CMYK
KOLKATA
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THUMBNAILS
New role: Wasim Jaffer
has been appointed head
coach of the Uttarakhand
cricket team for the next
domestic season. Jaffer
confirmed his appoint-
ment, stating the con-
tract was for a year. The
highest scorer in the Ranji
Trophy announced his
retirement in March.
Simmons' charge: West
Indies coach Phil Simmons
has revealed he was sub-
jected to racial abuse
when he played league
cricket in England. He
played in various leagues
and was a key member of
the Leicestershire side
which won the County
Championship in 1996.
Ultimate test: Chris Gayle
believes Test cricket is
the "ultimate" scrutiny as
it challenges a cricketer in
many ways. "Playing Test
cricket gives you that
challenge to how to live
life off the field as well
because playing five days
of cricket is very challeng-
ing," Gayle said.
Prati dead: Italian Pierino
Prati, winner of the 1968
European Championship
and the 1970 World Cup
finalist, has died aged 73.
"Italian football mourns
another great champion,"
the national federation
said, adding: "Prati was an
extraordinary footballer,
a class striker."
New normal: Up to 5,000
fans will be able to attend
Japanese football and
baseball games from 10
July, officials said on Mon-
day as sport looked for
normality after coron-
avirus suspensions. The
heads of professional
Baseball and the
announced the move.
Spurs row: Tottenham
Hotspur manager Jose
Mourinho on Monday
brushed aside talk that
England Harry Kane was
not being able to fulfill his
potential under him. On
Friday, Kane made his
first appearance in almost
six months as Spurs drew
1-1 with Manchester Unit-
ed.
Stupid venture: Novak
Djokovic is facing criticism
for staging last week’s
Adria Tour events without
social -distancing mea-
sures after four people
tested positive for coron-
avirus, with Australian
Nick Kyrgios labelling it a
“boneheaded decision” to
play amid the pandemic.
Fighting on: Leicester are
not concerned about los-
ing their best players to
bigger clubs but would
continue to challenge the
established hierarchy in
the Premier League, man-
ager Brendan Rodgers
said. They lost defender
Harry Maguire to Man-
chester United last year.
Women's Cup: Australia
and New Zealand have
become the clear
favorites jointly to host
the 2023 women's foot-
ball World Cup after Japan
withdrew from bidding.
The combined bid per-
formed significantly
stronger than its only
remaining rival, Colombia.
Sreejesh's secret: Back
home after nearly three
months of confinement
because of the Covid-19
pandemic, India's hockey
goalkeeper P R Sreejesh
says he fought his mental
demons during the lock-
down phase by reading a lot
of “motivational” literature.
Printed and published by SANDEEP KUMAR AGRAWAL on behalf of THE STATESMAN LTD and printed at The Statesman Printing Press, 6 Munshigunge Road, Kolkata 700023. Published from 4 Chowringhee Square, Kolkata 700001 * Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR * Executive Editor: ARYA RUDRA (c) The Statesman Ltd., RNI No. WBENG/2708/57
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane (photo, left) said he was
disappointed that he was only asked about the referee's
decisions after his side won at Real Sociedad on Sunday. The
day before, he had been forced to defend his team against
a suggestion from Barca defender Gerard Pique that
decisions were going Madrid's way.
www.thestatesman.com
Seven more Pak players test positive for coronavirus ahead of tour
DAWN/ANN
KARACHI, 23 JUNE:
Seven more Pakistan cricketers,
including Muhammad Hafeez
and Wahab Riaz, selected for
the tour of England have test-
ed positive for COVID-19, tak-
ing the total to 10, the PCB
revealed on Tuesday.
The seven who tested pos-
itive on Tuesday are Kashif Bhat-
ti, Muhammad Hasnain, Fakhar
Zaman, Muhammad Rizwan,
Imran Khan, Hafeez and Riaz.
Shadab Khan, Haider Ali and
Haris Rauf had returned pos-
itive tests on Monday.
