desk report amritsar - south asian...

PAKISTAN SINK INDIA TO LIFTMAIDEN CHAMPIONS TROPHY

SRK, SALMAN, AKSHAY AMONGWORLD'S HIGHEST-PAID CELEBRITIES

Had creative differences withKapil Sharma: Ali Asgar

PROMOTION OF SUPER SINGH ON NACH BALIYE SETS WITH CHOREOGRAPHER TERENCE LEWIS, SONAKSHI SINHA, DILJIT DOSANJHAND FILMMAKER MOHIT SURI IN MUMBAI.

Super Singh released overweekend smashes all records

A CLINICAL INDIA DEMOLISHED A HAPLESS PAKISTAN 7-1 TO REGISTER THEIR THIRD CONSECUTIVE VICTORY AND SEAL APLACE IN THE QUARTER-FINALS OF THE HOCKEY WORLD LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL. I DETAILS ON PAGE 22 & 23

DESK REPORTAMRITSAR - Super Singh that released this weekend is smashing allrecords as the first Punjabi superhero film. Kids are specially lik-ing Dilj it 's new avatar. Dilj it Dosanjh recently appeared on thedance-based reality show Nach Baliye 8. He was seen on theshow to promote his Punjabi movie Super Singh along with SonamBajwa. He was next seen at The Kapil Sharma show and enter-tained the guests greatly.The cast of Super Singh has been travelling to different cities andtowns promoting their film, while the lead actor Diljit has also beenbusy with his live concer ts. He has been sharing pictures and videosfrom the sets of the show on his Snap chat account. He has been quiteactive on the social media site and keeps posting on it the entire day.

MUMBAI, (IANS) Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, SalmanKhan and Akshay Kumar are in Forbes magazines "Worlds Highest-Paid Celebrities" list, led by rapper P. Diddy, also known as SeanCombs. Shah Rukh, who earned a whopping $38 million betweenJune 1, 2016 to June 1, 2017, is ranked 65 on the list ahead of hisIndian contemporaries and global celebrities like tennis superstarNovak Djokovic, actress Amy Schumer, golf legend Tiger Woods,footballer Neymar and singers Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, Britney Spearsand Katy Perry. Besides him, Hollywood actress-singer Jennifer Lopezand The Chainsmokers are also ranked at 65. Salman is ranked at 71on the list with an earning of $37 million while Akshay earned $35.5million in the past one year and is ranked 80 on the list. Diddy, whotopped the list with an earning of $130 million, is followed by Ameri-can singer Beyonce Knowles ($105 million) at second position and"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling ($95 million) in the third spot.

MUMBAI (IANS) Actor Ali Asgar, who stepped out of popular enter-tainer "The Kapil Sharma Show" alongside Sunil Grover and ChandanPrabhakar earlier this year, says he left the show because of creativedifferences between him and ace comedian Kapil Sharma. "I reallymiss that show. It was unfor tunate, but there are some times whenyou have to take cer tain kind of decisions," Ali said this at the screen-ing of Hollywood film "Despicable Me 3" in which he has dubbed fortwo characters."We worked there for the longest period of time, but after a cer tainpoint, there was a time when I felt that I should move from the showbecause I had creative differences with Kapil and his team. My char-acter wasn't going anywhere and it was becoming stagnant and I feltthere was no scope for creative improvement," Ali added. It wasrepor ted in April that Kapil allegedly assaulted and abused Sunil in aninebriated state while on a flight.

BY KUSHAN SARKARLONDON, (PTI) An inspired Pakistan hammered a blundering India by180 runs to lift the ICC Champions Trophy,riding on a scintillating hundred from rookieopener Fakhar Zaman and a sensational bowl-ing spell from Mohammad Amir. This is Pa-kistan s first ICC title triumph since their 2009World Twenty20 win but more impor tantly itbroke the jinx of not performing against Indiain big ticket matches.For a team that can t play international cricketat home due to security issues, the victoryhas far-reaching implications. If Zaman an-nounced his arrival in international cricket with a match-definingknock, Pakistan cricket s enfant terrible Amir finally managed to singa redemption song that he has been longing for.It was a charged-up performance from Sarfraz Ahmed s underdogteam with left-handed opener Zaman, after a lucky reprieve, scoring a pul-sating 114 in their imposing 338 for 4. Amir (6-2-16-3) then tormented the Indianbatsmen with a devastating first spell and eventually the defending cham-pions were bundled out for 158 in only 30.3 overs. The match turned out to beone of the most nightmarish under Virat Kohli s captaincy.

