Don't rule out any formats: Anand's message to players
Even as chess' elite have never had it this good in terms of invites, it has kind of led to a debate on whether this is unsustainable in terms of preparation, giving adequate time for training and so on.
Viswanathan Anand, who mixed Blitz and Rapid with the rigours of Classical when he was a fully active player on the circuit, said he found no issues with it. "The simplest way to say it is that they shouldn't rule out any format mentally," the five-time world champion told select media on the sidelines of the fourth day of the Chennai Grand Masters. "In a sense, you don't probably have good results in all the formats, in all the years but I don't think you're assured of one format either. I mean Gukesh has had a bad Classical (meet) in Romania, for instance. I think when one misfires, you should be able to compete in the other. So, you should try to be competitive in all. Maybe you won't succeed, but it's worth it."
Anand himself is no stranger to adapting to times like this. Even if he has stopped playing Classical chess for all practical purposes, the five-time world champion has faced off against Argentina's Faustino Oro (nicknamed Chessi), the 11-year-old said to have a big future. When asked if he saw himself as playing a lot of one-off exhibition tournaments like that, he said: "No, I dont see myself settling in for one genre. Having made the point that, I should try to be good at other formats. I should follow it myself."
Never short of a quip or two, the FIDE administrator was firmly tongue in cheek when replying to a query on the kind of advice he would give Gukesh to ensure the latter levels don't drop. "I think 'mera pass panch hai (I have five titles) is a good starting point," he said with a smile. "I think he knows what to do.
"Sport is evolving very fast, new formats, new things. I think the only thing I can do is if they ask, I can describe how I faced a certain situation and then it would be their job to convert that. We are not comparing the same thing anymore."
Sunday's results (Round 4)
Masters: Karthikeyan Murali bt Jorden van Foreest, Ray Robson drew with Awonder Liang, Nihal Sarin bt Arjun Erigaisi, V Pranav drew with Vidit Gujrathi, Vincent Keymer drew with Anish Giri. Challengers: Diptayan Ghosh bt GB Harshavardhan, P Iniyan bt Aryan Chopra, Adhiban Baskaran drew with M Pranesh, Leon Mendonca bt D Harika, Abhimanyu Puranik bt R Vaishali.
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India Today
32 minutes ago
- India Today
Brothers of Destruction: How the relay team is driving India's athletics revolution
The Brothers of Destruction are leading India's athletics revolution (Courtesy: Reliance Foundation) India is seeing an athletics revolution The 4 fastest sprinters are constantly pushing each other James Hillier gives a behind-the-scenes insight to India Today On a humid Sunday evening in Odisha, a dejected Lalu Bhoi walked up to the press after finishing fourth in the men's 100m sprint. The local boy, who hoped to be in the medal standings, missed the podium by 0.04 seconds, having clocked 10.54 in the 1st Indian Continental Tour. The result wasn't the end of the world. Lalu said that he had a tremendous bunch of people around him, who always lent a hand when things got difficult. 'Amlan, Gurindervir, Manikanta, they treat me like their brother. I am doing well (PB 10.34), they tell me that if we do not push each other, then who will? And they tell me that I will also get to the top level, and they will help me get there.' The words from Lalu give a reflection of an incredible value system that has been built by coaches James Hillier and Martin Owens at the Reliance Foundation. The top four sprinters â€' Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain â€' have broken each other's records in the race to become India's fastest man. Young Animesh is at the top of the pile right now, having beaten Gurindervir's record at the Dromia meet in Greece. And now he has a target on his back. He cannot sit back and bask in his glory. The Making of Brothers of Destruction Sprinting is an intense competition. It is an ancient sport that brings out the primal instincts of a man. In 10 seconds or less, you put every single muscle of your body in unison, under intense pressure. When you hear the clap, you get out of the box as fast as you can, and then you run, run and run. It is each man to their own, and it is rare that you find friends on the track in such a hostile environment. When they are on their own, they are Animesh, Guri, Mani, and Amlan, but together, they become the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers of Destruction constantly push themselves to get better on the track (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) Their camaraderie is more than a nickname. That bond extends off the track as well, one that has been carefully nurtured inside the high-performance environment of the Reliance Foundation. In Indian sprinting, where most breakthroughs have been individual, this quartet has found something different: identity, rhythm, and trust, together. At the 2025 National Relay Carnival in Chandigarh, they broke the long-standing national record from the 2010 Commonwealth Games (38.89s), clocking a blistering 38.69 seconds. 