The players had shown no
symptoms of Covid-19 until
being tested in Rawalpindi
on Sunday, the press release
said.
"The PCB medical panel is
in contact with the three (play-
ers) who have been advised
immediately to go into self-iso-
lation," it added.
According to the PCB, Imad
Wasim and Usman Shinwari,
City keep Liverpool waiting
Guardiola's men have the chance to add FA Cup and Champions League to the League Cup they won
THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES
MANCHESTER, 23 JUNE:
M
anchester City
thrashed Burnley
5-0 at an empty
Etihad to ensure
Liverpool will not be able to
clinch the Premier League
title when they face Crystal
Palace on Wednesday.
However, the match was
overshadowed by a banner
flown over the stadium at the
start of the match reading:
"White lives matter Burnley".
Black Lives Matter (BLM)
has been printed on the back
of all shirts for the first 12
matches of the Premier League
restart.
Players, coaches and ref-
erees have also taken a knee
before kick-off in every match
to show their support for the
fight against racial injustice.
"I am ashamed, I'm embar-
rassed, that a small number
of our fans have decided to put
that around the stadium,"
said Burnley captain Ben Mee.
"These people need to
come into the 21st century and
educate themselves as a lot of
us do. I'm really upset that hap-
pened."
In a statement, Burnley
Ronaldo, Dybala get Juventus back on victory track
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MILAN, 23 JUNE:
Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo
Dybala scored early as Juven-
tus put their Italian Cup final
woes behind them with a 2-
0 win over Bologna on Mon-
day to move four points clear
of Lazio on top of the Serie A
table.
Portuguese star Ronaldo
had missed a penalty in the
Italian Cup semi-final against
AC Milan, and drew a blank
in the final which Juventus lost
4-2 on penalties to Napoli.
But the 35-year-old made
no mistake in Juventus's first
league game since beating
Inter Milan 2-0 in Turin on
March 8.
He converted a spot-kick
earned by Matthijs de Ligt after
23 minutes for his 26th goal
for the Turin giants in all
competitions this season.
Paulo Dybala curled in the
second on 36 minutes off a
Federico Bernardeschi back-
Mueller praises Lewandowski as ideal strike partner
CHINA DAILY/ANN
BEIJING, 23 JUNE:
Thomas Mueller praises Pol-
ish hotshot Lewandowski(in
photo) as the ideal strike
partner and key to Bayern's
treble challenge
"Servus!" ("I'm at your
service!") Mueller affably
greeted Xinhua ahead of a
recent interview. It was hard-
ly surprising to see the Bay-
ern Munich and Germany
'REAL HURT'
File photo of Pakistan cricket players � INTERNET
who were also screened in
Rawalpindi, tested negative for
the virus and would travel to
Lahore on 24 June.
Other players and team
officials, excluding Cliffe Dea-
con, Shoaib Malik and Waqar
Action during the match � AFP
promised to hand lifetime
bans to those responsible.
"We wish to make it clear
that those responsible are
not welcome at Turf Moor,"
said the club.
"We apologise unreservedly
to the Premier League, to
Manchester City and to all
those helping to promote
Black Lives Matter."
Former City defender
Micah Richards described
the banner as hurtful and
disheartening after the Premier
League's response to the BLM
Juventus players celebrate a goal ��AFP
heel flick as Juventus, chas-
ing a ninth consecutive Scud-
etto, opened up a four-point
lead on second-placed Lazio.
The Romans travel north
to fourth-placed Atalanta in
Bergamo on Wednesday, look-
ing to keep their bid for a first
Serie A title in two decades on
track.
Inter Milan, in third, are
nine points adrift of Juventus,
and next host Sassuolo.
AC Milan shrugged off the
absence of Zlatan Ibrahi-
great in such good spirits.
