Indian Sports

Dhoni's team is rocking in the first half of the match

2009-04-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

The runner up's of the last season of the IPL are back in tract with the last in the first match. Dhoni and his boys are keeping it up for this match already Hayden had proved that they don't going to loose these match.

Coming to the match review dhoni win the toss and elected to bat first the decision was true to him as the strike batsman Mathew hadyen has smashed the half-century he was 65 in 35 balls when he losses his wicket.

The first to loose the wicket was the patel at his 40's after that the hayden they both contributed the scorebard to 106 and they came the skipper dhoni and follwed by raina they were both in the field and dhoni was out in 140 then came the flintoff.

Raina out at 28 and the score is 179 for 5 wickets the target given to Peterson team to chase is 180 which is not a simple figure to chase by the these team

SriLanka ends the series with an Win in their pockets

2009-02-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

Though India had lost the final one day with srilanka the series is captured by Team India with the difference of 4-1 and the man-of-the-series went to YuvaRaj Singh With this series win over SriLanka, India stand on the 2nd position of ICC One-Day Ranking by moving the Australians down to take the 3rd place the Master of One-Day play game is now Smiths South Africa.

According to the last one day details of this series India had went in to the feild with the new faces by giving rest to the main wicket taking players like Zaheer, praveen kumar, and ohja, with the master's Sachin tendulkar is not on the field,Srilanka win the toss and elected to bat first, srilanka as usually lost the Crucial Wicket of Sanath Jayasurya Quickly but after the First Wicket they not loose any other wicket and moved the score by the single's and the four's on the loose delivers, but the main thing is the partnership between kumara Sangakara and the Dilshan make the score to cross the three hundred mark.

After the completion of First session of play the srilankan's was given 321 target to chase by the indian's ,India to loose their Initial wicket's early one after other and all the shorts are exception shorts which were not requiered at that position and after that Yuvi and Gambhir made a small partnership and Gambhir to went after making just in thirties and after that no one had moved
according to the situation but played a bad shots other than Captain Dhoni and New debut Jadega.

Indian's Consistant Win in One Days

2009-02-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

India's 8th and 3rd in these series and comprehensive win over Sri Lankha, It was India's day with the back-to-back centuries from Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag led India to big victory of 147 over sri lankha in theri home land .Yuvraj and Sehwag were in sensational form, though Sri Lanka didn't really help their cause with some decidedly poor fielding.

After being reduced to 24 for 2, it was Yuvraj who cornered most of the strike, stroking some magnificent boundaries on either side of the wicket. Too often, the bowlers strayed on to the pads and he was more than happy to work them fine or swat them contemptuously over midwicket.Sehwag was a spectator in the early part of the partnership, but when the opportunity presented itself, he was no less ruthless

In the mean time from the Sri Lankhan side the Legendry bowler Muttiah Muralitharan equalled Wasim Akram's world record of 502 one-day wickets, he will confidance about to break that record in to coming match with india.Srilankans were no were to give the callenge to india's bowlers after the fall of the wicket of santh jayasurya for zero (0) but The sri lankans wicket keeper batsman sangakara fight for a momment to build the score to the standard level but he to went for 83 and then srilanks dont have the big players for scoring the huge total.

India never look back after they batted well in the first sessions of their play, at the end of the first session of the play india are 363 for 5 and the secound session of the play
srilankhs were no ware to give the tuff competitive to the india they loose their wicket in the intervals and after that they never played for win they just struggled and managed for defence and at the end of their play they were 216 for all out and that makes the indians 3rd win over sri lankha

Team India's Winning Fame is Continue in SriLankan Land

2009-01-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

India on Tour of Sri Lanka.

In The first oneday between

India's tour of Sri Lanka in which india will paly 5 One-days and one twenty-twenty match
The First oneday is palyed on the wednesday in which india won the toss and elected to field first
The decision of dhoni went right becase india crash srilanka by 6 wickets with 10 balls remaining.

This is the sequential win of indian tour and the successful captancy of Mr. M.S. Dhoni. This is India's sixth consecutive win. Srilanka batting had loosen his first wicket at very quick in the first over to Zaheer with zero on the board after that Jayasuriya played a splended innings and made 107 in 114 balls, while the rest had managed 64 in 122 deliveries.

After the first wicket fall the sangakar joined jayasuriya and played constantly for 28 overs and after the fall of sangakara to Ojha the continues 3 batsmen's looses their wickets in the bowling of the raising star Isanth Sharma, the entire srilankan team had ended ther play at 246 for 7 wickets in 50 overs.

Indian starting is also not so fine they lose the wicket of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the 4th over and after that raina joined with gambir they both played fantstic with picking up the signles and boundaries on the loose balls moved the score keep running after the runout of raina yuvaraj came to bat, but he was not succeded to bat for long time he was out in just his 20's and after that Indian Captain M.S Dhoni and Rohit Sharma continued the patner ship and guided the india to consecutive sixth Victory.

Man of the Match was given to Sanath Jayasuriya for his outstanding performance in th match with century,At the end of the match india were 1-0 ahead of srilankans.

Akil Kumar advanced into quarter finals with more punches

2008-08-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Today on 15 th August all indians got a good news from bejing olympics that indian boxer Akhil Kumar advanced to quarter finals of men's 54 kg category by defeating world champion sergey vodapoyanov of russia.
Akhil, a 27 year old boxer from Haryana rained blows on the world champion and had abated the margin to 7-8 by the end of the round.coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu is harbouring hopes of winning medals and is leaving no stone unturned to shape his wards to rise to the occasion on their big day.

Both the boxers were locked at 9-9, but at last judjes has signed to Akhil for landing more punches than sergey.This decision made the world champion depress and he broken down into tears.The Indian is now just a bout away from an Olympic medal.

Abhinav Bindra is first person who received first individual gold medal

2008-08-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

Huree.... this is good day for all Indians because India got its first individual Olympic gold medal in 10m air rifle at Beijing.This happiness is given by our sports hero Abhinav Bindra who has succeeded in his target.
"I can't describe how happy I am,",the ever-calm Bindra explains journalists about his success"It's the thrill of my life. That's about it. It's hard to describe. I just went for it. I knew I was lying in fourth. Thankfully it went my way and I just went for it."

"I was just trying to concentrate on shooting," he said. "I wasn't thinking of making history. I was two points behind the leaders. I was just trying to shoot good shots. I wanted to shoot well and shoot aggressively. And that's what I did."he aded
His 10.8 of a possible 10.9 on his final shot sparked loud celebrations from group of fans from India.
In this 10m air rifle Abhinav Bindra from India won gold,Zhu Qinan of china got silver and Henri Hakkinen of Finland got bronze.

Dhoni is the second after Sachin toget Khel Rathan Award

2008-08-05T02:11:00.000-07:00

On monday it is revealed that twenty-20 winning captain Mahendra singh Dhoni was chosen for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. This award will given for those who plays an outstanding performance in that year.
An expert committee, chaired by Milkha Singh, on Monday met here to discuss the nominees and they decided to confer the award on Dhoni for leading India to the Twenty20 World Cup triumph -- making him only the second cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to get the honour.

Meanwhile, BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty hailed the decision. Shetty said what impressed him most about Dhoni was the way he conducted himself."What I like most about Mahi, apart from his cricket, is the way he leads. He is a cool customer and never gets agitated. I'm also impressed by his clarity of thought. He speaks his mind even if it may not be seen in the right sense," he added.

The President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sharad Pawar,said that“We are very happy. He has represented the country with distinction, and deserves the honour. His exemplary leadership and demeanour under pressure, especially in the ICC World Twenty20 and the tri-series in Australia, mark him out as the ideal role-model for millions of young Indians, who want to make a mark in life,”

England Successful win over NewZealand in their third one-day.

2008-02-15T17:10:00.001-08:00

England Skipper better performance over NewZealand in their third one-day internation here Friday to keep the series alive by knocking 70 runs off just 50 balls to drag side across the line when their momentum slowed.

With seven overs to play, and England needing nearly a run a ball, Collingwood switched into a higher gear.

By playing first after toss NewZealand notched 234 for 9 in 50 overs thanks to Jacob Oram for his splended performance by hitting 88 runs to keep moving the scoreboard. With seven overs to play, and England needing nearly a run a ball, Collingwood switched into a higher gear.

Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell made their first significant contributions of the series with a 107-run third-wicket partnership before Bell was unfortunate to be given out leg before wicket to Vettori for 73.Television replays indicated the ball clipped his bat first.Two overs later Pietersen was also given out lbw to Vettori for 41.

While Vettori spinned over the batsmen at one end, finishing with fine figures of two for 23 off 10 overs, Collingwood made the bowlers at the other end suffer as he drove England towards victory.

The home side, who had produced commanding performances in the first two matches, were struggling at 53 for four after 15 overs.

Brendon McCullum was back in the pavilion for four in the second over, Jamie How scored 10, Jesse Ryder 23 and Scott Styris three as James Anderson and Stuart Broad took control with two wickets apiece.

Oram and Vettori prevented a total collapse, putting on 74 for the seventh wicket before Vettori became Collingwood's third victim, caught by Owais Shah for 42.

Steve Harmison to fly for New Zealand for ongoing Match

2008-02-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

England fast bowler Steve Harmison will join up with his team-mates for the upcoming Test series in New Zealand next week after being given leave to stay at home for the birth of his fourth child.

He was due to arrive in New Zealand with fellow Test specialists Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard on Friday but was informed he could stay in England to witness the birth.

"Following discussions with the national selector Geoff Miller and the head coach Peter Moores, Stephen has been given dispensation to remain in the UK to attend the birth of his fourth child," said England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Hugh Morris.

"It is anticipated that he will now join the Test squad in New Zealand in the early part of next week."

Australian win over the Vistors SriLanka

2008-02-15T16:52:00.001-08:00

Australia fighting win over Srilanka in Tri-Series at WACA Stadium with 63-run made the australian's to pick the bonous point's in this match here friday. Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and decided to bat against Sri Lanka in their important match.

In this match,Adam Gilchrist make his knot by hitting century with just 130 make the aussies to win the tri-series comfortabely over visitors

Australia made to changes,with all-rounder James Hopes and Spinner Brad Hogg recalled at the expense of Stuart Clark and Brad Haddin

Sri Lanka stuck with the same side that beat India this week and they can go to the top of the tri-series table with a win here. The series is evenly poised with only two points separating the three teams.

The Players play for this particular match are

Australia - Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, James Hopes, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark (12th man).

Sri Lanka - Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Chamara Kapugedera, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Upul Tharanga (12th man).

The match detalis of this match are like this

Umpires: D Harper (AUS) and R Koertzen (SA) Third Umpire: P Parker (AUS)

Match Referee: J Crowe (NZ)

Toss: Australia (Elected to Bat)
Result: Australia won by 63 runs	Man of the Match: Adam Gilchrist
Match Summary: Match Over

Australia innings			Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	SR	FoW
Adam Gilchrist (wk)	c Kapugedera	b Malinga	118	132	9	3	89.39	5-206 ( 43.2 ov. )
Matthew Hayden	c Maharoof	b Malinga	4	11	0	0	36.36	1-16 ( 3.6 ov. )
Ricky Ponting (c)	c Jayawardene	b Vaas	25	25	4	0	100.00	2-66 ( 12.1 ov. )
Michael Clarke	st Sangakkara	b Muralitharan	43	69	4	0	62.32	3-171 ( 36.2 ov. )
Andrew Symonds	c Sangakkara	b Maharoof	4	8	0	0	50.00	4-177 ( 37.4 ov. )
Michael Hussey	c Jayawardene	b Kulasekara	25	28	0	1	89.29	8-232 ( 48.1 ov. )
James Hopes	c Jayasuriya	b Kulasekara	2	5	0	0	40.00	6-217 ( 45.1 ov. )
Brad Hogg		b Malinga	5	10	0	0	50.00	7-232 ( 47.4 ov. )
Brett Lee		b Malinga	2	6	0	0	33.33	10-236 ( 49.4 ov. )
Mitchell Johnson	run out		0	1	0	0	0.00	9-233 ( 48.4 ov. )
Nathan Bracken	not out		1	4	0	0	25.00
Extras: ( 4 wd, 1 lb, 1 b, 1 nb, 0 p)			Total: 236 / 10 in 49.4 overs (Run Rate: 4.74)

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	NoBall	Wide	Eco
Chaminda Vaas	10.0	0	35	1	0	0	3.50
Lasith Malinga	9.4	1	47	4	0	3	4.86
Farveez Maharoof	10.0	0	53	1	1	1	5.30
Nuwan Kulasekara	10.0	0	52	2	0	0	5.20
Muttiah Muralitharan	10.0	0	47	1	0	0	4.70

