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(Source: UBM) Having read my Is 60 Really the New 40? column, and having also received the aforementioned ESC email, my chum, Martin Rowe — the Senior Technical Editor for Test and Measurement (T&M) on EDN’s T&M Design Center and EETimes’ T&M Designline — just emailed me to say “The best opportunity of all is seeing Max the Magnificent in the waning days of his sixth decade.” Well, blow me down. Although he was joking, and although we really shouldn’t encourage him, when you come to think about it, Martin is right (and it’s not often you’ll hear me saying that LOL). ESC Boston 2017 really will be the last time most people get to see me before I gain my second wind and commence my third childhood (I rather carelessly wore out my second childhood several years ago).Looking at things from this perspective, this really is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Something you can proudly boast to your grandchildren saying: “I was there when…” In addition to attending my presentations (see Bodacious Brain Meets ESC Boston and Futuristic Embedded Technologies at ESC Boston ), this will be your last chance to tempt me with a beer or three, but I’m only one man and I can only do so much, so we’ll have to work on a first-come, first-to-serve basis 🙂Of course, you won’t even be able to get into the conference unless you register for the fun and festivities (you must register, even if you are signing up for a Free Expo Pass). I’m really looking forward to this year’s ESC Boston — the people, the presentations, the exhibits — and I very much hope I get to see you there. “Thinking about this, I started to look at the affiliated hotels. It seems to me that all 3 that are available require some form of transportation to get to the conference. It means that you can’t just take a break and go up to your room to lie down (once 2 thoughts on “Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at ESC Boston 2017” “AntedeluviannChecking the map, the Westin Boston Waterfront seems to be adjacent. A couple of others seem to be within walking distance.” Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must Register or Login to post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
February 9, 2017 at 5:52 pm Software engineering is on the lookout for better ways to develop software. The solutions will come from a variety of sources. Process change, integration of new tools, and development of skills are most definitely part of the answer. However, the success of any such efforts will be directly conditioned by the technological foundations on top of which all this is built — and the programming language is a strong part of this.MISRA C is a set of software development guidelines for the C programming language developed by MISRA (Motor Industry Software Reliability Association). Its aims are to facilitate code safety, security, portability, and reliability in the context of embedded systems. MISRA-C is a great initiative to improve the quality of C development, but how easy is it to follow? How easy is it to verify? How much does it really bring to the table? And what’s left to improve once all this effort has been taken into account? Wouldn’t it have been better to start with a language that already addresses initial safety objectives?As is often the case in this kind of situation, the answer varies. But intellectual and industrial pragmatism calls for investigation.A little over 40 years ago, the US Department of Defense (DoD) conducted its own investigation and issued the specification for a new programing language. The result, Ada, was named after Charles Babbage’s assistant, Ada Lovelace (1815–1852), who is credited with being the first computer programmer. In order to save massive amounts of money in software development, Ada was supposed to replace all others used at that time in the military’s embedded systems. The DoD was so enthusiastic that it put a mandate in place, pressuring developers to use Ada for all military applications. Alas. ten years later, recognizing the fact that the language had not caught on the way they had hoped, fighting against a growing C++ wave followed by a Java wave, the so-called Ada mandate was dropped, and with it much of the Ada-industry that had been built around it.Much, but not all. A few years before the revocation of the mandate, a new version of the language had been designed, and an open-source project had been funded to make sure a reference implementation was available. Over the following years, during the late 1990s and, more notably, the 2000s, while most Ada vendors were progressively steering their customers away from Ada, that open-source reference implementation was finding its way in the hands of a small commercial entity. Led by a team of researchers, this entity thrived on the market left by others, providing support for modern architectures, completing the tool suite, and enhancing the language. Millions of lines of code in military applications can’t be re-written in a day, or in ten years, for that matter. Thus, little by little, rehost after rehost, and modernization after modernization, most of the remaining Ada market ended up using this tool, which is known as GNAT.
The time has come for Ada (Source: pixabay.com) The story could stop here. However, the fact of the matter is that Ada didn’t fall out of fashion because of lack of technical merit, it did so due to lack of appropriate tools (and maybe because people don’t like to be ordered to do anything, let alone by the DoD). Three decades later, the technology has matured into a modern programming language environment tailored for embedded software development, with a clear edge towards reliability requirements. It’s available for a wide range of platforms, from large systems hosted on x86 processors to small bare-metal targets such as the ARM Cortex-M0. The last revision of the language, Ada 2012, introduces unique specification and verification features, such as contracts-based programming that allows specifying constraints and behavior requirements in the source code itself. Furthermore, it also supports static analysis capabilities far beyond those commonly available for other languages.None of this would be of any use if the software ecosystem was the same as that of the 1980s. Today, however, software is becoming ubiquitous, and it’s becoming ubiquitous in systems on which our safety depends. There are more lines of code in a high-end car than in a commercial airplane, and this is not even talking about autonomous (self-driving) vehicles. Hospitals are filled with massive amounts of automation in places like the ICU and the OR, where a millimeter, a milliliter, or a millisecond can mean the difference between life and death. And what can we say about the army of connected devices growing in front of our eyes, ready to leap for our throats at the smallest buffer overflow?Ada