QPlay: Ganguly Lauds Dhoni, Messi Scores Hat-trick and More

All the latest sports news in The Quint’s morning wrap.

MS Dhoni. (Photo: PTI)

1. Ganguly Lauds Dhoni

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes that current limited overs captain MS Dhoni has been on the hot seat for such a long time that he has mastered the art of taking criticism in his stride while staying calm under pressure.

Asked whether Dhoni at times gets unfairly criticised, Ganguly said:

MS has this fantastic ability to remain calm under any situation. Lot of people have asked me that you have been with him, so how does he remain calm? I tell them that he doesn’t show it. From inside he is different, from outside he is different. That goes around in the dressing room and he gets a lot of respect. We only look at the criticism but amount of respect he gets in India is unbelievable.

Sourav Ganguly

(Photo: Reuters)

2. Messi Scores Hat-Trick as Barcelona Rout Valencia 7-0

Luis Suarez scored four goals and Lionel Messi struck a hat-trick as Barcelona all but wrapped up their King’s Cup semi-final by routing Valencia 7-0 in the first leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

Barely seven minutes had elapsed when Neymar stole the ball from a careless Andre Gomes in midfield, raced forward and passed to Suarez who rifled a shot across goal past Mathew Ryan.

Barca went two up when Sergio Busquets sent a long ball down the right which Aleix Vidal pulled back for Suarez to score past Ryan.

Valencia struggled to contain a Barca side with Neymar, Messi and Suarez creating danger almost at will.

Gary Neville’s side rarely got near goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as Barcelona produced one of their best performances of the season. Andres Iniesta and Messi were playing in their ninth King’s Cup semi-final in 10 seasons.

3. Punjab Police Set Up SIT to Probe Sexual Exploitation Allegations Against Sardara Singh

Indian Hockey Captain Sardara Singh has been accused of sexual exploitation by a former Under 19 British hockey player, following which an SIT was formed by the Ludhiana Police Commissioner Pramraj Singh Umranangal on Wednesday to probe the issue.

Singh has rubbished the allegations levelled against him by the British hockey player of Indian origin.

As per the complaint filed at Koom Kalan Police Station yesterday, the victim alleged that she met the Indian skipper during the 2012 London Olympics for the first time, following which they entered into a physical relationship.

The complainant alleged that she also underwent an abortion at Singh’s insistence.

(Photo: AP)

4. Federer Out of Action For a Month Due to Knee Injury

The world number three tennis ace, Roger Federer underwent a successful surgery on his knee on Wednesday and will be ruled out of action for one month, his agent said.

Federer underwent the surgery to repair a torn meniscus sustained the day after his semi-final match at the Australian Open, according to Tony Godsick.

Due to the injury, Federer will now miss the ATP tournaments in Rotterdam and Dubai this month.

(Screengrab)

(Photo: Sachin Tendulkar Facebook)

5. India Have a Good Chance to Win World T20: Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar feels India have a very good chance to win the World T20 at home.

He feels that the Indian team is well balanced and that there is a good mix of youngsters and experience on the side.

We have a very good chance. In T20 I think the team is well balanced with senior members in the squad, then also youngsters and guys who been around for a while and they all as a package have performed really well. You see just the way Bumrah (Jaspreet) bowled in Australia was superb and then nice to have someone like Ashish Nehra back, Yuvi back in the squad, Harbhajan is there. All these guys. It’s a formidable combination.

Sachin Tendulkar

(Photo: AP)

6. New Zealand Thrash Australia by 159 Runs in First ODI

New Zealand strike bowlers Trent Boult and Matt Henry destroyed world champions Australia and set up a comprehensive 159-run victory in the opening one-day international in Auckland on Wednesday.

In reply to New Zealand’s 307-8, Australia were all out for 148 in the 25th over.

New Zealand, sent in to bat, made an aggressive start with Martin Guptill (90), Henry Nicholls (61) and Brendon McCullum (44).

The Kiwis got past 200 in the 30th over.

The run rate slowed with the tailenders but a total in excess of 300 at Eden Park, even with its short boundaries, was competitive.

Australia were never seriously in contention with their reply.

Their innings began to unravel at the very start as Henry and Boult ran through the top order to have the tourists reeling at 41-6 after nine overs.