14 Tuesday, March 2, 2021 Sports 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas 3rd Round Kohli becomes first cricketer to hit 100 mn followers on Instagram

ANI rently gearing up for the fourth New Delhi and final Test against England which gets underway on Thurs- India skipper Virat Kohli has day. The hosts are leaving no added another feather to his il- stone unturned to prepare for lustrious cap as he became the the upcoming fixture at the Nar- first cricketer to hit 100 million endra Modi Stadium. followers on photo and video The Board of Control for sharing social networking plat- Cricket in India (BCCI) on Mon- form Instagram on Monday. day shared a video on Twitter to The Indian skipper has give a glimpse of players sweat- joined Juventus striker Cris- ing it out in the nets. In the vid- tiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Ar- eo, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane gentine forward Lionel Messi, can be seen batting in the nets Hollywood actor and former while Rohit Sharm can be seen pro-wrestler Dwayne ‘The having a chat with head coach Rock’ Johnson, American sing- Ravi Shastri. Top Saudi Arabian rally driver Yazeed Al Rajhi (left) and Saleh Alabdelali are among the entries for this weekend’s third round through the deserts of Saudi Arabia. er-songwriter Beyonce, and Ar- The players also worked on iana Grande in the 100 million their fielding skills, making sure club. Kohli is also the fourth the team is well-prepared in most followed sportsperson on all the departments when they Instagram. Ronaldo tops the face the English side in the final Saudi’s Yazeed Al Rajhi and list (sportsperson) with 266 game of the series. million followers while Messi is In the ongoing series, Rohit, second on the list with 187 mil- Axar Patel, and Ravichandran lion followers on the Facebook- Ashwin have been the stand- owned platform. out performers and now in Seaidan top international Kohli, who holds the top the fourth Test, skipper Kohli spot in ICC’s ODI batting would look to come to the party rankings, made his debut in and end his century-drought. the format in August 2008. Kohli had last scored a cen- The Indian skipper has scored tury way back in 2019 in a day- field for Sharqiyah Baja 12,040 runs in 251 ODIs at an night Test against Bangladesh average of 59.31. at the Eden Gardens. Kohli has represented India If India manage to win or Tribune News Network Dubai International Baja, Al The international field will will fight for honours in the Saeed Al Mouri. in 90 Tests, scoring 7,490 runs draw the final Test against Eng- DAMMAM (SAUDI ARABIA) Rajhi and Ulster co-driver Mi- FIA T4 section, with seven The international field will with the highest of 254*. In land, then the side will qualify chael Orr will drive one of two also be joined by competi- Can-Am Mavericks hoping to also be joined by competi- T20I cricket, he has played 85 for the finals of the World Test Top Saudi Arabian rally driv- Toyota Hilux four-wheel drive tors taking part in a make the start line. tors taking part in a National matches, piling 2,928 runs at a Championship (WTC) and the ers Yazeed Al Rajhi and Yasir vehicles entered by Overdrive National Rally and scoring Heading the list is FIA T4 Rally and scoring points for strike rate of 138.43. side would take on New Zea- Seaidan head the international Racing. The second car will points for the opening championship leader Claude the opening round of the 2021 The Indian skipper is cur- land in the summit clash. FIA entry announced by the be in the hands of Dutchman round of the 2021 Saudi Fournier. The Frenchman Saudi Toyota Desert Rally Saudi Automobile and Motor- Erik van Loon and his French Toyota Desert Rally drives the first of three South Championship. There is also a cycle Federation (SAMF) for co-driver Sebastien Delaunay. Championship. There is Racing Can-Ams alongside separate section for motorcy- Virat Kohli this weekend’s third round of Seaidan teams up with Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri cle and quad entrants. the 2021 FIA World Cup for Russian navigator Alexey also a separate section for and Dubai-based Thomas Bell. Support for the event run- Cross-Country Bajas. Kuzmich to drive a solitary X- motorcycle and quads. Bell will be co-driven by Span- ning under the supervision of Subject to pre-event scru- raid-built Mini John Cooper ish former enduro rider and HRH Prince Khalid bin Sultan tineering, 18 teams and com- Works Rally, while the fourth powerful Hummer against the China Grand Rally-winning Al Abdullah Al Faisal, SAMF petitors from 13 nations will of the FIA-seeded drivers at likes