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DELHI THE HINDU 20 SPORT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE India and Bangladesh get ready for pink ball battle at the Eden Pujara, Pant, Gill, Vihari and spin twins Ashwin and Jadeja turn up for training session while the biggies, including skipper Kohli, Rohit and Rahane, give it a miss

Amol Karhadkar bers of India’s first­choice XI one is not sure whether the INDORE who turned up for the gig, cricket will live up to the bill­ It may not have been a ‘Sup­ Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill ing due to a variety of er Sunday’ for the local sport and Hanuma Vihari also had factors. lovers with India annihilating a long vigil at the nets. First and foremost, it will Bangladesh in less than three Despite the absence of the be the first time the pink ball days to finish the game off on biggies, Sunday evening indi­ manufactured by SG, the Saturday itself, but for the cated that both the teams BCCI’s ball partner for home few dozen passengers on an have taken the next step games, will be used in a First early morning flight to Mum­ while preparing for the mai­ Class match. bai, it turned out to be a ‘Sel­ den pink­ball Test in India. While the consensus fie Sunday’. Both India and Bangladesh among the India camp is that With captain Virat Kohli practised for a while before the ball will swing more than and senior batsman Ajinkya and during the first Test, but usual, how it will behave Rahane seated together, the Sunday gave the first serious once it softens, that too un­ flight attendants had a tough hint of training under floo­ der lights, is anybody’s time with a constant spree of dlights in white flannels. guess. passengers entering the front of the aircraft. Entering the unknown Impact of dew Back in Indore, though, Incidentally, it’s not just In­ Besides, the impact of dew the Holkar Stadium was all lit dia which will have its first also remains to be seen. To up as India and Bangladesh taste of a floodlit Test. Even minimise it, the match is had an optional net session Bangladesh will feature in its scheduled to start at 1 p.m.; under lights in the evening. first day­night Test. Perhaps still the dew factor will come With the seniors either head­ entering into the unknown into play once the floodlights ing back or preferring to re­ will bridge the quality gulf are at full blast, at least for cover at the hotel, only six between the two sides, the final session. members of the Indian team which was evident during Sighting the ball under turned up for the session the mauling in the first Test. lights is also going to be a along with the support staff. While the Cricket Associa­ huge factor. Catching and While the spin duo of R. tion of Bengal (CAB) is leav­ fielding in the deep could Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja ing no stone unturned in well turn to be tricky in Let’s have a look: It will be a guessing game for Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri on how the along with No. 3 Cheteshwar terms of adding razzmatazz Kolkata. pink ball will behave. * FILE PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY Pujara were the only mem­ off the field during the Test, Over to Eden! City of Joy gears up Y.B. Sarangi Over 20 artists studying KOLKATA at the Indian Art College are The City of Joy is gearing up working day and night to to host the first­ever pink paint this idea on the walls ball day­night Test match at of the iconic stadium. the Eden Gardens here. The Cricket Association Going all-out of Bengal (CAB) has joined Mascots of the Test — Pinku hands with Creocraft to give and Tinku — were unveiled life to the Eden’s walls, in the presence of BCCI pre­ which will tell the story of a sident Sourav Ganguly on cricketer and his journey Sunday, in the hope that it from the maidan to the na­ would attract kids to the tional side. Test.