I CONTD. ON PAGE 22

RAABTA: SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT GETS CANDID ABOUT HISRELATIONSHIP WITH KRITI SANONMUMBAI (IANS) Sushant Singh Rajput says he shares a very special bond with his Raabta co-star Kriti Sanon. Excerpts from the interview:Q. The chemistry between you and Kriti is scorching and sizzling. Is there more to this on-screen chemistry? Kriti listens to everythinghappening in a scene intently and reacts to it and I try and do the same. This is the only reason I feel that most of the times the chemistrybetween us is appreciated. It was there even when we were auditioning together for the first time and didn't know each other.Q. How would you define and describe your relationship with Kriti? Kriti is a very dear and a special friend. There are many things that we can talk about, and sharesimilar passions. Delhi background, engineering, food, films. She is also very transparent and a very hard working actor, which I absolutely admire.

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RUNNING SUCCESSFULLY

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Those who order war must be sent to the front: Salman KhanMUMBAI, (IANS) "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" star Salman Khan, whose newmovie "Tubelight" attempts to highlight the futility of wars, says suchacts of violence between nations can stop if those who "order" warsare sent to the front and asked to fight. "I think those who order warshould be sent to the war front, given guns and asked to fight first. Itwill stop in one day. Their hand and legs will star t trembling… It willstop and they will go straight to the table and have discussions,"Salman told media recently."Tubelight", directed by Kabir Khan, dwells on the 1962 border conflictbetween India and China. Salman features in the movie with Sohail.

"We have used the India-China war as a backdrop for the film. We'veonly touched that… and basically convey that war should get oversoon so that our soldiers come back to us and their soldiers go backto their country.Whenever a war happens, soldiers from both sides die, leaving manyfamilies without their sons or fathers," Salman added. His brotherSohail, who plays a soldier in the film, said: "If you ask anybody if awar is good or bad, no one will say a war is good. Whatever theconflicts, they should be solved across the table. It's a negative emo-tion. Nobody suppor ts it, but it happens and nobody knows why."

Akshay is adelight to work with:Bhumi PednekarNEW DELHI, ( IANS) ActressBhumi Pednekar, who is gearingup for the release of "Toilet: EkPrem Katha", says working with herco-actor Akshay Kumar in the film wasa "delight". Talking about Akshay, Bhumitold IANS over phone fromMumbai: "He is fantastic. He is actu-ally a delight to work with. 'Toilet: EkPrem Katha' has been one of the great-est experiences of my life and I defi-nitely have to credit him and the coreteam for that." The 27-year-old actresssays it felt like a long holiday while work-ing for the film. "It never felt that we areworking, it was a like one long happyholiday. It felt like a bunch of very pas-sionate people who have come togetherto have fun and everything else wouldjust fall into place," Bhumi added. "Toi-let: Ek Prem Katha" is reportedly in-spired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaninitiated by Prime Minister NarendraModi. A love story with a satirical flavour,the movie is directed by Shree NarayanSingh, and produced by Aruna Bhatia,Plan C Studios and Abundantia, and pre-sented by Viacom18 Motion Picturesand KriArj Entertainment. It will be thefirst time that Akshay will be featuringin a film with the "Dum Laga Ke Haisha"star Bhumi. The project also marksAkshay and actor Anupam Kher's 20thfilm together.

