The world of sports continues to astonish in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic as it is getting richer and richer with surprising twists and on-field brilliance week after week. The week went by also had some newsworthy moments from the cancelled Manchester Test, Suspense over Djokovic’s calendar slam to Medvedev’s resurgence in the US Open etc. So, it would be interesting to focus on some sportspersons who have dominated the news headlines last week.
The Sportspersons To Hog The Limelight Last Week
Novak Djokovic
The world no.1 tennis player from Serbia was constantly on the radar of media persons for the better part of last week due to his consistency at the then-ongoing US Open championship. He was on the verge of creating history after Rod Laver in 1969. Alas, in a tragic turn of events, the Serb’s dream of completing the calendar slam was shattered by his Russian counterpart Daniil Medvedev in the final (6-4, 6-4, 6-4). Even after the victory, Medvedev admitted that the ‘Joker’ is the greatest to have played the sport. This kind of awe factor makes Djokovic an extraordinary player and he was rightly the chief newsmaker last week.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portugal striker has been hitting the headlines relentlessly since his move from Juventus to Manchester United. Ronaldo’s resilience knows no bounds as despite being constantly criticised from several quarters he silences his detractors with majestic displays on the field. After receiving a lot of flak from the Juventus’ players for shifting to a new club, Ronaldo was unperturbed as he scored a dream double in his first outing for the United to sink Newcastle and his detractors’ noises. For this reason, he becomes another significant newsmaker of the week.
Lionel Messi
How can Lionel Messi be kept quiet if Ronaldo is setting the football field on fire? After moving to the PSG, the Argentine legend has only appeared once for the club. But, Messi scored a hattrick last week against Bolivia in the World Cup qualifiers to win the game for Argentina 3-0. Apart from helping his national team to win the game, the talismanic Argentine striker also broke the record of the legendary Pele. The Argentine star overtook the Brazilian stalwart as the South America men’s leading goal scorer in international matches. After the incredible feat, Messi has ended up with 79 goals for his national team in 153 appearances.
Virat Kohli & Ravi Shastri
The captain and coach of Indian cricket have, undoubtedly, taken Indian cricket to unprecedented glories with successful sojourns to Australia and England, recently. However, when the fifth and final Test at Manchester got cancelled due to the Covid concerns among some senior Indian players last week, fans on social media went hammer and tongs at both Kohli and Shastri. The duo was largely blamed for the critical situation the team found itself in as it came to light that they attended a book launch event in a five-star hotel without properly following the Covid-19 protocol. The head coach Shastri turned Covid positive only after this event. There were other players also in attendance for the event, but the irate fans chose to vent their ire on the duo for their callous attitude that cost Team India a series win on England soil since 2007. At present, India lead the series 2-1 but the ICC will decide whether to award the series in favour of India or declare both the teams as joint winners of the Pataudi Trophy.
