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DELHI THE HINDU 18 SPORT WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ACES Awards Sanju in for Heartbreak for a fighting Anand injured Dominant Carlsen strides to the title with a record tally of 27 points ceremony on Jan. 12 Dhawan TATA STEEL CHESS with a wide smile. “Akhil Will be presented in three (Anand’s son) won the se­ Rakesh Rao cond prize in a dance com­ categories in Mumbai KOLKATA petition in school. I am very who have dedicated their “By some strange irony, I re­ happy about that,” conclud­ lives to sport in order to member this quote. “Failure ed a proud father. realise the dream of making The results: 27th round: Viswa­ I can handle. I’m okay with India a ‘sporting nation’. nathan Anand drew with Ding failure. It is the hope that is Liren (Chn); Wesley So (USA) The annual event aims to killing me.” That was what I drew with Magnus Carlsen create a platform where sta­ was doing today. I would (Nor); Vidit Gujrathi lost to Hi­ keholders involved with In­ keep giving myself a chance karu Nakamura (USA); P. Hari dian sports meet and share and then destroy myself.” Krishna drew with Anish Giri Special Correspondent their vision for the growth These words from Viswa­ (Ned); Levon Aronian (Arm) CHENNAI of Indian sport. nathan Anand pretty much drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi The second edition of the (Rus). Relaunched in celebra­ summed up his play on the Sportstar ACES Awards, ce­ Sanju Samson * FILE PHOTO tion of Sportstar magazine’s final day of the Tata Steel ra­ 26th round: Carlsen bt Anand; lebrating the best of Indian Nepomniachtchi bt Hari; Giri bt 40th anniversary, the 2019 pid and blitz tournament sport in 2019, will be held in Sports reporter Vidit; Liren bt Aronian; Nakam­ awards honoured Prakash here. Anand missed by a Mumbai on January 12, Surat ura drew with So. 25th round: Padukone with the Lifetime whisker, a qualifying spot to 2020. India opener Shikhar Dha­ Anand drew with Nakamura; Achievement Award, while the four­man Grand Chess This year has seen Indian wan has been ruled out of Aronian lost to Carlsen; Hari Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bum­ Tour Final in London. He sportspersons excel across the T20I series against the drew with Vidit; Nepomniacht­ rah shared the Sportsman of needed to finish sixth or chi lost to Liren; So drew with disciplines like never be­ West Indies starting next the Year (Cricket) Award, higher. He ended up Giri. 24th round: Giri bt Anand; fore. P.V. Sindhu became the week in Hyderabad (De­ and Cheteshwar Pujara re­ seventh. Liren lost to Hari; Carlsen drew first Indian to win gold at the cember 6) with Sanju Sam­ ceived the Chairman’s Magnus Carlsen, troubled with Nepomniachtchi; Nakamu­ badminton World cham­ son set to replace him. Choice Award, among other by an upset stomach that ra bt Aronian; Vidit drew with pionships. Sanju would hope to get awards. saw him even take a five­ So. The Indian men’s cricket some game­time, having 23rd round: Anand lost to Vidit; move draw with Vidit Guj­ team conquered a formida­ regained form, especially Ding bt Carlsen; Hari lost to So; Leading sportspersons rathi at the start of the day, Nepomniachtchi lost to Nakam­ ble frontier by winning a in white­ball formats. raced away with the title fol­ Test series in Australia for The ceremony was attended Dhawan injured his left ura; Aronian drew with Giri. by many celebrated sport­ lowing a record tally of 27 22nd round: So lost to Anand; the first time, reached the knee while playing for Del­ points. He improved his pre­ Carlsen bt Hari; Vidit bt Aro­ semifinals of the ODI World spersons including like Vis­ hi against Maharashtra in vious record of 26.5 points nian; Nakamura drew with Li­ Cup in which Rohit Sharma wanathan Anand, Sunil Ga­ the first Super League vaskar, Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay set in the first event of the Reigning supreme: Magnus Carlsen underlined his stature as the best among the best with a ren; Giri drew with Nepom­ scored a record five centu­ match of the Syed Mushtaq niachtchi. 21st round: Hari lost Manjrekar, Bhaichung Bhu­ season. superlative show. * RAJEEV BHATT ries, and swept the home Ali tournament at the C.B. to Anand; Carlsen drew with Test series against South tia, Gagan Narang, Anjali Patel Ground here. Special feeling bounced back from the early don’t know. I just forgot go, Anand was tied sixth with Nakamura; Aronian lost to So; Africa and Bangladesh. Bhagwat, Mithali Raj and Chairman of selectors Nepomniachtchi drew with Vi­ “I am very happy with my reverse to Levon Aronian, to about the clock. And if win Nepomniachtchi, the Rus­ Amit Panghal became the Dutee Chand. M.S.K. Prasad was in Surat dit; Liren drew with Giri. Also present were Bolly­ performance here. The re­ nail Wesley So and P. Hari this game, I’m right back in sian who won