Sachin Tendulkar said that one tennis player he would love to bat with was Roger Federer (right).
| Photo Credit: X/@sachin_rt

Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar has picked the legendary Roger Federer as one tennis player he would have loved to bat with given the latter’s “cricket connection” and interest in the sport.

A regular at the Wimbledon over the years, Tendulkar met Federer when he visited the centre court in London to watch some tennis action on Saturday.

“One tennis player I would love to bat with has to be Roger because also he’s got cricketing connections,” Tendulkar told Star Sports on the sidelines of Wimbledon.

“His mother is from South Africa and he follows cricket and when we sat together and chatted we discussed a lot of cricket not just tennis so it has to be Roger.”

The 51-year-old from Mumbai also said he loved playing tennis with the late Australian spin great Shane Warne and former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and described them as cricketers who would make best doubles partners.

“There are two strong contenders unfortunately we lost Shane Warne a couple of years ago but I enjoyed playing tennis with Warne in fact we played together in London and the other guy is from Indian cricket team Yuvraj Singh who has also retired but Warne and Yuvraj would be the ones.”

Era of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal has come to an end: Shastri

Former India coach and player Ravi Shastri feels Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the future stars with the era of Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal having come to an end.

“The era of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, you feel is coming to an end, or has come to an end, and it’ll be Sinner and Alcaraz who will keep the flag flying,” Shastri said on the sidelines of the Wimbledon.

“As far as the competition goes they’ll have some great battles in the future and we hope another couple come on the way.”

Talking about his favourite player in Wimbledon, Shastri said, “At the moment, Alcaraz, I saw that final last year, in that fifth set, he’s, got some energy, some strength.

“When I saw him first, it reminded me of young Nadal, the way he whacked that ball, the power with which he hit it and he’s like a bull in that fifth set, you take him to the fifth set, you better be fit, otherwise he’ll clean you up.”

Shastri also went down memory lanes and narrated how he met multiple Grand Slam winner Jimmy Connors.

“The first time I ever came into the Wimbledon was in 1982, when Connors won it and Vijay brought us in and he took us into the dressing room, he took Sunny and me into the locker room, as they say, not the dressing room and met Jimmy Connors at that time and I’ve been coming ever since.”

Jalgaon, Maharashtra:

A State Reserve Police Force jawan (SRPF), who was attached to the security detail of cricket legend Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, allegedly shot himself at his native home in Jamner town, an official said today.

The man has been identified as Prakash Kapde who had reportedly gone on a brief vacation to his ancestral place.

Kapde, 39, who shot himself in the neck with his service gun is survived by his aged parents, wife and two minor children, a brother and his family members.

Senior Police Inspector of Jamner Police Station Kiran Shinde said that the incident occurred around 1:30 am this morning at the victim’s home and the exact reasons behind the alleged suicide are being probed.

“As per preliminary investigations, he may have taken the extreme step owing to certain personal reasons, but we are waiting for the full details of the probe,” Mr Shinde guardedly told news agency IANS.

Kapde’s body has been sent for an autopsy and the Jamner Police have filed an accidental death report pending further investigations, including questioning his family members, colleagues and other acquaintances.

The SRPF is likely to conduct its independent inquiry into the incident as the matter involves a jawan assigned to VVIP security, sources told IANS.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Virat Kohli celebrates his century during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match between India and Bangladesh in Pune, on Oct. 19, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Virat Kohli’s last World Cup hundred had come in 2015 against Pakistan at Adelaide and he was determined to make it count against Bangladesh on October 19.

Thousands of fans watched with bated breath as Kohli completed his 48th ODI century. K.L. Rahul helped his iconic teammate get to the three-figure mark by refusing singles and letting Kohli score the 25-odd runs to complete his century.

Kohli, who with 48 hundred is now just one short of legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 tons, cheekily apologised to teammate Ravindra Jadeja for “stealing” what could have been a sure-shot player of the match award for Saurashtra all-rounder.

Jadeja, who returned with figures of 2/38 on a batting belter along with a stunning catch at point would have got that trophy on any other day.

“Sorry for stealing it (the player of the Match award) from Jaddu. I wanted to make a big contribution. I have made fifties in World Cups, wanted to finish it off this time,” Kohli said at post-match presentation ceremony.

In fact, Bangladesh bowlers presented Kohli with a couple of free-hits and he couldn’t stop cracking a joke about it.

“I was telling Shubman that even if you dream about this situation, you go back to sleep. It was a dream start. It just calms you down.” The master chaser admitted that it was a great strip to bat on.

“The pitch was good, allowed me to play my game— hit the gaps and find the boundaries whenever I could.” The team is gelling well, said the elder statesman of the team.

“There is great atmosphere in the dressing room. The spirit is there for everyone to see. You need to create some momentum in the changing room to come out and play like this,” he added.