Lara hospitalised
Brian Lara was on Tuesday admitted to a hospital in Mumbai after complaining of chest pain but is doing ‘fine and will be discharged soon’. The 50-year-old from Trinidad was admitted to the Global Hospital in Parel. No official word has come out yet on his condition but a source close to the player said there was no major cause of concern.“He had an angioplasty (a procedure to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels that supply blood to the heart) done two years back and today was a regular check-up as there is always a fear of heart pain. He is fine now and will be discharged soon,” the source told PTI.
The hospital authorities were tight-lipped about why Lara was admitted and refused to divulge any details. “As a policy, we respect our patients and their right to privacy. Till the time the patient doesn't give us consent, we cannot divulge anything about him. Please respect his privacy. At this point, we cannot say anything,” Dr Jigna Shrotriya, the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, said in a brief statement issued in the evening.
Tweet angst
Sachin Tendulkar had made his displeasure known over MS Dhoni's slow batting during India's World Cup game against Afghanistan. Tendulkar had said that the stumper should have shown more positive intent during his time at the crease. Tendulkar's views though haven't gone down well with Dhoni's ardent fans and they have taken to social media to make their disappointment known. An ardent Dhoni fan hit back not only at Sachin, but also his son Arjun Tendulkar and said: “@msdhoni is the King of cricket!! Sachin played only for self and trying to fit in his looser son in team India now. Height of nepotism! (sic).” “#MSD one slow innings and everybody is baying for his blood....unfair on @sachin_rt to come out in public criticising Dhoni. Dear Great Batsman...the WK batsman has won many more matches for India than u did!! (sic),” expressed another fan and went on to add: “Atleast #MSD is much more a team player than the great @sachin_rt...the little master always had a selfish intent when he came out to bat!! 100 tons and everything is good but one can count on their fingers as to how many matches India won/test matches saved coz #Sachin (sic).”
Cric-tips for Jr Bangar
It's not everyday that a youngster gets tips from India's bowling coach but then Aryan Bangar is not just any youngster. Son of batting coach Sanjay Bangar, Aryan was watched by Team India's bowling coach Bharat Arun after the national side's optional practice session here on Tuesday. The 18-year-old Aryan is the elder son of Sanjay Bangar and is currently here to play junior county games for Leicestershire. Primarily a left-handed top-order batsman, Aryan also bowls left-arm spin and once Virat Kohli and Co. had finished their session, the youngster was summoned to bowl. Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar had a close look as he bowled for more than 20 minutes. He bowled a few classical left-armer's deliveries that spun away (for right handers) after pitching. Arun also gave him some tips after the session while Senior Bangar watched from a distance.
1 billion & counting
The World Cup 2019 is on track to shatter previous digital and TV records and become one of the world's biggest ever sports events — having already delivered over 1 billion video views across digital content on ICC’s platforms and social media channels. In addition, TV figures have seen India alone amass a viewership of 342 million during the first fortnight of the tournament even before the much anticipated fixture between India and Pakistan. Hotstar, ICC’s official digital licensee in India, delivered a record 15.6 million peak concurrent live viewers for the India v Pakistan match a record for an international cricket fixture across formats. The nail-biting India-Afghanistan fixture at Southampton also delivered similar peak number of concurrent live viewers for the platform.