'You know, they are four great young people. They really are. They're real role models now, and becoming more and more important in the country,' James Hillier, the Athletics Director of the foundation told India Today in an exclusive interview. Hillier directly oversees the 4x100m squad. In competitions, once they run their individual events, they have to quickly make a shift in mentality to race the 4x100. That shift in mentality cannot happen without chemistry, says Hillier. 'The camaraderie is very important. And the chemistry as well. You need to know where exactly the baton is going to be. The first leg runner needs to tell the second leg runner where exactly the hand needs to be. So we start creating leaders in the team. So you know, I might be the head coach, but I need them to be coached by each other,' Hillier says. There are examples of national disasters in the relay event. The teams from the USA and Great Britain have consistently been affected by the lack of chemistry, despite having four of their best sprinters on track. Hillier says that members of the US and GB teams used to dislike each other in the mid-2000s and 2010s, which significantly impacted their performances on the track. 'When Britain won the 4x100m relay in the 2017 World Championships, they did it without Reece Prescod, their fastest runner. He was not buying into the culture, so they kicked him out of the relay.' When there is no chemistry, there are no results. The glaring example of that is the USA team who had a string of failures through 2004–2021, nearly two decades. USA Men's Team in Olympics 2004 Athens: A clumsy exchange left the US men in silver behind Team GB. 2008 Beijing: US dropped the baton, failed to advance beyond the heats. 2012 London: US finished second but were later disqualified for a doping offense. 2016 Rio: US botched the baton exchange and were disqualified. 2021 Tokyo: Once again a clumsy exchange led to them getting knocked out in the heats. It got so bad in the US, that legendary Carl Lewis snapped and asked the system to be blown up. Driving the Athletics Revolution of India For an emerging country like India, they cannot afford for this to happen. The quartet have been able to bring the athletics revolution in the country, and one bad event can push that progress back by years. 'With relay, it is not about the 4 fastest athletes, it is about the four guys who are together the fastest. You could pick the four fastest in a team, and then the four who have better chemistry. The ones with better chemistry will win.' The camaraderie has also helped the four athletes push each other to the limit. And it's not just unity and baton chemistry that's evolved â€' raw speed has too. In Pics: How Odisha aced the 1st Indian Continental Tour When James came to India and joined the Reliance Foundation in 2019, the top athletes in India were running 10.5. Earlier, the benchmark of a good sprint runner was seen as 10.5, and if you were running 10.3 and 10.4, you were seen as a hero. If you ran 10.2, then invariably, you had the national record. Hillier remembers a time when '10.5 was a big deal,' but now, 'guys no one's even heard of' are running 10.2. 'You know Pranav won the Fed Cup. Everyone was thinking that the three Reliance boys will come in the top 3, but the question was in which order, but then Pranav came out of nowhere and won it.' 'Now people are running 10.2, and soon you will see them running 10.1,' Hillier stressed. The Briton is no less than a visionary. He had predicted way back that a javelin revolution would come to India with Neeraj Chopra. And it did. India now has several stars who throw 80+ meters. The latest entrant in that club is 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare from Maharashtra, who clinched the second spot in the recently concluded Indian Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar. James Hilliers considers all four men to be his favourites (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) James states that India's athletics revolution is here, and it is these four athletes â€' Animesh, Guri, Amlan and Manikanta â€' who are driving it. 'They are all my favourites you know, and they all piss me off,' jokes Hillier. 'They are good guys you know. There is good banter. Amlan now winds up Animesh because he won the bronze in World University Games. He has the bragging rights now. But then Animesh winds him up back, saying that I broke your record,' Hillier concluded. If things go according to plan, the Brothers of Destruction are likely to be one of the medal favourites in the 2026 Asian Games. Their best 38.69s would have secured them the bronze in the previous edition of the competition. But James is slightly conservative about that. Hope is cruel. It kills. But medal or no medal, one thing cannot be taken away. It is the fact that Indian athletics is already seeing the ripple effects of the brilliance of this quartet, who are striving to reach a common goal, leaving their egos and inhibitions behind. They all want to be the 