Facts about the "Flying Sikh" Milkha Singh

Milkha Singh is a former Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He was the only Indian athlete to win an individual athletics gold medal at a Commonwealth Games until Krishna Poonia won the discus gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

He used to walk a distance of 10 km barefoot everyday from his home to a village school in Pakistan.

During the communal riots that followed the Indo-Pak partition, Milkha lost his parents at a tender age of 12. It was then he ran for his life and came to India.

He wanted to join the Indian Army, but was rejected thrice. He never gave up and got selected in his fourth attempt, when he had enrolled himself in the engineering department.

In 1951, when he joined in Secundrabad at the EME Centre. It was here that his talent as an athlete was discovered.

During the 1958 Asian Games, he won a gold medal for both 200m and 400m race with a clocking time of 21.6 sec and 47 sec respectively.

At the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games, he won a gold medal in 400m with a clocking time of 46.16 sec. It was here that Milkha became the first to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games from Independent India.

Unfortunately, Milkha lost the bronze in the final 1960 Olympic race by just 0.1 sec.

In 1962, Milkha Singh defeated Abdul Khaliq, the fastest Pakistani runner and it was then that he was sobriquet the title of “The Flying Sikh” by Pakistani General, Ayub Kahn.

He sold his biography to Mehra,the Producer and Director of ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, only for Re. 1.

In 2001, Milkha Singh declined the prestigious “Arjuna Award”, saying it came ‘40 years too late’.

Facts about The Turbanator "Harbhajan Singh".

Harbhajan Singh is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of IPL team Mumbai Indians and Punjab state for the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy season. A specialist spin bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner, behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

He was just 18 years-old when he started his International career, He played his first Test match against Australia where he scored 4 not out and a duck, and recorded the modest match figures of 2/136 as Australia won the match by eight wickets.

He is the first Indian to take a hat-trick in Test cricket in 2001.

He was banned twice in his career, In 2008, he was banned by the ICC and was charged for racial insult towards Andrew Symonds.

In 2008, he was banned from the first IPL after slapping Sreesanth.

In 2003 he was awarded Arjuna Award and in 2009 he was conferred the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour.

He became the first no. 8 batsman to score back-to-back Test centuries.

On 29 october 2015, Harbhajan Singh got married to bollywood actress Geeta Basra in Jalandar, Punjab.

12 Unknown Facts About "The Hero of 2011 World Cup" Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh is one of the best ODI crickters India has produced in recent times. At his best, there is no player on the planet that you would rather than this stylish left-hander from Punjab. That silky flick through the on-side, that slap through mid-wicket that he plays with disdain, Yuvraj’s high bat-lift makes his game even more pleasant to watch.

1. Yuvraj Singh father Yograj Singh is a former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie actor.

2. Yuvraj Singh is the only Indian crickter after Sachin Tendulkar to have been signed by English county Yorkshire, an honor few overseas players are bestowed upon.

3. Yuvraj Singh was signed by Microsoft as a brand ambassador when the Xbox 360 video game console was launched in the Indian market way back in 2006.

4. He was an avid roller-skater as a child, and has also won the National Under-14 Roller Skating Championship.

5. Why does Yuvraj Singh wear the No. 12 shirt? He wears the jersey with number 12, since his birth date is on 12th of December which is also the 12th month of the year. Yuvi considers 12 to be his lucky number. Moreover, he also wears a black thread on his wrist when he comes in to play.

6. Yuvraj Singh is a huge Sachin fan since childhood. Yuvraj Singh cherishes those moments he spent on the crease with the master blaster, and rates that test in Chennai in 2008 when he had a crucial partnership with Sachin to win India the match as one of his greatest cricketing moments.

7. Yuvraj Singh used to study at Chandigarh’s DAV School. The Southpaw had the maximum attendance on the cricket pitch though, and it is said that Yuvraj broke a sign of the school’s name which used to be on the school’s wall with a barrage of huge sixes. Quite the naughty lad, eh?

8. When he was 7 years old, he kept insisting his mother to buy him a bicycle. When she finally agreed, Yuvraj Singh jammed the bicycle onto a rickshaw on the very first ride and ended up with 10 STITCHES.

9. When one of Yuvraj Singh’s friends brought an air gun when they were young, and nobody could figure out how it worked, Yuvi took the matter into his own hands and accidently shot his friend in the stomach! Thankfully no damage was done!

10. We all have heard about Yuvraj Singh’s battle with cancer, but did you know that Yuvraj Singh was diagnosed with a rare germ cell cancer between his lungs, for which he underwent three cycles of chemotheraphy in the United States.

11. Yuvraj Singh has also done a Bollywood animated movie ‘Jumbo’. Yuvraj did a voice over in the movie produced by Akshay Kumar.