is here, off-the-shelf, released from its past DoD constraints, tested and improved over more than three decades of service in the most demanding environments. Most languages talking about safety today actually mean memory safety. Ada considers safety and reliability at the architecture and requirements level, enabling automatic verification from multiple angles. All of this on a single integrated formalism — the programming language itself.Had Ada been used in any market less conservative than aerospace and defense, it probably wouldn’t have survived its lack of time-to-marketness. Other languages of high technical merit didn’t get that lucky. Fortunately, this time is now behind us. Listening to people that come to me, it is clear that a new generation of developers is open to consider Ada for a much more diverse set of applications. The time has come for Ada in the industry. The needs are here. The technology is here. There’s never been a better time to revisit Ada!Quentin Ochem has a software engineering background, specialized in software development for critical applications. He has over 10 years of experience in Ada development. His responsibilities at AdaCore include leading technical account management, driving business development, and following projects related to avionics, railroad, space, and the defense industries. February 10, 2017 at 12:41 am 2 thoughts on “The time has come for Ada” 
Continue Reading Previous Kontron: FlatClient Panel PC now featuring 7th gen Intel processorsNext Mercury Systems announces acquisition of Themis Computer Altek announced its latest 3D- Depth Sensing Chip AL6100 at CES 2018. The new chip was well received for its depth functionality and accuracy, low-power consumption, and value proposition. This year at CES, a common focus among AI, autonomous vehicle, smart home, AR/VR application was machine vision. Images captured from cameras in each of these applications are no longer just for human eyes, they are now “data” for artificial intelligence. AL6100 enabled high resolution real-time 3D depth data for the machine to learn about its surrounding, a key metrics for enabling machine vision.In general, structure light, ToF, Lidar, and active stereo camera are the most popular 3D-sensing solutions. For better precision 3D sensing application such as 3D modeling, active stereo camera, and structure light are the most promising technology. In comparison, the active stereo camera is relative superior in terms of cost structure, reliability, and sensing distance. Active stereo is suitable for application such as smart home application with 5-6 meters of sensing distance, robot depth map construction, 3D facial recognition, and automobile in-cabin monitoring and hand gesture recognition. The active stereo demonstration by Altek AL6100 at CES this year created a huge buzz from its audience and propelled advancement in machine vision.During the exhibition, numerous mobile phone, smart home, and autonomous vehicle companies expressed that AL6100 chip and Altek’s depth-sensing technology is one of the best live demonstrations in CES. Altek’s 3D sensing solution is a giant step up in real-time processing to the previous generation, AL3200. The new chip will be available for commercial shipping by the end of March.Share this:TwitterFacebookLinkedInMoreRedditTumblrPinterestWhatsAppSkypePocketTelegram Tags: Chips & Components 
Interface Concept unveils the IC-INT-VPX6e, a Server Class Digital Signal Processing board, based on two Intel Xeon D-15xx processors (12-core version), in a 6U VPX form factor. The IC-INT-VPX6e combines unmatched performance at low power with the Intel Xeon 14nm SoC package, together with up to 64GB high-speed DDR4 memory. This new IC-INT-VPX6e board represents a real enhanced dual Intel processor-based design, ideal for use in systems deployed in compute-intensive and defense applications.Complying with the OpenVPX standard and featuring a PCIe Gen 2/3 switch as well as a GigaEthernet low latency switch, the IC-INT-VPX6e offers 16 lanes on the data and expansion planes, GigaEthernet ports on the control plane and additional 10GigaE interfaces. In that way, it is easily “pluggable” in custom or standard full mesh backplane or in centralized system when interfaced with our ComEth4510a or ComEth4115a switches.The board also features scalable and secured SATA Nand SDD, GPIOs, USB, SATA ports as well as two VGA interfaces provided by one Silicon Motion SM750 GPUs. Interface Concept provides Linux LSP (IC SDK, others…) and BSP for VxWorks together with the board. Compliant with OpenVPX standard, it is available in air-cooled and conduction cooled versions (compliant with VITA 47 classes).Share this:TwitterFacebookLinkedInMoreRedditTumblrPinterestWhatsAppSkypePocketTelegram Tags: Boards & Modules Continue Reading Previous Renesas: chip-to-cloud IoT connectivity with new Enterprise Cloud ToolboxNext b-plus: server performance for development of algorithms and artificial intelligence
The Delhi University Sports quota trails have begun for 39 games for admission to undergraduate courses from Friday June 22 to June 29. All colleges have to admit up to 5 per cent students through the sports and extracurricular activities (ECA) quota.Delhi University Sports quota trials applicantsFor sports quota, there are 12,423 applicants and the first list of selected candidates will be announced on July 9, as per HT.”There are around 1,700 seats in all colleges for sports quota,” said Anil Kumar Kalkal, director of DU’s sports council.Read: Dreaming of being a part of Delhi University? Here’s why it can be the best decision of your lifeDelhi University Sports quota trial instructionsApplicants have to reach 30 minutes before the trials in playing gear. The trials will start at 7 am for some games.The merit list will be announced on July 6 after which document verification and approval of admissions at colleges will be done from July 6 to 9.Anil Kumar Kalkal said the colleges will bring out three admission lists if seats remain vacant.State level participation certificates not to be acceptedThis year, the university is not accepting state-level participation certificates from candidates. Such certificates will be accepted only if a candidate has secured a position in the game.Weightage and marksColleges give 60 per cent weightage to the sports trial and 40 per cent weightage to certificates. A student has to get minimum 30 marks in the trials. But students who have represented the country in international games will get direct admission.Read: Delhi University second cut-off list to be released today evening, 25 per cent seats filledadvertisementA candidate will be given 16 marks for having secured the first position, 14 marks for second and 12 marks for the third position in sports competitions conducted by state sports associations, state directorate of education, and school boards, as per university rules.