Sri Lanka innings			Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	SR	FoW
Tillakaratne Dilshan		b Johnson	11	13	2	0	84.62	2-35 ( 4.2 ov. )
Sanath Jayasuriya	c Hopes	b Bracken	12	10	2	0	120.00	1-29 ( 3.1 ov. )
K Sangakkara (wk)		b Lee	80	114	4	0	70.18	10-173 ( 45.3 ov. )
M Jayawardene (c)	c Ponting	b Johnson	21	25	4	0	84.00	3-71 ( 10.5 ov. )
Chamara Silva	c Symonds	b Bracken	0	10	0	0	0.00	4-76 ( 13.6 ov. )
Chamara Kapugedera	c Hussey	b Hopes	26	60	2	0	43.33	5-129 ( 32.5 ov. )
Farveez Maharoof	c Sub (Haddin)	b Hogg	7	16	1	0	43.75	6-159 ( 39.1 ov. )
Chaminda Vaas	c Gilchrist	b Hogg	0	1	0	0	0.00	7-159 ( 39.2 ov. )
Nuwan Kulasekara	c Symonds	b Bracken	0	7	0	0	0.00	8-160 ( 40.5 ov. )
Lasith Malinga		b Johnson	5	18	1	0	27.78	9-173 ( 44.6 ov. )
Muttiah Muralitharan	not out		0	0	0	0	0.00
Extras: ( 3 wd, 7 lb, 0 b, 1 nb, 0 p)			Total: 173 / 10 in 45.3 overs (Run Rate: 3.80)

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	NoBall	Wide	Eco
Brett Lee	8.3	0	49	1	1	0	5.76
Nathan Bracken	8.0	2	21	3	0	1	2.63
Mitchell Johnson	10.0	2	29	3	0	1	2.90
James Hopes	9.0	1	26	1	0	0	2.89
Brad Hogg	10.0	1	41	2	0	1	4.10

Australian win over the Vistors SriLanka

2008-02-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

Umpires: D Harper (AUS) and R Koertzen (SA) Third Umpire: P Parker (AUS)

Match Referee: J Crowe (NZ)

Toss: Australia (Elected to Bat)
Result: Australia won by 63 runs	Man of the Match: Adam Gilchrist
Match Summary: Match Over

Australia innings			Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	SR	FoW
Adam Gilchrist (wk)	c Kapugedera	b Malinga	118	132	9	3	89.39	5-206 ( 43.2 ov. )
Matthew Hayden	c Maharoof	b Malinga	4	11	0	0	36.36	1-16 ( 3.6 ov. )
Ricky Ponting (c)	c Jayawardene	b Vaas	25	25	4	0	100.00	2-66 ( 12.1 ov. )
Michael Clarke	st Sangakkara	b Muralitharan	43	69	4	0	62.32	3-171 ( 36.2 ov. )
Andrew Symonds	c Sangakkara	b Maharoof	4	8	0	0	50.00	4-177 ( 37.4 ov. )
Michael Hussey	c Jayawardene	b Kulasekara	25	28	0	1	89.29	8-232 ( 48.1 ov. )
James Hopes	c Jayasuriya	b Kulasekara	2	5	0	0	40.00	6-217 ( 45.1 ov. )
Brad Hogg		b Malinga	5	10	0	0	50.00	7-232 ( 47.4 ov. )
Brett Lee		b Malinga	2	6	0	0	33.33	10-236 ( 49.4 ov. )
Mitchell Johnson	run out		0	1	0	0	0.00	9-233 ( 48.4 ov. )
Nathan Bracken	not out		1	4	0	0	25.00
Extras: ( 4 wd, 1 lb, 1 b, 1 nb, 0 p)			Total: 236 / 10 in 49.4 overs (Run Rate: 4.74)

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	NoBall	Wide	Eco
Chaminda Vaas	10.0	0	35	1	0	0	3.50
Lasith Malinga	9.4	1	47	4	0	3	4.86
Farveez Maharoof	10.0	0	53	1	1	1	5.30
Nuwan Kulasekara	10.0	0	52	2	0	0	5.20
Muttiah Muralitharan	10.0	0	47	1	0	0	4.70

Sri Lanka innings			Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	SR	FoW
Tillakaratne Dilshan		b Johnson	11	13	2	0	84.62	2-35 ( 4.2 ov. )
Sanath Jayasuriya	c Hopes	b Bracken	12	10	2	0	120.00	1-29 ( 3.1 ov. )
K Sangakkara (wk)		b Lee	80	114	4	0	70.18	10-173 ( 45.3 ov. )
M Jayawardene (c)	c Ponting	b Johnson	21	25	4	0	84.00	3-71 ( 10.5 ov. )
Chamara Silva	c Symonds	b Bracken	0	10	0	0	0.00	4-76 ( 13.6 ov. )
Chamara Kapugedera	c Hussey	b Hopes	26	60	2	0	43.33	5-129 ( 32.5 ov. )
Farveez Maharoof	c Sub (Haddin)	b Hogg	7	16	1	0	43.75	6-159 ( 39.1 ov. )
Chaminda Vaas	c Gilchrist	b Hogg	0	1	0	0	0.00	7-159 ( 39.2 ov. )
Nuwan Kulasekara	c Symonds	b Bracken	0	7	0	0	0.00	8-160 ( 40.5 ov. )
Lasith Malinga		b Johnson	5	18	1	0	27.78	9-173 ( 44.6 ov. )
Muttiah Muralitharan	not out		0	0	0	0	0.00
Extras: ( 3 wd, 7 lb, 0 b, 1 nb, 0 p)			Total: 173 / 10 in 45.3 overs (Run Rate: 3.80)

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	NoBall	Wide	Eco
Brett Lee	8.3	0	49	1	1	0	5.76
Nathan Bracken	8.0	2	21	3	0	1	2.63
Mitchell Johnson	10.0	2	29	3	0	1	2.90
James Hopes	9.0	1	26	1	0	0	2.89
Brad Hogg	10.0	1	41	2	0	1	4.10

Score Board of the Australia and srilanka tournament

2008-02-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

Toss: Australia (Elected to Bat)
Result: Australia won by 63 runs	Man of the Match: Adam Gilchrist
Match Summary: Match Over

Australia innings			Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	SR	FoW
Adam Gilchrist (wk)	c Kapugedera	b Malinga	118	132	9	3	89.39	5-206 ( 43.2 ov. )
Matthew Hayden	c Maharoof	b Malinga	4	11	0	0	36.36	1-16 ( 3.6 ov. )
Ricky Ponting (c)	c Jayawardene	b Vaas	25	25	4	0	100.00	2-66 ( 12.1 ov. )
Michael Clarke	st Sangakkara	b Muralitharan	43	69	4	0	62.32	3-171 ( 36.2 ov. )
Andrew Symonds	c Sangakkara	b Maharoof	4	8	0	0	50.00	4-177 ( 37.4 ov. )
Michael Hussey	c Jayawardene	b Kulasekara	25	28	0	1	89.29	8-232 ( 48.1 ov. )
James Hopes	c Jayasuriya	b Kulasekara	2	5	0	0	40.00	6-217 ( 45.1 ov. )
Brad Hogg		b Malinga	5	10	0	0	50.00	7-232 ( 47.4 ov. )
Brett Lee		b Malinga	2	6	0	0	33.33	10-236 ( 49.4 ov. )
Mitchell Johnson	run out		0	1	0	0	0.00	9-233 ( 48.4 ov. )
Nathan Bracken	not out		1	4	0	0	25.00
Extras: ( 4 wd, 1 lb, 1 b, 1 nb, 0 p)			Total: 236 / 10 in 49.4 overs (Run Rate: 4.74)

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	NoBall	Wide	Eco
Chaminda Vaas	10.0	0	35	1	0	0	3.50
Lasith Malinga	9.4	1	47	4	0	3	4.86
Farveez Maharoof	10.0	0	53	1	1	1	5.30
Nuwan Kulasekara	10.0	0	52	2	0	0	5.20
Muttiah Muralitharan	10.0	0	47	1	0	0	4.70

Sri Lanka innings			Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes	SR	FoW
Tillakaratne Dilshan		b Johnson	11	13	2	0	84.62	2-35 ( 4.2 ov. )
Sanath Jayasuriya	c Hopes	b Bracken	12	10	2	0	120.00	1-29 ( 3.1 ov. )
K Sangakkara (wk)		b Lee	80	114	4	0	70.18	10-173 ( 45.3 ov. )
M Jayawardene (c)	c Ponting	b Johnson	21	25	4	0	84.00	3-71 ( 10.5 ov. )
Chamara Silva	c Symonds	b Bracken	0	10	0	0	0.00	4-76 ( 13.6 ov. )
Chamara Kapugedera	c Hussey	b Hopes	26	60	2	0	43.33	5-129 ( 32.5 ov. )
Farveez Maharoof	c Sub (Haddin)	b Hogg	7	16	1	0	43.75	6-159 ( 39.1 ov. )
Chaminda Vaas	c Gilchrist	b Hogg	0	1	0	0	0.00	7-159 ( 39.2 ov. )
Nuwan Kulasekara	c Symonds	b Bracken	0	7	0	0	0.00	8-160 ( 40.5 ov. )
Lasith Malinga		b Johnson	5	18	1	0	27.78	9-173 ( 44.6 ov. )
Muttiah Muralitharan	not out		0	0	0	0	0.00
Extras: ( 3 wd, 7 lb, 0 b, 1 nb, 0 p)			Total: 173 / 10 in 45.3 overs (Run Rate: 3.80)

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	NoBall	Wide	Eco
Brett Lee	8.3	0	49	1	1	0	5.76
Nathan Bracken	8.0	2	21	3	0	1	2.63
Mitchell Johnson	10.0	2	29	3	0	1	2.90
James Hopes	9.0	1	26	1	0	0	2.89
Brad Hogg	10.0	1	41	2	0	1	4.10

Adam Gilchrist's Century Guides the Australia to Victory in the ongoing Tri-Series

2008-02-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

Adam Gilchrist's man-of-match performance in his home town by knocking 118 runs from 130 balls help Australia to make for a fighting total. The local hero at his 36 soon going to be retired
help the Hosts's to win by splended performace over the visitor Srilanka by 63-run in the tri-series and gain the bonus point in the WACA Stadium.

The only person who fight for Sri Lankan side was by their wicket keeper Kumar Sngakkara by making 80 run he made a useful patnership with the jayawardana for a time after that no player could stand and play in front of the aussis bolwers. the last 5 wickets of Sri Lankan's fell for just 14 runs as they handed Australia a bonus point and top spot on the ladder.

Spinner Brad Hogg (2-41) rocked Sri Lanka with two wickets in as many balls, seamer Nathan Bracken claimed 3-31 and Mitchell Johnson led the Australian fightback with the ball, taking 3-29.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was given an emotional farewell when he eventually fell in the 44th over, holing out to Chamara Kapugedera at mid-off from a leading edge off impressive speedster Lasith Malinga.

He attempted to lift the tempo after reaching his ton, lofting another massive six over backward square leg off Kulasekera before Malinga finally struck.

He teamed up with Michael Clarke (43) to add 105 for the third wicket, but the Australians were never able to accelerate their scoring, losing the last eight wickets for just 65 and their last four wickets for four, seemingly handing Sri Lanka the initiative.This is the only patnership made by the australia no other patnership was made the sri lankans bowled out them very fast.

With Malinga troubling Australia with his pace to snare 4-47, it was the second successive match the home side had failed to last the allotted 50 overs.

players are doing much well in their 30's

2008-01-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh was a special invitee at the Richie Benaud's sculpture unveiling function at the SCG on Thursday along with quite a few former New South Wales greats. Waugh was much in demand once the function was over as newsmen mobbed him for sound-bites.

Not the one to back away from a challenge the older of the Waugh twins obliged by speaking on various issues. Excerpts from his interaction with the media: It's always a special place to come back to as I have some great memories of this ground. I still feel a bit nervous walking in.

When you play as a unit, you learn to get along. That they have not been the best of mates has been well-documented. As long as you have respect for each other, it's fair enough. Shane's in the media now and everyone is entitled to his opinion. For newspaper people, it makes good copy. Players are much better looked after these days. Being 35 today is like being 30, fifteen years ago.

The toughest job for an India coach is to deal with what the selectors want. If you're trying to build something for the future you don't have time to put things in place. I think in some ways the problem in India is patience, or the lack of it. It was the same with Australia in the 1980s, when they lost four or five players. They picked a core group of people and sorted out the tough times.

Sandeep Singh is in for 3-national tourney

2008-01-06T01:54:00.001-08:00

Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh returned to the reckoning for a berth in the national squad as he was picked among the 29 probables announced on Friday for the three-nation hockey tournament starting January 22.

Mid-fielder Pavan Lakra and young forward Bikash Topo were also named in the list. The probables will undergo a national camp in Bangalore from January 10 for the lead-up tournament to the Olympic qualifiers in Chile in March.

Carvalho said the final team will have either 22 or 24 players. Pakistan and Belgium, who have already qualified for the Beijing Olympics in August, are the other teams for the January 22-30 tournament.

The three teams will play each other twice and the top two will play the final. Sandeep Singh, who has been impressive so far in the ongoing Premier Hockey League in Chandigarh, will have to work hard to find a place in the final squad.

"A 24 or 22 member final team would be selected for the tournament after which the team will leave for Western Australia for training-cum-competition there."

Sandeep Singh is in for 3-national hockey probables

2008-01-06T01:54:00.000-08:00

Nadal and Youzhny entrance into the Chennai final's

2008-01-06T01:46:00.000-08:00

World number two Rafael Nadal overcame a dazzling challenge from veteran Spanish compatriot Carlos Moya to squeeze through to the ATP Chennai Open final on Saturday.

Nadal saved four match points in the second set before winning 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/1) in an enthralling four-hour semi-final that swung wildly from one side to another.

