Blessed With Baby Girl, Rohit Sharma to Miss Final Test in Sydney
Sydney, Dec 31: Indian batsman Rohit Sharma will miss the final Test against Australia as he is traveling back home to be with his just-born girl and wife Ritika Sajdeh.
Rohit will join the ODI squad on January 8 2019, with the first game starting January 12.
Ritika, who is also Rohit's manager, delivered their first child in Mumbai on Sunday.
Rohit was a part of the Indian XI in both their victorious Tests of the ongoing tour. He was forced to miss the second Test in Perth due to a back injury, but recovered for Melbourne where he scored an unbeaten 63 in the first innings. Overall, he has scores of 37, 1, 63* and 5 in his four innings this tour.
The board has decided against naming a replacement for Rohit. The other options for India in the middle order are Hardik Pandya and Parthiv Patel. Hardik, who had missed more than two months of action due to a back injury, had joined the squad after the second Test. Parthiv has been with the side from the start of the tour as a back-up wicketkeeper.
If Hardik returns, India might also consider playing two spinners if the pitch in Sydney is suitable. In that case, they can slot in R Ashwin, if he is fit, or Kuldeep Yadav.
It's unlikely, but India could also bring back one of their regular openers - KL Rahul or M Vijay - and give Hanuma Vihari, who opened in Melbourne, his middle-order slot again.
The final Test starts in Sydney on January 3. India lead the series 2-1.
Courtesy: www.news18.com
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Dhyan Chand lifetime award to be replaced by Arjuna lifetime
New Delhi, Oct 24: The sports ministry on Thursday announced the discontinuation of the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement from this year onwards and the introduction of the Arjuna Award Lifetime in its place in a bid to "rationalise" the various sporting honours of the country.
Instituted in 2002, the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award, named after hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand, is given to individuals in disciplines that are part of the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, among others.
In 2023, the award was given to former shuttler Manjusha Kanwar, ex-hockey exponent Vineet Kumar and kabaddi player Kavitha Selvaraj.
"The various schemes for sports awards have been rationalised wherein Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced in place of Dhyan Chand Award. To recognise the efforts of coaches at grassroots/development level, they are now eligible for the Dronacharya Award," said a ministry statement.
"The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced and will be given for life time contribution to sports development.
"Further, to recognize the Khelo India scheme, the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy will be given to the University for Overall Top Performance in Khelo India University Games," it added.
The last date for applying for the national sports awards for 2024 is November 14.