By Amanpreet Singh New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) In any sport, after a stage, skills demand support of right attitude and mental toughness for results at the big stage and close friends Vishnu Vardhan and N Sriram Balaji have followed it to realise their immediate goal — a maiden Grand Slam appearance at the Wimbledon Championships. Vardhan and Balaji topple the top-seeded pair of Denys Molchanov of Ukraine and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia 6-3 6-4 in the final qualifying round on Wednesday to secure their spot in the men’s doubles main draw. In the last 14 months, Vardhan and Balaji have made seven finals on the ATP Challenger circuit and won five of them but struggled to make a mark in a few ATP 250 events they played. They needed to graduate to the next level and have now taken a long stride forward with their performance this week.”It’s been incredible since last year when both me and Bala decided that we will focus more on the doubles and immediately got some Challenger wins. We were eying to play the Wimbledon qualifying and did everything under our control to prepare,” Vardhan told PTI from London. The 30-year-old underlined that change in Balaji’s attitude was a huge factor in them clinching the Wimbledon berth. “There were a few close matches that we lost in the last three months but in the last one month, I have seen so much change in my partner. He is so calm, relaxed and composed. And that is what you need when you are playing at a stage like this, that made a big difference,” explained Vardhan.advertisement Ask Balaji about it and he tells how he would weigh himself down in desperation but overcame it. “There was a time few weeks back, I put myself under too much pressure about making it to Wimbledon. I stopped focusing on my routine and started going behind points. That put me down. I couldn’t execute or play my game,” he confessed. “I had to sit and talk with my coaches (Alex and Basti). I decided it’s not going to work like this. Then mentally I started to change myself to be free and enjoy the game. “Even if you have the game, you have to execute it to go to the next level. I always travel with Vishnu, Prajnesh (Gunneswaran) and Vijay (Prashanth). These guys also mentally helped me to get better. And I feel so much better on court now,” said Balaji. Vardhan said their off-court friendship helps in their tennis and on-court chemistry helps in strengthening their friendship. “Me and Bala are very open with each other, we are good friends. We help each other out that way and our families have also got closer. If I go to his place, it feels like I am at my own place,” he said. Adds Balaji: “It’s not even a full year now, we started to focus more on doubles. We are close friends on and off the courts as well. We think mostly alike which shows on court as well. In the last couple of months we have had lots of ups and downs but we still kept on going.””It’s definitely another step forward in our career. We believe we can go deeper in the tournament. We are playing good and we are confident. But we would like to take it a step a time,” he said. Vardhan also thanked Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathui and seasoned Rohan Bopanna for their tips during their qualifying campaign. “In the first qualifying match, both Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna were here and they gave us a few tips like what we were not doing right. They recognised a few things which were doing right, that gave us a lot of confidence. It helped us.” “I am really happy with the way, we served, returned and moved, combined well as a team. We are growing together as a team and happy that we are in main draw. I am happy that Jeevan (Nedunchezhiyan with Austin Krajicek) also qualified. Now there is a big team of Indians playing the main draw. It’s exciting. PTI AT PM PM PM
Brazil coach Tite has not picked a few senior members of the team for the upcoming two friendlies in the United States of America.Lucas Paqueta, Flamengo’s highly rated young attacking midfielder earned his first national call-up. Pedro, the 21-year-old Fluminense striker, Gremio’s 22-year-old left winger Everton, and Porto centre back Felipe have also been named in the new-look squad.Tite said he left out several senior men to give younger players a chance to show what they can do at the highest level.”This is Pedro’s time, as he is playing well,” Tite said. “Paqueta is one of the best players at Flamengo. (And) Everton, who is one of the best players in his team.”Among the players to be left out of the squad were Real Madrid’s Marcelo, Miranda of Inter, Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Paulinho and Manchester City pair Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus.Manchester United’s Andreas Pereira and Barcelona’s Artur are among the new names in a much-changed Brazil squad for friendlies against the United States and El Salvador.Pereira, the 22-year-old attacking midfielder who spent last season on loan at Valencia, is one of two Manchester United players in the squad, along with Fred.Artur, who was called up but not used before the World Cup, is also included after a promising start to the season with Barcelona.Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson was left out for personal reasons and replaced by Flamengo reserve Hugo, who was included as part of an experiment to give one under-20 player experience in every squad, Tite said.advertisementBrazil face the United States in New Jersey on September 7 and then play El Salvador in Washington four days later.Although they will play more friendlies before the end of the year, Brazil’s next competitive matches are not until June 2019 when they host the Copa America.Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Hugo (Flamengo), Neto (Valencia)Defenders: Alex Sandro (Juventus), Dede (Cruzeiro), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fagner (Corinthians), Felipe (Porto), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (Paris St Germain), Thiago Silva (PSG)Midfielders: Andreas Pereira (Manchester United), Arthur,(Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paqueta (Flamengo), Phillipe Coutinho (Barcelona), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan)Forwards: Douglas Costa (Juventus), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Neymar (PSG), Pedro (Fluminense), Willian (Chelsea), Everton (Gremio).(With inputs from Reuters)
