Kanchanjungha Post

India and Pakistan will cross swords in the semi-final of the ICC U-19 World Cup on Tuesday. On eve of India’s Under-19 World Cup semi-final against arch-rivals Pakistan, coach Rahul Dravid expressed his excitement at the prospect of him seeing his wards experience playing in such a high-octane clash. Speaking  to the ICC’s media team, the former India captain maintained that the team would not approach the game any different from any other encounter. “Our preparation and our planning doesn’t change at all,” Dravid was quoted as saying. “We don’t approach this game any differently from how we would any other game. We still approach it to play good cricket, try and execute our skills and hopefully the result will fall our way. “But from an experience perspective, I’m excited about it. The fact that, irrespective of the results, we get our Under 19 boys to understand what it’s like to play an India-Pakistan game. At this level, it is all about experiences.” India have not

The 37-year-old’s agent Roberto Assis said he would not play again and would now concentrate on tribute events. Reuters Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho has formally confirmed his retirement from football, more than two years since his last appearance as a professional, reports in Brazil said Tuesday. The 37-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona star, a key member of the Brazil side which won the World Cup in 2002, last played in 2015 during a brief stint with Fluminense. However his brother and agent Roberto Assis said he would not play again and would now concentrate on tribute events. “He stopped, we’re going to do something really big, nice, after the World Cup in Russia, probably in August, we’ll do several events in Brazil, Europe and Asia, and of course, we’re watching a game with the Brazilian team,” Assis said. Ronaldinho’s career began with Gremio in Porto Alegre, his hometown, before he emerged as a star with French giants PSG. He then spe

Real have picked up just one point from their last three league games and have won only once in five. FBL-EUR-SUPERCUP-REAL-MADRID-MAN UTD |  ROBERT ATANASOVSKI The Spanish press did not hold back in their criticism of a “shattered” Real Madrid, a team “in crisis” after their 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Villarreal in La Liga. “Inexplicable” was the front-page headline on Madrid sports daily Marca on Sunday, which remarked that the reigning Spanish and European champions “don’t know what is happening to them” in La Liga. Just days after Zinedine Zidane signed a new contract until 2020, serious questions are being asked of the Frenchman’s ability to turn things around after two trophy-laden years in charge. Real have picked up just one point from their last three league games and have won only once in five, form that leaves them fourth in the table, 16 points behind leaders Barcelona, who go to Real Sociedad on Sunday. “No goals, no luck and no explanation,” said sports da

The kingdom has long barred women from sports arenas by strict rules on segregation of the sexes. Mladen Antonov Sports stadiums in Saudi Arabia will open their doors to women to attend football matches for the first time ever on Friday, the government has announced. “The first match that women will be allowed to watch will be Al-Ahli versus Al-Batin on Friday January 12,” the ministry of information said in a statement on Monday. It said women would also be able to attend a second match on the following day and a third one on January 18. Women from across the vast Gulf kingdom may be able to take advantage of this new freedom as the first match will be held in the capital Riyadh, the second in Jeddah on the Red Sea and the third in the eastern city of Dammam. The kingdom, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, has long barred women from sports arenas by strict rules on segregation of the sexes in public. Under Saudi Arabia’s existing g

 Both the sides will finish on 118 points if the South Africa side makes a clean sweep of the series which starts in Cape Town on January India’s status as the No 1 Test side in ICC rankings will remain intact irrespective of how the series against South Africa pans out, but the Proteas will join the visitors at the top if they win all the three matches. Faf du Plessis’s side is presently 13 points behind Virat Kohli’s team, which is sitting on top of the table on 124 points. However, both the sides will finish on 118 points if the South Africa side makes a clean sweep of the series which starts in Cape Town on January 5, the International Cricket Council said in a statement. Even in that scenario, India will be ranked above South Africa when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point. In such a situation, India will be on 118.47 points, while South Africa will be on 117.53. On the other side of the coin, if India win all the three Tests of the series, then they will