The 19th ranked Youzhny gave Croatian youngster Marin Cilic a tennis lesson before cruising to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the first semi-final. Top-seeded Nadal will clash with fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in Sunday's final of the season-opening event worth 68,800 dollars to the champion.

Some 6,000 fans at the packed centre court of the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium watched a stunning fight from their favourite Moya, who won here in 2004 and 2005 and was runner up to Ivan Ljubicic in 2006. The 31-year-old Moya and seeded third, outplayed Nadal in the first set tie-breaker in which he dropped only three points.

Nadal broke Moya in the fifth game of the second set, but was himself broken in the 10th while serving for the set which forced another tie-breaker. Moya appeared to have the match sewn up at 6-3 in the tie-breaker, but Nadal hit back to save four match points and make it 6-6 before taking the set at 10/8.

Moya, ranked 17th in the world, once again seized the advantage in the third set by breaking Nadal's serve in the fifth game but faltered while serving for the match at 5-4.

Left-handed Nadal broke back to make it 5-5 and pressed home the advantage in the third tie-breaker of the match, conceding just one point. Earlier, Youzhny dominated Cilic from the start, breaking the 19-year-old former world junior number two in the opening game of the match.

Both players had finished their quarter-final matches in the early hours of Saturday after rain played havoc with the scheduling. Youzhny, looking for his fourth career title, said he was confident going into the final.

"We are professionals and have to adjust to the rain," he said. "Both of us finished our quarter-final matches at the same time and obviously there was little time to recover. "But I am happy with the way I played today. I kept the pressure on him from the start. I am ready for the final.

Top seed Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal in men's and women's finals

2008-01-06T01:38:00.000-08:00

Top seed Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal of PSPB overcame stiff challenge from their respective opponents to reach the finals of the men's and women's singles of the Pramod Mahajan All India Senior Ranking tournament at Siri Fort Sports Complex on Saturday.

Sridhar prevailed over his Banglorean mate Arvind Bhatt 21-19 21-16 while Saina fought back to get the better of third seed Aditi Mutatkar 18-21, 21-13 21-12. Saina will meet Sayali Gokhale, who came off another three setter to beat Dhanya Nair 18-21 21-6 21-18.

In another men's semifinal, seventh seed J B S Vidyadhar upset second seed P Kashyap 22-20 16-21 21-15 to set-up a title clash with Sridhar. In the most awaited semifinal, Sridhar faced a tough time in putting the breaks over a rampaging Bhatt, who at one point was running away with the first game.

Bhatt hit a flurry of powerful smashes right from the start, that left Sridhar gasping for breath. Bhatt raced to a 10-2 lead and Sridhar had no clue about how to stop the storm.Sridhar waited for his time patiently and came back into the match much like a seasoned pro that he has matured into in the international circuit this year.

Bhatt, who has made a stunning come back after a long injury-layoff and notched up quite a few impressive title wins in 2007,

Sridhar leveled score at 18-18 and then took the lead before closing the match 21-19. It was too much for Bhatt, who led in most part of the game but failed to deliver the killer punch.

Bhatt looked a bit tired in the second game and reserved his stinging smashes for big points, keeping his all-attacking game at the back-burner.

Both players fought neck and neck and at 10-10, it was anybody's game, but then Sridhar stepped up the gas and went ahead with some fine net placings and closed the match.

The script in the first women's singles semifinal was not much different where Saina met a fierce competitor in Aditi Mutatkar, who showed firepower and enough promise for the future.

But Aditi met fire with fire and the scores were leveled at 11-11 before Saina pocketed seven points in a row and that changed the face of the match. She closed the match 21-13.

Aditi made a few errors in the decider and Saina broke away from six-all, and did not look back. "I have come close to her in last few matches. I know that I can beat her. I have a better technique and the only thing I need is experience at the higher level," Aditi said .

A few Crazy mometns by Baju in field

2008-01-06T01:26:00.000-08:00

After Ricky Ponting popped up a simple catch to VVS Laxman at silly point off the first ball he faced from Harbhajan, the Indian spinner simply took off towards the dressing room with both arms raised and a finger pointing heavenward.For a few crazy moments it appeared that Harbhajan Singh taken to rugby with his team-mates at the SCG on Saturday.

On a more serious note Sourav said: "Harbhajan is a competitive guy. All men can't be same. It's not right for me to say that's the way he should be. That's the way he is and that's the way we are. We are all different. We react differently to different situations. And we as human beings will have to accept it."

Sourav claimed that he did not know about Harbhajan being charged till this morning. "I wasn't aware what had happened. I saw something happening on the field when they were batting. So I don't know exactly what happened," Sourav said.

As the SCG crowd lapped up Harbhajan's unique celebration, the humour was certainly not lost on Ponting at whose insistence the umpires had pressed charges of racial abuse against the Indian spinner on Friday following his on-field verbal duel with Andrew Symonds.

Matthew Hayden said that the Australians believe that they have a strong case, but the Indian team management is confident that nothing will come out of Sunday's hearing and Harbhajan will be let off for lack of evidence.

Skipper Anil Kumble, manager Chetan Chauhan, assistant manager MV Sridhar, senior pro Sachin Tendulkar and, of course, Harbhajan will attend the hearing from the Indian side, while Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds will testify against Harbhajan.

BCCI officials are already in touch with Cricket Australia on this issue which is threatening to sour the excellent relations between the two most powerful constituents of the ICC. No matter who wins this wretched battle, the game of cricket stands to be the biggest loser.

Roger Federer want be on top for several years

2008-01-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

Roger Federer has warned would-be challengers that he intends to stay at the top for several years to come.

Speaking to L'Equipe newspaper after being named as it's Champion of Champions for the third year running, the Swiss star said that at 26, he was injury-free and full of motivation.

"It's all to do with my preparation," he said. "The way that I train and get myself in top condition is very important.

"I have put the priority on longevity. I've always had an eye to the future and would like to continue playing as long as possible to play against as many generations as possible. I am in it for the long run."

A winner of three out of four Grand Slam titles in 2007, the Swiss player finished well ahead of American swimmer Michael Phelps and French world rally champion Sebastien Loeb in a vote by L'Equipe's journalists.

The only other sportsman to have won three times in succession was Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher in 2001-2003.

Looking back over 2007, Federer said his greatest satisfaction came from matching Bjorn Borg's record of winning Wimbledon five times in a row by defeating Rafael Nadal in a pulsating five-sets final.

"It was an incredible match against Nadal - in front of Borg who was there, Connors also and McEnroe - everyone was there. It was a magical moment for me.

"It felt like moving into another dimension and that I was no longer just the best player in the world, but a kind of legend. "Of course its bizarre to think of oneself as a legend, but that was the biggest moment of the year for me."

This year, for the first time, the editors at TENNIS have chosen only one Player of the Year. Rather than pick a man and a woman, we thought that a single award covering the entire pro game would be a more significant honor.

What we didn’t realize was how difficult this would make our selection process. Not only were there two strong candidates among the men—Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both had historic

Turning to 2008, Federer said that winning a first French Open title was near the top of his list of priorities, but he said equaling and possibly passing Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles was even higher.

He is currently on 12 Grand Slam titles and a repeat of the last two years when on each occasion he won the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open titles would see him move ahead of the retired American.

Federer was speaking to L'Equipe in Dubai where he is preparing for the defence of his Australian Open title later this month.

V.R.V Singh to Replace in the place of Zaheer Khan

2008-01-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

Fast bowler Vikram Rajvir Singh will join the squad as a replacement. "Zaheer will not be able to take part in the rest of the series. He will return immediately...," a board statement said.

India fast bowler Zaheer Khan is to return home from the tour of Australia after suffering a heel injury, the Indian cricket board said on Wednesday.

Left-arm seamer Zaheer missed the second Test in Sydney that started on Wednesday due to a heel injury in his left foot.

Batting may have been a perennial source of concern on this tour for India, but on the bowling front it has been a problem of plenty.

With Punjab's young VRV Singh impressing as back-up bowler in the warm up game against the rest of South Africa, coach Greg Chappell was wearing a happy look at the options at his disposal.
Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth are all but penciled in for the first Test at it will be a toss up between VRV and Pathan for the third seamer's slot.

"VRV Singh has been bowling close to 145mph and with good control too," muttered Chappell after he sat through with team's video analyst Ramakrishnan in the press box on the third afternoon of the four-day game here on Saturday.

VRV Singh has lost little time in adjusting to the high altitude and the kind of line and length to bowl on the wickets in South Africa. He has come in for high praise from some of the team's seniors, including maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

Vikram Rajvir, 23, has played five Tests and was last month called into the squad for the final Test against Pakistan after injuries ruled out Zaheer and Munaf Patel.

Zaheer's injury further weakens India's pace department already hit by fitness woes. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was ruled out of the tour with injury and the board had said Munaf needs match practice before playing international cricket again.

Australia recovered with Symonds from stageering early blows by R.P.singh

2008-01-02T08:25:00.000-08:00

After losing the toss to Australia,Indian players made the Australia's back to pavilion,with an accurate bowling bye R.P.Sing and Harbajan sing they were restricted the Aussis to 126 for 6.
But Aided by umpiring blunders, Australia recovered from staggering early blows inflicted by India to reach a dominant 376 for 7 at close on the opening day of the second Test here on Wednesday.

The hosts rode on the luck and brilliance of Andrew Symonds who remained unbeaten at 137, 107 runs after he clearly nicked Ishant Sharma to wicketkeeper MS Dhoni. There were more new year gifts for Symonds when he was declared not out by the Australian third umpire Bruce Oxenford after being stumped by Dhoni off Anil Kumble's bowling.

Electing to bat, the Australians were gasping at 134 for six at one stage before Symonds and Brad Hogg (79) not only pulled the team out of the pits with a 173-run seventh wicket partnership.

Brett Lee (31) was giving Symonds company at stumps on a day which saw the script going horribly wrong for the Indians after the post-lunch drinks break. (AFP Photo)

India suffered from wrong umpiring in sydney test.

2008-01-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

The Cricket Board on Wednesday directed the Indian team management to lodge a protest with ICC Match Referee Mike Procter against atrocious umpiring decisions made on the opening day of the second Test against Australia at Sydney.

"We have asked our team management to lodge a protest to the ICC match referee against the wrong umpiring decisions made today by Steve Bucknor. The wrong decisions made by Bucknor have been commented upon by all cricketers and analysts alike," said BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla.

"I am sure the International Cricket Council will be monitoring the matter in Dubai and take appropriate actions," Shukla said.

Australian batsman Andrew Symonds was caught by MS Dhoni off Ishant Sharma when on 30 but to the horror of the Indian team, Bucknor decided he was not out. Symonds went on to score an unbeaten 137 to spearhead a great recovery after the hosts were tottering at 134 for six at one stage.

Symonds was also given another 'life' by third umpire Bruce Oxenford who ruled him not out when he was stumped by Dhoni off Anil Kumble a little later.

Earlier, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting too was lucky to escape a caught behind appeal when on 17 before going on to complete a half century. Mark Benson was the umpire who did not uphold the confident appeal.

FIRST A1 GP for India win by Karthikeyan,his Team

2007-12-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Narain Karthikeyan sizzling on the Zhuhai International Circuit, Team India zipped to its first A1 GP victory by winning the Feature Race on Sunday.

Having lost his status as Williams' test driver after the Formula One team jettisoned him earlier this week, Karthikeyan took the circuit by storm and raced to the chequered flag, quelling late charge from New Zealand and South Africa.

India thus became the 14th nation to record a win in A1GP.

Starting third in the grid, Karthikeyan stepped on the gas on lap 16 when Portugal slipped back, allowing India to trail Switzerland. And by lap 22, the gap between the Swiss and Indian car had been whittled down to 4.6 seconds.

In lap 26, Neel Jani of Team Switzerland developed a problem with the right rear tyre and had to bring the car into the pits, which allowed Karthikeyan to grab the lead.

Karthikeyan had winned the GP race which is held in China.

Kiwi Jonny Reid then closed down on the Indian with less than half a second separating them but Karthikeyan used all his experience of racing in the top flight and survived the late assault to drive his team to glory.

Chopra out of Australian Masters golf

2007-11-25T06:55:00.000-08:00

Daniel Chopra was edged out in the play-off by Australian star Aaron Baddeley, who won his first Australian Masters title on the fourth hole of a playoff at Huntingdale Golf Club.

The Australian Masters is a joint-sanctioned event between Australian and European PGA Tours.Chopra, who father is Indian and mother Swedish, started the day with a one shot lead. He seemed to have an edge till the 16th where he had a second birdie after one a little earlier on the 15th.

When Baddeley birdied 17th and Chopra slipped, they were both 13-under and Chopra needed an eight-foot putt for a par at the last to force the playoff with both players locked on 13-under.

The final day saw no less than five players shared the lead at one stage. Then Stuart Appleby moved clear with a few holes remaining before Chopra's two birdies gave him the edge but he faltered again and missed out on his maiden European Tour title.

Baddeley could have won on the first playoff hole but he missed an eight-footer for birdie. The two parred it the second time around and then Chopra made a difficult par putt on the third occasion to get into the fourth hole.

This time Baddeley got a par despite getting into trouble but Chopra three-putted and gave the title to Baddeley. Neither Chopra nor Baddeley were at their best and but Appleby seemed fine till the 18th.