By Bharat Sharma Jakarta, Sep 1 (PTI) The life story of Indian athletes is usually full of hardships but not this time. The country’s medallists at the Asian Games are a diversified lot, ranging from a jobless gold winner, an IIT alumni and a champion athlete who was born with 12 toes. Swapna Barman’s is easily one of the most fascinating stories to have come out of the continental mega event. India’s first heptathlete to win an Asiad gold, 12-toed Barman now hopes ‘they’ will make special shoes for her. Daughter of a rickshaw puller, the Jalpaiguri woman also has a sweet tooth. Another track and field star who has made India proud is Manjit Singh, who won the country’s first 800m gold since 1982. Sadly, he doesn’t have a permanent job and his state, Haryana, too has not done much to support him financially. Twenty-year-old Dharun Ayyasamy, who won a silver in 400m hurdles, too wants a job. Not for him but for his mother who raised him with a meagre teaching salary after the untimely death of his father. The likes of Barman, Manjit and Ayyaswamy came here to make it big. But there are some in the 600-odd Indian contingent who had already made their name. They came here to conquer a new territory. Members of the bronze-winning bridge squad Ajay Tolani, Kiran Nadar, Bachiraju Satyanarayan and Hema Deora are eminent personalities. Tolani is India head of a Switzerland-based steel company while Kiran, wife of HCL founder, is an art collector who has paid a fortune to posses some 5,000 paintings for her museum. Then there is Satyanaryana, an IIT Delhi alumni and Hema, wife of late union minister Murli Deora. The mixed team also includes the husband-wife pairing of Himani and Rajeev Khandelwal, both industrialists.advertisement Bridge made its Games debut here and so did kurash, a form of martial arts popular in central Asia. But unlike members of the card game, silver and bronze winning Pincky Balhara and Malapradha Jadhav have a humble background. As kurash is not a recognised sport in India, the athletes even had to pay for their kits. A few had the money to buy the team gear but teenager Balhara did not. Her village, Neb Sarai in Delhi, raised close Rs 2 lakh for her 20-day training in Uzbekistan. She repaid the faith with a silver in the 52kg category. The fact that she also overcame the sudden loss of her 42-year-old father made the effort even more special. Athletes from another lesser-known sport, sailing, brought laurels for India. Bronze medallists Varun Ashok Thakkar and K C Ganapathy quit school to chase their sailing dream. The brave move paid off as they won a bronze in 49er event. A couple of medals came from compound archery. The seasoned Rajat Chauhan was instrumental in taking the men’s team to the final. Like many Indian athletes, he is out of a job despite winning a gold at Incheon four years ago. But more than the job and securing a silver here, it was important for him to clear his class 12 exams in what was his fifth attempt. He did that in March and heaved a huge sigh of relief with a second division score. The rowers too made the country proud by winning a gold and couple of bronze medals. Bhagwan Singh, son of a truck driver and journalism dropout, experienced the biggest high of his left after finishing third in lightweight double sculls alongside Rohit Kumar. At the shooting ranges in Palembang, Gurukul follower Deepak Kumar got his big breakthrough with a silver in the 10m air rifle final. The Air Force man owed his achievement to the values Gurukul has taught him ever since he shifted there from Delhi, detaching himself from the rest of the world. Former Navy officer Sanjeev Rajput too held on to a silver in the 50m rifle 3 positions, winning another medal at the international level despite not having a permanent job. He was sacked from Sports of Authority of India last year and is out of work since then. PTI BS AH
The absence of star striker Eden Hazard did not affect Chelsea in its 4-0 thrashing of Burnley that kept the team unbeaten in the Premier League on Sunday.With Hazard missing because of a back injury, Ross Barkley stepped up as Chelsea’s main creative force as the attacking midfielder scored from outside the area and also set up two other goals at Turf Moor.Barkley played in Alvaro Morata with a defense-splitting pass for the opening goal in the 22nd minute. After making it 2-0, Barkley gave Willian a short pass and the Brazil winger cut inside to curl a fine shot into the corner from 25 meters.Ruben Loftus-Cheek, on as a substitute for the injured Pedro Rodriguez in the first half, completed the rout in second-half stoppage time by sweeping home from close range following a corner.It was a second straight heavy loss for Burnley, which was beaten 5-0 at Manchester City last weekend.Hazard, the league’s joint top scorer on seven goals, hurt his back against Manchester United last weekend and also missed the Europa League game against BATE Borisov on Thursday.Chelsea has won seven games and drawn the other three of its opening 10 games in the league this season.ARSENAL’S 11-GAME WINNING RUN COMES TO AN END AT PALACE Fourth-place Arsenal will drop out of the Champions League qualification positions if Tottenham beats Manchester City (Reuters Photo)Arsenal’s 11-game winning run in all competitions ended with a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.advertisementLuka Milivojevic converted a penalty – his second of the afternoon – in the 83rd minute to earn Palace a point at Selhurst Park as Arsenal failed to win a game for the first time since mid-August.Granit Xhaka, with a thunderous free kick, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in a five-minute span to put Arsenal ahead by the 56th after Milivojevic’s first penalty gave Palace the lead in first-half stoppage time.After opening the season with losses to Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal embarked on a two-month winning streak across three competitions – the league, the Europa League and the English League Cup – as the methods of newly hired manager Unai Emery started to take hold.Fourth-place Arsenal will drop out of the Champions League qualification positions if Tottenham beats Manchester City on Monday.Aubameyang’s strike – a close-range finish at the far post – means the Gabon international scored with each of his last six shots on target in the Premier League. He grabbed braces off the bench in his previous two games.The goal, which made it 2-1, was contentious because strike partner Alexandre Lacazette flicked the ball on from a corner using his outstretched hand.(With AP inputs)
