Few days before the ninth anniversary of leading India to a U-19 World Cup title, Unmukt Chand has announced his retirement from cricket in India. The 28-year-old posted an emotional letter on Twitter saying he would be plying his trade around the world. He is currently in USA since April and is likely to play in the planned US T20 League. His U-19 teammate Smit Patel too had announced his move to US earlier in the year. The unbeaten 111 against Australia U-19s in Townsville during the World Cup remains the highest point of the batsman’s career. The knock had catapulted him to being the face of Indian cricket’s future at a time when MS Dhoni’s team was going through transition. His journey until then mirrored Virat Kohli’s. In fact, the then chief national selector, Sandeep Patil was eager to give him the India cap. Despite his almost sensational arrival on the domestic scene, Unmukt didn’t have a defining domestic or an IPL season post the World Cup glory. He remained on the fence and the much-awaited India call didn’t come.
August 7 to be ‘National Javelin Day’
Paying tribute to Neeraj Chopra’s gold-winning performance, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced that August 7 will be celebrated as the ‘National Javelin Day’ to honour the champion javelin thrower’s memorable feat. “To encourage javelin throwers across India, we will celebrate August 7 as the National Javelin Day. From next year onwards, our affiliated units will hold javelin competitions in their respective states on the same date,” AFI’s planning commission chairman Lalit Bhanot said during a felicitation function of Neeraj. “We will also have inter-district competitions and will provide javelins to athletes. We will widen the scope of the competitions in the coming years to make it a national event,” Bhanot added. The third edition of the National Open Javelin Throw Championships is scheduled to be held in October this year. AFI’s vice president and India’s lone World Championships medallist, Anju Bobby George, said: “It is the proudest moment in the history of Indian athletics, a gold medal in Olympics. Nothing can come close to this. I hope Neeraj’s gold inspires the children of this country to take up athletics,” added Anju, who won a women’s long jump bronze medal in the 2003 World Championships in Paris.
NZ cricketer Chris Cairns on life support
Former New Zealand cricket all-rounder Chris Cairns is on life support at a Canberra hospital after recently collapsing with a health problem in Australia, New Zealand media reported. Cairns, 51, had undergone several operations after suffering a heart problem but had not responded to treatment as hoped, Newshub reported. Newshub said Cairns had suffered an aortic dissection in his heart in Canberra last week. An aortic dissection is a tear in the body's main artery. A New Zealand Cricket spokesman said the board was respecting Cairns' right to privacy and declined to comment on the situation. Cairns played 62 tests, 215 one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches for New Zealand between 1989-2006 before becoming a television pundit.
Bid to include cricket in 2028 Olympics
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is preparing a bid for the game’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the governing body said. Cricket last featured in the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has rarely been played in other multisport events, which many believe is essential for the game’s growth outside the Commonwealth nations. “Our sport is united behind this bid, and we see the Olympics as a part of cricket’s long-term future,” ICC chair Greg Barclay said. “We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 per cent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics.” Cricket’s 92% following is from South Asia where it is the dominant sport in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Barclay said including the game in the 2028 Games would be welcomed by the 30 million cricket fans in the United States. “We believe cricket would be a great addition, but we know it won’t be easy to secure our inclusion as there are so many other great sports out there wanting to do the same," the New Zealander said.
