Gurpreet Sandhu recalls Milkha Singh’s advice
Cheteshwar Pujara might have perished but skipper Virat Kohli along with his deputy Ajinkya Rahane ensured that India does not fall behind against New Zealand in the second session on the second day of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday.
At tea break on Day Two, India’s score reads 120/3 with Kohli (35*) and Rahane (13*) at the crease. The second session saw 51 runs being scored in 27.3 overs. Resuming the second session on Day Two at 69/2, Pujara and Kohli saw off the first 50 minutes without any hiccups. The run-scoring was not easy, but the duo frustrated the Kiwi bowlers and they were letting the ball come on to them, instead of searching for it. However, Trent Boult removed Pujara (8) in the 41st over, and India was
NEW DELHI: India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu on Saturday recalled the memories of ace track legend Milkha Singh, who passed away Friday night.
One of the country’s earliest sports heroes, Milkha died of Covid-related complications in a private hospital in Chandigarh late on Friday night, leaving the sporting community in shock and disbelief. “Legends and their legacies live on forever. Milkha Singh-ji and his life story has influenced billions of people in India and across the world, and even though he is no longer with us, he will continue to inspire future generations. As I woke up to the news of his tragic demise today, my mind immediately went back to the unforgettable memory of receiving an award from the legend himself. The words he spoke to me at the time are still with me and continue to be a huge source of inspiration,” Gurpreet told aiff.com.
“It was in 2015 and I was one of the winners of the Under 30 reduced to 88/3.
Rahane then joined Kohli in the middle and the duo started to rotate the strike more often, throwing Kiwi bowlers off their length. The duo ensured that India does not lose more wickets, and bad light forced an early end to the second session and tea was taken.
At the lunch break, India’s score read 69/2 with Kohli (6*) and Pujara (0*) at the crease. While Rohit (34) was dismissed
Awards. The ceremony took place in Chandigarh and it was Milkha-ji who presented my award to me. He told me, “Hard work has no replacement. I even used to vomit blood at times after training but tumhe rukna nahi hai,” he added.
Milkha had a personal best of 20.7 seconds in 200m in Lahore on January 31, 1960. It set him up for a gallant show in the Rome Olympic Games where he clocked a National Record time of by Kyle Jamieson in the 21st over of the innings, Gill was sent back by Neil Wagner towards the end of the first session for 28. Earlier, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to field first in the much-awaited World Test Championship (WTC) final against India. Incessant rain saw the opening day’s play being washed off at the Ageas Bowl on Friday.
India skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday 45.6 seconds in the 400m final on September 6.
Besides his 1960 Olympic Games heroics, Milkha Singh will be remembered for his victory in the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff. He won gold in the 440yard sprint in a Games Record time of 46.6 seconds. Milkha Singh is survived by one son and three daughters. His wife and former captain of the Indian women’s national volleyball team Nirmal
reached the mark of 7,500 runs in the longest format of the game. He achieved the feat in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. Kohli surpassed the mark on Day Two of the ongoing Test match. Kohli has now become the ninth-fastest batsman to cross the 7500 run mark in Test cricket. Among Indian cricketers, he is the fourth fastest to achieve this feat.
Kohli, along with India batting great Sunil Gavaskar, took 154 innings to bring up 7500 runs in the longest format while Sachin Tendulkar had taken 144 innings to achieve this milestone.
As Virat Kohli walked out for the toss with New Zealand’s Kane Williamson at the Ageas Bowl in the World Test Championship final, he surpassed MS Dhoni’s record of leading the Indian team in most Test matches.
Brief Scores: India 120/3 (Virat Kohli 35*, Ajinkya Rahane 13*, Neil Wagner 1-19) vs New Zealand.
Milkha Singh succumbed to COVID-19 at the age of 85 on June 13.
Sharing how he was motivated by Flying Sikh, Sandhi said: “At the time, I was playing my club football in Norway with Stabaek, where every day was a fight to prove myself and break into the starting lineup. It was a great challenge and living abroad, there were days when it was hard to keep my spirits up. However, I used to fall back on these words spoken to me by ‘the Flying Sikh’ himself, they were a great motivator and pushed me to give my all each day.”
“This is just a small example from my life and I am sure there will be so many more athletes across the country like me whose lives were touched by the great man himself and they were able to push themselves to the next level through his blessings and wisdom. All of us grew up reading about him and his successes, and to have shared the stage with him in person is a memory I will always keep close to my heart,” he added
France shifted their gears in the second half as they looked more ominous going forward and after several attempts on goal, it was smart thinking by Lloris which gave the French side some hope. As Tottenham Hotspur man launched a pass to Mbappe after quick clearance; the 22-year-old then pushed the ball back for Griezmann who just smashed it into the back of the net to equalise for France.
Antoine Griezmann has now scored 11 goals at major international tournaments (World Cup and Euros); only Michel Platini (14), Just Fontaine (13), and Thierry Henry (12) have more for France.
This result means, Didier Deschamps’ men have four points after two games, which should be enough to make the last 16 as they finish their group stage against Portugal on Wednesday, while Hungary, on one point, must beat Germany in their final game in Munich.
As the countdown to this year’s Olympics commences in the sporting fraternity, one cannot help but get a sense of déjà vu on our performance in Japan. The familiar suspects loom large. Shooting looks like the breadwinner, as always, and India’s continued resurgence in boxing and wrestling drive our ambitions around these sports. I do nurture the hope that badminton may surprise us positively, with Indians having shots at women’s and men’s singles, and men’s doubles, of a reasonable nature. We do hope for our best ever medal haul, and in that medal haul lies a story which needs to be explored.
It’s evident that in all the medal sports, there are strong benches, good training programs, and the institutions who run that sport work well with the establishment. Building athletes for worldclass performance is an intense business, where one needs to work on the human capital with empathy,rigour and a process orientation. Private capital has also assisted in supporting many athletes to follow their passion, who are now emerging as contenders on the world stage. It is also not a surprise, that three out of the sports mentioned above have flourishing private leagues, which are enhancing the athlete fan experience, and also bringing in new followers to the game, and starting to build a viable workable model.
The real play for the establishment has to build performance towards 2024 and 2028 Olympics, and under the excellent new leadership of SAI, and a dynamic minister, there are some structural questions to be addressed. I see these issues around administration of the game, talent development, and private capital deployment.
While by and large, it can be said that the federations do a good job of running the sport in India, I do feel that there is not enough competitive exposure to emerging athletes. Different federations run the sports differently, but we need more entry-level tournaments across the length and breadth of the country. The licensing process for ranking tournaments has to be made easier, and one has to invite private investors to build this space. There is enough appetite to enter this space across the country, and capital outlays are not significant. More events mean more participation, more talent being exposed to the rigors of competitive play, thus driving the emerging talent pipeline.
Talent development is the crucible for future champions, and there is a major improvement on how we have addressed this as a country. I now see great focus on our medal hopefuls by the Government and the Federation, and