India’s preparations for the Women’s World T20 is in full swing and the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team is making sure to go into the tournament as one of the favourites.The Indian women’s team registered its second successive win in the warm-up matches as they beat defending champions and hosts West Indies by 5 wickets in a rain-truncated T20 match at Coolidge.India had earlier beaten South Africa by three runs in their first warm-up game.On Monday, India rode on Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy’s outstanding bowling spells to restrict West Indies to 115 for 8 after the hosts won the toss and opted to bat first.West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews top-scored with 41 runs off 37 balls while Shemaine Campbelle added 22 runs off 28 balls but the rest of the batters failed miserably.For India, Poonam, Radha and Arundhati grabbed two wickets each while Harmanpreet bagged one wicket.India’s chase got to a poor start as former skipper Mithali Raj was dismissed for a duck. However, opener Smriti Mandhana continued her impressive form scoring 32 off just 20 balls.The rain came down then and India were set a revised target of 75 in 12 overs and India won with just three balls to spare. Deandra Dottin was the pick of the Windies bowlers taking three wickets.”It was a really exciting game and I am really happy with how our team played today. This is the kind of performance I expect from my team and I hope we can take this confidence into the tournament.advertisement”It is always nice to win, and we have set high standards for the team, We did really well in the last ODI World Cup and we are expecting good results again here,” skipper Harmanpreet said after the match.West Indies stand-in captain Hayley Matthews said, “Everybody got an opportunity with bat and the ball and that is important. Despite the loss, we got to see what we have and what the opposition India, have as well.”We are looking forward to playing in Guyana and St Lucia now. They are two great and historic grounds, we know the conditions and will have lots of support, so that should help us.”Finalists at last year’s ICC Women’s World Cup in England and Wales, India punched above their weight in the shorter format to gain confidence ahead of the 10-team tournament even as New Zealand recorded a six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in another match in Antigua. Bangladesh also won their opening practice match by six wickets over Ireland.Brief scores: Windies: 115-8 in 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 47; Radha Yadav 2-13, Poonam Yadav 2-17) lose to India: 75-5 in 12 overs (Smriti Mandhana 32; Deandra Dottin 3-12) by five wickets (DLS method)
Australia captain Tim Paine wants his fast bowlers to play fire with fire during the forthcoming four-Test series against Virat Kohli’s Indian team.Under Paine, Australia has committed to being less aggressive on the field of play but the current skipper wants his players get hot under the collar in the heat of competition, and urged his fast bowlers in particular, to not rise to any bait.In the next two months, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Peter Siddle will repeatedly come up against the world number one Test batsman in Virat Kohli, who thrives on the verbal banter.But even though they have one of the most fearsome fast bowlers in world cricket, Paine feels they tend to get too emotional at times and has strictly advised against it, especially when they bowl to someone like Kohli.”I think our fast bowling attack… if they play purely on skill, they’re going to trouble him,” Paine said of Kohli, who has scored five centuries in his two previous Test tours of Australia.”At times when we get too emotional, we can lose our way a little bit. So it’s a really fine line.”There’s going to be times when they’re going to get a bit fiery, I’m sure. But we need to be mindful of keeping ourselves calm enough so we can execute our skills as well.”Paine said that his players must not back out of a one-on-one contest with Kohli if that style of cricket suits them.advertisement”I think it’s important that guys play the way that suits them. If you’re someone who likes to get into a contest one-on-one with someone like Virat, then go for your life,” the wicket-keeper added.Paine’s counterpart Kohli meanwhile, is also expecting an aggressive challenge from Australia in the four-match series.”Not really, you might not see the same kind of stuff that happened in the last series. But I think in terms of their body language and intent that they have, I’m sure they’re still going to be aggressive in their minds,” said Kohli, who was the second highest run-scorer in the last Test series down under with 692 runs.”That’s the way Australia have always played, I don’t think there’s any other way they like to play their cricket. I don’t see any incidents happening on the field, I think it’s going to be competitive cricket,” the India captain said.”They’re definitely going to bring their A-game and expect us to bring ours, so we definitely expect stiff competition from Australia as always and we’re definitely not taking anything for granted,” Kohli said.Also Read | India have a significant chance of beating Australia, feels Steve WaughAlso Read | Virat Kohli furious at run-out decision during warm-up game at SCGAlso Read | Ex-Australia cricketers differ on ways to tackle the Virat Kohli threatAlso Read | As good a group as I’ve seen for a long time: Geoff Lawson on India’s bowling attack
Adelaide, Dec 7 (PTI) “I didn’t have a good understanding of where to draw the line and stuff like that…,” says India’s celebrated captain Virat Kohli, known as much for his fiery character that has walked alongside his unbelievable batting like shadows. Kohli’s Indian team is eying its maiden Test series victory in Australia. Having toured the country twice, Kohli is now leading the team. “I didn’t have a good understanding of where to draw the line and stuff like that. “Those are things that I, I wouldn’t say I regret, but those definitely I look at them as mistakes. “But mistakes that were important for me to commit so I can learn from them,” Kohli opened up to Australian great Adam Gilchrist during an interview for ‘Fox Sports’. Now, the holder of many international records is a changed man, he seemed to convey. “The one thing is that I’ve always been myself, I’ve never tried to be someone else because of the opinion,” Kohli said. “…Hence, I learn from my own mistakes, I realise my own mistakes myself and just kept correcting them through the journey. “But (I’m) massively different from the last two tours, especially the first one, I was so bad.” He added, “I was never a perfect mould of typical, old school cricketer, I always just wanted to find my own way and I guess those things were a part of that journey.” The first tour Down Under was not easy for Kohli, struggling with scores of 11, 0 and 23, and the Australian crowds were hostile. The cricketer broke free in the fourth Test in Adelaide, with a maiden century. There was a half century before that, in Perth.advertisement Kohli returns to this part of the world, never an easy place to play cricket, widely regarded as the world’s best batsman. PTI AH ATKATK