'top dog' as Hillier says, but they also share the common goal of taking India to the peak on the world stage. We don't know if these four will be the ones to do it â€' to stand on the Olympic podium â€' but someday, someone will. And when they do, they'll owe it to the men who turned hope into a system. Not just runners, but builders. Not just a team, but brothers. On a humid Sunday evening in Odisha, a dejected Lalu Bhoi walked up to the press after finishing fourth in the men's 100m sprint. The local boy, who hoped to be in the medal standings, missed the podium by 0.04 seconds, having clocked 10.54 in the 1st Indian Continental Tour. The result wasn't the end of the world. Lalu said that he had a tremendous bunch of people around him, who always lent a hand when things got difficult. 'Amlan, Gurindervir, Manikanta, they treat me like their brother. I am doing well (PB 10.34), they tell me that if we do not push each other, then who will? And they tell me that I will also get to the top level, and they will help me get there.' The words from Lalu give a reflection of an incredible value system that has been built by coaches James Hillier and Martin Owens at the Reliance Foundation. The top four sprinters â€' Animesh Kujur, Gurindervir Singh, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain â€' have broken each other's records in the race to become India's fastest man. Young Animesh is at the top of the pile right now, having beaten Gurindervir's record at the Dromia meet in Greece. And now he has a target on his back. He cannot sit back and bask in his glory. The Making of Brothers of Destruction Sprinting is an intense competition. It is an ancient sport that brings out the primal instincts of a man. In 10 seconds or less, you put every single muscle of your body in unison, under intense pressure. When you hear the clap, you get out of the box as fast as you can, and then you run, run and run. It is each man to their own, and it is rare that you find friends on the track in such a hostile environment. When they are on their own, they are Animesh, Guri, Mani, and Amlan, but together, they become the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers of Destruction constantly push themselves to get better on the track (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) Their camaraderie is more than a nickname. That bond extends off the track as well, one that has been carefully nurtured inside the high-performance environment of the Reliance Foundation. In Indian sprinting, where most breakthroughs have been individual, this quartet has found something different: identity, rhythm, and trust, together. At the 2025 National Relay Carnival in Chandigarh, they broke the long-standing national record from the 2010 Commonwealth Games (38.89s), clocking a blistering 38.69 seconds. 'You know, they are four great young people. They really are. They're real role models now, and becoming more and more important in the country,' James Hillier, the Athletics Director of the foundation told India Today in an exclusive interview. Hillier directly oversees the 4x100m squad. In competitions, once they run their individual events, they have to quickly make a shift in mentality to race the 4x100. That shift in mentality cannot happen without chemistry, says Hillier. 'The camaraderie is very important. And the chemistry as well. You need to know where exactly the baton is going to be. The first leg runner needs to tell the second leg runner where exactly the hand needs to be. So we start creating leaders in the team. So you know, I might be the head coach, but I need them to be coached by each other,' Hillier says. There are examples of national disasters in the relay event. The teams from the USA and Great Britain have consistently been affected by the lack of chemistry, despite having four of their best sprinters on track. Hillier says that members of the US and GB teams used to dislike each other in the mid-2000s and 2010s, which significantly impacted their performances on the track. 'When Britain won the 4x100m relay in the 2017 World Championships, they did it without Reece Prescod, their fastest runner. He was not buying into the culture, so they kicked him out of the relay.' When there is no chemistry, there are no results. The glaring example of that is the USA team who had a string of failures through 2004–2021, nearly two decades. USA Men's Team in Olympics 2004 Athens: A clumsy exchange left the US men in silver behind Team GB. 2008 Beijing: US dropped the baton, failed to advance beyond the heats. 2012 London: US finished second but were later disqualified for a doping offense. 2016 Rio: US botched the baton exchange and were disqualified. 2021 Tokyo: Once again a clumsy exchange led to them getting knocked out in the heats. It got so bad in the US, that legendary Carl Lewis snapped and asked the system to be blown up. Driving the Athletics Revolution of India For an emerging country like India, they cannot afford for this to happen. The quartet have been able to bring the athletics revolution in the country, and one bad event can push that progress back by years. 