all three en­ 20th round: Anand drew with first Indian boxer to win a on Monday and so was cord suggests I am playing Krishna, but surprisingly lost contention. So I was my counters against him. Once Aronian; Giri drew with Carlsen; silver medal at the world wood celebrities like Deepi­ NCA physio Ashish Kaush­ well in a strong field. After a to Vidit. worst enemy,” said a deject­ Anand lost to Carlsen for the Nakamura bt Hari; Vidit drew championships. There have ka Padukone and Ranveer ik. The Hindu understands good start to the year, I had The loss did hurt Anand’s ed Anand. third time in three days be­ with Liren; So drew with Ne­ been many more such Singh, as well as Interna­ that after discussing Dha­ not won anything. So this chances but he returned to With Nakamura, Carlsen fore Nepomniachtchi defeat­ pomniachtchi. 19th round: Ne­ stories. tional Cricket Council chair­ wan’s recovery process feels special in that sense,” dominate Anish Giri and in­ and Ding Liren as his rivals in ed Hari, it paved the way for pomniachtchi bt Anand; Carlsen At ACES 2020, 21 awards man Shashank Manohar with Kaushik, the selectors said the champion after fin­ ched closer to a much­need­ the remaining rounds, Frenchman Maxime Vachier­ drew with Vidit; Nakamura will be presented in three and Odisha chief minister were convinced the opener ishing four points clear of ed victory. However, disaster Anand’s chances of scoring Lagrave to go to London. drew with Giri; Hari drew with categories — Popular Naveen Patnaik, who ac­ wouldn’t recover in time runner­up Hikaru struck Anand as he ran out of well looked bleak. Anand “It was much worse this Aronian; Liren drew with So. Awards, Nominated Awards cepted the award for the for the three­match series. Final standings (rapid plus Nakamura. time on the clock and was took a quick draw with Na­ way. If I had no chance it and Jury Awards. Best State for the Promotion The injury is similar to blitz): 1. Carlsen (27), 2. Na­ of Sports. The storyline of the final declared “lost­on­time.” kamura and found himself would have been nicer,” said kamura (23), 3­4. Giri, So, (18.5 what Shane Watson suf­ day revolved around tied with Ian Nepomniacht­ Anand. each), 5. Liren (18), 6. Nepom­ A celebration The voting for the Popu­ fered during the IPL 2019 Anand’s possible qualifica­ ‘My worst enemy’ chi, beaten by to the sixth At the end of an otherwise niachtchi (17), 7. Anand (16), These awards celebrate the lar Choice Awards is open. final between Chennai tion to the GCT’s London fi­ “It was probably the final spot. harsh day, Anand chose to 8­9. Vidit, Hari (14.5 each),10. stars, the future stars and Visit www.sportstar.hin­ Super Kings and Mumbai nale. Soon­to­be­50 Anand straw. I’m just winning and I Even with two rounds to share some “good news” Aronian (13). the tireless silent partners du.com/aces­awards to vote. Indians earlier this year. Sindhu and Tai Tzu We have built a team for all formats: MSK Afghanistan’s chance fetch ₹77 lakh each ‘Speedsters have ensured no side will prepare seaming tracks for us’ to show its mettle DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD S. Dipak Ragav Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja PBL AUCTION Surat B There was intense bidding were dropped after the 2017 Up against West Indies in one­off Test Press Trust of India for R. Satwiksairaj, who “We have a complete Test Champions Trophy. Shayan Acharya him Zadran, Javed Ahmadi, NEW DELHI went to Chennai Superstarz team,” says M.S.K. Prasad, Prasad shot back: “Why Lucknow Rahmat Shah, Karim Janat, P.V. Sindhu was on Tuesday for a whopping ₹62 lakh whose tenure as chairman of do you think we have not Qais Ahmed, Ikram Alikhiel retained by Hyderabad Hun­ selectors ends next month. communicated? I ensured Afghanistan attained Test B The next edition from (wk), Afsar Zazai, Nasir Jamal, ters for ₹77 lakh in the auc­ January 20 to Feb. 9, Here to watch the Syed that all the selectors met status in June 2017, but the Zahir Khan, Yamin Ahmadzai, tion for the fifth season of 2020 will see 74 Indians in Mushtaq Ali tournament, Ashwin and Jadeja. Post CT team has struggled to find Hamza Hotak, Nijat Masood. the Premier Badminton action Prasad spoke about his time in 2017, the entire selection enough opportunities to West Indies: Jason Holder League (PBL) here. at the helm for the past three team spoke to Ashwin and test its skills in the longer (Capt.), Shai Hope, John B World No. 1 women’s sin­ P. Kashyap was sold to years, a period in which In­ Jadeja before taking the call.” format of the game. Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Mumbai Rockets for ₹43 gles player Tai Tzu Ying of dia became the No. 1 Test The young Afghanistan Shimron Hetmyer, Shamrah lakh while Lakshya Sen will Brooks, Roston Chase, Shane Chinese Taipei was also turn out for Superstarz side in the world. will now take on the the bought for the joint highest That’s how we do it! Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and West Indies at the Ekana In­ Dowrich, Sunil Ambris, Jomel after it purchased him for Warrican, Rahkeem Cornwall, amount of ₹77 lakh by de­ Fantastic Md. Shami form a potent pace combination. * K.R. DEEPAK Wait till IPL: ternational Stadium here ₹36 lakh Kemar Roach, Keemo Paul, Al­ fending champion Bengalu­ “Every generation throws up from Wednesday. B Seven teams — Awadhe zarri Joseph. ru Raptors after a bidding one or two good teams, but The results in South Africa Shaw and Rishabh Pant to Shastri on It’s a daunting task, but Warriors, Bengaluru Umpires: Paul Reiffel & Nitin war with the Pune 7 Aces. this is a complete team,” said and England didn’t go in our bounce back strongly. Raptors, Mumbai Rockets, Dhoni the Afghan camp is confi­ Menon. Match Referee: Chris There was intense bid­ Hyderabad Hunters, Prasad. “Being at the top of favour but the way we “Everyone knows what he dent of putting up a brave Broad. ding for R. Satwiksairaj, Chennai Superstarz, North the ICC Test rankings for the fought, it could have been (Shaw) is capable of. We show in its ‘new home Match starts at 9.30 a.m. IANS who eventually went to the Eastern Warriors and Pune last few years is a fantastic anybody's game. have been following him and ground’. Chennai Superstarz for a 7 Aces — will compete in thing, but it is not just about "We have built a winning has done well since his co­ Kolkata With most of its top whopping ₹62 lakh. the event to be played in numbers. We have built a culture and today no team — meback. We will keep a close Team India coach Ravi players focusing on fran­ Gayle takes Korea’s doubles ace Ko Bengaluru, Chennai, team for all formats. England, New Zealand or watch and by the time the Shastri wants one and all chise leagues, there has Sung Hyun and Hong Kong’s Hyderabad and Lucknow "We have a set team in Australia — will give us seam­ New Zealand series comes to wait, till the IPL to see been a vacuum in the Test a ‘break’ DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Lee Cheuk Yiu were the only Tests and ODIs. In T20Is, we ing tracks. That is the scare up, I am sure he will be in if M.S. Dhoni will make set­up for the Windies. But Press Trust of India others to cross the ₹50 lakh lakh. B. Sai Praneeth was al­ haven’t played that much we have created,” he said. good shape to stake a claim,” the team for the World the squad, led by Jason Hol­ mark as the former went to so retained by Raptors for and now that we are playing "What is more heartening he said. T20 to be held in 2020. der, has players like Shai Johannesburg Awadhe Warriors for ₹55 ₹32 lakh. a lot more, I am sure three to is we have a healthy bench­ “With Rishabh, we keep Shastri said, “It all Hope, Shimron Hetmyer West Indies great Chris lakh while the latter was Season 5 lost some sheen four months before the next strength with the likes of talking to him regularly and depends on when he and Keemo Paul, who can Gayle has said no to playing purchased by North Eastern after Saina Nehwal and K. World T20, our team will be Navdeep Saini and Mo­ we are making sure he is in a starts playing and how he alter the course of a game the three ODIs in India next Warriors for ₹50 lakh. Srikanth pulled out to focus fully set.” hammed Siraj waiting in the good space. He is full of ta­ plays during the IPL. on their day. month and rather wants to on their international ca­ The committee he headed wings. That will be our lega­ lent and he will only go up What are the other Foggy conditions in the focus on his plans for 2020. Kashyap for Rockets reers. The format remains began its tenure with the cy. I am sure the bench­ the ladder from this low pe­ people doing with the city will be a worry for both West Indies is scheduled P. Kashyap was sold to the same with each tie con­ long­term vision of building strength we have will last the riod,” Prasad said. wicketkeeping gloves or teams as Lucknow hosts its to play three T20Is and as Mumbai Rockets for ₹43 sisting of five matches — two a team that could win across next six to seven years,” he The committee has faced what is the form of those first Test since 1994. many ODIs in India starting lakh while Lakshya Sen will men’s singles, one women’s formats, he said. said. a lot of flak for some of its de­ players as opposed to The teams: Afghanistan: Rash­ on December 6. He is also turn out for Superstarz after singles, one men’s doubles “To some extent, we The former India wicket­ cisions, and lack of commu­ Dhoni’s form.” id Khan (Capt.), Asghar Af­ unlikely to feature in the it purchased him for ₹36 and one mixed doubles. could do that in Australia. keeper also backed Prithvi nication, especially when R. ghan, Ihsanullah Janat, Ibra­ T20I games. When a crime emerges, the law must catch up quickly

Despite the television coverage — or perhaps because of it — T20 and T10 attract unscrupulous seducers more easily