India captain Virat Kohli has said that the visitors’ decision not enforce a follow-on during the Boxing Day Test was not intended to wear out the Australian bowlers but give their Indian counterparts enough rest ahead of the second innings.India had taken a 292 run lead in the first innings, thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s six-for that broke the back of the fragile Australian batting, which folded for 151 in response to India’s 443 for 7 declared.Contrary to popular opinion, India decided to bat again on the third day. The visitors were able to add only 108 runs to the total after Pat Cummins’ spirited second innings spells but the lead of 398 was enough for Kohli’s men to win their first-ever Boxing Day Test in Australia.”We didn’t think about any of that [make Australia bowlers tired]. First innings, our, our aim was to go past 400 and psychological have that number on the board no matter how much ever time it took,” Kohli said on Sunday.He added: “We never thought we want to keep them in the field for longer. We didn’t enforce the follow-on because when our bowlers bowled in those two sessions, it was really warm out there. We just thought we would give them an overnight break, good sleep…come out fresh and let them have a go at the batsmen.”That was our intent. We never really wanted to keep them out there. We just think of what the team wants at every stage.”Several experts, including former Australian cricketer-turned commentator Allan Border, had questioned India’s decision to not enforce the follow-on. Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh told India Today that he was also against Kohli’s decision but insisted that he is happy after things worked out in favour of the Asian giants.advertisementBumrah confident about his skills: Kohli Jasprit Bumrah won the Man of the Match award after picking up nine wickets in the MCG Test (Reuters Photo)Meanwhile, Virat Kohli heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah, calling the 25-year-old pacer the best in the world. Bumrah, who has emerged as the skipper’s wrecker-in-chief across all formats of the game, picked up nine wickets at the MCG and walked away with the Man of the Match award.With 20 wickets in three matches, Bumrah is topping the wicket-takers list, clear of Nathan Lyon’s tally of 17 wickets. The Mumbai Indians pacer, who made his debut in the longest format of the game as recently as in January 2018, also finished the year as India’s highest wicket-taker in Tests with 48 wickets.”Jasprit obviously is the best bowler in the world, as per me. He is a match winner, without doubt, even if he has only been playing for 12 months,” Kohli added.”I mean if there was a pitch like Perth, I wouldn’t want to face Jasprit Bumrah to be honest because if he gets on a roll, he can really crank it up. The way he bowls is so much more different to anyone and I think he realizes that more than the batsmen. That’s why he is so confident about his skills.”With the cushion of having a relatively fresh bowling attack, India are favourites to win their first-ever Test series in Australia. Kohli’s men will play the final Test of the four-match series in Sydney from January 3.Also Read | Great to see India dominating with pace, says Harbhajan SinghAlso Read | We need our banned stars: Australian media react to massive defeat in MelbourneAlso Read | Watch: Virat Kohli leads Team India’s victory lap as MCG cheers historic triumphAlso See:
Punjab Royals defeated UP Dangal 5-4 to enter the final of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season 4 in Greater Noida on Tuesday as 2018 European Championships silver medallist Mimi Hristova helped team from Punjab grab the unassailable lead.Before Mimi, Bajrang Punia, Dato Marsagishvili, Nitin Rathi and Anita won their respective bouts to hand Punjab Royals an unassailable 5-3 lead with one bout to go in the tie.Mimi was trailing 0-2 with less than a minute to go for the final whistle, but she came back strongly to edge past Sarita 5-2 and clinch the tie in Punjab’s favour.Jitender spoilt a little bit of Punjab’s fun by defeating Amit Dhanker 5-0 in the men’s 74kg category in the inconsequential last bout of the evening.Earlier, Olympic bronze medallist Dato Marsagishvili put Punjab Royals ahead winning the men’s 86kg category bout 4-2 against last year’s European U-23 silver medallist Irakli Misituri of Up D angal in a closely fought bout.The 19-year-old young Punjab Royals’ Anju, who won gold at the Khelo India Youth Games recently, gave a tough fight to former world champion and current European championships silver medallist UP Dangal’s Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the women’s 53kg category before going down 6-19 and let UP make a comeback into the tie.Captain and icon player Bajrang brought Punjab back into the contest winning the next bout against Pankaj Rana 6-2 in the men’s 65kg category.The Asian Games gold medallist, who was recently conferred the Padama Shri Award, got tough resistance from his countrymate but came out unscathed in the end.advertisementAnita, who took Punjab Royals to the top of the table upsetting Asian Championships gold medallist Navjot Kaur of UP Dangal last night, did an encore winning the women’s 62kg category bout 8-4 and give her team a 3-1 lead in the tie.Asian Championships silver medallist Giorgi Sakandelidze, who went down narrowly to the 2018 CWG silver medal winner Korey Jarvis last night, got his revenge by winning the men’s 125kg super heavyweight category bout 2-1 and make it 2-3 for UP Dangal.Epp Mae made it 3-3 for UP Dangal winning the women’s 76kg bout against Punjab’s European Championships bronze medallist Cynthia Vescan 2-0.But Nitin Rathi made it 4-3 in Punjab’s favour by winning the men’s 57kg category bout against Amit Kumar on technical superiority after the score was tied at 2-2.Also Watch:
All eyes will be on India’s top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the Chennai Open ATP Challenger tennis tournament, which begins in Chennai on Monday. The Chennai left-hander has been given top billing in the 64-player singles draw, which has a fair sprinkling of players in the top-200 and Indians eyeing ATP points.India’s No.2 Ramkumar Ramanathan will not be featuring in the event as he will playing in a Challenger event in Budapest, Hungary.The 29-year old Gunneswaran is coming off a rather unsuccessful display against Italy in the Davis Cup Qualifier in Kolkata. He would be keen to make amends and head into the long season ahead possibly with a title.Gunneswaran did well to qualify for the Australian Open before falling to Frances Tiafoe in the first round and with his ranking hovering close to the 100-mark, a title-winning run here would prove to be a huge boost after the disappointing losses in the Davis Cup tie.The main challenge for the Indian Davis Cupper is expected to come from second-seed Corentin Moutet of France (ranked 143), the