Appleby looked to have his first Australian Masters in his pocket after going into lead with a birdie at the 12th. Then his challenge faltered with a double bogey and he ended on 11-under, two shots off the pace.

Jyoti and Ghei finish 17th, Scots win World Cup of golf

2007-11-25T06:45:00.000-08:00

Jyoti Randhawa and Gaurav Ghei ended their Omega Mission Hills World Cup campaign with a modest one-under 71 that saw them finish tied 17th place after the four-day tournament.

The final round showing was way off their first and third round performances, but their second-round three-over 75 pulled them down badly.

The Scots, who started the final round one stroke back of the unheralded American duo, won the US$5 million team event with a par on the third hole of a sudden-death shoot-out at Mission Hills Golf Club. Victory was sweet for Scotland as it made up for last year's disappointment of finishing runner-up to Germany.

China enjoyed their best finish in the World Cup with trailblazers Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong shooting a four-under-par 68 in the foursomes to finish tied 11th on a 17-under-par 271, eight shots behind winners Scotland.

They were the joint best Asian team alongside Korea's Lee Sung and Lee Seung-ho in the 28-team competition that will stay in Mission Hills for the next 12 years.

Montgomerie, 44, paid a tribute to 18-years younger Warren after the latter pulled off a pressure-packed 12-foot par save in the first extra hole to keep the Scots firmly in the tournament. Warren had also holed an eight-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole that propelled them to the top of the leaderboard.

Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret shot a flawless 67 to finish third, one shot shy of the play-off teams while England's Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, the pre-tournament favourites, settled for fourth place, also after a 67.

ICL races against time to put up cricket show

2007-11-25T06:33:00.000-08:00

The Tau Devi Lal sports complex cricket stadium in Panchkula, a satellite town of Chandigarh located in Haryana, is nothing less than a battlefield these days.

There is a frenzy of activity at the cricket stadium of the imposing sports complex, located 15 km from here, named after Haryana's political patriarch and former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.

Except for the lush green outfield of the cricket ground and the square in the middle, there is a war-like atmosphere everywhere in this new stadium. The organisers are fighting against time to get things in order as the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) prepares for its maiden cricketing show from Nov 30.

An excited ICL chairman, the legendary Kapil Dev knows that a lot needs to be done as the day of the first Twenty-20 tournament nears.

"In a short span of time the ICL has undertaken significant revamping of the stadium. It has made various additions to the stadium to ensure an atmosphere of immensely enjoyable cricket carnival," said Kapil Dev, who broke into the international cricketing arena from this city in 1978.

New stands are being put up to increase the seating capacity of the ground to 6,000. Floodlights are being installed for day-night encounters. The pavilion building is being upgraded to include individual lockers and dressing rooms for players, umpires and match officials. A hi-tech broadcast studio is also being readied.

The production facilities will include 30-camera units with high technical specifications like hawk eye, zoomer, snickometer, speedgun and replays for third umpire.

The ICL - an Essel (Zee) group event - has taken the stadium here on a 10-year lease from the Haryana government. "We will provide world-class facilities here," ICL chief executive Ashish Kaul told IANS.

The organizers want to make the event a fun tournament. Ticket sales - Rs 100 for a single match and Rs 150 for two matches on the same day - have started here.

The state government is extending full cooperation to the ICL event with the state's sports minister Kiran Chaudhary stating that the event would be made a success.

All matches of the T-20 tournament, played between six teams, will be in the afternoon and evening. Five international players will feature in each team named after Indian cities. The remaining players in each team will be young cricketers who have signed up with ICL.

The teams are Chandigarh Lions, Mumbai Champs, Delhi Jets, Chennai Superstars, Hyderabad Heroes and Kolkata Tigers.

The matches will be telecast live on Zee Sports channel and Tony Greig, Dean Jones, Pat Symcox and Jeffery Thomson will be expert commentators.

National Football League becomes I-League

2007-11-25T06:15:00.000-08:00

The premier club football league of the country, the National Football League (NFL) has taken another step towards putting Indian football on the rails of 'professionalism', and has assumed a new name called I-League.

The Oil and Natural Gas Cooperation (ONGC) sponsored league kicked off with a match between defending champion Dempo Sports Club and Salgaocar Sports Club at the Nehru Stadium in Margao.

Bollywood actor John Abraham, who stars in recently released Bollywood film "Dhan Dhana Dan Goal" with the game of football as its theme, started the event by kicking a football.

"Unfortunately, football has not picked up the way cricket has in the country. But I am sure that with the league and with all the promotion campaigns, football is going to pick up in the country," said John.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Priyaranjan Dasmusi said that football already pulls more crowds in West Bengal than cricket.

"In an international cricket match when India-Pakistan play, 60-70 thousand people gather at the Eden Gardens, but during the domestic football match of the Federation Cup and during the local league match of the East Bengal and Mohun Bagan around 100,000 people gather in Calcutta stadium," said Dasmunsi.

The I-League will retain the NFL home-away format but there will be a greater reward -- Rs. 50 lakh for the winner and Rs. 28 lakh for the runner-up -- to fight for. (ANI)

India to grassp the Delhi's Test required more 32 runs

2007-11-25T05:57:00.000-08:00

India, chasing 203 to win the first Test against Pakistan, had scored 171 for three wickets in their second innings on the fourth day here Sunday, needing 32 more to win on the fifth and final day.

At the close of play, Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 32 (86 balls, 5x4s) and Sourav Ganguly was on 48 (61 balls, 8x4s). Both batted with assurance and authority and have so far added 78 for the fourth wicket.

Earlier, India bowled out Pakistan for 247 in their second innings, with Salman Butt being the top scorer with 67 and Anil Kumble taking three wickets at his favourite Ferozeshah Kotla.

Pakistan, who made 231 in the first innings, ended up with a lead of 202. India had made 276 in their first innings.

India's chase began inauspiciously as they lost Dinesh Karthik quickly for the second time in the match. He made nine in the first innings and one in the second and was caught behind both the times. Wasim Jaffer (53, 81 balls, 8x4s) and Rahul Dravid (34, 96 balls, 5x4s) did not let the early dismissal affect them as the duo contributed 82 for the second wicket.

But Jaffer and Dravid departed within nine runs of each other. Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar took all three wickets. His exceptional second spell, during which he dismissed Jaffer and Dravid, read 7-2-16-2.

Tendulkar and Ganguly then took charge. Unmindful of the fading light, Ganguly square cut leg-spinner Danish Kaneria for two successive fours to the delight of the packed stadium. And in the next over from pacer Mohammed Sami, Tendulkar flicked and Ganguly drove to bring up two more boundaries and that sent the spectators into ecstasy.

The day began with Pakistan at 212 for five. But Kamran Akmal, who was batting on 21 along with Misbah-ul-Haq (29) overnight, was out without any addition to his score.

Akmal, who is going through a poor run, tried to drive Zaheer Khan through the covers, but the angle of the delivery saw him slicing it to substitute Yuvraj Singh for straightforward catch at point. The sixth-wicket stand was broken after 52 runs.

Sohail Tanvir, the next batsman, who is left-hander did not last long as fell into the trap laid by Khan, mishooking into the hands of Harbhajan Singh at backward square leg.

Ganguly, in whom Kumble seemed to have a lot of faith, made it worse for Pakistan as he struck twice in three balls to dismiss Misbah-ul-Haq and Sami.

With first delivery with the second new ball, Ganguly got rid of the danger man Misbah-ul-Haq (45, 87 balls 2x4s, 2x6s). Misbah attempted his favourite lofted ondrive, but Dinesh Karthik ran backwards some ten metres from mid on to mid-wicket to take a brilliantly judged catch.

Misbah, despite not being well, played his role to perfection and emerged as the second highest scorer after Salman Butt's 67.

Off the next ball, Sami flicked a four off the military medium pacer, but Ganguly had his revenge the next delivery as the dogged batsman top-edged, going for massive drive, and was caught by Wasim Jaffer at mid-wicket.

Like in India's first innings, the last two wickets in the Pakistani innings fell to successive balls as Kaneria also was run out. Sachin Tendulkar's slightly off-target throw to wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who smartly broke the stumps with his back to them.

PAES and DAMM make Masters cut

2007-11-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

Mumbai: Indian tennis ace LEANDER PAES and his Czech partner MARTIN DAMM have made the cut for the season-ending Masters Cup doubles, a prestigious event featuring the top-eight teams on the ATP Tour, beginning in Shanghai November 11. This will be the pair’s second consecutive appearance in the Masters Cup. They lost the semis last year to Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi in three sets.

Status quo for Indians
All the top Indian players clung on to their positions in the latest WTA and ATP ranking lists released on Monday. While SANIA MIRZA maintained her 32^nd position, Sunitha Rao did not see any change in her rank of 182^nd on the WTA singles ranking chart.

In doubles too, Sania and Sunitha stuck to their spots at 19^th and 152^nd respectively. Tara lyer conceded 12 positions to be 371^st in singles rankings. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi also had their ranking intact at 17^th respectively.

The Indian chess participants an unblemished record and earned their country the first gold medal of the second Asian Indoor Games here Saturday.

2007-10-28T03:04:00.000-07:00

India had a spotless record with six wins in six games. The Indian team comprising Krishnan Sasikiran and Surya Sekhar Ganguly and World No. 2 woman Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika won all their matches to secure 12 points, with two points being given for each win.

With this gold medal, India completed a chess double at Asian Games and Asian Indoor Games. The Indian team had won the gold medal at Doha Asian Games last December. Sasikiran and Humpy have been part of both teams.

India's stars were Sasikiran and Harika. Sasi won five of his six games and lost only one to 22-year-old Bu Xianghi of China. Among the women, Harika totalled five points with four wins and two draws and was the only unbeaten Indian player.

Humpy had four wins, one draw and one unexpected loss to Catherine Perena of the Philippines. Ganguly totalled 3.5 points from six games with three wins, one draw and two losses.

The top four scorers in both men's and women's section advance to the semi-finals of the individual competition and Indians have Harika in the last four among women, while Sasikiran will be the country's big hope among men.

The team competition was mixed with two men and two women and India won each of their matches Friday, the first day of the Games, and then added two more wins over Kazhakhstan (2.5-1.5) and Indonesia (3.5-0.5) Saturday.

Bordeaux rallies to beat Valenciennes

2007-10-28T03:03:00.001-07:00

Bordeaux rallied to beat Valenciennes 2-1 on Saturday with goals from Jussie and David Bellion and moved into third place in the French league.

Second-place Nancy wasted a chance to go first, drawing at bottom-side Metz 0-0.

Valenciennes opened the scoring with an own goal from Souleymane Diawara who deflected in a shot from Algeria international Yacine Bezzaz in the 34th minute.

Bordeaux leveled in the 37th after Brazilian forward Jussie converted a penalty kick.

David Bellion got his eighth goal this season to give the victory to Bordeaux, connecting with a corner kick in the 45th.

"The team showed its moral strength. It immediately reacted after conceding an unlucky goal," Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said.

Bordeaux has 22 points from 12 games while Valenciennes dropped to ninth place with 18 points.

Lyon leads the league with 25 points from 11 games and visits Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.

Nancy, which has 24 points, had the best chances against Metz but lacked the finishing touch to convert them.

Metz goalkeeper Christophe Marichez stopped a low header from Andre Luiz in the 16th minute off a free kick from Benjamin Gavanon.

Gavanon chested the ball down in the 28th before shooting straight into Marichez's arms.

Nancy nearly scored in the 83rd after a poor clearance but Puygrenier's diagonal shot went wide.

In Saturday's other games, it was: Sochaux 2, Marseille 1; Lorient 0, Nice 0; Saint-Etienne 0, Auxerre 0; Lille 0, Strasbourg 3; and Monaco 0, Caen 0.

Sochaux edged Marseille to grab its first win at home this season and move away from the relegation zone.

Badrinath, GauthamGambhir blaze to glory

2007-10-28T02:54:00.000-07:00

The second day of the Challenger Series belonged to Subramaniam Badrinath (82 not out) and Gautam Gambhir (73). Both played elegantly to help India Red post a commanding 303 for 7 against India Green today, and thereby help their side to an 88-run win. India Red won with a bonus point and have already qualified for the finals. That leaves the two teams meeting tomorrow— Green and Blue — to decide on the other finalist. If India Blue wins tomorrow’s encounter they will qualify, or else it will boil down to the net run rate.

Both Gambhir and Badrinath seemed to be competing against each other. Interestingly Badrinath was drafted into the Indian team in place of Gambhir during the Australia series after the southpaw got injured. Now, Badrinath would like to retain his spot, while Gambhir would want to get his berth back when the selectors meet here tomorrow to pick the squad for the Pakistan series. And both, with equally good performances, have made the task of the five wise men a bit difficult.

Gambhir was more cautious to begin with, and then slowly started to attack the bowlers, just playing according to the situation to set the platform for a big total. During his 74-ball innings, Gambhir showed his class— playing shots on all sides of the wicket through his seven boundaries.

But just when he looked set for a century, an ambitious shot brought an end to his knock. Piyush Chawla, in his second over, tossed up on the middle and off, and the batsman, looking to hit over mid-wicket, guided the ball to Manoj Tiwary.

