Sports Highlights

The following are the top/expected stories at 21:15 hours: EXPECTED STORIES: *Updated report of Olympic Boxing Qualifiers. *Updated report of All England Badminton Championship.

STORIES ON THE WIRE: SPO-BOX-MARYKOM-INTERVIEW Big talk is forgotten, it's performance which stays: Mary Kom after qualifying for Olympics By Poonam Mehra New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) Indian boxing icon M C Mary Kom pulled no punches as she lambasted critics and challengers after securing her second Olympic appearance, saying those who bring politics into sports should remember that it's performance that creates legacy, not big statements. SPO-CRI-IND-PREVIEW 1st ODI: Hardik adds balance, India ready for fresh start against Proteas By Saumojyoti S Choudhury Dharamsala, Mar 11 (PTI) Hardik Pandya's eagerly-awaited international comeback adds a lot of context to India's three-match ODI campaign against South Africa starting Thursday where the hosts would be aiming to put the 'New Zealand Nightmare' behind them. SPO-CRI-RANJI-FINAL-DRS Dilip Doshi slams use of limited DRS in Ranji Trophy final Rajkot, Mar 11 (PTI) Former India spinner Dilip Doshi on Wednesday slammed BCCI's decision to use a restricted DRS for the Ranji Trophy final, saying the technology should be deployed "fully or not at all".

SPO-CRI-LD RANJI Bengal fight back but Saurashtra maintain upper hand By Bharat Sharma Rajkot, Mar 11 (PTI) Saurashtra maintained their grip over the Ranji Trophy final on day three despite a fighting stand between Bengal veteran Manoj Tiwary and Sudip Chatterjee on a deteriorating pitch here on Wednesday. SPO-BAD-IND Sindhu advances at All England Open Birmingham, Mar 11 (PTI) Indian badminton star PV Sindhu made a confident start at the All England Open, beating American Beiwin Zhang in straight games here on Wednesday. SPO-CRI-BCB-WORLDXI-POSTPONED Coronavirus: BCB's World XI versus Asia XI matches postponed Dhaka, Mar 11 (PTI) The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Wednesday postponed the upcoming World XI versus Asia XI matches, which would have marked the birth centenary celebrations of father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, owing to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

SPO-CORONAVIRUS-BAD-IND-OPEN Coronavirus effect: No fans allowed in India Open New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) The India Open Super 500 tournament, a crucial event for the Tokyo Olympic qualification, will be held without any spectators due to the global novel coronavirus outbreak, Badminton Association of India (BAI) said on Wednesday. SPO-CRI-IND-BHUVNESHWAR For Bhuvi, all international matches important even in T20 WC year By Saumojyoti S Choudhury Dharamsala, Mar 11 (PTI) India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Wednesday differed with his skipper Virat Kohli on the significance of ODIs in a Twenty20 World Cup year, saying that all international matches are important and another bad series will be confidence-denting. SPO-CRI-IPL-WORKLOAD Workload management during IPL: Focus on injury-prone India players By Bharat Sharma Rajkot, Mar 11 (PTI) Workload management is back in focus ahead of the IPL, in another World Cup year, and the BCCI plans to take extra care of injury-prone players like Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya.

SPO-CRI-RANJI-FINAL-PITCH Lal's very poor pitch comment was ill-timed and error of judgement: SCA curator By Bharat Sharma Rajkot, Mar 11 (PTI) Arun Lal's "very poor pitch" comment on the opening day drew a sharp rebuttal from Saurashtra Cricket Association on Wednesday when its curator Mahendra Rajdev said the Bengal coach erred in his judgement by jumping the gun in the Ranji Trophy final here. SPO-BOX-OLY-LD QUALIFIERS Boxing: Manish Kaushik qualifies for Olympics with box-off win Amman (Jordan), Mar 11 (PTI) World bronze-medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) on Wednesday became the ninth Indian boxer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics after beating Australia's Harrison Garside in a brutal box-off at the Asian Qualifiers here.

SPO-CRI-IND-BHUVNESHWAR-LD CORONA COVID-19 impact: India might limit usage of saliva for shining ball but Proteas won't By Saumojyoti S Choudhury Dharamsala, Mar 11 (PTI) The Indian team might avoid using saliva to shine the ball if advised by doctors to combat the novel coronavirus threat, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said on Wednesday even as the South African team insisted on continuing the practice in the first ODI here. SPO-CRI-IND-DE KOCK Seniors like myself, Faf, Miller need to guide youngsters: De Dock By Saumojyoti S Choudhury Dharamsala, Mar 11 (PTI) South Africa captain Quinton de Kock urged the senior members of his team to own up responsibility as well as guide the youngsters during the three-match ODI series against India starting here on Thursday. SPO-CRI-NCA-WORKSHOP Arsenal academy's head of sports medicine conducts trainers' workshop at NCA Bengaluru, Mar 11 (PTI) The National Cricket Academy (NCA) has conducted an evaluation and development workshop for 47 shortlisted strength and conditioning coaches from various state associations to assign them at various zonal camps, starting April.

SPO-CRI-WOM-WC Women's ODI World Cup to have reserve day for semis and final Wellington, Mar 11 (PTI) A harsh lesson learnt after England women bowed out of T20 World Cup without actually playing the semi-final against India, the ICC has now allocated a reserve day each for the two semi-finals and final of the 2021 ODI edition in New Zealand. SPO-CRI-RAHANE We are not bad players of short ball: Rahane Mumbai, Mar 11 (PTI) Insisting that Indians are not bad players of short-ball, Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday said the team's bad run in New Zealand was largely due to the wind factor. SPO-CRI-IND-TICKETS Dharamsala ODI: Coronavirus, rain affect ticket sales By Saumojyoti S Choudhury Dharamsala, Mar 11 (PTI) The novel coronavirus outbreak and inclement weather here have affected the ticket sales for the opening ODI of the three-match series between India and South Africa..