Can't wait to workwith Prabhudheva:Sooraj PancholiMUMBAI, (IANS) Actor SoorajPancholi, who will be seen col-laborating with choreographerand director Prabhudheva, saysthat he can't wait to work withhim. Sooraj on Thursday took toTwitter, where he shared a photo-graph with Prabhudheva and pro-ducer Bhushan Kumar. "Yes it isofficial! Cant wait to work withyou Prabhudheva sir…I havegrown up watching you! Thankyou for all the inspiration. T-Se-ries," Sooraj captioned the image.The film is repor ted to be a com-edy and will be produced by T-Series. Sooraj, who is the son of ac-tor Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab,made his Bollywood debut in 2015 film"Hero" along with actress Athiya Shetty."Hero", which was directed by NikhilAdvani, is a remake of veteran film-maker Subhash Ghai 's directed1983 fi lm of the same name,which starred Jackie Shroff.

Romancing, fighting infilms is noheroism: Rishi KapoorMUMBAI, (IANS) Veteran actorRishi Kapoor has called the po-lice, fire fighters and the medics"real heroes" and added that ro-mancing or fighting in films is noheroism. "The Real Heroes. '9/11'Firefighters entered Twin Towersknowing eminent death. NowGrenfell Tower where again thebraves have entered. Singingsongs, romancing or fighting infilms is no heroism.The real heroes are the fire fight-ers, police and the medics. I wasno hero! Sorry!" Rishi tweeted onWednesday night. The 64-year-old actor's tweet came after amajor fire took place and con-sumed a 24-storey apar tmentcomplex in west London housinghundreds on Wednesday.Firefighters were aler ted to theblaze at Grenfell Tower, an apar t-ment block located in theneighbourhood of Kensington,shor tly after Tuesday midnight,repor ts Efe news.


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hollywood

'BANK CHOR': ENTERTAINS,ALBEIT TEDIOUSLY

CAST: RITEISH DESHMUKH, VIVEK OBEROI,

RHEA CHAKRABORTY, SAHIL VAID, BHUVAN

ARORA AND VIKRAM THAPA

RATING: **1/2

Imagine you are at a grand banquet and throughout you have beennibbling on tit-bits. At the end, though you are full, you realise that youare not satiated by the supposedly perfect festive spread that waslaid out. That is exactly the feeling one gets after watching "BankChor". Though the film enter tains you, you still feel unsatisfied. on theface of it, "Bank Chor" is a perfect robbery-cum-hostage drama, butthe plot unravels in a convoluted manner, "taking the stupidity to thenext level" and this makes the entire viewing process a tedious affair.The film begins on a promising note. Acting like the dumb and thedumber and a very nice guy who follows 'Vastu Shastra' at every step,Riteish Deshmukh masquerades as Champak, a monk in disguise.He along with his two accomplices Gulab (Bhuvan Arora) who adornsthe mask of an elephant, and Genda (Vikram Thapa) who wears themask of a horse, attempt to rob a bank. How they succeed in theirplan, forms the crux of the tale. Narrated in a non-linear manner, thewriting is clever, but strained in an attempt to sound intelligent. Thesub-plots are half-baked and underdeveloped, making the entirechronicle seem complexed and forced.During the proceedings, the quirky characters seem shallow and un-convincing, so you refuse to invest in them. The per formance byevery actor is undoubtedly sincere. The three bank robbers are loudand over-the-top, befitting the characters they play. Riteish is a bril-liant comedian, but he does not add any new nuance to his character.He is ably suppor ted by Bhuvan Arora and Vikram Thapa, in their

buffoonish act as par tners-in-crime. Vivek Oberoi in an underwrittenrole as the CBI officer in-charge of the hostage rescue operation isunderstated. Rhea Chakrabor ty as the news repor ter Gayatri is per-functory and Sahil Vaid as Jugnu the antagonist has his moments ofon screen glory. The humour is derived from self-deprecation alongwith Bollywood and comic-book character references, making thefilm a time-limited, fragile product. The first half of the film meandersaimlessly with no seriousness whatsoever. The second half gets interesting andby the third act, though it may seem convoluted and exaggerated, the denouementperfectly wraps up the narrative, but goes overboard which ends up confusing theaudience fur ther. The production quality of the film befits the Yash RajFilms label, and the background score, in par ts, creates the adrena-line charged atmosphere, befitting a thriller.