experienced Mohammed Safwat of Egypt (ranked 200), the number three seed and the fourth-seeded Italian Gianluca Mager (no.224).Australian James Duckworth and Korea’s Duckhee Lee, who are among the top eight seeds, will be aim for a strong run here.Gunneswaran has been handed a first-round bye and would open his campaign against the winner of the match between Daniel Nguyen (USA) and Daniel Altameir (Germany).Two other Indians — Saketh Myneni (11) and Sasi Kumar Mukund (16) also figure among the seeds.advertisementMyneni, who qualified for the ATP Tour event in Pune last month, will hope to shrug off injury woes and put up a good performance here.He got a first-round bye and faces the prospect of running into compatriot N Vijay Sundar Prashanth, who meets Spaniard Carlos Boluda-Purkiss in the opener.Myneni has paired up with Arjun Khade in the doubles and the third-seeded duo will hope to challenge for the top prize.Sasikumar Mukund, who has shown a lot of improvement in the past year and taken his ranking to 292, is seeded 16th. He will aim for a good showing and some vital points.The talented, young Sumit Nagal, who has not been at his best in recent times, will be trying to snap up wins and points along with a few other Indians in the fray including the reigning national champion Siddharth Vishwakarma and former national junior champ Manish Suresh Kumar.The singles winner gets USD 7,200 and 80 points while the runner-up receives USD 4,240 and 48 points.Also Watch:
It was a case of all their nightmares coming true at once for hapless Italian side Pro Piacenza as not only were they forced to play with seven players on Sunday but they were also thrashed 20-0 by Serie C rivals Cuneo.The club’s first team squad and coaching staff refused to travel for the game due to unpaid wages, leaving the financially troubled team to start the match with six teenagers and a 39-year-old physio — the minimum number required for a game to go ahead.Pro Piacenza were forced to play the game as they have already forfeited three league games this season and a fourth would have resulted in expulsion from the third tier.They were 16-0 down by halftime — with Cuneo’s Hicham Kanis scoring six times and Edoardo Defendi netting five, before conceding a further four goals after the interval.The Piacenza players who did take to the field included 19-year-old captain Nicola Cirigliano, who was also registered as the team’s coach for the day.The physio, who had his number taped to his back, was forced into action to ensure that at least seven players were on the field from Piacenza as one of the original seven teenagers selected to play had forgotten his identity papers.Piacenza’s numbers on the pitch were briefly bolstered to eight as the missing documentation was sent to the venue but it was not long before they were again down to seven players as the physio limped off injured.advertisementCuneo captain Fabiano Santacroce, who used to play for Napoli and Parma, was not amused with the events that took place on Sunday.”Today was a mockery of a match. There were kids, staff members… maybe a physio. This is the result,” the defender told RMC Sport.”As captain, before the match, I spoke with the guys and said to them not to mock the opposition. But they made us play in a game in these conditions and we played it, simply doing what we had to.”To be honest after half an hour I didn’t feel like taking part any more, it was a massacre.”Pro Piacenza were sold for a nominal one euro fee last year and are struggling with severe financial difficulties. They have picked up just eight points all season and sit rooted to the bottom of Serie C/A having started the campaign with an eight-point deduction.Also Watch:
Tax exemptions for future global events, broadcasting rights for the World Test Championship and capping participation in private T20 leagues are among the issues that will come up for discussion at the ICC quarterly meeting starting Wednesday.There are a host of meetings lined up beginning with the ICC Chief Executives Committee (CEC) meeting, where India will be represented by BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, and ending with the board meeting where acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary will be the country’s face.Following are some of the key issues that will come up for discussion1) Tax Exemption Impasse:One of the key issues will be tax exemption sought by the ICC for the future global events in India like the 2021 Champions Trophy and the 2023 World Cup. However, as per present rules, it is highly unlikely that the ICC will get any exemption and the deadlock is expected to continue, a BCCI official said.”ICC wants tax exemption as they want to spend that money for development of the game in new areas. That’s fine but there needs to be a discussion as to why they need tax exemption. They need an exemption on excise duties, primarily for importing production equipment,” a senior BCCI official privy to ICC working, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.”If they are demanding tax exemption for the producers (broadcasters), as far as we know, the liability is on the latter. ICC doesn’t have any tax liability as of now. Also if the event happens in India, ICC’s global events broadcast partner is Star and they have a full set up in India.advertisement”So the question arises as to why do they need tax exemptions. In any case, there are stipulated government rules which we cannot violate,” the BCCI official added.2) Broadcast issues related to the World Test Championship:The broadcast modalities for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship could be completely different from the usual events like World T20 and the ODI World Cup organised by the global body.In case of limited overs global events, there is one company that gets the broadcast rights and currently the ICC’s rights for the global event are with Star.However, the World Test Championship will be based on points accrued by teams based on results of bilateral series over a period of two years with the final slated to be held at the Lord’s in 2021.”Right now, ICC is the organiser of just one game and that is the World Test Championship final. All other matches are part of bilateral series and each country has its own official broadcaster. This is one issue that ICC will need to resolve,” a senior BCCI official said.ICC will look to thrash out the details about the broadcasting details for the mega event and the revenue sharing model.3) Cap on players’ representation in Private Leagues based on a survey:The ICC, in all likelihood, will put a cap on international players plying their trade in various private franchise after having done an internal survey.It is learnt that as per the survey, more than 95 percent of the international players play only one franchise