Mueller is on the cusp of
a ninth Bundesliga title fol-
lowing his team's perfect
start to the league's resump-
tion, and, with Rober t
Lewandowski firing on all
cylinders, is confident Bay-
ern can add Champions
League and German Cup
glory to its trophy cabinet in
a repeat of the Bavarian
giant's 2013 treble.
Polish striker Lewandows-
Younis, also underwent tests
in Karachi, Lahore and
Peshawar on Monday. Their
results were expected to come
on Tuesday, the PCB said.
Covid-19 tests on Pakistan’s
entire England-bound squad
movement in the wake of
American George Floyd's
death in police custody that
has sparked worldwide
protests.
"After how far we've come
in these last couple of weeks
it really does hurt me," said
former England internation-
al Richards.
The disparity of resources
between the sides was shown
even before kick-off as Burn-
ley boss Sean Dyche could not
even fill his bench, while Pep
Guardiola was able to make
movic to sweep past Lecce 4-
1 and keep their bid for Euro-
pean football next season
alive as 10-man Fiorentina
were held 1-1 by basement club
Brescia.
Swedish star Ibrahimovic
has yet to return from a calf
injury but Milan put their
exit in the Italian Cup semi-
final behind them at relega-
tion-threatened Lecce.
"It's an important victory,"
said Milan coach Stefano
Pioli.
ki has hit the ground running
following the Bundesliga's
restart last month, with his
brace in last weekend's 5-0
thrashing of Fortuna Dus-
seldorf taking his tally to 29
in 27 league appearances to
top Europe's Golden Shoe
standings.
Asked about who he would
most like to play alongside-
Lionel Messi or Cristiano
Ronaldo?-Mueller plumped
for someone closer to home:
CMYK
comprising 43 members — 29
players and 14 officials —
were to have been held today
in their cities of residence.
The team are most likely to
leave for England on 28 June
by a chartered flight to be
arranged by the England and
Wales Cricket Board, the hosts
of the series, comprising three
Tests and as many Twenty20
Internationals, to be held in
August and September.
After reaching England,
the squad are likely to stay in
Birmingham for a 14-day quar-
antine period before starting
their training camp.
In another development,
Saqlain Mushtaq, who recent-
ly took over as head of inter-
national players development
in the PCB’s High Performance
Centre, said the tours byWest
Indies and Pakistan teams to
England are giant steps towards
resumption of cricket in these
very extra ordinary times of
coronavirus pandemic which
will surely create history.
eight changes from a 3-0 win
over Arsenal on Wednesday.
Dyche has been left frus-
trated by the Burnley board's
refusal to extend contracts of
five players who are out of con-
tract at the end of the month.
Phil Foden made the most
of his chance to start for City
as the 20-year-old opened
the floodgates with a sweet
strike from outside the box.
Riyad Mahrez then killed
the game as a contest with a
quick double before half-
time.
The Algerian left Charlie
Taylor trailing on the floor
before firing into the far cor-
ner on his weaker right foot.
VAR awarded Mahrez the
chance to double his tally
from the penalty spot after Mee
caught Sergio Aguero.
The Argentine striker had
to be replaced by Gabriel
Jesus and Guardiola admitted
Aguero's knee injury "does-
n't look good".
"He felt something in his
knee," said Guardiola. "He
struggled in the last month with
some pain in his knee."
Retaining their Premier
League title may be beyond
City as they trail Liverpool by
20 points, but Guardiola's
"Roma (in fifth) are far
away at the moment but we
have to try to make as many
points as possible.
"Ibra is a fundamental
player for us, without him we
had to find other solutions."
In Lecce, Samuel Castille-
jo opened the scoring after 26
minutes for the visitors, con-
necting with a Hakan Cal-
hanoglu cross from the right
to slot in his first goal this sea-
son.
Marco Mancosu pulled
Lecce level from the penalty
spot after 54 minutes, spark-
ing an immediate Milan fight-
back with two goals in three
minutes. Lecce keeper Gabriel
denied Calhanoglu with Gia-
como Bonaventura on hand
to finish off with Ante Rebic
racing through the Lecce
defence for a third -- and his
seventh goal this season.