I'll never run for publicoffice: Oprah WinfreyLOS ANGELES, (IANS) Talk show queen Oprah Winfreysays she will never think about a Presidential run. "Iwill never run for public office. That's a pretty definitivething," Winfrey said during the "Awards Chatter" podcastfor hollywoodreporter.com. Asked whether she thoughtshe could pull off a victory over President Donald Trumpif he sought a second term, Winfrey said it didn't matter."I don't know. I don't (have) the answer to that. But I willnever have to know the answer to that, because I willnever run for public office," she said.

Nicole Kidman ready toembrace her 50sLOS ANGELES, (PTI) Actress Nicole Kidman says sheis enjoying every bit about ageing and is geared up toembrace turning 50. The 49-year-old actress, who turnsa year older on June 20, says she is taking life as itcomes at this point of time, reported Enter tainment To-night. "I'm absolutely embracing it. I try to embrace allparts of my life now because I think you just go 'wow.I'm so lucky, so blessed," says Kidman. The "Big Little Lies"actress adds she is looking forward to her birthday celebrationsthat will include a trip back to her native Australia. "I'mmaking an effor t to go back and see my mum in Austra-lia and spend time with her. I've got the whole summeroff so I'm just kind of relaxing," she adds.

'Avatar' sequels areextraordinary: Stephen LangNEW DELHI, (IANS) American actor Stephen Lang isexcited about the sequels of "Avatar". He says the up-coming par ts of the James Cameron film are "beauti-fully written" and will expand the universe of Pandora inan emotional manner. "The sequels are extraordinary. Icannot share a lot but I can tell you that there are four ofthem and I have read them all. They are very exciting and veryemotional. The world that was presented in 'Avatar' is expandedupon," Lang told IANS over phone from New York. Lang was seenas Colonel Miles Quaritch, the antagonist in the 2009 film whichnarrated the story of a conflict between humans and the blue-skinned alien race Na'vi of Pandora, the alien world. Thesecond part is scheduled to release in 2020, and will befollowed by other par ts in 2021, 2024 and 2025.



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MIDWEEK HIT OR FLOPSUPER SINGH SUPERHITBANK CHOR AVERAGEBEHEN HOGI TERI SUPERHITRAABTA HITDOBAARA: SEE YOUR EVIL AVERAGE

MIDWEEK BOX OFFICEBEHEN HOGI TERI 40 CR

RAABTA 12 CR

BANK CHOR 7 CR

SUPER SINGH 4 CR

DOBAARA: SEE YOUR EVIL 2 CR

10songsBAARISH HALF GIRLFRIEND

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RADIO TUBELIGHT

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SUIT SUIT HINDI MEDIUM

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SONG FILM

RAABTA1 RAABTA

ALLU ARJUN AND POOJA HEGDE PROMOTING THEIR HIS UPCOMING FILM DUVVADA JAGANNADHAM IN HYDERABAD.

Is Huma Qureshi paired with Rajinikanth in 'Kaala'?CHENNAI, (IANS) Actress Huma Qureshi, who is making her Tamilcinema debut with upcoming gangster drama "Kaala", will not beseen playing superstar Rajinikanth's heroine in the film, an informedsource said. "Huma is not playing Rajini sir's love interest in the film. ActressEaswari Rao plays his pair, while Huma will be seen in a pivotal role," the sourcefrom the film's unit told IANS. In the Pa. Ranjith-directed film, Huma plays acharacter called Zareena. "Huma helps Rajinikanth take on NanaPatekar, who plays a ruthless politician. Contrary to rumours, she doesn't play hispair," the source added. In "Kaala", Rajinikanth plays a slum lord-turned-gangsterand it's his second successive collaboration with director Ranjith after lastyear's "Kabali". The film, which is being produced by Dhanush, alsostars Anjali Patil, Pankaj Tripathi and Samuthirakani. SanthoshNarayanan is composing the tunes.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA PLACED NO.1 ON TOP ACTORS CHARTLOS ANGELES, (IANS) Actress-producer Priyanka Chopra has taken the top spot on Top Actors char t beating her "Baywatch" co-starsDwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. A week after ranking on The Hollywood Repor ter's inaugural Top Actors char t at No.2, Priyanka replacedJohnson atop the newest tally. The Top Actors char t is a ranking of the most popular actors on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube andGoogle Plus, with global data provided by social media analytics company MVPindex.

AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN, VIKRAM PHADNIS, MUKTA BARVE, AND SHIAMAK DAWAR AT THE MUSIC LAUNCH OF MARATHIFILM HRUDAYANTAR IN MUMBAI.

FINDING INNER EQUILIBRIUMTHROUGH YOGA

BY DR GAGAN BHALLAIn the west, yoga has en-joyed an ever-rising popu-larity and acceptance formore than a century. It mayappear mystifying to manythat a tradition that tracesits roots back to thousandsof years and one that laysemphas is on sp i r i t ua lra ther than the mater ia lshould find such tremen-dous resonance in a society that is quintessentially atthe opposite end of the spiritual-material spectrum.However, this seeming paradox has a simple and straight-forward answer. In societies where materialism has heldsway for hundreds of years, and scientific determinismhas become a prevailing dogma, many fundamental an-swers about the individual's mind, body and soul have,whi le over analysed, remained unanswered or unad-dressed.And that is where yoga, mindfulness and well being ac-quire impor tance. This is because material well beingdoesn't automatically lead to mental equilibrium. As theadage goes, "Wealth is not happiness." The extra bit thatwould satiate the mind and soul and enrich the body canbe provided by yoga.According to scientists, everything in the universe is amanifestation of the same quantum firmament. One whoexperiences this oneness of existence is said to be 'inyoga' and is termed as a yogi who has attained a state off reedom, re fer red to as mukt i , n i rvana, ka iva lya ormoksha.Yoga refers to an inner science comprising of a variety ofmethods through which human beings can achieve unionbetween the body and mind to attain self-realization. Theaim of yoga practice is to overcome all kinds of suffer-ings that lead to a sense of freedom in every walk of lifewith holistic health, happiness and harmony.Yoga expects two Ds from the practitioner - dedicationand discipline, everything else can be self-taught. As theIndian Prime Minister Honourable Narendra Modi hassaid, "Yoga is an invaluable gif t of ancient Indian tradi-tion. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought andaction; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between manand nature and a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. Yoga is not about exercise but to discover the senseof oneness with ourselves, the world and Nature. Bychanging out lifestyle and creating consciousness, it canhelp us to deal with climate change."For the third International Day of Yoga, the InternationalYoga Day Canada (IYDC), a Canadian not-for-profit is or-ganizing one of the biggest yoga events in Nor th America,with 10,000 practitioners of yoga expected to par ticipatein the program that will be led by the world-renowned YogrishiBaba Ramdev in the morning and Sister Shivani in the evening. This isa golden oppor tunity to par ticipate in a program that willbenefit you and your mind, body and soul.

AWARD-WINNING VARUN SARANGA BREAKSBOUNDARIES IN TELEVISION

BY: MIKE EOn the verge of heading to Comic-Con in San Diego, Varun Saranga,the Tamil-Canadian and Scarborough native launches Season Two ofthe much-lauded "Western Science-Fiction" television series WynonnaEarp between feature film shoots and schedules.From his early directorial work featured in theToronto Youth Film Festival, to his independentfilm work and popular television work with HowTo Be Indie and CBC's Schitt's Creek and Workin'Moms, Saranga has surpassed the pigeon-holing'brown' character and moved into genre work andis gaining speed and fandom.Saranga is breaking down walls all around himand many of his fellow actors of colour in thepredominantly white industry and Canadian me-dia is just the first stop on his mission. "I thinkthere can be more than one Aziz Ansari, or RizAhmed," Saranga says will sipping coffee at aStarbucks on Queen Street West. "I approach mywork as myself; I am just a funny, nerdy guy and I hope that trans-lates." Saranga's work in comedy has been his mainstay in the Cana-dian film and television industry since his humble beginnings withBest Laid Plans.With Wynonna EarpSaranga has made a successful and rare transi-tion for comedic actors of colour into the Science-Fiction and genrespace. While both Canadian, U.S. and general Western media lacksdiverse representation of both men and women of colour, the genre of

