Vijay Hazare Trophy | Rishi puts Himachal in maiden final
The Hindu
His all-round performance helps the team ease past Services
Rishi Dhawan continued to sizzle with the bat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as his all-round show at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Friday helped Himachal Pradesh secure a berth in the final.
Prashant Chopra (78, 109b, 4x4, 3x6) played the anchor while Dhawan (84, 7b, 9x4, 1x6) provided the much-needed acceleration in the business end to bury Services under a mountain of runs. A disciplined effort with the ball — led by Rishi’s four for 27 — was enough for a 77-run win.
Unlike most of the Olympic-bound athletes, who opt to train abroad before the big event, boxer Amit Panghal prefers training in home conditions prior to Paris 2024. A former World championships silver medallist and a World No. 1, Panghal won the 51kg quota place in the only chance he got. He wants to follow his own plans to script success in Paris.
The other men’s semifinal Friday is Norway’s Casper Ruud, twice the runner-up in Paris — to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and to Novak Djokovic in 2023 — against Germany’s Alexander Zverev, a finalist at the 2020 U.S. Open, an Olympic gold medalist and into the final four at Roland Garros for the fourth consecutive year.