Sports
India rise in FIFA rankings
Zürich, Jan 18 (IANS) Indian football rose three spots in the first FIFA rankings of 2018 which were released by the game’s world governing body on Thursday.
India are currently at the 102nd spot, just above Qatar. They are ranked 14th among Asian countries.
Coached by Englishman Stephen Constantine, the Indian team accumulated 13 points over the past month for a total of 333 points.
India were unbeaten in 2017, winning seven of their nine matches. Two games had ended in draws. They had also qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
The top 14 positions did not see any change with reigning World Champions Germany at pole position. Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and Belgium complete the top five.
Iran are the top-ranked team in Asian at the 34th spot. The former Asian champions have lost a couple of places from last month.
They are followed by Australia who have climbed a couple of rungs to the 36th spot while Japan rose one step to the 56th position.
–IANS
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.