‘Khawaja should be recalled’
melbourne: Australia's selector Mark Waugh on Thursday said batsman Usman Khawaja will return to the playing XI against the West Indies for the Boxing Day Test match if he recovers from a hamstring injury. Waugh, however, added that no final decision had been made, but feels Khawaja's form prior to his injury demands an immediate recall. "If Usman is fit, assuming he is, he's got to come back in," Waugh was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia's website. "That's not nailed down, but he has two hundreds in his last two Test matches, so you'd imagine he comes back in." Khawaja will be playing for the Sydney Thunder in a Big Bash T20 league match on Sunday where his fitness will be scrutinised intensely. If he shows satisfactory fitness levels, the selectors will face the choice to stick or twist with an opener to partner David Warner.
Huge fan of Sunny, SRT: Pichai
new delhi: Describing himself as a huge fan of cricket, technology giant Google's chief Sundar Pichai on Thursday said he wanted to be a cricketer in his childhood, revering legends like Sunil Gavaskar in his growing years. Talking to students at Shri Ram College, the India-born CEO reminisced his childhood days in Chennai. "I did dream of being a cricketer like so many Indians. I used to be a huge fan of (Sunil) Gavaskar when he was playing and later, Sachin (Tendulkar) when he played," he said. The 43-year old IIT-Kharagpur alumni said he enjoys watching test and one-day cricket matches, but not the faster format of T20 matches. Pichai also said he was a fan of football and Barcelona star, lionel Messi.
Rohit to launch comic series
mumbai: Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma is set to launch a new environmental superhero team called, ‘HYPER TYGERS' in collaboration with Graphic India, UK based ISM Komix and Cornerstone Sport. The digital comic will be free to read on all devices from February 1 next year through Rohit's Facebook page and the Graphic POP! Mobile app. "I've been a big fan of the work Graphic India has been doing in the country to create new Indian superheroes. The idea to collaborate with them to launch India's first cricket based superhero comic made perfect sense," said Rohit. "Hyper Tygers is an action-packed adventure around a futuristic game of cricket unlike anything we have today. The story also serves as a larger allegory to protect our planet and its endangered wildlife, which is one of the great global challenges of our time," he added.
HPCA gets centre of excellence
SIMlA: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has announced it would set up its centre of excellence at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association's (HPCA) showpiece stadium in Dharamsala, a cricket official body said here on Thursday. "It's a great first ever feat for this tiny hill state and our association which has worked hard tirelessly over the last 15 years to create one of the best cricketing infrastructures in the country," HPCA president Anurag Thakur said in a statement here. The centre of excellence would help provide good facilities and infrastructure to the game of cricket, said Thakur, who is also the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary. Sharing its jubilation, HPCA said: "This is a great news as the picturesque stadium of Dharamsala will witness the international Asian Test teams practicing here." The stadium, 250 km from state capital Shimla, has a 20,400-seating capacity, besides separate practice areas, a club lounge, restaurant, bar and banquet hall. It's set to host eight men's matches and two women's fixtures in the upcoming T20 World Cup making Dharamsala one of the biggest and most sought after venues in India.