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FC Pune City assemble in Turkey for pre-season
Antalya: Indian Super League (ISL) franchise FC Pune City has commenced preparations for the upcoming football tournament in Turkey, a club release on Thursday said.
The second edition of ISL begins on October 3.
“The head coach, support staff and players are all impressed with their ongoing stint in Turkey. We couldn’t think of a better way to get ready for the 2015 season,” Gaurav Modwel, Pune’s CEO, said in the release.
This is the phase two of FC Pune City’s pre-season training plans. In the first phase, a conditioning camp was conducted at the team’s home ground at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune.
The entire squad, including the foreign signings, has assembled here to be trained Britsh coach David Platt.
Platt praised the facilities and had encouraging words for the Indian players.
“The facilities here are top notch and as good as anywhere in the world. I am delighted with the attitude of players and their appetite to work hard. I had heard so much about the so called limitations of domestic players but none of that was in evidence here,” said Platt in the release.
The team’s marquee player Romanian star Adrian Mutu said the team is gelling well.
“The team’s gelling well and the coach and the support staff is ensuring that the team comes back to Pune with top notch fitness levels,” said Mutu.
The squad will train in Antalya until September 10 and will return to Pune for the final phase of training.
Pune face Mumbai FC in a home match at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium on October 5.
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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.