New Delhi [India], March 8 (ANI): On the occasion of International Women’s Day, India women’s ODI skipper Mithali Raj dedicated a heartfelt post to her mother, her ‘biggest inspiration’, on Monday.
The veteran cricketer shared an adorable picture with her mother, along with a sweet note for the ‘strong and brave person’.
Mithali, who represented India in 89 T20I matches before calling off her career in the shortest format, said that her mother has always encouraged her to give the best.
“My mother is my biggest inspiration, she is my idol. A strong and solid person. Caring, honest, brave and always encouraging me to give my best. On women’s day I salute her and wish all the lovely women a very happy women’s day #HappyWomensDay,” Mithali tweeted.
Earlier in the day, India skipper Virat Kohli said the strength of a society is the strength of women.
Taking to Twitter, Kohli wrote, “Happy Women’s Day to all the amazing women of the world. The strength of a society is the strength of women.”
India Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane wrote, “I feel lucky to be surrounded by so many strong women in my life, thank you for your all unending support. Wishing all the wonderful women a very Happy Women’s Day!”
Each year on March 8, International Women’s Day is observed in order to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day commemorates women, who despite various challenges posed by society have proven their mettle in every sphere across the world. (ANI)

London [UK], March 8 (ANI): Ahead of the clash against Everton, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel said that their opponents have a “very strong squad” while admitting that he relishes big matches.
Everton are witnessing a very good form and enjoying a three-match winning streak. The fifth-placed club Everton will leapfrog Chelsea on the Premier League table if they manage to defeat Tuchel’s side in their upcoming match.
“Everton had a very strong start to the season and had a big win also at Anfield and they kept the momentum going [by beating West Brom on Thursday]. They have a very strong squad, very physical and full of talent, with strong strikers and a dangerous no.10 with James Rodriguez,” the club’s official website quoted Tuchel as saying.
“They have strong experienced players and a super-strong manager on the sidelines with Carlo Ancelotti who knows how to keep the momentum going. It is good that we have a big match next because that drives us, it gets us out of bed early and then it is a very natural process to be at our top level again,” he added.
Chelsea is unbeaten in their last 25 Premier League home matches against Everton (W14 D11). Also, Tuchel could become the first head coach in Premier League history to see his side keep a clean sheet in each of his first five home matches in charge in the competition.
Chelsea will take on Everton in the Premier League on Monday. (ANI)

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 8 (ANI): On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah announced that India women’s team will play a one-off Test against England later this year.
It will be India women’s first game in the longest format of the game since November 2014 when the Indian players took on South Africa. India and England had earlier played a one-off Test in 2014 where the Mithali Raj-led side emerged victorious by six wickets.
“On the occasion of #InternationalWomensDay, I’m pleased to announce that #TeamIndia @BCCIWomen will play a one-off Test match against @ECB_cricket later this year. The women in blue will be donning the whites again,” Jay Shah tweeted.

Meanwhile, the India women’s side is currently locking horns with South Africa in the three-match ODI series. In the first ODI, Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt scored their respective half-centuries to help South Africa women’s team thrash India by eight wickets.
Chasing a target of 178 runs, South Africa got off to an impressive start, with openers Lee and Wolvaardt scoring regular boundaries. The duo proved to be too good for the hosts’ bowlers, who struggled to restrict the batters from scoring runs.
Lee and Wolvaardt continued their scintillating performance and took the team over the 100-run mark in the 26th over. Both showed no signs of a struggle and kept adding runs to the scoreboard, taking South Africa closer to the victory.
In the 38th over, Jhulan Goswami handed India the first breakthrough as she got hold of Wolvaardt (80). Sune Luus then came to bat but failed as Goswami dismissed her as well. However, the comeback was too late for the Indian side as South Africa easily got over the line in the 41st over.
Earlier, Mithali Raj top-scored with a knock of 50 runs as India posted a score of 177/9 in the allotted fifty overs against South Africa. (ANI)