Science-Fiction is an area that seems to be running fur ther behind."It was cer tainly intimidating at first," Saranga admitting, on joiningthe Wynonna Earp cast. "But I think the intimidation was mainlybecause the show has such an amazing and intense following and

fandom. I really just wanted to do them justiceand bring justice to the role. I can't say much aboutmy character - but I was able to bring a bit of mycomedic background to him, which was a greattransition for me."With Stars Wars and Marvel positioning men ofcolour in the forefront of their tent-pole releases,Saranga believes that the tide is shifting and thataudiences are not only opening themselves up formore diverse characters and representation onscreen, but are demanding it. "There are more andmore areas where people of colour of proving theirvalue and demanding to be seen," he says. Justleast year, Saranga was award the MISAFF Star,an award handed to a rising star in the Canadian

or American film industry by Canada's premier South Asian FilmFestival, the Mississauga International South Asian Film Festival."It was an honour to be recognized by my community," Saranga saysof the award. "MISAFF is still so suppor tive of my career and theyhave been suppor tive of their MISAFF Stars of the past. That awardhas been a catapulted for many before me. The way we gain suc-cess is by suppor ting each other in breaking down the barriers setbefore us." And so we do, and so we will.

Pakistan sink India to lift maiden Champions TrophyCONTD. FROM PAGE 17It was a match where everything went awry for the Men in Blue fromthe time Kohli went out for the toss. On a flat deck, Kohli surprisedeveryone opting to field, a decision prompted by the current team sability to chase any target. It star ted on a wrong note when a beautifuldelivery from Jasprit Bumrah was nicked by an edgy Zaman only tobe called no-ball due to overstepping. Zaman scored a ton. The twospinners Ravichandran Ashwin (0/70 in 10 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja(0/67 in 8 overs) were then taken to the task with not a single wicket-taking delivery being bowled by the duo.With no assistance from the pitch, their limitations were thoroughlyexposed against batsmen, who were ready to use their feet. The Lawof Averages were cer tainly going to catch up with India s Big Threeafter their brilliant run in the tournament. Worse, it happened in thefinal. Rohit Sharma (0), Shikhar Dhawan (21) and Virat Kohli (5) weresnuffed out by Amir in a devastating first spell with three brilliantdeliveries. The fate of the match was sealed.Hardik Pandya smashed 76 off 43 balls, hit half a dozen of sixes toprovide some enter tainment, before being run-out due to a horriblemix-up with Jadeja. Pandya was livid but he was only delaying theinevitable. As the final wicket fell, Oval, immersed in a Sea of Green, was euphoric in its celebration along with those eleven on the field.The victory was achieved by one of the most de-glamorous outfitunder one of the most unassuming captains in the history of Pakistancricket Sarfraz and he deserved it more than anyone else for showingthe composure one expects from model captains.Earlier, playing his first ODI tournament, the 27-year- old left-handergot a "life" when he was batting on four as Bumrah overstepped whileMS Dhoni took a simple catch behind the stumps. Zaman made fulluse of the oppor tunity to punish the Indian attack on a day when itmattered most. Along with senior pro Azhar Ali (58 off 71 balls), Zamanset the platform with a 128-run par tnership for the opening wicket andconsolidated it fur ther with a whirlwind 72 off 63 balls with Babar

Azam (46 off 52). By the time Jadeja took a well-judged catch offHardik Pandya to remove Zaman, the team s total had reached 200.The final flourish was provided by veteran Mohammed Hafeez (57 off37) with help of four boundaries and three sixes. He added 71 for in7.3 overs with Imad Wasim (25 no off 21). To add insult to injury, Indiabowled 13 wides and three no-balls in what was a woeful day for all,save Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/44 in 10 overs). Ashwin and Jadeja gota pounding from Zaman, who would clear his front leg and muscle thedeliveries through on-side, occasionally hitting the inside out shotthrough extra cover.He got a few streaky boundaries upfront but then settled in to giveeach Indian bowler, a mighty thwack. There was no looking back afterthat and was liberal help from all the Indian bowlers, who erred inlength, gave away needless extras to release the pressure completely.