'With relay, it is not about the 4 fastest athletes, it is about the four guys who are together the fastest. You could pick the four fastest in a team, and then the four who have better chemistry. The ones with better chemistry will win.' The camaraderie has also helped the four athletes push each other to the limit. And it's not just unity and baton chemistry that's evolved â€' raw speed has too. In Pics: How Odisha aced the 1st Indian Continental Tour When James came to India and joined the Reliance Foundation in 2019, the top athletes in India were running 10.5. Earlier, the benchmark of a good sprint runner was seen as 10.5, and if you were running 10.3 and 10.4, you were seen as a hero. If you ran 10.2, then invariably, you had the national record. Hillier remembers a time when '10.5 was a big deal,' but now, 'guys no one's even heard of' are running 10.2. 'You know Pranav won the Fed Cup. Everyone was thinking that the three Reliance boys will come in the top 3, but the question was in which order, but then Pranav came out of nowhere and won it.' 'Now people are running 10.2, and soon you will see them running 10.1,' Hillier stressed. The Briton is no less than a visionary. He had predicted way back that a javelin revolution would come to India with Neeraj Chopra. And it did. India now has several stars who throw 80+ meters. The latest entrant in that club is 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare from Maharashtra, who clinched the second spot in the recently concluded Indian Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar. James Hilliers considers all four men to be his favourites (Image Credit: Reliance Foundation) James states that India's athletics revolution is here, and it is these four athletes â€' Animesh, Guri, Amlan and Manikanta â€' who are driving it. 'They are all my favourites you know, and they all piss me off,' jokes Hillier. 'They are good guys you know. There is good banter. Amlan now winds up Animesh because he won the bronze in World University Games. He has the bragging rights now. But then Animesh winds him up back, saying that I broke your record,' Hillier concluded. If things go according to plan, the Brothers of Destruction are likely to be one of the medal favourites in the 2026 Asian Games. Their best 38.69s would have secured them the bronze in the previous edition of the competition. But James is slightly conservative about that. Hope is cruel. It kills. But medal or no medal, one thing cannot be taken away. It is the fact that Indian athletics is already seeing the ripple effects of the brilliance of this quartet, who are striving to reach a common goal, leaving their egos and inhibitions behind. They all want to be the 'top dog' as Hillier says, but they also share the common goal of taking India to the peak on the world stage. We don't know if these four will be the ones to do it â€' to stand on the Olympic podium â€' but someday, someone will. And when they do, they'll owe it to the men who turned hope into a system. Not just runners, but builders. Not just a team, but brothers. Join our WhatsApp Channel
Hindustan Times
32 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli asked, 'How will you keep yourself motivated?': 'Should have said we won't play ODIs, T20Is'
Is the end near for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma? What looked like a done deal a few days back is now nowhere certain. The two Indian stalwarts looked set to remain in the ODI scheme of things till the 2027 ODI World Cup. However, according to a Dainik Jagran report, there is a sword hanging over the duo, and both batters might potentially call it quits in their international career after the three-match ODI series against Australia. The report states that Rohit and Virat might be asked to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy if they harbour the dreams of playing the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will return to action in the series against Australia(AFP Images) Former India opening batter Aakash Chopra believes RoKo said goodbye to the wrong format (Tests), as it would have been ideal if they had called it quits in the white-ball formats. Rohit and Kohli announced their T20I retirements on the same day as India's T20 World Cup win in June 2024. The two senior India batters then witnessed dwindling returns in Tests in the series against New Zealand and Australia. Eventually, Rohit and Kohli announced their Test retirement before the squad announcement for the England series. Having witnessed a heartbreak in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, it is clear that the two players want to go out on the ultimate high after winning the next 50-over tournament. However, Chopra asked some tough questions, such as how Virat and Rohit will get enough game time and keep themselves motivated, as there are only limited ODIs scheduled until the next IPL. Also Read: Seriously? Throwing Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma out of India's ODI setup? Just because they aren't playing doesn't mean... 'The duo said goodbye to the wrong format. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli suddenly decided to bid adieu to Test cricket. They said they will only play ODIs now. This is my problem. I'll tell you why. Test cricket is the toughest format. White-ball cricket is monotonous, but the same is not the case for Tests. Tests are the toughest, while ODIs are the easiest when it comes to batters. There is relatively no pressure,' Chopra said on his YouTube channel. 'If you are playing just six ODIs in a year, then there are just six days of game time for you. How will you stay motivated? How will you prepare? How will you stay fit and stay in the best shape? This is what I'm thinking. You should have said that I'll not play ODIs and T20Is, but I'll play Tests. Consider that you had played the series against England, you would have played for 25 days. Then you would get the series against West Indies and South Africa,' he added. Virat, Rohit won't play the Vijay Hazare Trophy Aakash Chopra further said that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli won't play the Ranji Trophy due to their Test retirements. Hence, it would be really difficult for them to stay in the groove because of the limited game time. 'If you were playing Tests, and somehow there was a gap, you can always play Ranji Trophy. You can play county cricket. If you play the longest format, you stay in the game. When you leave Tests, obviously, you wouldn't go to play Ranji Trophy. What's the point of playing Ranji and county when one has retired from Tests?,' said Chopra. However, the former India opener was also quick to dismiss the reports of the duo being asked to play Vijay Hazare Trophy, saying he is confident that the two batters won't do so. 'The chatter about playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the tournament will happen in December. What's the point? There are nine ODIs for India till the next IPL. That's about it. Just nine days of cricket action for you. You're not playing at all. You're not practising,' said Chopra. 'Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli don't have to play Vijay Hazare Trophy, they wouldn't be selected based on their performance in the tournament, let's be honest about this. It's bogus talk. If they had played Tests and left ODIs, staying in the groove would have been easier,' he added.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Riyan Parag blamed for Sanju Samson's likely breakup with Rajasthan Royals: 'He is the reason'
Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath believes Riyan Parag is the main reason behind Sanju Samson potentially asking the Rajasthan Royals to release him ahead of the IPL 2026 season. According to several reports, the Rajasthan skipper has asked the franchise to release him ahead of the next edition of the tournament. However, a final call is yet to be taken by the management and head coach Rahul Dravid. Sanju Samson has reportedly told Rajasthan Royals to release him. (PTI) In the IPL 2025 season, Samson played as an impact sub in the initial few matches after he wasn't given the clearance for wicketkeeping by the National Cricket Academy (NCA). When Samson played just as a batter, it was Riyan Parag who did the captaincy. When Samson returned as a full-time captain, he once again got injured by suffering a side strain against the Delhi Capitals. When he was ruled out, Parag once again filled in as the captain. Amid this captaincy saga, there were reports of a rumoured rift between head coach Dravid and Samson. However, the former denied all speculations midway through the season. Samson's absence also paved the way for the franchise to give a chance to the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The youngster grabbed the opportunity with both hands, smashing the fastest century by an Indian in the tournament. Also Read: 'Rajasthan Royals meant the world to me. And then Rahul Dravid…': Sanju Samson adds fresh twist to rumoured exit from RR With the opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryavanshi all but settled, there is no clarity over Samson's position, and hence, this is what might have prompted Samson to think about moving away from the Royals. 'I feel Riyan Parag is the reason. If you consider him for captaincy, how do you expect someone like Samson to stay?," said Badrinath on his YouTube channel. Samson moving to CSK? Rumours are rife that Sanju Samson will move to Chennai Super Kings after the five-time champions expressed their desire to acquire the wicketkeeper-batter. Badrinath believes Samson is the right fit to replace MS Dhoni at the franchise. However, he pointed out that the right-handed batter might not be able to bat lower down the order for CSK. 'If Sanju Samson does come to CSK, then he could be the like-for-like replacement for MS Dhoni. Samson is a batter who can bat in the top three or four spots in the batting order. He is not someone who could fit in the number five or six spot in the playing XI. CSK are strong in those areas of the playing XI. Mhatre is settled, Gaikwad is settled, Brevis is settled," he said. 'I am not sure if CSK would do a transaction like MI did to get Hardik Pandya from GT. So even if Sanju Samson comes in, the question remains whether CSK can fit him into the playing XI," he added.