league and that’s why the ICC won’t have a problem in putting a cap.”It is less than five percent players who ply their trades in two or more leagues. There can be obviously be a cap on maximum two or three leagues,” an ICC board member said.It is expected that West Indies players will be affected the most as most of their top players freelance across the globe.”There will also be discussion as to how many maximum overseas players should be allowed in one private league. The BCCI already has put a self-cap for teams but other leagues might be brought in the ambit.”However, in smaller countries like Afghanistan, there may be a need to have more quality overseas professionals unlike IPL or the Big Bash League,” the official said.4) Cricket in Los Angeles 2028 Olympics:Talks will continue on making T20 cricket a part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics but as of now, the ICC’s biggest impediment is India.The BCCI is not a registered National Sports Federation (NSF) under the Indian Olympic Association and it also doesn’t take government grants. The BCCI’s refusal to come under the IOA ambit is partly because of their reluctance to come under Right To Information (RTI) act.Also Read | Sanath Jayasuriya handed 2-year ban over breach of ICC anti-corruption codeAlso Read | ICC committee unlikely to discuss Pakistan boycott during Dubai meetadvertisement
The Indian cricket team will continue its experiments to figure out the final pieces of a jigsaw puzzle called the ‘World Cup squad’ when a five-match ODI series against Australia starts in Hyderabad on Saturday.The team is slowly moving into the World Cup mode and even a 0-2 loss in the just-concluded T20 series won’t see any shift in plans as far as skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri are concerned.There will be at least four players for whom the series will be like a ‘pre test’, a good score ensuring that they get ‘admit cards’ for the board exams.The four players in question are KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar and Siddarth Kaul, who are fighting for two available slots in that UK bound 15-member squad.One man who will be keenly tracking the developments from the sidelines will be Dinesh Karthik, who still, many believe, has an outside chance of making it to the team.What time does the 1st ODI between India vs Australia start?The 1st ODI between India and Australia starts at 01.30 PM IST on March 2, Saturday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.What TV channel and live stream is the 1st ODI between India and Australia Live Streaming on?Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD in English commentary and Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD in Hindi Commentary. Hotstar, JioTV and Airtel TV will live stream India vs Australia match.Where will the 1st ODI between India and Australia be played?advertisementThe 1st ODI between India and Australia will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad from 01.30 PM IST.Where can I watch India vs Australia 1st ODI live?The match will be shown in Star Sports network and can also be streamed on hotstar.com.Where can I check the online live updates of the India vs Australia 1st ODI?You can follow our ball-by-ball-updates of the match between India vs Australia from our live blog on indiatoday.in/sports.What are the squads for the 1st ODI between India and Australia?India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant, Siddarth Kaul, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja.Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), D’Arcy Short, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins, Andrew Tye, Nathan Coulter-NileAlso Watch:
After facing flak from fans the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has been forced to change the colour scheme of its team’s main World Cup jersey, adding red to the all-green kit the players had posed in.The BCB, according to a ESPNCricinfo report, approached the ICC to get the nod to make the change.The Bangladesh national flag has a red circle on a green background and when the jersey was released initially, social media went into a tizzy with fans criticising the thought process behind the design.”After the jersey unveiling yesterday, I sat with the board directors to look at the jersey again,” BCB president Nazmul Hassan was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.”Someone spotted the lack of red in the jersey. We have now decided to add the red to our jersey.””Initially, it was the ICC who told us not to have the red in our jersey,” Hassan said adding: “We have a separate jersey, completely red (with white lettering), for some of the other games.”The new jersey has a red patch along the middle of the shirt with the team’s name written on it in white.”We have usually had red and green in our jerseys over the years but there were times when we didn’t have the red,” Hassan said.”I remember it was yellow and green during the 1999 World Cup and the 2000 Asia Cup. We have, in the past, also left to an open competition to design the jersey, but since this is an ICC event, we had to send them the design for their approval,” he added.advertisementAlso Read | Will take call on MS Dhoni’s participation against Delhi Wednesday: FlemingAlso Read | Will miss you: SRH after David Warner leaves for Australia’s World Cup campAlso See
World number one Naomi Osaka lost in three sets to unseeded Swiss Belinda Bencic in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Thursday as Simona Halep, Sloane Stephens and Kiki Bertens completed the final four line-up.Osaka, 21, admitted she over-thought about the need to win the match in order to retain her ranking at the top of the women’s game as she went down 3-6 6-2 7-5.The 21-year-old Japanese was a break up in the final set against Bencic, but was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 as the wind swirled despite the blue skies in the Spanish capital.”People have been telling me that if I get to the semis I stay at number one so I wanted to do that,” Osaka said.”I wanted to do that and was thinking about it while I was playing, which wasn’t a good thing. I play my best when I’m calm and today I wasn’t, so that’s the biggest thing I can learn.”Bencic will face two-times Madrid champion Halep in the last four after the Romanian beat ninth seed Ashleigh Barty 7-5 7-5.If Halep wins the tournament she will replace Osaka at the top of the WTA rankings heading into the French Open.Stephens comfortably saw off Croatian Petra Martic 6-4 6-3 to set up a semi-final with Bertens after the Dutch seventh seed stunned world number two Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-3 in Thursday’s late match under the floodlights.Also Read | Federer advances to quarter-final after 1200th career winadvertisement