In humid conditions and on flattest of decks, Kohli decided to fieldfirst but his bowlers did not do justice to the faith he had shown inthem. Especially both the spinners looked clueless with no help fromthe pitch. Zaman and Azhar were ready to use their feet and with noturn on offer whipped them on all par ts of the ground with ease. Inbetween the two lead spinners, they were hit for 12 boundaries andfive sixes. The second Powerplay (Overs 11-40) were fully utilised byPakistan, who scored 191 runs and bulk of those came off the spin-ners. Jadeja was guilty of not varying his pace. He bowled too quickand too flat which made strokeplay easier. Zaman s batting didn thave the grace that one normally associates with left-handers but ona true pitch where hitting through the line was easy, it suited his style.The best par t about Zaman was his ability to find the boundary at easeduring the second Powerplay.

The victorious Pakistan team lift the Champions Trophy, India v Pakistan, Final, Champions Trophy 2017, The Oval, London.

DRAVID URGES DECISIVE CALL ON DHONI, YUVRAJ'S ROLE IN TEAMNEW DELHI, (PTI) Time has come for India to take decisionswith focus on the 2019 World Cup and that includes a call on therole of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in the current team, feelsformer captain Rahul Dravid."It is a call that is got to be taken by the selectors and themanagement," Dravid told 'ESPNCricinfo' when asked aboutfuture of Yuvraj and Dhoni, who were the team's number fourand five in the Champions Trophy."And what they see as the road map for Indian cricket, andwhere they see the role of both these cricketers going ahead forthe next couple of years. Is there a place for both of them? Isthere a place for only one of them?"Do you want to reassess it in a year's time, six months' time?Do you want to look at the available talent and see what they

have to offer before going back to these two players," he elaboratedfur ther.India will play the limited overs series in the West Indies beginningFriday with a full strength squad. However, Dravid hopes theyoungsters get a chance in the playing eleven."They have taken a decision to go to the West Indies with a full-strength squad. I really hope they are willing to experiment at leastin the playing XI and give more oppor tunities to people."If you don't do that, suddenly you don't want to come to a situationand, say, in a year's time, where you say, 'We haven't given peoplechances so these are the only guys we have got.'"Better position to be in: 'We have tried everything else, but we stillfeel that Yuvi and Dhoni are fit, they are playing very well, and theyare the guys to see us through.' And no one will complain about

that," he said. Dravid added that time has come to also decideon the spin combination with finger spinners RavichandranAshwin and Ravindra Jadeja not making much of an impact onflat pitches during the Champions Trophy."We are playing on really flat wickets. It is tough on them, and... it is not happening. If you want wickets in the middle, wrist-spinners and mystery spinners are the ones who look liketaking wickets on some of these flat wickets with the fieldingrestrictions."It is nice to have Kuldeep Yadav coming in. He needs to begiven a lot more game time. He has got ability, he has got a bitof mystery about him," he added.Kuldeep has been picked in the squad for the West Indies tourcomprising five ODIS and a T20 International.



MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY


Sublime Srikanth lifts Indonesia Open titleJAKARTA, (PTI) Indian shuttler KidambiSrikanth clinched his third Super Se-ries title, lifting the Indonesia Open men'ssingles trophy with a straight-game vic-tory over Japanese qualifier KazumasaSakai in the finals here on Sunday. WorldNo.22 Srikanth, who had reached thefinals at Singapore Open in April, out-classed Sakai, ranked 47th, 21-11 21-19 in just 37 minutes to take home acheque of USD 75,000. "He was play-ing well, especially in the second gameand I think for me coming back from 6-11 down and make it 13-13 was theturning point," said Srikanth, who hadclinched the 2014 China Super SeriesPremier and 2015 India Super Series."My coach will have a special place inmy heart as after he came, I reachedthe finals at Singapore and to win thistournament, which is considered the

