Basketball
The US president Barack Obama is a basketball player. And, it is good to be sporty. But, this time it left the dear president with a bloody lip. And, he also received 12 stiches after being accidentally elbowed in the face. This happened when Barack along with family and friends was playing a 10 person game at Fort McNair which a US Military post in Washington. It was the fifth game and Obama was playing defense when a player from rival tea, turned to shoot elbowing him in his mouth.
He was then given local anesthesia. The man responsible for it was Rey Decerega who is the director of Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. He later said “I learned today the president is both a tough competitor and a good sport. I enjoyed playing basketball with him this morning. I’m sure he’ll be back out on the court again soon.” Obama is an ardent basketball player and played regularly during the presidential campaign and had a basketball court installed on the South Lawn of the White House. Well I can just say “Get well soon Mr. President”.
The 5 match ODI series between India and the kiwis kicks off on Sunday. Indian squad looks a bit shabby and novice. MS is rested for the series as Gambhir will captain the side. W. Saha will do the keeper’s job. New Zealand recently lost an ODI series 4-0 to Bangladesh. So, they would have less confidence and need a lot of character to actually beat even the rookie Indian side at home. India has never lost an ODI series to the kiwis back home.
Dew will have a role to play here in Guwahati the venue for the first match as the match will start at 8.30 am. Praveen Kumar due to fever has been left out as Asish Nehra replaces him. Yusuf Pathan’s performance will be monitored as he makes a return to the side. Nathan McCullum states his and team’s goals in “Bangladesh was a pretty disappointing series. We are looking to take things forward. We want to perform as we should and hopefully come out with a series victory. For me, I want to cement the all-rounder’s spot.” Well, it will actually be an interesting series to watch out: Gambhir leading the rookie Indian team against low Kiwi side.
Let’s have a look at the probable 11:
New Zealand: 1 Jamie How, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Kane Williamson, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt), 8 James Franklin/Nathan McCullum, 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Daryl Tuffey/Andy McKay
India: 1 M Vijay, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Yusuf Pathan 7 Saurabh Tiwary, 8 Wriddiman Saha (wk), 9 R Ashwin, 10 Vinay Kumar/Munaf Patel, 11 Ashish Nehra.
Tags: Barack Obama, Basketball, Cricket, Gautam Gambhir, India, New Zealand, ODI Series, Sporty, US President