Badrinath, batting at No. 5, seemed to be continuing from his 41-run knock yesterday — middling the ball from the start and ensuring that the team didn’t lose the initiative given by Gambhir. He was though, a shade slower than Gambhir to reach the

50-mark. The Tamil Nadu player took 62 deliveries to Gambhir’s 58 but made up for it soon after, racing to 82 from 79 balls, including seven boundaries and a last ball six off Munaf Patel to take the total past 300.

In the initial part of his innings, Badrinath was playing second fiddle to the more attacking Virat Kohli (40 off 45 balls). The duo put on 85 runs for the fifth wicket before 18-year-old Delhi batsman was stumped by Parthiv Patel off Iqbal Abdulla. Kohli hit two huge sixes and a boundary. Later Paresh Patel played a cameo 12-ball 22 to give impetus to the scoring rate.

India Green, in reply, never looked in contention as they lost wickets at regular intervals even as the required run-rate kept mounting. Only Tiwary looked capable of guiding the ship with a steady 65 but lack of support from the other end didn’t help.

Selection is purely on merit: DILIP VENGSARKAR

2007-10-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar may be drawing criticism for being too harsh to Rahul Dravid by dropping him from the squad for the first two ODIs against Pakistan, but the man on the hot seat insisted that he picked the team "purely on merit".

"You cannot make everybody happy. Every time you have to pick the best combination, a winning combination. If we pick somebody, we are asked, 'Why did you pick him?' If we drop somebody, we are asked, 'Why did you drop him?' (But) it's how you take it.

"We pick a player on his form and fitness. And purely on merit. You watch cricket and you know how well the person is batting, whether he is in form or not,"

"When you pick a player it means you believe in him,unless he proves you wrong. But that is very rare," he said, adding "you can't put numbers to it.

For instance, say that if the player does not perform for five games, he is out. You cannot do that."

Asked if it was difficult to drop a senior player, Vengsarkar said, "there is nothing like senior, junior or middle-aged guys. Just because someone is a youngster, he won't be getting half-volleys in international cricket. Everyone has to be picked on merit, form and fitness."

On who would take the place of Rahul Dravid, who was a regular in the middle order, Vengsarkar said, "at this stage Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir are there and waiting in the wings are Manoj Tiwary, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma. So we have a lot of options".

World trap shooter Manavjit Singh won the individual gold and also helped India clinch the team gold at the 2007 Asian Clay Shooting Championship in a

2007-10-28T02:49:00.000-07:00

Manavjit won the gold in a tiebreaker, beating Khaled of Kuwait, while two other teammates, Zorawar Singh and Anwer Sultan also grabbed the gold Friday,

"In the qualifying round, Khaled was leading with 120/125 points and Manavjit was at the second place with 118 points.

"In the finals, Manavjit shot 20 and Khaled 18. In the tie shoot, Manav won the gold and Khaled the silver medal. The bronze medal went to Singapore," it said.

India won the team gold with a total of 354/375 points.

NRAI also announced in a meeting held in Manila Saturday that the Asian Clay Shooting Federation will organize the next championship in Jaipur in February 2008.

DENIS WATSON leads Charles Schwab Cup

2007-10-28T02:46:00.000-07:00

Denis Watson shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Jim Thorpe and Brad Bryant into the final round of the Champion Tour's season-ending Charles Schwab Championship.

He trailed by two strokes after 13 holes and went into No 18 a shot behind Thorpe, the 2003 and 2006 winner.

But Thorpe made a double bogey on the 412-yard, par-4 final hole to finish with a 69.

Watson had a 15-under 201 total.

Bryant, one of four players in contention for the Charles Schwab Cup race for a $1 million (euro700,000 million) annuity, matched his best round of the tournament, a 67 to close the gap behind Watson.

Bryant, who trails Loren Roberts in the Cup race by 697 points, can become just the second player to win both the season-finale and the Cup championship in the same season and needs to win on Sunday to have a chance. He will need some help.

At 6-under 210, Roberts was tied for 18th place. Jay Haas, 165 points behind Roberts, shot a 71 to reach 7 under.

Napoli beats Juventus

2007-10-28T02:45:00.000-07:00

Maurizio Domizzi scored twice from the penalty spot on Saturday to lead Napoli over Juventus 3-1 in the Italian first division.

Walter Gargano got Napoli's other goal in the 50th, four minutes after Alessandro Del Piero put Juventus ahead 1-0.

Also on Saturday, Alessandro Rosina scored to help Torino beat Cagliari 2-0 for only its second victory in the league.

Inter Milan leads the Serie A with 20 points, followed by Juventus with 17, Fiorentina with 16, AS Roma with 15 and Napoli with 14. Torino has 11 points, three more than Cagliari.

On Sunday, Inter can extend its lead at sixth-place Palermo, while Fiorentina travels to Genoa and Roma faces a stern test at AC Milan.

Napoli conceded four goals in a 4-4 draw with AS Roma last week but it was much tighter at the back against Juventus, with a strong performance by Paolo Cannavaro - brother of Italy and Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro.

"We closed down the space well," Napoli coach Eddy Reja said. "Despite playing with three forwards they had little freedom."

Sachin to be Test captain: Sources

2007-10-28T02:43:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to be captain for the next two test series against Pakistan and Australia, sources said.

Sachin's captaincy has been finalised but an announcement is likely only after November 8.

A debate has been raging for quite some time now, as to whether there should be different captains for the test and one day teams.

While M S Dhoni has been appreciated for the way he has captained the Twenty20 and one day teams, it really was a two horse race between Dhoni and Sachin for the test captaincy.

The 2007 India-Pakistan tennis series will be held in Pakistan next month, All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced here Saturday.

2007-10-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

The six-day series will comprise two men's singles, one women's singles, one men's doubles and one mixed doubles match starting Nov 12. The AITA, however, did not name the venue.

The Indian team will comprise three boys - Aditya Madkekar, Vivek Shokeen and Ashutosh Singh - and two girls - Parija Maloo and Sonal Phadke.

Former India Davis Cupper Akhtar Ali is the team coach.

Dravid dropped, Sehwag recalled to play Pakistan

2007-10-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

The national selectors are meeting tomorrow to pick the squad for the first two games of the ODI home series against Pakistan starting next month, but large-scale changes may be ruled out.

The selectors will spend some time on the question mark over former India captain Rahul Dravid, who finished the recent home ODI series against Australia — India lost 2-4 — with an average of 10.2. But it is believed that they will finally fall back on the age-old cricketing logic of ‘form being temporary and class permanent’.

It means that Dravid will stay as part of India’s Big 3 — along with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. It also means that Dilip Vengsarkar and Co will have to turn a blind eye to the creditable batting performances they have been watching during the Challenger series in Ahmedabad.

Moving on, Gautam Gambhir, after his Man-of-the-Match performance against Australia in the T20 game and his 73 from 74 balls today for India Reds, seems certain to be redrafted in the side though that’s where the selectors will find themselves in a spot.

Before today, S Badrinath, who replaced the injured Gambhir during the Australia series, was expected to be the weak link but his fine showing for India Red today — 82 from 79 balls — has changed things. .

Adding another twist to the selection muddle is the return of Suresh Raina, who scored 92 from 100 balls in the only Challenger game he has played. And in case former opener Virender Sehwag happens to be among the runs for India Blues tomorrow, the selectors’ job will only get tougher.

Besides, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik had come up with match-winning performances in India’s last two games at Mumbai against Australia — the seventh ODI and the Twenty20 game. And the pacers Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and S Sreesanth are automatic picks while Irfan Pathan has cemented his place as an all-rounder. But it’s learnt that UP’s bits-and-pieces player Praveen Kumar, who has now taken nine wickets from two games, will figure in the discussions tomorrow.

Is this F1 season over?

2007-10-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Kimi Raikkonen may have to wait days and even weeks before the Ferrari driver can be absolutely certain that he is Formula One champion.

Even as the Finn celebrated a stunning victory against the odds in Sunday's Brazilian season-ender at Interlagos, rivals McLaren were preparing an appeal that could cast a cloud over his first title.

McLaren said on Sunday night it was ready to appeal a stewards' decision at the Brazilian Grand Prix, keeping alive Briton Lewis Hamilton's F1 title dream.

The team made the decision following the stewards' decision not to punish the BMW Sauber and Williams teams for using allegedly irregular fuel during Sunday's race, won by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to claim the drivers' title. McLaren's decision to appeal now leaves the results of the drivers' world championship in a state of uncertainty.

If the FIA's International Court of Appeal overturns the stewards' decision and, more crucially, disqualifies the Williams and BMW Sauber drivers, then Hamilton will be elevated from seventh to fourth - giving him enough points to beat Raikkonen for the world championship.

McLaren officials notified the FIA of their intention to appeal the race stewards ' decision not to penalise BMW Sauber and Williams within an hour of the announcement, which had appeared to seal the championship for the Finn. The stewards ' decision also meant the original race result was confirmed and that Raikkonen was confirmed as champion.

He won the race and Hamilton, the 22-year-old British rookie who went into the final race with a four-point lead after leading the championship for six months, finished seventh.

That outcome left Raikkonen one point ahead of Hamilton for the season crown, denying the British racer a world championship in his rookie campaign.

Brazilian Grand Prix stewards' decided not to take action against BMW Sauber and Williams despite a report from the FIA technical delegate that stated temperatures of fuel samples taken from both cars of each team were outside the regulations.

McLaren have a week to decide whether to proceed but even then it is unlikely that they will be able to overturn Kimi's title.

Article 168 of the FIA's international sporting code makes clear that it remains up to the stewards to decide whether to move a driver up in the race classification. Drivers have been stripped of points in the past but allowed to keep their placing.

Raikkonen has seen it all before, hailed as a winner of the halted 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix only to have the victory taken away days later when it emerged that the timekeepers were wrong.

Upcoming Indian matches

2007-10-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

Date	Time	Teams	Stadium	City	Match
November 6, Tuesday	09:00 IST	India v Pakistan	Nehru Stadium	Guwahati	First ODI
November 9, Friday	14:30 IST	India v Pakistan	Punjab CA Stadium	Mohali, Chandigarh	Second ODI
November 11, Sunday	09:00 IST	India v Pakistan	Green Park	Kanpur	Third ODI
November 15, Thursday	14:30 IST	India v Pakistan	Captain Roop Singh Stadium	Gwalior	Fourth ODI
November 18, Sunday	14:30 IST	India v Pakistan	Sawai Mansingh Stadium	Jaipur	Fifth ODI
November 22 - 26	09:30 IST	India v Pakistan	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi	First Test
November 30 - December 4	09:30 IST	India v Pakistan	Eden Gardens	Kolkata	Second Test
December 8 - December 12	09:30 IST	India v Pakistan	M Chinnaswamy Stadium	Bangalore	Third Test

Chawla replaces Kartik for Challenger Series

2007-10-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla has been inducted into the India Green team for the October 25-28 NKP Salve Challenger Series to be held at Ahmedabad.

"Murali Kartik has been given a rest. His place will be taken up by Piyush Chawla," said selection panel chief Dilip Vengsarkar on Monday.

Chawla suffered an ankle injury during India's triumphant campaign in the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa last month and missed the subsequent seven-match ODI series against Australia as well as the one-off Twenty20 International.

The injury to Chawla opened up a place for Kartik who, on his recall to the national team after 20-month banishment, grabbed the chance with both hands and bowled splendidly.

The left-arm spinner from Railways appears a certainty when the team for the ODI series against Pakistan commencing at Guwahati on November 5 is picked in Ahmedabad on October 27.

Dravid hails world champ Anand

2007-10-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid hailed the "Anand effect" at a function organised to felicitate the world chess champion here on Monday.

"Winning one World Championship in itself is phenomenal…he has come back to win another. It shows his determination, drive and mental strength. That in itself is a fantastic feat," Dravid said at the function.

"He has shown the way for others in the country. He is the first world champion in India. When you have someone to follow it becomes easy. But he had no one. He has done it on his own," Dravid said, showering praise on the Chennai-born 37-year-old World Champion.

"What I see here today is an Anand effect," he added.

Dravid, who was an hour late because of a delayed flight, told the gathering that when the All India Chess Federation President N Srinivasan invited him for the function he readily accepted because he wanted to meet the champion.

"I have followed his achievement with great pride. He is an inspiration not only for me, but for all Indians."

"He has been a fantastic role model for sportsmen...for all Indians. He has gone about with dignity, even after being a double world champion, which should be a lesson for all Indians," Dravid said.

Dravid also requested Anand to write a book on chess, which would not only be cherished by people who follow the game but also by people who want to succeed in life.

"You have been a huge inspiration to all of us," he said.

Nadal confirms for Chennai Open

2007-10-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

World number two Rafael Nadal Images has confirmed his participation for the ATP Chennai Open, to be held at the SDAT Stadium, Nungambakkam from December 31, 2007 to January 6, 2008.

The Chennai Open has attracted a strong Spanish presence, with former French Open champion Carlos Moya Images an eternal favourite in the South Indian city. This will be Nadal's third appearance in the last five years in Chennai, though the Mallorcan has failed to win a title there.

"It feels great to be coming back to Chennai," Nadal said in a statement. "I like the crowd and their enthusiasm and support and they always push you to give your best.