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 8 (ANI): Sachin Tendulkar-led India Legends is all set to take on England Legends in the big encounter of the ongoing Road Safety World Series T20 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium on Tuesday.
A high on confidence India will have the upper hand in this exciting tie for the kind of talent they have at their disposal. Playing at home adds zing to their already strong presence on the field. The Indians have been the most consistent side in the tournament.
On the other hand, England, who played their first game on Sunday, opened their account immediately with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Bangladesh Legends.
Going by team balance, India could be the stronger side on paper for the sheer all-round strength.
The top-order comprising captain Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag is a deadly combination and a nightmare for any new ball bowler. The presence of the dashing southpaw Yuvraj Singh, the big-hitting Yusuf Pathan, and his brother all-rounder Irfan adds ice to the cake.
The trio of Munaf Patel, Irfan, and R Vinay Kumar not only makes India dangerous with the new ball but also brings in a lot of variety. Tweakers Yuvraj and Yusuf make it more than a back-up for India Legends leading spinner Pragyan Ojha.
For England, all eyes will be on Kevin Pietersen to take their team home, especially after he blasted and entertaining 17-ball 42 against Bangladesh to give them a strong platform for an easy win.
However, Pietersen will have to play out of his skin when he plays the in-form bowling of Team India which has been more than effective on these slow wickets. Skipper Pietersen would be expecting a bit more from his batsmen.
The bowling department of England is far more experienced with some exciting bowlers like Chris Tremlett, James Tredwell, Matthew Hoggard, Ryan Sidebottom and Sajid Mahmood in it. However, it will boil down to left-arm spinner Monty Panesar on how well he does on those slow tracks.
India Legends: Sachin Tendulkar (C), Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Kaif, S Badrinath, Yuvraj Singh Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan Munaf Patel, Manpreet Singh Gony, Pragyan Ojha, R Vinay Kumar, Noel David, Naman Ojha
England Legends: Kevin Pietersen (C), Darren Maddy, Gavin Hamilton, James Tindall, Jim Troughton, Jonathan Trott, Chris Schofield, Chris Tremlett, James Tredwell, Kabir Ali, Matthew Hoggard, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Sajid Mahomood, Usman Afzaal (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 8 (ANI): In a first-time move, Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani and Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju jointly launched an online training programme exclusively for women physical education teachers and community coaches.
Smriti Irani and Rijiju on Monday also announced a number of initiatives that the two ministries will be taking together, the first of which was launched on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
The initiative which is a convergence of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Fit India programmes, aims to empower women teachers in primary, secondary and senior secondary schools by giving them fitness training so that they can, in turn, empower students, especially the girl child.
The programme has registered the participation of 12500 PE Teachers and Community Coaches, who will be imparted training for free. The online program will have a total of 28 sessions (in Hindi and English) i.e., two sessions of 90 minutes each daily and will commence on March 8 and will go on till March 26.
Speaking at the event, Irani said, “I am so happy to know that so many women have registered for this unique programme, who will, in turn, be able to motivate our future generation of girls to be physically fit and take up sports.
“I understand that women participation in the Khelo India Games has gone up by 160 per cent between 2018 to 2020 and I would like to thank Rijiju for executing the vision of our PM so well,” she further said.
“Going forward, through the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Khelo India initiatives, we would like to support and promote our female athletes,” Irani added.
Elaborating on the collaborative events planned ahead, Rijiju said, “This online training programme is the first of many of projects that the ministries will organise together. In the second half of the year, when the Covid situation is completely under control, we have planned to organise Girls’ Super Leagues in Kho Kho, Basketball, Kabaddi and Football in association with MoWDC.”
With this initiative, Fit India and WCD aim to provide an opportunity for women teachers to learn from the best trainers not just in India but from the world over and in the process empower them in the field of physical fitness and health.
Under this, the government aims to train female teachers of primary, secondary and senior secondary classes who undertake physical activities in their schools, female PE Teachers and community coaches across the country, and women who aspire to be PE teachers or coaches in the future.
Besides the online PE teachers and community coaching programme, the Fit India Mission organised an All Women’s Fit India Walkathon on Monday morning where thousands of NYKS volunteers participated in the event which was held in 1000 locations across India. (ANI)

Goa [India], March 8 (ANI): ATK Mohun Bagan and NorthEast United walked away on level terms after their first leg playoffs of the Indian Super League (ISL). The second leg at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday will decide if NorthEast will play their first final or if Antonio Habas’ side will play their third.
Bagan coach Antonio Habas was denied a win in the first leg by a late Idrissa Sylla header, a result that mounted pressure on Bagan, who haven’t been at their best off late.
The Kolkata team has had a solid defence throughout the season, having conceded just 15 times in the league stage. But the team has conceded 5 goals in the last 3 games which cost them the ISL League Winners Shield as well as an advantage in the first leg. However, coach Habas feels such situations do arise in the games where players tend to lose concentration.
Habas though looked relaxed ahead of the second-leg. “There is no pressure,” he said. “It’s all about a big opportunity and this opportunity wouldn’t come again. We have to enjoy now. We have to give our best and enjoy the semi-finals.”
When questioned about his approach against Khalid Jamil’s side, who are unbeaten in the last 10 games, a composed Habas replied he had instructed his players to stay calm. “Strategy is to keep calm and keep the intensity and to try to win. It’s more important to play with calmness and to go through to the final,” he said.
Bagan will bank on David Williams and Roy Krishna on Tuesday as the duo has never failed to contribute with goals at this stage.
For NorthEast, who are unbeaten under Jamil, it will be their first-ever final, provided they beat ATKMB.
“We have to focus on getting the result as it is a do-or-die game,” stated Jamil. “There is always pressure. I have told the boys to enjoy this pressure. Both teams have to fight for a result because of no away goals, so it is the same for our opponent as well.”
“We will have to create more scoring opportunities and put them under pressure. One team will have to outscore the other in this one as a draw will create the added load of 30 minutes,” he said. (ANI)