Dhoni an impressive captain and one of the best tacticians: Faf du Plessis

 

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis believes Mahendra Singh Dhoni, among others, helped him mature as a leader, adding that the former India skipper is tactically one of the best in the business.

Du Plessis had two long stints with IPL side Chennai Super Kings -- 2011-2015 and 2018-2021 -- before he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore as captain last season.

Du Plessis said when he realised he was not going to be a leader like former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith or Dhoni, he decided to just be himself.

"I think what was really good for me to go through (during his career) was the conviction that I am not going to be Graeme Smith as a captain, I'm not going to be Stephen Fleming as a captain, I'm not going to be MS Dhoni as a captain.

"In order for me to be true to who I am as a person, I need to be me. Because if you're not being you, then people will see through it, maybe not when you're doing well but definitely when you are under pressure, or under-performing, the real you will reveal itself," du Plessis said in a RCB podcast.

Source : https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/trending-news/dhoni-an-impressive-captain-and-one-of-the-best-tacticians--faf-du-plessis.html

Messi and Putellas voted best players at FIFA awards again

World Cup champion Lionel Messi edged Kylian Mbappé again, this time to take FIFA's best men's player award.

The best women's player was Spain's Alexia Putellas for a second straight year.

After steering Argentina to World Cup glory in an epic final against Mbappé's France last year in Qatar, Messi won the best player vote against Mbappé and Karim Benzema and secured the FIFA prize for the seventh time in 14 years on Monday night.

He won the World Cup at his record-equaling fifth attempt.

“It was a crazy year for me,” Messi said. “I could fulfil my (World Cup) dream after fighting for it for so long. And in the end it happened, and it was the most beautiful thing of my career. It's the dream of every player, but very few can achieve it, so I'm thankful to God for being able to do it.”

The three players made the final shortlist in voting by a global panel of national team captains and coaches, selected journalists in each of FIFA's 211 member countries, plus fans online.

Source : https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/trending-news/messi-and-putellas-voted-best-players-at-fifa-awards-again.html

'Everything Everywhere All At Once', 'The White Lotus' sweep SAG Awards

 

The metaverse adventure movie 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' nabbed the best ensemble prize at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday evening, reports 'Variety'.

The Michelle Yeoh-starrer also broke records, becoming the biggest film winner in the history of the show, sweeping nearly every category, 'Variety' adds.

But SAG highlights the small screen, as well as the big, notes 'Variety'. The awards-season favourite 'Abbott Elementary', a sitcom about teachers in an underfunded public school, won the best TV comedy ensemble statue. Another series that has been picking up awards, 'The White Lotus', a trenchant look at the over-privileged guests at an Italian resort, took home the best TV drama ensemble honour.

'Everything Everywhere All at Once', one of the few recent indies to break out in a big way at the box office, dominated the evening with four wins, followed by 'The White Lotus', which will be remembered for Jennifer Coolidge, with two victories.

'Everything Everywhere All at Once' has continued to build momentum during a marathon awards season, racking up top prizes as it barrels toward the Oscars in two weeks, adds 'Variety'.

Source : https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/trending-news/-everything-everywhere-all-at-once----the-white-lotus--sweep-sag-awards.html

SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' wins four trophies at HCA Film Awards

 

Filmmaker SS Rajamouli's Telugu blockbuster "RRR" has lifted four trophies at the 2023 HCA Film Awards, including best international film and best action film.

At the award ceremony, organised by Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and held at Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles on Friday night, the film also took home the award for best stunts, while its Oscar-nominated track "Naatu Naatu" won the best original song trophy.

Rajamouli accepted the award for best stunts and in his speech, the filmmaker praised the film's team for putting their best foot forward.

"In the innumerable action shots in the whole film, there were hardly 2-3 shots where we used body doubles. The actors performed each and every stunt. They are wonderful guys.

"It is the combined effort of the whole team. I thank my whole team for this. We have put in 320 days of hard work to make this film, most of which were taken by the stunts," the director said.

He said the recognition means a lot, not just to him, but to the Indian film industry.

Source : https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/trending-news/ss-rajamouli-s--rrr--wins-four-trophies-at-hca-film-awards.html

Don't know how many more days will it take to get over this defeat: Harmanpreet

 

The morale-shattering World Cup defeat is playing havoc with the mind of a crestfallen India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who doesn't know when will she overcome the near-yet-so-far feeling.

Harmanpreet's bat got locked while trying to complete a second run during the semifinal against Australia on Thursday and that proved to be the turning point of the game as the untimely dismissal of the skipper led to their heartbreaking five-run defeat.

"It is very difficult to control myself. I don't know. Right now, I am sitting in a hangover," Harmanpreet said during a media interaction.

She wore dark shades to hide her tears during post-match presentation ceremony.

It has been a case of near misses for this Indian team, having narrowly lost the ODI World Cup final to England in 2017 and the CWG final to Australia in Birmingham in 2022.

No one knows the pain more than the skipper.

Source : https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/trending-news/don-t-know-how-many-more-days-will-it-take-to-get-over-this-defeat--harmanpreet.html

Keanu Reeves trained for 3 months for 'John Wick 4' action scenes

 

Hollywood star Keanu Reeves is well known for performing as many of his own stunts, which is why he spent nearly three months just training for for the fourth instalment of his 'John Wick' franchise.

Each installment of the Lionsgate-backed action franchise is known for upping the ante, and the case is no different for 'Chapter 4', reports 'Variety'.

"It's been about 12 weeks of training. It's new levels of action," Reeves said in a new featurette for the sequel.

"You know, nun-chucks, which was challenging. John Wick's action asks just a little bit more. And you see the effort and the commitment from the team."

According to Reeves, the most challenging was a car stunt in which his character races around the historic Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Reeves had to learn how to do a reverse 180 and drift all while reloading his prop gun and shooting it out of the door.

As Reeves explained: "For 'Chapter 4', we wanted to bring the muscle cars back."

"Have we gone too far?" the actor asked about the insane stunts in the film.

Source : https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/trending-news/keanu-reeves-trained-for-3-months-for--john-wick-4--action-scenes.html

Adani Group firms fall in morning trade; Adani Enterprises tumbles over 9 pc

 

Shares of Adani Group firms fell sharply in morning trade on Wednesday in line with an overall weak trend in the equity market.

Adani Enterprises stock tumbled 9.31 per cent on the BSE.

Shares of Adani Power declined 5 per cent, Adani Transmission fell 5 per cent, Adani Total Gas (5 per cent), Ambuja Cements (5 per cent) Adani Green Energy (4.99 per cent), Adani Wilmar (4.99 per cent) and NDTV (4.55 per cent).

The stock of Adani Ports declined 4.38 per cent and ACC fell 3 per cent.

Many of the group firms also hit their lower circuit limits in morning trade.

The broader equity market also faced weak trend as the BSE Sensex fell 596.95 points or 0.98 per cent to 60,075.77 in morning trade.

Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the exchanges after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against it.

The group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.

Source : https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/trending-news/adani-group-firms-fall-in-morning-trade--adani-enterprises-tumbles-over-9-pc.html