Kohli undaunted by injury blows to Ashwin, Sharma
Australia keep faith on unchanged squad as Starc gets chance to redeem himself
Well-regarded British boxer Amir Khan has reiterated his passion to fight in the UAE, and has called for support from the authorities to make it happen.
The 32-year-old fighter from Bolton was on Wednesday unveiled as the brand ambassador for Berkeley Assets, a private equity firm based in Dubai.
Speaking to Gulf News, Khan said: “If there is going to be a fight in Dubai, or anywhere else in the UAE, there has to be the involvement of the government as I know from past experiences how well high-level events are organised over here.
“The UAE is like a second home to me. I love coming here at every given opportunity. When Omar [Jackson, a partner at Berkeley Assets ] offered me to take over this new responsibility I just couldn’t say no as I wanted to give myself a break before I start seriously working towards my next fight in March or April next year,” he added.
“I want to fight in Dubai, but we need an investor. If there is a boxing fight involving me here, then it is going to be a truly global event and we would need the government to be involved.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Las Vegas-based boxing promotion company Top Rank offered Khan a guaranteed $5 million (Dh18.25 million) purse, along with a percentage of pay per view revenue, to fight three weight class champion Terence Crawford at ■ Madison Square Garden in New York, on March 23, 2019.
However, Khan, is more likely to step into the ring to take on bitter rival Kell Brook instead in March or April. “I am sure this fight is the next one,” he said. “This is my last trip here before I start training. I have trained in Los Angeles for the last two fights, but this time I will go to San Francisco as my trainer (Joe Goossen) lives there.
“I love England but sometimes you’ve got to sacrifice family time and friends. It’s a hard thing to do but sometimes this is needed to focus,” Khan added.
“I know that when I go to San Francisco, it is just putting my head down and training — waking up at 6am every day, go for a run, eat right, go to the gym and have a routine that will help me win.” ■
India skipper Virat Kohli was undaunted yesterday despite losing prolific spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and batsman Rohit Sharma to injury as he looks to twist the knife in the second Test against Australia.
The visitors went 1-0 in the four-Test series after a tense, 31-run win in Adelaide earlier this week — their first victory in Australia in a decade.
But India, who are searching for their first series win in Australia, suffered a setback when Ashwin and the experienced Sharma were declared unavailable for the second Test in Perth, starting today.
Ashwin is receiving treatment for a left-sided abdominal strain, while Sharma jarred his back while fielding in Adelaide, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said.
Also missing, as expected, will be exciting young opener Prithvi Shaw, who suffering ligament damage in a warmup match ahead of the Adelaide Test. The BCCI said Shaw, 19, was “recovering well” but was still undergoing treatment.
However, Kohli was bullish about India’s prospects in the inaugural Test at the new Perth Stadium, which has replaced the city’s venerable WACA Ground as its premier cricket venue.
“We are definitely confident of the percentage of chances we have and we want to build on that,” said Kohli at a pre-match press conference before the injury were announced.
All-rounder Hanuma Vihari is expected to slot in for Sharma, with the final spot a tossup between pacemen Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav or Ravindra Jadeja, who has taken 185 Test wickets with his left-arm spin and also averages 32.44 with the bat.
Motivation
problems
The Test will be the first at the new 60,000-capacity Perth Stadium, whose wicket is likely to be fast and bouncy like the old WACA, just over the Swan River.
Kohli said he was impressed by the new arena and not concerned by a wicket that is set to favour fast bowlers, with Australia having a world-class line-up of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.
He pointed to his own attack of Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, saying they were “at the peak of their abilities”.
“And as batsmen it gives us a lot of motivation and boosts us up to put in those significant match-winning batting performances, because we have so much belief in our bowling unit at the moment.
“We understand that if we bat well, we will definitely get the result that we want.”
Australia skipper Tim Paine declared himself fit and ready to go with the hosts naming an unchanged side for the Perth clash.
Paine suffered a finger injury in the series-opening loss to India in Adelaide but the 34-year-old wicketkeeper confirmed he would line up in an unchanged batting order.
I want to fight in Dubai, but we need an investor. If there is a boxing fight involving me here, then it is going to be a truly global event.” Amir Khan » British boxer