Rafael Leao got his head to
an Andrea Conti cross with
Calhanoglu again involved
in the build-up after 72 min-
utes.
"If you ask me about the
ideal partner, I tell you-we
have got Robert Lewan-goal-
ski! He is the best striker I
could think of."
The move which ended in
Lewandowski's first strike at
Fortuna on Saturday was a
masterclass in fluid one-
touch soccer and perfectly
highlighted his understand-
ing with Mueller-Bayern's
selfanointed "Raumdeuter"
(space interpreter).
“There is no doubt these are
very different and difficult
times, not only for sports but
for the entire world as pan-
demic of Covid 19 has really
changed our lives,” said the tim-
ing and the likely conditions
in England could suit the Pak-
istani team.
“Southampton and Man-
chester, which are likely to be
the venues, will suit us at this
time of the year,” he said.
Speaking about the recent
ban on the use of saliva by
bowlers, he said: “It means that
the two main bowlers of Eng-
land - James Anderson and Stu-
ard Broad - will not be able to
make as big an impact as in the
past. Pakistan’s batting should
take full advantage of this.”
“Moeen Ali is unlikely to play
Test cricket for a while and Adil
Rashid — who had a good
world Cup — is also not a reg-
ular in England Test line-up so
I think Pakistan's batting
should take advantage of that
too," Mushtaq said.
men still have the chance to
add the FA Cup and Cham-
pions League to the League
Cup they won in March.
The fierce competition for
places appears to be having
an effect as there was no let-
up after the break.
Bernardo Silva's low cross
was turned home by his name-
sake David for the hosts'
fourth.
Foden then rounded off the
scoring at the far post after
Gabriel Jesus failed to convert
David Silva's cross.
"That was my best game
in a City shirt," said Foden.
"I am just happy how the
team are playing at the
moment. We're looking sharp."
There was another positive
for City late on as Leroy Sane
replaced Foden to make his
first appearance since suf-
fering cruciate knee ligament
damage in August.
The German internation-
al seems certain to leave the
club at the end of the season
after rejecting a new contract
amid interest from Bayern
Munich.
But Sane could still have
a part to play in City's quest
for a cup treble before the end
of the campaign.
How cricket kids can be saved amid dangerous
surge of deadly coronavirus
THE ISLAND/ANN
COLOMBO, 23 JUNE:
Olympian and Sri Lanka's
first Asian Games gold medal-
list Nagalingam
Ethirveerasingam (in photo)
says that lower-age-group
cricket tournaments should
be scrapped this year to avoid
health risks while the stalled
U-19 tournaments should be
completed in a shortened
format for the last-year stu-
dents to get an opportunity
to represent their schools.
In an e-mail, a professor
of education, suggests a com-
pletion of the tournament
under a new format while
adhering to social-distancing
guidelines. According to edu-
cation ministry officials, there
is no possibility of conduct-
ing school sport events before
September.
"Cancel the Under-13,
Under-15 and Under-17 tour-
nament schedules rather than
"I am more efficient in the
middle," Mueller said of his
unselfish work as an expert
assist provider behind target
man Lewandowski. "The dis-
tance to the goal is much
shorter as I am always on the
hunt."
Elaborating on his meta-
morphosis in the No 10 role,
Mueller told Goal.com:
"Maybe in my past years I
would like to play with Leo
Messi, because in the first six
WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE 2020
Registration No.KOLRMS/55/2016-2018 MH/MR/South-67/2012-2014
Djokovic tests positive
BELGRADE/WARSAW, 23 JUNE:
Australian tennis star Nick
Kyrgios reacted after world
no. 1 Novak Djokovic test-
ed positive for COVID-19
after the completion of the
first leg of much-talked-
about Adria Tour, which
took place in the Balkans
last week.
