nd improving their website features -- though they declined to elaborate on those plans.In the meantime, some of the games top

The ball had solemnly sworn it was up to no good. Then it was given to a redhead.It is the 16th over of Indias second innings. Ben Stokes came charging in and hit the deck with considerable force. The batsman picks the length up early. He prepares to get on top of the bounce by shifting his weight back and standing up taller at the crease. He has no idea he is in the worst possible position for what was about to happen. The back- of-a-length delivery turned into a grubber. Mischief most definitely managed.Virat Kohli should have been in trouble. He could even have been bowled off the inside edge. His best case scenario was if he was beaten - the line was quite wide - or if he could somehow keep the ball out. Those watching the third days play in the Visakhapatnam Test were introduced instead to the bizarre case scenario. Kohli smeared a four behind point.There were a few things that helped him pull that off. The original shot he was trying to play was with a vertical bat. So adjusting to the lack of bounce was easier than if he had attempted to play a cut, where the backlift gets bigger and therefore has a longer distance to travel. He provided himself with the same advantage in the 34th over, when the legspinner Adil Rashid produced a grubber. Kohli eased onto his backfoot and it came to rest slightly across onto off stump so that his head would be right in line with the ball. The inherent risk here is the possibility of lbw. But by playing the flick with a straight bat, and waiting to roll his wrists until he made the connection, not only did the Indian captain negate the chance of his being dismissed, he found another boundary.Free-flowing batsmen find difficulty keeping up on slow and low pitches. The lack of pace means hitting through the line is difficult and even maneuvering the ball into gaps requires a great deal of effort. Kohli seems to be setting the template to prove that obsolete although if you want to follow it, youd best hope you have hands as quick and a work ethic as strong as his. The thousands of balls he hits in the nets, the visualisation he does, the tweaks to his technique, all of it is in an effort to make sure he is equipped to make tough runs; to make sure he has a game he can trust when the pressure is high; to make sure he can not only tackle high-class bowling but dominate.Kohli faced more than 100 deliveries on a third and fourth day surface with wild variations in bounce and finished with a strike-rate of 74. No one that had lasted as long in this match has even come close to scoring that quickly. You have to want to be there, he often says, and watching him be there is a lot of fun. There are the bat twirls. The fiddling with the grille. The re-strapping of the gloves. The tapping of the pitch. He just doesnt want to be idle. He doesnt want his concentration levels to drop because thats when he knows he may not read the play as quickly. He barely spends any time away from the stumps. No trips to square leg to slow the game down. Hes ready in his stance, looking at the bowler with the impatience of a child waiting for their parent to take them to the park.It must be draining to be so switched on. But thats why both his physical and mental strength are high. At stumps yesterday, he had made more than half of Indias total - 56 out of 98. He finished with 81, only because of a spectacular catch at slip, stabilising India from an early wobble and giving them the chance to set a target never before achieved in the fourth innings of a Test in India. Kohli is a fantastic beast and everyone knows where to find him. At the heart of of a fight. Cheap Custom Ducks Jersey . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Ducks Jerseys China . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. http://www.customducksjersey.com/ . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Custom Ducks T-shirts . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Custom Ducks Jersey China . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. BOSTON -- Daily fantasy sports rivals DraftKings and FanDuel have agreed to merge after months of speculation and increasing regulatory scrutiny.The two companies made the announcement Friday, saying the combined organization would be able to reduce costs as they work to become profitable and battle with regulators across the country to remain legal.In a matter of a few short years, the two have raised millions of dollars through investors and sponsorship deals, drawing the attention of policymakers across the country.Some view the online games -- in which players pick teams of real life athletes and vie for cash and other prizes based on how those athletes do in actual games -as amounting to illegal sports betting.Financial terms were not disclosed Friday and the companies have remained vague about their long-term plans while the deal is being finalized.But in the short term, the merger appears to change little about how daily fantasy sports players use the sites and play the game. The companies have assured players they wont be making major changes in their operations at least through the next NFL season.For now, theyll retain their respective headquarters -- DraftKings in Boston and FanDuel in New York -- and keep separate brand names, operations and game platforms.Whether the deal can clear regulatory approval, though, remains an open question. The merger, which has been rumored for months, pairs two companies that represent about 90 percent of the daily fantasy sports market.Company executives Friday played down concerns about whether the merger might run afoul of federal antitrust laws.They argued that their companies remain relatively small players in the broader fantasy sports industry, where the likes of ESPN, Yahoo and other larger companies dominate.Were a company that collectively has a little over 5 million customers in a fantasy sports base with almost 60 million total, said DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, who will take over as chief executive of the combined company. For us to ever hope to compete for those customers, we really felt this was something that was necessary.FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles, who will serve as board chairman, also suggested the merger could actually foster competition by fighting more effectively for regulatory clarity, efforts that could help bring back investor confidence in the industry.This is actually very good for all operators, he said.Spokespersons for the Federal Trade Commission, which would oversee the deal, didnt comment Friday.Reaction among daily fantasy sports companies, players and industry watchers was mixed Friday.In terms of competition, Im not suree it makes any difference.dddddddddddd There are still plenty of opportunities for growth, said Peter Schoenke, chairman of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. A lot of people are still trying to figure out what it means.Shergul Arshad, founder of Mondogoal, a smaller fantasy sports operator focused on soccer, suggested the proposed merger will likely make it tougher for new companies to gain a foothold, at least in the United States.On the international front, where daily fantasy sports is trying to compete against well-established and lucrative sports betting gambling operations, a stronger, unified company could be a boon, Arshad said.Brian Quinn, a Boston College law professor with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, expects the deal likely wont go forward without some conditions imposed by regulators. Others, though, suggest it might not face as tough a road.Were not talking about insurance companies, healthcare providers or drug makers here, said Daniel Etna, a New York attorney who has represented smaller daily fantasy sports operators. Its a leisure activity. At end of day, this is something you do or you dont do. So it will be viewed from a different prism.A more pressing question is whether the companies, both still unprofitable, can remain viable, said Dustin Hecker, a Boston lawyer.The merge doesnt appear to bring any immediate cost savings since both are maintaining separate headquarters and separate operations for now, he said.Robins and Eccles said the merger would allow the companies to free up resources to develop better products -- like offering more varied contests, developing loyalty programs and improving their website features -- though they declined to elaborate on those plans.In the meantime, some of the games top competitors say theyre waiting to see how the merger impacts their livelihood.Saahil Sud, a 27-year-old Bostonian widely considered the games leading player, says hes concerned the newly formed company could substantially raise player fees, a concern the companies have tried to assuage with promises to keep fees competitive.The main thing is that, in the near future, things are not going to change much or at all, Sud said. Given turmoil over past year, having business as usual is somewhat reassuring. But its too early to tell. Im definitely not going to overreact. Im just going to continue doing what Im doing. ---Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/philip-marcelo ' ' '