Decking the walls: Artists painting the Eden Gardens to tell the story of a cricketer’s journey from the maidan to the national side. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Berdych calls Thiem meets Tsitsipas in final Verstappen wins thriller in Brazil it a day Reuters Six times world champion The safety car was kept The Austrian gets past Zverev in straight sets Sao Paulo Lewis Hamilton finished a busy, with Ferrari's Sebas­ Max Verstappen won a thrill­ close third for Mercedes but tian Vettel and Charles Le­ ATP FINALS breaking in the 12th game of ing Brazilian Formula One under investigation by the clerc colliding to put each the opening set and in the Grand Prix for Red Bull on stewards after a late collision other out of the race, while Agence France-Presse sixth game of the second set. Sunday with Pierre Gasly a with Red Bull's Alex Albon Hamilton's team mate Valtte­ London surprise second for Toro that denied the Thai a first ri Bottas retired with an en­ Dominic Thiem defeated de­ Crucial double fault Rosso. podium appearance. gine problem. fending champion Alexan­ Germany’s Zverev, who beat der Zverev to join Roger Fe­ Novak Djokovic in last year’s derer’s conqueror Stefanos final, went toe to toe with Tomas Berdych. * AP Tsitsipas in the final of the Thiem in a relatively un­ ATP Finals here. eventful first set but served a Agence France-Presse The Austrian fifth seed double fault to lose the open­ London saw off the big­serving Ger­ er 7­5. Tomas Berdych confirmed man 7­5, 6­3 on Saturday af­ He regrouped and settled on Saturday at the ATP Fi­ ter Greece’s Tsitsipas had back into his serving rhythm nals here that he was retir­ beaten Federer 6­3, 6­4. at the beginning of the se­ ing 17 years after turning cond set but was broken professional. The Czech Fourth time lucky again to trail 4­2. World No. 103 won 13 titles, Thiem is playing in his fourth Thiem fended off a couple reaching a career­high of ATP Finals but during his of break points in the follow­ fourth in the rankings in first three trips to the season ing game and served out to 2015. finale, he won only three take the match, winning with Berdych, 34, was a matches and never advanced a forehand down the line. top­10 player from July out of the group stage at the Other result: 2010 until October 2016 O2 Arena. Doubles (final): Pierre-Hugues but has struggled with a Zverev landed 75% of his Herbert & Nicolas Mahut bt Ra- Power packed: Dominic Thiem was tougher in the big back injury over the past first serves but Thiem was ven Klaasen & Michael Venus moments against Alexander Zverev. two seasons. tougher in the big moments, 6-3, 6-4. * GETTY IMAGES Super Sunday: Max Verstappen celebrates his Brazilian GP win. * REUTERS

Gurbaz stars Duckworth the last man standing for Afghanistan Overcomes Clarke’s challenge; Ramkumar-Purav duo triumphs AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE LUCKNOW CHALLENGER rankings are released on When match point was In doubles, Ramkumar Ra­ Monday, granting him a di­ clinched with a backhand manathan and Purav Raja, Teenage opener Rahmanul­ Nandakumar Marar rect entry into the main draw sliced passing shot to leave the top seeds, won as lah Gurbaz’s 79 (52 balls) Pune of his home Grand Slam in Clarke standing, Duckworth expected. set up Afghanistan’s 29­run series­clinching win over Crowd favourite James Duck­ January. collapsed on the court facing Ramkumar put behind his the West Indies in the third worth gave himself the best Duckworth weathered a the sky, kicking his legs in de­ singles semifinal loss as he T20I on Sunday. chance of making a mark at storm in the first set as Clarke light and relief as the fans and Purav won an exciting fi­ Afghanistan posted 156 the Australian Open 2020 by proved quite competent in rose to cheer a new cham­ nal against compatriots Sa­ for eight and restricted winning the KPIT MSLTA his serve­and­volley game. pion in the sixth edition of keth Myneni and Arjun West Indies to 127 for se­ Challenger Series title, beat­ The second seed pulled him­ the tournament. Kadhe. The winning combi­ ven. ing Jay Clarke over three­ac­ self up in the second set nation earned $3,100 and the tion packed sets 4­6, 6­4, 6­4 while the third set saw the Valuable money The scores: Afghanistan runner­up $1,800. 156/8 in 20 overs (Rahmanul- in a final spanning two hours players go into auto mode Duckworth was richer by The results (finals): Singles: lah Gurbaz 79) bt West Indies and 18 minutes at the MSLTA and produce winners. Both $7,200, valuable money for a James Duckworth (Aus) bt Jay 127/7 in 20 overs (Shai Hope School of Tennis hard courts varied their shots, ventured Grand Slammer funding the Clarke (GBr) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. 52, Naveen-ul-Haq 3/24); on Sunday. to the net frequently, and Tour expenses from his own Doubles: Ramkumar Ramanath- Toss: Afghanistan; Man­of­ Special day: Champion Duckworth, second from right, with runner-up Clarke, left, and the The triumph will push the tested each other with drop pocket. The runner­up an & Purav Raja bt Saketh My- the­Match: Gurbaz; Afghanis- dignitaries. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Australian to 82nd when the shots. earned $4,240. neni & Arjun Kadhe 7-6(3), 6-3. tan won the series 2-1.

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