"I lost in the semi-finals last time and I hope to win my first Chennai Open title this year. I had some injuries this year but Iam confident that I would make a good start to the New Year and improve my performance, playing in this tournament."

Nadal started his Chennai Open journey in 2004 (then Tata Open) as a young 16-year old. He lost to Frenchman Thierry Ascione in the first round but made his mark with his first career title, partnering with Spanish compatriot Tommy Robredo to win the doubles title.

Last year Nadal looked a little rusty before eventual winner Xavier Malisse of Belgium defeated him in the semi-final.

Tournament Director, Fernando Soler said, "Rafa is a special player and his confirmation at such an early stage re-affirms the popularity and importance Chennai Open has gathered in the ATP men's tour.

India's biggest haul at Military World Games

2007-10-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

India came up with its biggest ever medal haul at the Military World Games, finishing with two gold, one silver and seven bronze medals in the fourth edition of the event which ended here Sunday.

However, a large majority of the 196 Indian athletes in 14 events did not get close to the top three places, and the men accounted for all the medals in the seven-day event.

It is noteworthy that India was able to make a mark with a haul of 10 medals in only their second time of entering the Games.

In the last edition in Catania (Italy), India had grabbed a lone bronze medal through boxer Kehanand Beliwal.
As has been the history in the games, Russia (38 gold, 26 silver and 27 bronze), China (35-21-11) and Germany (5-10-13) proved to be supreme finishing as top three medal winners in the Games, while India finished at 19th spot amongst the 48 countries of the 103 getting into the medal bracket.

The Games move to Brazil in 2011.

This time too, Indian boxers were the most impressive as they accounted for a gold and four bronze medals.

India's first gold medal was won by the sailors in the event held in Mumbai through R Mahesh and Giridhar Yadav in the Military Class race.

Jitender Singh got the first games medal for India in the 400m Hurdles event, and Manipuri boxer, P Narjit Singh, completed the tally with a superb golden effort in the bantamweight category.

Shooters Vijay Kumar, C K Choudhary, Pemba Tamana and Hambir Singh, all from the Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow, claimed the silver medal in the 25m Centre Fire Pistol Team category and Chatholi Hamza won a 1500m bronze dashing the hopes of current Asian champion Mohammud Othman Shaween of Saudi Arabia.

Strains and tension of competing against higher ranked athletes did not deter Jitender as he survived a tight race to finish third ahead of Konstantinos Anastasiou of Greece, who was breathing down his neck.

Jitender's last ditch effort helped him win the bronze behind top notch runners Edress Hawsawi of Saudi Arabia and Jesus Salas of Brazil.

As for Hamza, it was definitely a superb effort since he raced against well-known Kenyans and Shaween. The Indian was bunched with Gideon Gathimba and Shadrack Korir, bronze medallist in the recent Osaka World Championships, and Shaween.

The best ever series in Test history

2007-10-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

My stint as India coach may have begun with a home series against Zimbabwe, and everyone knew what was next. A few months later, with 15 straight Test wins under their belt, the Aussies were coming to conquer their 'final frontier'.

Shoulder surgery had ruled out Anil Kumble, which was a big blow during the Tests. Sourav Ganguly took me to a net during the Delhi Test versus Zimbabwe game to have a look at this kid called Harbhajan Singh. Bhajji was quiet and shy during those days, but he turned the ball a mile and it was obvious to see he was a special talent.

We got a group together for a 26-day conditioning camp in Chennai, and I was then struck by the self-belief of the boys. They appreciated just how tough the Australians were, but they were convinced that they could beat anyone at home, and that conviction was pretty unshakeable. Every minute of the camp was planned, we worked our backsides off during training under the intense Chennai sun, Anil coming along to stand at the nets and to help the spinners we had gathered there.

t was obvious Anil would have more useful things to tell them about spin bowling than a former New Zealand opening batsman. During indoor sessions, we discussed the Australian batsmen, formulated strategies and lived. It was a camp everyone enjoyed. Later, we could even boast that in Chennai when preparing for the Aussies, we had lived on fresh air, fruit juice and cricket.

We watched Australia's warm-up games against India 'A' and Mumbai and were gratified to see both the sides running the Aussies close. Well, they ran them closer than we did in the first Test anyway, which we lost in three days. But the game was a lot closer than its margin suggests.

McGrath and Gillespie bowled superbly to dismiss us for 173, but we had the Aussies at 99-5 before Gilchrist and Hayden launched their offensive. To compound my misery after the heavy defeat, I was congratulated in the hotel foyer for the Australian win. An Indian fan mistook me for a member of the Australian contingent, not exactly the show of faith I needed.

Nalbandian stuns Federer in Madrid

2007-10-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

David Nalbandian announced his return from nearly 18 months of indifferent results as he stunned top seed Roger Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Madrid Masters.

The upset win from the world number 25, who once stood among the elite, prevented a Swiss defence of the title he lifted here a year ago.

He became the second this season to defeat the top three players in the world - Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same event. Djokovic did it as he won Montreal as well.

Nalbandian last won a title in May, 2006, on clay in Estoril. He lost the Madrid final in 2004 to Marat Safin.

After spending a year without a coach, the Argentine hooked up with Hernan Gumy and has been lifted his game since the summer.

Nalbandian had lost four matches against Federer since beating the Swiss for the Masters Cup title in Shanghai two years ago.

Sachin's ODI retirement not far off: Nadkarni

2007-10-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

The time when Sachin Tendulkar quits one-day cricket is "not far off" as he has "indirectly" hinted at that, says Bapu Nadkarni, even though the legendary left-arm spinner backed him to play international cricket for two more years.

"He has actually come out with a statement, saying that 'my body is not the same' and that 'I am still trying to pull out (of that situation) as far as possible'. But the time (of his retirement) is not far off. He has already given it to you indirectly," Nadkarni told IANS here.

Nadkarni, 74, was referring to one of Tendulkar's television interviews in which he had admitted that he was feeling that it was difficult to recover for one-day internationals when compared to five-day Test matches.

Talking about the "big three" of Indian cricket - Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly - Nadkarni said that they still had steam to play international cricket.

"We have to keep them for some time, as long as they are fit enough to play. They should play for at least two more years. Obviously, they have to perform. One odd (unsatisfactory) performance here and there you have to concede. Even (Don) Bradman failed... everybody fails. People in the press should understand this," he said.

"They forget overnight all the performance put in by these gentlemen over the years. So if one series they fail, what's so bad? It's a game of cricket... unless, of course, you find them absolutely dull on the field, which is not accepted in present day cricket."

He particularly defended Rahul Dravid, who had a poor ODI series against Australia, a series that India lost 4-2 last week.

"A question in front of us is Dravid's. He is failing... it's okay, nothing wrong in it. I won't bother about it, as it's a small thing. What about the others? Are they playing consistently? They are not, and that's the problem and that has let us down in the series. This is the point for us to ponder," said the cricketer,who holds the world-record for bowling 23 successive maiden overs in Test cricket.

Sania Mirza slips to 32nd in WTA rankings

2007-10-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Slipping two places, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was 32nd in the latest WTA Tour rankings released Monday. The 20-year-old, who has had to cut short her engagements because of a stomach muscle injury, however managed to stay in top-20 in the doubles, ranked 19th.

Sania will not be seen in action till the Hopman Cup, were she has earned a direct entry. The tournament begins Dec 30.

Belgian Justine Henin, who won her ninth WTA title in Zurich last week, continued her rule with Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova way behind in second and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the third spot. Jankovic's compatriot Ana Ivanovic was fourth followed by Russian Maria Sharapova at the fifth position.

In the ATP men's doubles rankings, Leander Paes was positioned at 17th and Mahesh Bhupathi at the 21st place.

Dhoni highest individual taxpayer in Jharkhand

2007-10-23T08:17:00.001-07:00

India's cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who rules the hearts of millions of cricket fans, has also become the darling of the income tax department as he has emerged as the highest individual tax payer in Jharkhand.

According to sources in the income tax department, till Sep this year Dhoni has paid Rs.7.3 million as advance tax.

"Dhoni has emerged as highest tax payer in the current financial year. We expect that he will pay Rs.40 million as tax in fiscal 2007-2008," said an income tax official.

Dhoni is followed by two businessmen of West Singhbhum district.

This year, the income tax department has set a target to collect Rs.5.03 billion in taxes from the state.

According to official sources, the highest corporate taxpayer in the state is public sector unit Central Coalfield Ltd, which has recently been accorded "miniratna" status by the central government.

Jharkhand is meanwhile gearing up to welcome Dhoni home. He is likely to arrive in Ranchi on Wednesday.

McGrath asks Sreesanth to back antics with wickets

2007-10-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

"You want your fast bowler to be aggressive. Giving blokes send-offs or sledging when you talk back I don't agree with, but that's up to the officials to sort out. At the end of the day you've got to be able to back it up," he said on the young Indian speedster.

"You can talk the talk but if you can't go out there and perform then you're not going to be around for very long."

Sreesanth has taken India by storm with his aggressive bowling but opinion is divided on his antics.

Right from his celebratory dance after hitting South African fast bowler Andre Nel for a huge six last year to Mammooty-like walks on the ground, he has provided much amusement to spectators. But it has come at a price.

Sreesanth has been censored on numerous occasions and even fined a few times.During the recently completed one-day international series in India, which Australia won 4-2, Sreesanth had some run-ins with burly Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds. And the fast bowler will be on the firing line when India tours Australia later this year.

McGrath warned the Indian medium pace not to get too carried away with his theatrics unless he can back it up out in the middle.

The last time India toured Australia in 2003-04, the Test series was drawn 1-1 although the home team was without McGrath (injured) and leg-spinner Shane Warne (suspended).

While both bowlers are also missing for this tour after retiring at the end of last season, McGrath believes India is still in for a torrid time at the hands of an Australian team about to enter a rebuilding phase.

"I think it's going to be an interesting and exciting time for Australian cricket with the young guys putting their hands up," said McGrath.

Hockey needs India to thrive: Charlesworth

2007-10-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

Australian legend Ric Charlesworth believes "hockey needs India doing well to survive and thrive" and feels privileged to play a part in the renaissance of the eight-time Olympic champions.

The newly-appointed Technical Adviser of Indian hockey said the country is a minefield of talented players, who can be groomed to become world beaters again.

"India has now failed to perform for so long that the game [which I have always loved] is lesser, because we are missing the artistry and aesthetics that stamped the first part of the 20th century.

"Equally, hockey needs India doing well to survive and thrive worldwide. I believe India has the raw materials in skilled, clever and talented people to be outstanding again as a hockey nation. In hockey to play a part in the renaissance is a great challenge and I am privileged to have this opportunity," Charlesworth said.

Charlesworth, who till recently was working with the New Zealand images Cricket as a High Performance manager, said the first challenge after being "on the ground" in December would be to know the functioning of Indian hockey.

"Everyday will bring a new challenge...the immediate one will be to discover how hockey works in India...to watch, learn and listen and to construct with Indians a better way forward," said the former Australia hockey captain.

"I have one or two commitments [for a couple of weeks] that I have already agreed to before this assignment. After that I will be practically full time except for the occasional speaking engagement," he added.

The Aussie great said the deal with India is a result of years of negotiations, which could have been even longer without International Hockey Federation's 'Promoting Indian hockey' programme.

"Over some months and following considerable discussion it has been developed. Such things are seldom quick or easy and without FIH's programme for India it may have taken longer. The first contacts were back in 2002 and then after Athens," he said.

On the Indian men's team Asia Cup winning feat, Charlesworth said though the result could not be undermined, but the side needs more exposure.

"I still haven't seen the final game but the result was encouraging. Of course often in hockey the result can deceive but Korea are a quality team. Overall though we haven't played enough games this year, we need more exposure."

IAAF investigating sanctions against Jones

2007-10-14T08:48:00.001-07:00

The world governing athletics body is investigating what sanctions it can take against former triple Olympic champion Marion Jones after she admitted taking steroids before the 2000 Sydney Games.

"What will happen with regards to the money? With regards to the medals? What will happen to the relays? These are good questions," International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) general secretary Pierre Weiss said on Saturday.

American Jones has returned the five medals she won in Sydney after confessing she had used the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), which was undetectable at the time.

Speaking on the eve of the world road running championships, Weiss told reporters: "We are investigating the case, we have asked the US federation to make a report. We don't have the report yet, it will be complex."

"We are really sad about what happened. She was the queen of our sport. And we have lost our queen."

Karthikeyan to start 11th in second A1 GP race

2007-10-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Narain Karthikeyan will stand a good chance of winning morale-boosting points for Team India when he revs up from the 11th spot on the starting grid for Sunday's Feature Race in the second A1 GP race of the season.

In the qualification for Feature Race, Karthikeyan clocked 1:45.918 to finish 11th, with 1.269 seconds separating him from the Dutch car that won the pole position.

Accordingly, the Team India driver will start 11th on the starting grid for Sunday's Feature Race and 12th in Sprint.

Team India Chief Operating Officer Yohan Setna said that the team was banking on Karthikeyan's vast experience to win points in the Feature Race on Sunday.

"We are happy with today's result and it's not as bad as it looks," Setna said.

"Sprint being a short race, you actually have little scope to improve on your position. But in Feature, we stand good chance," he said.