of Essa Al Dossary, Khalid biker Armand Monleon. President and Chairman of the tackle the three-day event, the top of the entry list is the Al Feraihi, Mohammed Al Tu- Local driver Saleh Al Saif Organising Committee, comes which roars into life with a experienced Czech driver Mi- waijri, Ibrahim Ben Salman, will be hoping to bounce back from official partner Abdul Latif timed 10km super special roslav Zapletal with his self- Yousef Al Suwaidi and Saudi from a disappointing outing Jameel Toyota and diamond stage on Thursday (March built Ford F-150. female racer Dania Akeel. She in Dubai to challenge for T4 sponsors MBC Group and Al 4th) and continues with two Saudi drivers dominate teams up with French co-driv- honours, where he faces ad- Arabiya outdoor advertising. selective sections through the the middle reaches of the en- er Laurent Lichtleuchter in a ditional competition from fel- Modon, the Saudi Author- deserts of the Eastern Prov- try with last year’s Hail Inter- Can-Am Maverick X3 entered low Saudi drivers, Ahmed Al ity for Industrial Cities and ince on Friday and Saturday. national Rally winner Saleh in the FIA T3 category. Shegawi, Hamad Al Harbi and Technology Zones, is also pro- Fresh from winning the Al-Abdelali wheeling out his The remainder of the field motor sporting all-rounder viding logistical support.

‘Cricket fan’ Leach wants Test matches to last longer than two days Jeetan Patel expecting visitors to ‘punch back ANI mitted that the hosts outplayed bowler, Axar was very good on mer cricketers but Leach credit- pretty hard’ in fourth Test Ahmedabad England on Ahmedabad wicket. that wicket. All the talk has been ed India spinners for outplaying “I think that is right. One in the media, in the dressing the visiting side. ANI England in the pink-ball Test us to punch back pretty hard,” Amid the debates over the na- thing I will say as a cricket fan room, we just talk about getting “I do not have too much Ahmedabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium Patel said during a virtual ture of the pitch that was pre- if I was watching a Test match, I better,” he added. to say about the pitch, we got on Thursday to go 2-1 up in press conference on Monday. pared for the pink-ball Test, would want it to go longer than Though the hosts registered outplayed in those conditions Jeetan Patel, who has been the four-match series. “They The pink-ball Test saw England spinner Jack Leach as- two days, that is my only kind a comprehensive ten-wicket and for me, I am always look- appointed as England’s per- (Axar and Ashwin) have been both India and England bats- serted that he would have liked of viewing being a cricket fan.... win, the match saw both India ing to learn. That’s the great manent Elite Spin Bowling fantastic in the second and men failing to shine. But crit- the third Test against India to Test match should go on longer and England batsmen failing thing about our group, we Coach, said he is expect- third Test, and it is now for us ics have looked to blame the go longer than two days. than two days, whether that is to shine and getting out to balls are all in this mindset and we ing the team to “punch back to combat that in the fourth pitch for the failure of the bats- The third Test match got to the pitch or skill, for me, I that did not turn and skidded want to learn from what has pretty hard” in the fourth Test Test. The conversation today men. After the match, Rohit over within two days after the am fully concentrating how can through from the spinners. been a couple of hard games against India. was not to go away from being Sharma had clarified that he visitors crumbled in front of the I best do on every wicket I play England’s defeat in the and put in a good perfor- Riding on brilliant spells positive and look to score. One did not think the pitch had any India spin duo of Ravichandran on,” said Leach in a virtual press pink-ball Test inside two days mance so yeah, it was tough, of spin bowling from Axar Pa- thing that the England side demons. Even India skipper Ashwin and Axar Patel. Leach conference on Monday. might have raised questions on even being a spinner on that tel and Ravichandran Ashwin, has done well recently is face Virat Kohli was vocal about said a Test match should last “They outbowled us on that the quality of the pitch at the wicket comes with tough mo- India had registered a com- the adversity and punched the dreadful batting display longer than two days but ad- wicket, Ashwin is a world-class Narendra Modi Stadium by for- ments,” said Leach. prehensive 10-wicket win over against it. 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