biggest tournament. I want to thank allthe fans who have been rooting for meall this week," he added. Srikanth playeda patient game and didn't allow his op-ponent to engage in any fast-paced rally.He dictated the pace with his preciseangled returns and unleashed hissmashes at perfect intervals to downhis rival. Playing in tricky windy condi-tions, Srikanth took time to gauge theconditions as his initial returns wentwide and out. But his rival also sufferedbecause of similar unforced errors andthe Indian led 6-4 early on. He consoli-dated his lead to reach 11-8 at the break.After the interval, Srikanth continued todominate the proceedings. His netdribbles were better than Sakai and withSakai struggling with precision, the In-dian zoomed to a 19-11 lead and sealedit with two lucky net chord points. After

the change of sides, Sakai was moreaggressive in his approach and producedan improved net game to dominate therallies. Soon, the Japanese was lead-ing 7-3 as he entered the break with an11-6 lead with the help of a backhandreturn near the net. After the interval,Srikanth's aggressive game gave him

the desired results. He turned the tablesand caught up with the Japanese at 13-13 with an on-rushing smash at the net.The duo moved neck and necka f t e r t ha t t i l l 19-19 be fo reSrikanth produced two fantas-t ic smashes to seal the issue andpunch the air in celebration.

CLINICAL INDIA MAUL PAKISTAN7-1 HWL SEMI-FINALLONDON, (PTI) A clinical India demolished a hapless Paki-stan 7-1 to register their third consecutive victory and seal aplace in the quar ter-finals of the Hockey World League Semi-Final, here on Sunday. It was a complete performance by theIndians who dominated their arch-rivals throughout the matchto post a facile win and zoom to the top of Pool B ahead of TheNetherlands. Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh (13th minute,33rd), Talwinder Singh (21st, 24th), Akashdeep Singh (47th,59th) and Pradeep Mor (49th) scored for India at the Lee ValleyHockey and Tennis Centre, while Pakistan's consolation goalcame from the stick of Muhammad Umar Bhutta (57th).India are atop Pool B with three wins from as many games,just ahead of The Netherlands, who are placed second. Paki-stan, on the other hand, are at the bottom of the pool afterlosing all three matches they have played so far. India willnext play The Netherlands on Tuesday, while Pakistan willface Scotland tomorrow. Contrary to the result, it was Paki-stan who made a bright star t but their domination lasted onlythe first 10 minutes. Pakistan had the first shot at the goalwhen they earned a penalty corner but the effor t sailed overthe bar. As the match progressed, India star ted to control theproceedings with Pakistan playing a catch-up game.

India maintain unbeaten run, beatCanada 3-0 in HWL Semi-FinalLONDON, (PTI) Continuing with their impressive run, Indiablanked Canada 3-0 to register their second consecutive winat the Hockey World League Semi-Final. India scored threefield goals through S V Sunil (5th minute), Akashdeep Singh(10th) and Sardaer Singh (18th) to pocket full three points fromthe Pool B game at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre. The winvir tually secured India's place in the quar terfinals of the tour-nament. India had earlier defeated Scotland 4-1 in their open-ing encounter on Thursday. The sixth ranked Indians will playarch-rivals Pakistan in their next pool match tomorrow. Indiameant business from the onset and secured their first penaltycorner as early as in the opening minute of the game, butHarmanpreet Singh's effor t sailed over the goal. Two minuteslater, India's last match hero Ramandeep Singh's shot fromthe top of the circle was saved by David Carter in front of the Canadiangoal. India's persistent attacks resulted in the first goal in the fifth minutewhen Sunil scored from a narrowest of angles after his initial shot wassaved by Carter. India doubled their lead five minutes later throughAkashdeep who neatly deflected in a Ramandeep pass. India continued inthe same vein in the second quarter and increased their lead in the 18thminute through Sardar who pushed home from a Ramandeep pass. Indiaearned their second penalty corner in the 25th minute but Jasjeet SinghKhular's try went wide of the target as Roelant Oltmans' menwent into the breather with a comfor table 3-0 lead.

JUNAID KHAN AND SHADAB KHAN SHAKE HANDS WITH YUVRAJ SINGH AND VIRAT KOHLI AFTER THE FINAL OF INDIA-PAKISTANCHAMPIONS TROPHY MATCH AT THE OVAL, LONDON. PAKISTAN WON THE MATCH AND LIFTED TROPHY.



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