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The fall of early wickets in the UK and Ireland did not give middle order batters like him the license to go all guns blazing from the get go, said India T20 vice-captain Tilak Varma on Tuesday, insisting that his play is based on conditions and match situations. Ahead of the first T20 against Zimbabwe on Thursday, Tilak was asked about the team's winless run in Ireland and England, its first tour after wining the T20 World Cup at home. Tilak's approach against slow bowlers too was questioned besides his strike rate though he did make a 25-ball 53 in the final T20 at Southampton.

"In this game, you have to bat in different places, and especially in such conditions, it's not easy. At the same point, I always say that I do whatever is required for the team. If I have to play the waiting game for the team, then I will play accordingly. If I have to hit, then I hit and play. "So at that time, in the conditions of the team, if you look at it, from Ireland to England, you always had four or five wickets falling in the power play. So going there and hitting and getting out, it doesn't make a lot of sense." turconews.click

While he wants to attack from the word 'go', Tilak insisted that at times, he needs to show a bit of discretion. "So that's what I always have in my mind, that I can go and hit the first ball. But at the same point, I'm playing for the country, so there are a lot of responsibilities. "When you have a vice-captaincy attached your name, team must have given me that after due deliberation. So I want to take the same responsibilities that the management gives me, so I'm playing according to that," said Tilak.

Talking more about the defeats in the UK and Ireland, Tilak said the performance was down to the team not adapting to the conditions after playing majority of cricket in Asia over the past couple of years. "Honestly, if you see, Shreyas bhai is leading a successful team right now. So, of course, there will be responsibilities and expectations. At the same point, there were different conditions in Ireland. If you look at the last two years, we played more matches in Asia."

"And after two years, we came straight to the overseas conditions, that too good side. England is a very good side. We all saw how they played in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup.So, of course, it will be challenging to play in good conditions on the good side," said Tilak. Tilak expects Zimbabwe to come hard at them. Unlike last time, India are fielding a near full strength squad.

"Zimbabwe is also a very good team. They are a very competitive team. And you see last year when we started the series, they won the first game. We expect them to come hard at us." On the conditions, he added: "As you can see, the wickets were good last time around. So I was talking to them, because when we played in Zimbabwe last year, our junior team came in. So at that time, almost a lot of people from that team are still here.

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"So I was talking to them (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi) about how the wicket will behave. At the same point, again, we have played two series, Ireland and England. So if you look at the ground, the dimensions are very big, and it's windy and the conditions are cool. It would be an advantage having played here."

131.85
Tilak Varma’s strike-rate in the last two T20I series (vs Ireland and England), compared to 145.54 before that

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Rohan Chowdhury

India’s historic lawn bowls gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022 was one of the biggest stories of the Games. Four years later, the sport has undergone a remarkable transformation in India, according to Ravi Bengani, President of the Bowling Federation of India and Deputy Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Speaking ahead of the Games, Bengani reflected on how Birmingham changed the perception of the sport, improved the lives of athletes and laid the foundation for a stronger grassroots structure.

“Leaps and bounds”: How Birmingham transformed Indian lawn bowls

For Bengani, there is little doubt that the watershed moment in Birmingham altered the trajectory of the sport in India.

“The sport has developed by leaps and bounds, really leaps and bounds,” he said.

“The boost which we got in Birmingham has helped us reshape our sport and place us in a zone where now we are not scared of anyone. We know it’s possible for us to win against anybody.”

That belief, he says, is now one of the team’s biggest strengths.

“With that kind of confidence, and with a team brimming with self-esteem, we know that at any point of the day we can defeat anybody. The only thing we need now is consistency.”

To ensure that the players continue to progress, the federation has expanded its support system beyond technical training.

“We have worked really hard this time. We brought in specialists to counsel our players and make them mentally much stronger than before.”

The emphasis has been on a three-pronged approach.

“We focused on fitness, practice and mental strengthening.”

Success beyond the greens

The impact of the Birmingham Games, Bengani says, extends far beyond medals.

Government recognition, promotions and prestigious honours have changed the lives of several members of the historic squad.

“It has brought massive changes,” he said. “One of our players started in a very junior government position and has received multiple promotions since then. She went on to win the Arjuna Award.”

He also pointed to another player who now serves in a senior civil administration role in her home state, while another member of the gold medal-winning team continues to balance family life with her sporting ambitions.

“It has changed the lives of everybody involved in this great journey.”

Why lawn bowls suits India

Bengani believes India possesses natural strengths that make lawn bowls an ideal sport for sustained international success.

He credited his father with taking the sport beyond its traditional home at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club and expanding it across the country.

“My father should be credited for spreading this game in India. Earlier, it was largely confined to the bowling section of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. He had the vision to take it across the country.”

According to Bengani, India’s competitive advantage lies not in physicality but in mental attributes.

“He always believed this game is ideally suited for Indians. We may not have the physical strength of some of our Western counterparts, but we have focus and IQ, and those qualities are extremely important in lawn bowls.”

States driving the sport forward

The growth of lawn bowls is no longer limited to a handful of traditional centres. While India historically relied on eight strong states, Bengani says the competitive landscape has widened considerably.

“Now we have at least 14 states knocking on the door and threatening to replace those traditional strongholds.”

He highlighted Uttarakhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab as among the fastest-growing regions in the sport.