12. Yuvraj Singh has started a great initiative with ‘YouWeCan’, with which he plans to help cancer patients in their treatment. Excellent work Yuvi!

Facts about the Future Star of Indian women's Cricket "Smriti Mandhana"

Smriti Mandhana is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian women's cricket team. The 20-year old Mumbai-girl has already got a century in the ongoing Women’s World Cup, apart from a well-made 90 against hosts England. She has been in the circuit for four years now, since she made her debut in 2013 against Bangladesh. She has also played a couple of Tests which is a rarity in women’s cricket.

In 2013, she scored an unbeaten 224 off 150 balls in the West Zone Under-19 Tournament.

She made her ODI debut at the age of 17 and her Test Debut at the age of 18.

She is the only Indian player to feature in the ICC women’s team of the year in 2016.

Smriti Mandhana is the Youngest Indian woman to score a 50 in T20I cricket.

In 2016, Mandhana was signed up for a one-year deal with Brisbane Heat for the Women's Big Bash League.

She was selected to play for Maharashtra U-19 at the age of just 11. She also happens to be the youngest Indian to score a hundred in senior level cricket. She scored that hundred in Australia at the age of 16, she scored 102 off 109 balls in a losing cause.

10 Interesting and unknown facts about "The Jumbo" Anil Kumble

When one talks about India’s greatest match winners in the past 2-3 decades, the first name which pops up is perhaps Sachin Tendulkar. But unanimously, Anil Kumble comes a close second, ahead of even the likes of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. Ignoring the stats, it is his ability to get crucial breakthroughs when things seem bleak was one of the most revered qualities of Anil Kumble.

Steaming in like a medium pacer, Kumble was not the greatest turner of the ball. But even the most subtle of variations is enough to make a difference, and that differentiated him from two other giant spinners of international bowling during his time- Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Let's take a look at 10 Interesting and unknown facts about "The Jumbo" Anil Kumble:

1. Anil Kumble was born to K N Krishna Swamy and Saroja and is married to Chethana Ramatheertha. He married Chethana after her divorce and has a son Mayas and two daughters Aaruni and Svasti from Chethana’s previous marriage.

2. Kumble went to Holy Saint English School and completed his schooling from National High School in Bangalore. He didn’t let cricket disrupt his graduation and completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering.

3. All Kumble wanted to do in his childhood was to play cricket. ‘Jumbo’ joined Young Cricketers club at a tender age of 13.

4. The achievement of taking 10 wickets in an innings was commemorated by naming a traffic circle in Bangalore after him.

5. He was named Jumbo by his teammates not just because he was a tough bowler to face but also because his feet are quite big.

6. Kumble held the record of taking his first 50 wickets in only 10 matches, which was later broken by Ravichandran Ashwin who performed the feat in 9 matches.

7. Kumble as a batsman proved that he was a match winner for India by adding 52 runs for the ninth wicket and helping the team chase the target of 216 runs in the 'Titan Cup' against Australia, along with Javagal Srinath in October 1996.

8. The 45-year-old is the 3rd highest wicket taker in the history of Test cricket after Shane Watson and Muttiah Muralitharan. He is the 2nd Indian bowler to capture 400 Test wickets after Kapil Dev.

9. Kumble was bestowed with the prestigious Arjuna Award in 1995. He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the year in the year 1996. The Government of India presented ‘Jumbo’ with the Padma Shri in 2005.

10. He is only the 2nd bowler after England‘s Jim Laker to scalp all 10 wickets in a test innings. The 10 for 74 against Pakistan at the Feroze Shah Kotla in 1998 is hailed as the second best “Bowling performance of all time” by Wisden.

Facts about "The Haryana Hurricane" Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev is a former Indian cricketer, often considered one of the greatest cricketers of India. He captained the Indian cricket team which won the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002. Kapil Dev is considered as one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. He was also India's national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.

Kapil Dev was never run out in his in 184 Test innings long career.

Kapil Dev was the youngest Test player to achieve the all-round double of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs.

Kapil Dev never missed a Test because of injury or fitness reasons in a career that spanned 131 tests spread over 16 years.

On his First class debut for Haryana in November 1975, Kapil took a six-wicket and restrained Punjab for 63 runs. Kapil completed his First class debut season (1975-76) with 121 wickets in 30 matches.

303 runs, 12 wickets and 7 catches in 8 matches – this was Kapil Dev’s statistics in the 1983 World Cup. His 175 run knock against zimbabwe saved team India from being eliminated at quarter finals stage.

He was appointed coach of the Indian national cricket team in 1999, succeeding Anshuman Gaekwad. He had a rather ordinary stint as India’s coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.

Facts about the "Flying Sikh" Milkha Singh

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