Vikas, Solanki in squad for Oly qualifiers

Bengaluru, December 30

Comeback man Vikas Krishan (69kg) claimed a slot in the Indian men’s boxing squad for next year’s Olympics qualifiers after winning his final trial bout along with two others.

Krishan, who earlier competed in the 75kg category, is back to the 69kg division after recovering from a back injury sustained during his short stint in the professional boxing. The 26-year-old out-punched Duryodhan Singh Negi in a unanimous decision in the trial.

“It was good to see how strongly Gaurav Solanki came back against Hussamuddin in the tough bout,” said High Performance Director Santiago Nieva. “As for Vikas, he is very focused and we have high hopes from him. We have a good one month before the Olympics qualifiers. We are going to train hard and work on the necessary adjustments required,” he added. — PTI

Kohli, Bumrah in Wisden’s T20I team of the decade but no MS Dhoni

New Delhi: Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were the only two Indians who found a place in Wisden’s T20I team of the decade, which didn’t feature MS Dhoni. Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch was named captain of the team, which has two more Australian in Shane Watson and Glenn Maxwell, two England cricketers — Jos Buttler and David Willey, two Afghanistan all-rounders — Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, and New Zealand’s Colin Munro and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga. On Kohli, Wisden said: “While Kohli’s record in domestic T20 cricket is patchy, the same cannot be said of T20Is. Kohli’s average of 53 was the best in the decade, and while his consistency compromises his strike-rate slightly, he is still able to score at a good rate, even if not exceptional. “Strong against pace and spin, and rapid between the wickets, Kohli is an ideal player at No.3, able to fight fires when an early wicket is lost and stabilise the innings, but also accelerate when a platform is set. Following a huge first-wicket partnership, Kohli will slide down the order in this XI,” it said. — PTI