Oli and Modi will worship together at the Janaki temple
Ronaldo ankle injury “a small thing” says Zidane
BARCELONA: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he was not too concerned with Cristiano Ronaldo’s ankle injury after the Portuguese striker was unable to continue in the second half of his side’s 2-2 draw at arch rivals Barcelona on Sunday.
Ronaldo’s ankle was trod on by Gerard Pique as he scored Madrid’s first equaliser in the 15th minute and he looked in discomfort but continued for the rest of the half and was replaced by Marco Asensio at the start of the second period.
Madrid play the Champions League final against Liverpool on May 26 but Zidane said he did not think Ronaldo was in danger of missing the showpiece in Kiev.
“He’s not great right now but I think it’s going to be a small thing, it was only a bad movement,” Zidane told a news conference.
“I can’t say how long he’ll be out for, tomorrow he’ll have a scan, but I think it’ll be a small thing for him. We’re not worried about the final, we’re all going to be there.”
The post Ronaldo ankle injury “a small thing” says Zidane appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
Opener Rahul wants to score big and not just fast
MUMBAI: India opener Lokesh Rahul has often faced criticism for failing to convert solid scores into big totals and the 26-year-old is no longer happy to just provide his Kings XI Punjab franchise with explosive starts in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In the early part of his test career, the stylish right-handed batsman scored four hundreds with just one half-century but since his 199 against England at the end of 2016, Rahul has scored nine more fifties without adding another ton.
The opener has provided Punjab with plenty of early quick runs but showed immense maturity on Sunday to remain unbeaten on 84 from 54 deliveries to lead his side to a six-wicket victory over the Rajasthan Royals.
“I want to get as many runs as I can in the powerplay,” Rahul told the IPL website https://www.iplt20.com. “(However,) I think I haven’t converted those starts into big runs for the team; as an opening batsman that’s what is crucial.
“If you get off to a good start, even if you get the run-rate down a bit in the middle overs, if you are set till the end you can do the most damage.”
During Sunday’s innings, Rahul scored 18 off 15 balls during the powerplay and then 48 off 43 before he shifted gears effortlessly to lead Punjab to a win after two straight losses.
Rahul took 44 balls to get to his fifty — the slowest in his IPL career — but it ended up being his highest score in the Twenty20 tournament.
The win took Punjab to third in the table on six wins from nine matches and firmly in position for one of the four playoff spots.
“Those were the things I was thinking about sitting back at home,” Rahul said, referring to the break he had between Punjab’s seventh and eighth fixtures.
“I wanted to come here with a fresher approach and try to win as many games as I can. (I wanted to) try to bat deep in the innings and that was the plan and I am very happy that it paid off today.”
The post Opener Rahul wants to score big and not just fast appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
Premiership 2017-18: team-by-team review of the rugby union season
Cool-headed Exeter shone without setting hearts racing, as Saracens and Wasps slipped while injuries dominated
Final league position: 1st
Continue reading…Boxing rips dignity away like a stolen heart – David Haye is a spent force | Kevin Mitchell
Boxing accommodates no calumny, which is why David Haye should look back over his pronouncements before and after his devastating second defeat by Tony Bellew and consider doing what all fighters must eventually do: quit the day job.
Three days before the 37-year-old Londoner endured his what might prove to be his farewell nightmare, he confessed, “My only reason for being in boxing is to prove I’m the best on the planet. I need to prove I’m better than Tony before I can think about that.”
Continue reading…An unmarked grave to hero status: the Irishman who saved Barcelona | Paul Doyle
Like absolutely no other middle-aged IT systems analysts from Dublin, Fergus Dowd went to a Blyth Spartans match and wound up spearheading an international campaign to resurrect the memory of a former Manchester United captain who saved Barcelona from extinction. Sometimes, apparently, it takes an extraordinary Irishman to tell the story of an extraordinary Irishman.
Patrick O’Connell, a footballer with what might be classed as scoundrel tendencies as well as qualities that enabled him to become a heroic manager, had lain in an unmarked London grave for 57 years until Dowd heard about his singular life and decided to rally, with almost Geldofian zeal, the football world into action. The story of how he and a trio of other not-so-average football fans did that, and of O’Connell’s exploits during some of the bloodiest episodes of 20th century Europe, are the subject of Don Patricio, a documentary by the Danish director Michael Andersen that will be shown for the first time next Monday in Dublin before being screened around Britain and Spain (also available here).
Continue reading…Booger McFarland to join ‘MNF’ as field analyst, report says
McFarland joins recently retired Jason Witten, Joe Tessitore and Lisa Salters on the MNF crew, The Athletic reported.
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