One state, however, remains an exception.

“Bengal has unfortunately not progressed the way it should have. I’ll be frank. The game has not really gone beyond the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, and that’s something we seriously need to address.”

The next frontier: Schools

Despite the progress, Bengani believes grassroots development remains incomplete.

Introducing lawn bowls into schools is the federation’s next major objective. “That is something we really need to work on, and I promise we will focus on it immediately after these Commonwealth Games.”

A bigger player base

India currently has more than 2,000 registered lawn bowls players, a figure Bengani considers healthy given the sport’s relatively niche status.

But he expects another successful Commonwealth Games campaign to trigger another wave of growth. “We have more than 2,000 registered players now,” he said.

“After our team comes back with another strong performance, if not two extra zeros, you can certainly add one more zero to that figure.”

The players for CWG 2026:

Putul Sonowal – Men’s singles

Nayanmoni Saikia – Women’s singles

Navneet Singh and Dinesh Kumar – Men’s pairs

Rupa Rani Tirkey and Pinki Singh – Women’s pairs

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The post Beyond Birmingham: Ravi Bengani on the next chapter of Indian lawn bowls appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.

2026 કોમનવેલ્થ ગેમ્સ સ્કોટલેન્ડના ગ્લાસગોમાં 23 જુલાઈથી 2 ઓગસ્ટ દરમિયાન યોજાશે.ગ્લાસગોએ અગાઉ 2014માં કોમનવેલ્થ ગેમ્સનું આયોજન કર્યું હતું.આ વર્ષે 74 દેશોના આશરે 3,000 રમતવીરો 11 દિવસીય રમતોમાં ભાગ લેશે,જેમાં ભારતના 126 રમતવીરો મેડલ માટે સ્પર્ધા કરશે.જોકે 2026 ગ્લાસગો કોમનવેલ્થ ગેમ્સ શરૂ થાય તે પહેલાં,ભારતીય બોક્સિંગ ટીમને મોટી કટોકટીનો સામનો કરવો પડ્યો છે.બેલફાસ્ટમાં તાલીમ શિબિર પૂર્ણ કરીને ગ્લાસગો પહોંચેલી 22 સભ્યોની ભારતીય બોક્સિંગ ટીમનો લગભગ અડધો સામાન બેલફાસ્ટ એરપોર્ટ પર છોડી દેવામાં આવ્યો છે.

ભારતીય બોક્સિંગ ટીમનો સામાન થયો ગયો

ગુમ થયેલ બેગમાં ખેલાડીઓની તાલીમ કીટ, તેમજ ગુરુવારના ઉદ્ઘાટન સમારોહ માટે સત્તાવાર અને ઔપચારિક ગણવેશનો સમાવેશ થાય છે.ભારતીય ટુકડીના સભ્યોના જણાવ્યા અનુસાર,બેલફાસ્ટથી ગ્લાસગો જતું વિમાન ખૂબ નાનું હતું,જેના કારણે બધો સામાન એકસાથે લોડ થઈ શક્યો નહીં.જે ખેલાડીઓનો સામાન પાછળ રહી ગયો હતો તેમાં વિશ્વ ચેમ્પિયન જાસ્મીન લંબોરિયા,સાક્ષી ચૌધરી,પરવીન હુડા,જદુમણી સિંહ,કપિલ પોખરિયા અને પુરુષોના મુખ્ય કોચ સી.કુટ્ટપ્પાનો સમાવેશ થાય છે.

આવી બેદરકારીનો બીજો બનાવ

આશ્ચર્યજનક રીતે, ભારતીય બોક્સિંગ ટીમ સાથે સંકળાયેલી આવી બેદરકારીનો આ બીજો બનાવ છે. આ મહિનાની શરૂઆતમાં જ્યારે ટીમ દોહાથી બેલફાસ્ટ માટે રવાના થઈ ત્યારે એરલાઇન્સ દ્વારા પણ આવી જ બેદરકારીની જાણ કરવામાં આવી હતી. વધુમાં, ટીમ મેનેજમેન્ટે બીજી ખામી અંગે ચિંતા વ્યક્ત કરી છે. મહિલા બોક્સિંગ કોચ મંદાકિની ચાનુને અન્ય બોક્સરોની જેમ જ હોટલમાં રૂમ ફાળવવામાં આવ્યો નથી, જેના કારણે કોચ અને રમતવીરો વચ્ચે સંકલન કરવામાં મુશ્કેલીઓ ઊભી થઈ રહી છે.

શુક્રવારથી સ્પર્ધાઓ શરૂ થશે

કોમનવેલ્થ ગેમ્સમાં બોક્સિંગ સ્પર્ધાઓ શુક્રવારથી શરૂ થવાની છે. આવી સ્થિતિમાં, ભારતીય ટીમને આશા છે કે પ્રેક્ટિસ અને તૈયારીઓ ગતિ પકડે તે પહેલાં તેમનો બચેલો સામાન ગ્લાસગો સુરક્ષિત રીતે પહોંચી જશે, જેથી ખેલાડીઓ કોઈપણ માનસિક તાણ વિના તેમનું અભિયાન શરૂ કરી શકે.

આ પણ વાંચો - Hockey વર્લ્ડ કપ માટે ભારતીય ટીમની જાહેરાત,જાણો કોને મળ્યું સ્થાન