Djokovic follows Boran
Coric and Grigor Dimitrov,
who were tested positive
after taking part in the Ser-
bian’s Adria Tour.
As the news broke on
social media, Kryrgios in his
first tweet wrote: “Oh boy.”
However, the Australian
followed with another tweet
where he posted a video in
which the Djokovic and
others are seen partying in
a nightclub in Belgrade.
Murray ready to participate
at US Open 2020
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SER-
VICE
LONDON, 23 JUNE:
Former World No.1 Andy
Murray(in photo) said he is
ready to participate at this
year's US Open if he is
assured by the authorities
that it will be safe to travel
to New York considering
the coronavirus threat.
It was recently announced
that the last Grand Slam of
the year will be held accord-
ing to its original schedule
from August 31 with the
Cincinnati Open being held
at the Flushing Meadows
before that from August 22.
"I would go and play pro-
vided that we are given the
assurance that it'll be safe
to go," Murray was quoted
as saying by Daily Mail.
"If there's an increased
risk that we as a sport are
going to make things worse
then absolutely they should-
n't have the event."
Murray is participating in
the 'Battle of Brits' tourna-
ment at the Roehampton's
National Tennis Center,
where top eight British play-
ers will be competing in a
bio-secure environment,
starting Tuesday.
This will be the first time
risk the health of the cricketers,
officials and spectators. The
reason for continuing the
Under-19 tournament with a
modified schedule is that
mostst of them may not get
a chance to represent their
school again," wrote
Ethirveerasingam, who had
made recommendations for
the betterment of school sport
on numerous previous occa-
sions.
While suggesting con-
ducting matches simultane-
ously in all three divisions at
selected grounds in the West-
ern Province, the former uni-
versity cricketer (Sierra Leone)
urges concluding the tour-
nament in a short span.
Ethirveerasingam also
or seven years of my career,
I was more the receiving
striker. I got the ball in the box
and tried to score.
"In the moment right now,
in my very good shape at the
moment, I assist many goals.
Maybe now I need more a
Cristiano Ronaldo to score the
goals, but we at Bayern have
Robert Lewan-goal-ski. I
think maybe right now he is
the better option than Cris-
tiano."
12
Poland's legendary ski
jumper Adam Malysz said
on Monday that he had
tested positive for Covid-
19. Malysz won four
Olympic medals during
the course of his career,
standing on the podium
twice at both Salt Lake City
in 2002 and Vancouver in
2010.
He also took four gold
medals at the Nordic World
Championships and now
serves as sporting director
of Poland's national team.
On Monday, the 43-year-old
informed the media that he
had tested positive for
Covid-19. Poland's nation-
al team have asked all their
ski jumpers to be tested.
In Brazil, one Santos
player and eight employ-
ees have tested positive.
Murray will be seen on court
in seven months as he was
out with a hip injury before
the pandemic ravaged the
entire ATP season.
"I've been dealing with
all the training and stuff I
have done up until now
very well. Playing matches
is what is important for
me," Murray said.
"I'm playing Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday. The
players here are at a good
level so that will be a good
test for me physically.
"I want to hold up phys-
ically this week, and have my
hip good at the end of it, hav-
ing completed three, four or
five matches.
"If the hip hasn't flared
up, that would be a hugely
positive thing," he added.
wants the school cricketers
who take part in these tour-
naments to be tested. "All
players and officials should get
tested before the tournament
to be eligible to play. They
should follow social-distancing
rules on and off the field.
Fourteen days after the tour-
nament, they should be test-
ed again."
Ethirveerasingam, who
won the high jump gold at the
1958 Tokyo Asian Games, had
the following suggestions for
track and field sports:
"It is best for students and
older athletes to train on their
own and in small groups with
or without coaches. Best to
avoid gym work. Plyomatrics
and strengthening exercises
can be done alone or in small
groups with a coach. Middle-
and long-distance runners
can do their training out-
doors. Jumpers can work on
their technique with the help
of their coach.