"The weather promises to be fine tomorrow and race craft would come into play in the Feature Race. Narain has vast experience and he can pace it well. Strategy would play an important role and Narain's experience would count a lot tomorrow," he said.

The Indian team won a point at Zandvoort, the Netherlands after finishing 10th in the Sprint race.

Harika at second spot

2007-10-14T08:45:00.001-07:00

Women GM and top seed D Harika kept herself in contention for the gold medal after beating compatriot Eesha Karavade in the ninth round of the World Junior Girls Chess Championship on Saturday.

The win helped Harika move to 7.5 points out of a possible 9 and she remained a half point behind Russian leader Vera Nebolsina.

Going by the points, it seems either Harika or Nebolsina will walk away with the title.

No other Indian girl was in medal contention after the defeat of Soumya Swaminathan and Mary Ann Gomes.

Sandeep shines in German League

2007-10-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh is making waves in the highly-competitive German League and has so far scored ten goals for his club Frankenthal.

Sandeep, who did not figure in the Asia Cup after falling in the bathroom and sustaining a minor injury, has completely recovered and is looking forward for a comeback to the Indian team.

"I have been training hard to earn my place in the Indian team and I am hopeful that my recent performance will help me," Sandeep said.

Armaan's historic win in Japan

2007-10-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Promising Indian driver Armaan Ebrahim on Sunday nailed a commanding win in the Grand Race of the Formula Renault V6 Asia Championship at the Autopolis circuit in Japan.

The circuit which had Formula 1 racing in it a decade ago is a drivers circuit with its fast and winding uphill and downhill corners.

The V6 Renault made its debut in Autopolis this year and Armaan goes down in the record books as the first winner of the Grand race in the V6 in Japan.

The 18-year-old Indian, who dominated the official practice session, started from 6th place and had his work cut out. A brilliant start saw him move into second place by lap one and Armaan started to close the gap on pole sitter James Winslow.

By lap 4 Armaan was on James's gearbox and by lap 5, he put the pressure on James to such an extent that the Englishman spun. Armaan took the lead and started to pull away with Karl Reindlinger from Australia behind him followed by Earl Bamber from New Zealand.

But James's managed to get back on track and was politely let ahead by his team mate Earl Bamber. In the meantime Armaan steadily pulled away from Karl and opened up more than 10 seconds of a lead. Armaan settled down and conserved the car, not wanting a repeat of the sprint race while James managed to pass Karl who was suffering with lack of rear grip, to finish second.

Armaan said it was a great win on a festival day.

"Firstly, I would like to wish everybody, Eid Mubarak. It was a great win and it was even better to win on a festive note," he said.

Champs all the way! (Australia )

2007-10-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Australia on Sunday relied on an all-round display to clinch the One-day series with a 18-run victory over India in the sixth One-dayer which saw the hosts frittering away a solid start and running out of steam in the slog overs.

After scoring a mammoth 317 for eight built around Andrew Symonds rollicking unbeaten 107, the Australians held their nerve to restrict the home team to 299 for seven and take an invincible 4-1 lead in the seven-match series.

The trusted opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar (72) and Sourav Ganguly (86) provided the foundation for the chase with a 140-run stand, but the Indians lost the plot in the middle overs to allow the asking rate to climb beyond manageable limits. (AFP Photo)

Tight security for Military Games

2007-10-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

HYDERABAD: Players from America and its allied countries will be treated as special category from security point of view at the Fourth Military World Games beginning here from Sunday.

This additional security coverage to sportspersons from these countries, including those taking took part in the Iraq war, is being provided against the backdrop of increased threat perception due to recent terror strikes in the country by some religious fundamentalist organisations.

“Despite the threat perception, no country withdrew from the Games and teams from all the 107 countries which confirmed their participation earlier are coming here,” Cyberabad Police Commissioner S. Prabhakar Reddy said here.

With over 10,000 police personnel, including the Cyberabad police force, every inch of all the venues for the games, accommodation buildings and the routes has been screened. Even airborne security coverage is being provided using four military helicopters that would keep tab on the games festival.

The National Security Guards will assist the police and the military officials in this regard.

The IML and IIIT Guest Houses at Gachibowli are earmarked for ‘Safe Houses’ to shift the VVIPs in case of any emergency.

Claiming that ‘world-class’ security measures are being put in place, Mr. Reddy said no person would be allowed to get inside the venue without security screening. Entry is strictly by invitation and no one can walk into the venues during any time of the games festival. Except mobile phone, no spectator would be allowed to bring any article, even water bottles.

“They objects you bring along would have to be dumped outside if you want to go inside. We wouldn’t guarantee safety of those items,” the Commissioner said. Unlike other functions, there would be no relaxations with regard to timings for entry into the venues.

The spectators would not be allowed if they are late even by one minute for the ‘last time for parking and last time for seating.’

Road opening parties, posting of armed guards on roof top, installation of surveillance cameras at strategic places, checking by anti-sabotage teams and sniffer dogs would be used extensively as part of the security arrangements.

Military World Games from today

2007-10-14T06:42:00.001-07:00

HYDERABAD: The stage is set for the start of the fourth Military World Games which is the biggest ever sports event (in terms of participating countries) to be held in Hyderabad. The week long meet gets under way from Sunday, Oct. 14.

That this mega event will be held in Hyderabad is a matter of pride for all those concerned with the event and for the residents of the twin cities in general.

Germany with 207 participants has sent the largest contingent while China is in second place with a total of 200 participants. Host India is in third place with 196 participants.

Large gathering

A total of 4588 players, along with officials from 103 countries are going to take part in a meet that will probably see the largest gathering of nations after the Olympic Games.

It is not just the participants who are present in Hyderabad in large numbers. Even the numbers of support staff is staggering. It is clear that the state government is sparing no effort to make this a grand show.

Including civilian and military volunteers, security personnel from the Andhra Pradesh State Police and home guards, it is estimated that a total of about 35,000 persons will be involved with the conduct of the Games in some way or the other.

India’s best chances

India’s best chances are likely to be in shooting where there are several international medallists including Vijay Kumar who has to his credit medals at the Commonwealth and Asian levels and Pemba Tamang, a Commonwealth medallist.

Young Hambir Singh is also spoken of very highly by the experts.

In some of the other sports a few upsets by Indian players cannot be ruled out, particularly in boxing. Home crowd support usually has a morale-boosting effect and this was seen when the football team was under pressure against Brazil and Qatar.

Although the team lost both matches it did put up a good fight.

A smattering of Olympic medal winners are in the fray. These include Jossinet Frederique of Germany (2004 Olympic Games silver medallist in Judo), Kovago Zoltan of Hungary (2004 Olympic Games silver medallist in discuss), Rajmond Debeuec of Slovenia (2000 Olympic Games shooting gold medallist), Pecha Peter of Slovenia (2004 Olympic Games, bronze medallist, wrestling ) and Urska Zolnir of Slovenia (2004 Olympic Games bronze medallist in judo).

1074 medals at stake

Among the teams to watch out for will be Russia which had won the largest number of medals (33 gold, 39 silver and 36 bronze) in the previous edition and China which was the second placed outfit with 31 gold, 16 silver and 13 bronze.

This meet will see competitions for a total of 1074 medals (341 gold, 341 silver and 392 bronze).

To get the Games off to a colourful start the organisers have planned an attractive opening ceremony replete with sky divers parachuting into the arena, helicopters doing a fly-past and a march past by teams dressed in their smart uniforms.

Considering that all this is likely to be done with the precision one normally associates with military ceremonies this opening extravaganza is likely to be a memorable show.

Dubai to help boost golf in India

2007-10-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

developing the game as a successful recreational sport, while also contributing to the elite junior development of India's best junior golfers," stated Mohammad Juma Bu Amim, vice-chairman and CEO of 'golf in DUBAI.'

"The Foundation has a mandate to grow junior golf at the grass roots level and nurture the youth's development in the game," Bu Amim continued.

The Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation was set up in 2006 in memory of the late Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The president of the Indian Golf Union, General J.J. Singh, was very excited about the strong support received from 'golf in DUBAI'.

general Singh remarked: "The support of Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation has been very well received by the Indian Golf Union, ensuring the continued success of the programme.

"It will help us realise our expansion plans to take the game of golf to every corner of the country and rural areas that have been inaccessible so far."

They include: (1) the development and distribution of specialty student manuals and 'Golf in Schools' programmmes;
(2) support with equipment that nurtures aspiring junior golfers who show promise and seek entrance to a golf club; and
(3) support for the IGU's Camp of Excellence, that will allow for exchanges with the UGA's Junior Development Program in the UAE.

'golf in DUBAI', in co-operation with the India Golf Union and the Women's Golf Association of India, will bring the best players in the game, both men and women, to India through the staging of world-class events with the European Tour sanctioning bodies (European Tour / Ladies European Tour).

'golf in DUBAI' is backed by Dubal (Dubai Aluminum) as the main partner and National Bank of Dubai, Emaar, Jumeirah Hotels, Emirates airline, BMW, Jumeirah Golf Estates, Gulf News, Omega and CNN as partners in its drive to showcase the emirate's vibrant golfing scene to a worldwide audience.

Indian boxers likely to put up a good show

2007-10-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

HYDERABAD: The Indian pugilists are expected to put a good performance and, perhaps, bag a medal or two in the fourth the Military World Games as the team has six reigning National champions.

The confidence of the brains-trust is based on the intensive preparations the boxers had for the last six months at the Army Sports Institute (Pune) under the watchful guidance of chief coach Louis Enrique of Cuba.

The boxers lined up for one of the final practice sessions at the Artillery Centre rings in the foreground of the historic Golconda Fort on Saturday. “They have talent and we have focussed on training them to win medals,” said Enrique.

The Indian camp suffered a setback when Commonwealth gold medallist Som Bahadur Pun (64 kg) was put out of the Games after being hospitalised with viral fever.

The six National champions Sanjay Kolte, H.K. Belewal, Narjit Singh, A.Lakra, Thoi Thoi Singh and Manpreet Singh are confidence personified despite the huge challenge they will face in the Games, said to be the toughest after the Olympics. “No doubt a lot depends on the draw. But we are ready for the challenge,” says Capt. Manoj Kumar, manager of the team.

Enrique, who has been with these boxers for three years now, seems to be confident of getting the best from his boys.

“We are also looking at these Games as a preparatory event for the next month’s World Championship.

This should give me a fair idea of where exactly our boxers stand and what are the areas of concern,” he said in a chat with The Hindu.

Enrique picked Manpreet Singh for special mention and after a one-to-one training session said that he should be the biggest medal prospect from India in the Olympics.

“We should perform well in these Games because there will be a plenty of crowd support,” he pointed out.

One more Chak De moment in Indian sports in the form Viswanathan Anand.

2007-10-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

In the season of celebrating the Power of Blue, the apprehensions were probably genuine. A Made-in-India guy who learnt chess from his mother and went on to script the mother of all triumphs — twice. Even in the ecstasy of an Indian sporting high, would he get the accolades a King deserves?

It had taken hockey coach Joaquim Carvalho to protest bitterly for India to realise that another set of our boys in blue hadn’t got their due for being Asia’s best. Thus the fear: A day after cueist Pankaj Advani, another world champion, refused a government award to protest the law of unequal returns that govern India’s evaluation of sporting excellence, would Viswanathan Anand’s conquest remain just another news flash?

Given that chess is officially played in 161 countries, he is our only global icon. Multi-lingual, suave and intelligent, he is also the emblem of India that is young and hot at 60.

By being the world’s number one chess player, by challenging Garry Kasparov at the World Trade Centre, by consistently doing well at pilgrimage spots like Linares and Wijk aan Zee, by winning a hattrick of chess Oscars, this self-effacing GM has sparked a silent revolution in Indian chess.

On Sunday morning, Anand continued the trend of the sports pages giving us more good news than usual from the day India turned 60.

On August 29, NP Pradeep turned us Syrian killers in the Nehru Cup. On September 9, the men’s hockey team served up a magnificent seven to conquer Asia. Two days later, Delhi chess prodigy Tania Sachdev became Asian champion.

At Flushing Meadows, Leander Paes went within a match of the mixed doubles crown, while Sania Mirza broke into the top-30. And Jeev Milkha Singh keeps reminding us that he is a worthy son of a worthy father.

Symonds todays man of the match special seals the series

2007-10-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

In his latest newspaper column, Andrew Symonds spoke of his annoyance at certain Indian cricketers and also at the manner in which he was heckled in Vadodara. In Nagpur, he channelised his ire to hit the Indians where it hurt most, and a glorious 82-ball century inspired the victory that gave Australia the series with a match to spare. Just for good measure, he added a nearly immaculate spell of off-spin bowling as Australia staved off a 140-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and a thrilling late flourish from Robin Uthappa to clinch an 18-run triumph.

Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting had established the perfect platform with a dazzling 96-run partnership, and with Brad Haddin and James Hopes providing invaluable support, Symonds combined brute power and masterly timing to utterly destroy the Indian attack.

Hopes cut and drove superbly as the pair added 90 from just 9.4 overs to wrest control. But there was never any doubt as to who was the main man, with Symonds providing a lesson in late-overs batsmanship. Murali Kartik had been outstanding in his first spell, giving away just 15 from his first seven overs, but even he was a helpless bystander as Symonds clubbed one over the roof of the temporary stand at midwicket before coolly lofting over long-on for six more.

