We always Fight: Dravid
Ahmedabad: Rajasthan Royals mentor Rahul Dravid says his side do not mind being called “underdogs” but their fighting brand of cricket makes them a tough side to beat. Dravid, who led the team to the play-offs last season, said his side’s stress has been to assign clear roles for each players and try to execute plans on the field. “If you look at our team on paper, you would call us underdogs ... Because we don’t have those stars. But we don’t mind the tag. It does not bother us anymore. We know every team is a good team and we have to perform. We don’t think too far ahead,” Dravid said. “We get different people to perform. We don’t rely on a few stars. People who play against us know that we will always fight. We might not win every game, but we will always fight and compete. We will get the best out of our talent. I think that is something that you could classify as RR, and probably call it the RR brand of cricket,” he said.
Kohli 2nd most marketable athlete
New Delhi: Virat Kohli has been rated second behind British Formula One racer lewis Hamilton in the list of most marketable athletes by the UK magazine, ‘SportsPro’. The list, driven by marketing potential over the next three years based on value for money, age, home market, charisma, willingness to be marketed and crossover appeal, has Virat as the only Indian sportsperson in the June edition of the london-based magazine. Former England batsman and Delhi Daredevils skipper Kevin Pietersen (35) is the only cricketer other than Kohli, 25, to feature in the top-50 list. Brazilian soccer star Neymar, who topped the chart in the previous two editions of the magazine, has now slipped to the seventh spot. The list also comprises Christiano Ronaldo (4) Usain Bolt (6), lionel Messi (11), Novak Djokovic (15), Andy Murray (21), Rory McIlroy 24), Sebastian Vettel (27) and Victoria Azarenka (31).
Mithali stars for RoW Womens XI
london: Indian skipper Mithali Raj scored 67 to help Rest of the World Women’s XI outplay Marylebone Cricket Club Women by 41 runs in a match arranged as part of the lord’s bicentenary celebrations. Electing to bat, the World XI side rode on half-centuries from Mithali and Australia captain Meg lanning (59) to post a formidable 283 for nine in 50 overs. Aussie Elysse Perry also contributed with a useful 49 while Indian all-rounder Jhulan Goswami struck an unbeaten 27 to provide the necessary momentum in the end.
‘Now we’ll have TO wait and watch’
Hyderabad: A disappointed Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli today rued the fact that they will now have to adopt a “wait and watch” policy to know their chances of qualifying for the play-offs after the team slumped to its seventh defeat in IPl-7. RCB on Tuesday lost by seven wickets to a clinical Sunrisers Hyderabad to make life difficult for themselves in the ongoing IPl. RCB now find itself in the fifth position in the points table with two more games to follow. But a win in the next two matches will not be enough to seal their play-off berth as their fate now depends on the results of other games as well. “Before this game, we have things in our hands to qualify. We have to win this game to keep things under our control. But now we will have to wait and watch what other teams do and hope for the right result, which is not good situation to be in,” Kohli said at the post-match press conference here. “We were in such a situation last year as well but we played good cricket to put ourselves in a position where we had the control of how to play the last three games. But we could not hold on to that momentum this year,” he said. Agencies