open qualifiers
Melbourne: India’s top-ranked player Prajnesh Gunneswaran failed to make the main draw of the Australian Open men’s singles event after going down in straight sets to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the final round of the qualifiers here on Friday. Prajnesh, ranked 122nd in the world and seeded 17th in the qualifiers, lost 6-7 (2) 2-6 to Gulbis in his final round qualifying match. Prajnesh had earlier defeated local wildcard Harry Bourchier and Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann. It was a close first set which went into tie-break, where Prajnesh faltered to hand early advantage to his opponent. In the second set, Gulbis broke Prajnesh in the first and third games to race to a 3-0 lead. From there on, the Indian found it tough as Gulbis held his serve to close out the contest that lasted for one hour and 20 minutes. With Prajnesh’s ouster, India’s campaign in the singles has come to an end in the qualifiers. (PTI)
HI contributes for bushfire victims
New Delhi: Hockey India has joined their Australian counterparts in raising funds for the victims of the devastating bushfires Down Under with contribution of USD 25,000. HI also donated signed national team jerseys which will put for auction and the proceeds to be used through Red Cross to help those affected by the wildfires. Hockey Australia has expressed its gratitude in a letter to the HI president Mohd Mushtaque Ahmed. “On behalf of the Board and Management of Hockey Australia, we really appreciate your support towards Hockey Australia’s fundraising efforts for the recent bushfires,” the letter from Hockey Australia president Melanie Woosnam and Chief Executive Matt Favier said. (PTI)