ly. Perhaps it has something to do with ing, there is precious little that can be Spot­fixing has been characterized as are seduced too. They see it as a way of blue and everything is perfect. It is a fans’ indifference to match results. The done. It is two decades since fixing ar­ a crime without a victim, unless the vic­ getting back at the system while making fantasy, of course, but we need such increase in tournaments transforms a rived at India’s doorstep, and some Test tims are the thousands who pay good some money. fantasies to make up for the harsher game of bat and ball into one of dollars players were shown to be involved. But money to watch an honest game of realities in other areas. and cents. those caught still have to be held under cricket with its ups and downs not being Higher standards Authorities have suggested that the the ‘cheating’ Act or, as in one case, the stage­managed. But there are other vic­ Cricketers who are likely targets cannot Meaning to life BETWEEN WICKETS approaches made to some players in the anti­terrorism law. This is ridiculous. tims too: the sponsors, the television be rushed out and locked up in five­star Sport is the most meaningless thing we KPL might have been handled by inter­ The legislature lacks the political will to channels, the media, none of whom hotels or holiday resorts as our politi­ do which gives life meaning. It is unreal. suresh menon national players. If this is true, then make fixing a criminal offence punisha­ would like to be associated with a dodgy cians are. This is not being facetious. If So when a sportsman allows reality to pulling at the KPL thread might unravel ble by law. product. cricket reflects society, then we cannot creep in and awaken us to the fact that he shorter the format of the game, other domestic tournaments too. There As lawyer Nandan Kamath put it in complain if the cricketers mirror the be­ the fantasy has been punctured, we are Tthe greater the chances of it being was a cloud over the Tamil Nadu Pre­ Wisden India Almanack, “Match manip­ Ideal candidate haviour of our so­called leaders too. unhappy. We get depressed. We hold misused by fixers and their ilk. The full mier League too recently before a com­ ulation sits in plain sight of Indian crick­ Gautam is 33, knows that he is not in the Selling their souls to the highest bidder our heads in despair. We want those story of the Karnataka Premier League’s mittee ruled there was no evidence of et administrators as well as the coun­ reckoning to play for India (he trans­ is common practice among the latter, so who step beyond well­laid out boundar­ ignominy is yet to emerge, but what we fixing there. try’s legislators. It has been seated there ferred from Karnataka to Goa). The why should we hold our sportsmen to ies to pay for it. know is depressing enough. A former for over two decades. Yet not a single temptation to make a pile before hang­ higher standards? We would like to be certain that a Karnataka captain, C.M. Gautam, is al­ Human greed cricketer or official has been successful­ ing up the boots may be difficult to re­ The reason is simple. We expect catch was dropped because that is the legedly among those who have been You can have Anti­Corruption Unit offic­ ly prosecuted (although they have faced sist. In some ways, he is the ideal candi­ more from our sportsmen (and women nature of the game, not because some­ caught with their hands in the cookie ers, provide regular sessions to players punishment).” date for an approach, as someone who, — a woman player was approached and one is, metaphorically, pulling the jar, which is a polite way of saying it. His on how to deal with approaches, and cricket­wise, has nothing to lose. Ac­ alerted the authorities earlier this year) strings somewhere. teammate Abrar Kazi has been named harp on the examples of players who Big paydays cording to the Bengaluru police who are because they engage in a field of human There will always be temptation, as too. have fallen from their perch because Between the lack of will on one side and investigating the case, honey traps and activity that is pure fantasy. We have set there will always be greed. The authori­ Despite the television coverage — or they succumbed to temptation. But you the lure of big paydays on the other, the blackmail are the standard tools of the aside sport from, say, politics, because ties cannot eliminate either. But they perhaps because of it — T20 and T10 at­ can’t legislate against human greed. shorter formats of the game wrestle operation. Young players with chips on by common consent we need a space can ensure giving into temptation may tract unscrupulous seducers more easi­ And until you have a law against fix­ with credibility. their shoulders for having been ignored where the sun always shines, the sky is not be worth a player’s while.

CM M ND-NDE YK