He followed up with a late cut, just to show that he could do finesse as well, and it was with the deftest of dabs off Irfan Pathan that he got to three figures, and his coiled-spring-unleashed celebrations left no one in any doubt as to how much it meant after the events of the past few days.

Robin Uthappa's improvisation towards the end kept India in the hunt © Getty Images

When it was India's turn to tilt at a 318-run windmill, Tendulkar and Ganguly reeled off a 26th century stand, giving India hope of a first successful run-chase against Australia in nearly a decade. The turning point was undoubtedly Tendulkar's dismissal after a magnificent 72, smartly stumped by Gilchrist off Hopes.

Brad Hogg's left-arm variations then fetched him four wickets, and when Rahul Dravid holed out to long-on, India's chances appeared non-existent, with 100 needed from 57 balls. But Uthappa laced some stunning drives and lofted with Twenty20 panache as he and Dhoni rattled off 72 from just 46 balls, leaving India 28 to get from the last two overs.

The door was ajar, but Mitchell Johnson, five-wicket hero in Vadodara, soon plunged the ground into darkness, with an ice-cool maiden over that saw both batsmen miscue attempted lofts. Uthappa's 28-ball 44 ended with a superb tumbling catch by Hopes, while Dhoni's attempt to maim the man on the moon ended up in Ponting's safe hands. The capacity crowd, so buoyant moments earlier, was stunned into silence.

They had cheered themselves hoarse for three hours. After the embarrassing display in Vadodara, it was Ganguly who was the first to announce intent, with a sliced drive off Johnson, and a quite glorious extra-cover drive off Brett Lee. Lee came in for quite some stick, with Tendulkar taking three consecutive fours off him. It mattered little to the capacity crowd that one was a top edge and the other off the bat's outer.

Both men played some lovely shots through the covers, and Tendulkar produced one trademark stroke down the ground as India more than kept up with the asking rate. When Ganguly charged down the pitch to heave Nathan Bracken for six, Ponting sensed that it was time to slow things down. On came Symonds, and down went the rate, with neither batsman able to pierce the field.

They had more success against Hogg, though, with Tendulkar getting to his 50 courtesy a huge six over midwicket. Ganguly wasn't far behind either, lofting Hogg over long-on, and after the embarrassment of the previous game, it was clear that India weren't about to exit the series quietly.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly got India off to a strong start © Getty Images

Tendulkar's exit slowed Ganguly down, and it was left to Pathan to inject some momentum with some clean hits down the ground. But when he cut Hogg to point, the rot set in. Ganguly, who was again in sight of an elusive century, fell to a catch in the deep, while Yuvraj Singh was cleaned up by a full toss that struck him flush on the pad.

India's spin element had dragged them back into the game after Ponting and Gilchrist had unleashed mayhem. Michael Clarke, opening in place of the injured Matthew Hayden, was snaffled by Mahendra Singh Dhoni down the leg side in the first over, but India's new-ball pairing of Sreesanth and Zaheer came in for a real hammering as the pair carried on in the same vein as they had finished in Vadodara.

Ponting set the tone by glancing the first ball he faced for four, and when he then crunched Zaheer over midwicket for six, it was clear that circumspection would have little role to play in the Australian approach.

At the other end, Gilchrist cut and drove Sreesanth for fours, but was then reprieved as Dravid failed to hold on to a chance high to his left at gully.

Gilchrist was on 16 at the time, and he soon made India pay with three fours in a Sreesanth over. Dhoni was forced to turn to Pathan and he nearly provided the breakthrough, squaring up Ponting, only to see the edge go through where slip would have been.

Harbhajan was on as early as the 13th over and Gilchrist was on to him immediately, driving and cutting for fours, but Harbhajan had his moment in the next over, when Ponting's prod at one that straightened was superbly pouched by Dravid at slip.

Gilchrist got to his half-century in just 46 balls, but then slammed the next straight to cover, and after a couple of fine sweeps, Brad Hodge's wretched tour continued, with Dravid taking the catch at slip off Kartik's bowling.

Then came the key moment. Had Sreesanth latched on to a difficult chance running in from deep square-leg when Symonds had made just two, Australia's plight would have been immeasurably worse. Instead, as they had in the rain-affected series opener at Bangalore, Symonds and Haddin lifted Australia towards a huge total, after a cautious phase against Kartik and Tendulkar.

After his initial success, Harbhajan went for plenty, with Symonds using his feet beautifully to counter the turn. The partnership was worth 75 when Haddin miscued Sreesanth to mid-off, but that would be the last moment of cheer for India in the field. Hopes came in, and India's sank, with Symonds jubilant at having dealt the most painful blows of all.

Symonds ready to move on following abuse

2007-10-14T06:00:00.001-07:00

Australia's Andrew Symonds says he is ready to move on after suffering racist abuse from spectators during Thursday's fifth one-day international against India in Baroda.

The big all-rounder was subjected to monkey noises while he was fielding.

"You have to be pretty thick-skinned to survive in the Australian dressing room, let alone out on the paddock," Symonds was quoted as saying in Australian newspapers on Sunday.

"I am a pretty liberal sort of bloke but racism is a big issue in world sport, not just cricket.

"It is a sensitive issue and guys have been made an example of in the past, but what do you do in this instance if it's coming from the crowd? Life goes on."

Australia captain Ricky Ponting [Images], meanwhile, has called for the International Cricket Council to take action.

"I know the match referee knows about it, if the ICC [Images] gets it in the report they have to do something," he said. "Racism is unacceptable anywhere in the world, you don't expect it to happen when you step out on the field.

"We did not expect it and we do not expect it to happen again."

Abusings will not stop my acheivment says Symonds

2007-10-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

Tendulkar, Bhutia raise a racket

2007-10-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

It was a festival of sports, as cricket and football joined hands to promote a game of tennis at the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Former India cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar and current India football captain Baichung Bhutia lent their support to the event by lifting a tennis racquet and treating the fans to an unusual evening.

I am proud I was the only undefeated player'

2007-10-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

It is always a pleasure to interview Vishwanathan Anand. Very rarely you come across such a warm and down-to-earth person, nay world champion!

Only a few months ago he took the world No 1 ranking; now he has the World crown. He had won it six years ago, but the latest triumph, in a tournament that featured eight of the world's top-ranked players, is certainly remarkable. But, then, Anand has a habit of conquering heights.

From Mexico, where the World Chess Championship was held, Anand and his wife Aruna have returned to Spain, where they live.

In an exclusive chat over telephone, Anand speaks to Shobha Warrier about the championship, Mexico, and the gift Aruna expects from him.

First, congratulations on winning the World Chess Championship.

Thanks a lot.

Sania-Schnyder lose in Moscow QF

2007-10-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

Sania Mirza's challenge at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow ended after she bowed out of the doubles event as well on Thursday.

The Indian ace and her Swiss partner Patty Schnyder failed to make the most of opportunities and went down 3-6, 7-5, 7-10 to Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of the United States in the quarter-finals.

Black-Huber saved nine of the 12 break points they faced in the one hour 33-minute contest to snatch a semi-final berth.

Sania had lost 3-6, 4-6 to Argentina's Gisela Dulko in the singles first round.

In Vienna, second seeds Leander Paes and Martin Damm face the American pair of Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Chess: Vishwanathan Anand crowned undisputed world champion

2007-10-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

India's Vishwanathan Anand, already the world's highest-ranked chess player, was crowned the undisputed World Chess Champion, after winning the world championship over 14 rounds in Mexico City. Anand had led the championship from the second day onwards, and replaced Vladimir Kramnik as the undisputed champion of the chess world. Playing with black pieces against Grischuk in the penultimate round, Anand did face a daunting challenge which he successfully overcame -- and then went on to draw against Peter Leko in the final round to comfortably take the title. Anand was also the official FIDE world champion in 2000 (and until 2002), but at that time the world title was split. This time around, there can be doubts or disputes over Anand's status as the world champion of chess -- as well as the game's highest-ranked player.

Indian Football (Soccer)

2007-10-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

Being the number 2 sport in a country with over a Billion people, you would think that the National Football team would be pretty competitive. BUT, in past decades, the have literally sucked. Just like the Government, Roads, and Sanitation, there was no organization for Football either. This is the primary reason for being ranked 162 in the world! Don't people get embarrassed about this? I mean what's the point of having a whole Organization dedicated to National Football when the national team is ranked right below a country like Grenada with a population of 103 thousand or Andorra with a population of 72 thousand people.

This will all hopefully change starting August 17! The AIFF (All India Football Federation) is finally taking steps to improve the game in the country. The National Team has recently toured Portugal, where they played some Club teams and surprisingly...they did NOT lose! AND..The AIFF have brought back the ONGC Nehru International Cup to the country and they will be organizing India's First Professional Football League.

Indian Volleyball

2007-10-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

Currently, in Kolkata, the 2nd Commonwealth Volleyball Championships are being held. There were supposed to be A LOT of competition at these games but this had been missing for the past few days. Now, the Indians will be playing Australia tomorrow in the semi-finals. Both sides have crushed their previous opponents up till now.

This shall be a very interesting match and hopefully, Indians will finally be able to say that we are better than the Aussies at one sport atleast. The Indians have a team that has the potential to be the top in all of Asia, according to their coach G E Sridharan.

Rahul Dravid had given his Capitancy from TeamIndia

2007-09-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

Rahul Sharad Dravid, the current captain of the Indian cricket team, has established himself as an integral part of the team with his technical proficiency, stylish strokes and sheer stability.

Rahul was born on January 11, 1973 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, to parents Sharad Dravid and Pushpa. He started to play cricket at the age of 12. Dravid did well in the junior tournaments to merit selection in the State under-15, under-17 and under-19 tournaments. Meanwhile he finished his bachelors from St. Joseph's College of Commerce.

He made his debut in the Ranji Trophy match against Maharashtra at Pune in 1990-91. He was the youngest Karnataka player to score a maiden century in Ranji. In 1995-96 he broke into the international team. He made his debut in One Day Internationals against Sri Lanka at Singapore in 1996. He is one player who has always shown stability and concentration and delivered solid performances in all the games that he played.

Dravid was the highest scorer in the 1999 World Cup, when he along with Sourav Ganguly created a new World record for the highest partnership of 318 runs for any wicket. His abilities are not confined to batting alone. He bowls right-arm off breaks and was a good reserve wicket keeper of Indian team.

Rahul keeps his cool even in a crisis and thus is a reliable anchor for the Indian team. Since he started playing he has maintained a Test career average of over 50. Technically his batting is flawless and he has improved with experience especially in Test Cricket. He is, at present, ranked the 7th best Test batsmen by the ICC in world cricket and has the highest Test batting average of any Indian batsman in history.He was given his captaincy from teamIndia

Dravid has been honoured with the Arjuna Award by the President of India. He was the 12th Indian to be named one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year for the year 2000 after his splendid performance in the 1999 World Cup in England. He became the 6th player in history and the 3rd Indian to score 10,000 runs in the ODI cricket.

Rohan Gavaskar joins rebel Indian Cricket League

2007-09-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

Former India player Rohan Gavaskar, son of cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, has joined the Kapil Dev-led rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) for "an opportunity to compete with international players again".

"I signed the papers recently. The prime reason is to get an opportunity to compete with international players again." Rohan told IANS.

Rohan's father Sunil Gavaskar has been asked by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to format its own league that will challenge the rebel league.

But before the BCCI plans could take shape, ICL snapped up Rohan, the seventh Bengal cricketer to join the league.

"The selectors are focussed on the younger players and no matter how well you perform in the domestic circuit, your chances are slim. The selectors tend to look at players who are in their early 20s. Money was not the primary reason," he said.

Rohan, who has captained Bengal, said that it was not an easy decision to leave the side with which he had been associated for the last 12 years.

The player averages 18 from 11 ODIs with a highest score of 54. The left-hander has 6,829 runs in 114 first-class matches, with 37 wickets at an average of 50 each.

India has a lot to learn about Twenty20 cricket

2007-09-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

Indians are rookies in the Twenty20 form of cricket and it showed Sunday. Otherwise, given the electric start to their run chase, they should have wrapped up the game against New Zealand quite easily in the Twenty20 World Championships here.

Also, most of the wisdom lies in hindsight and this says Indian skipper Mahednra Singh Dhoni should not have thrown the ball to Yuvraj Singh for his third over. That one yielded 25 and probably cost India the match.

The Indian team now travels to Durban to play their last two Group E matches at the Kingsmead and only an extremely brave man will put money on them reaching the last four stage from here on.

Dhoni was quite candid at the post match media conference and accepted his players still had a lot to learn about this new version of cricket.

"We need to learn how to bowl at the death. As the ball is not old it does not reverse swing and that creates a problem. Also we lost wickets at regular intervals otherwise the start provided by (Gautam) Gambhir and (Virender) Sehwag was great and we should have won," the Indian captain conceded.

The Wanderers ground was bathed in sunshine and the aisles were full of Indian supporters as Dhoni opted to bowl first.

He wanted to exploit whatever moisture there was in the surface. But Jacob Oram and Craig Mcmillan targeted Yuvraj and helped New Zealand reach 190 and that was always going to be a competitive total.

In the end, India lost by only 10 runs but that is a big enough margin in this format.

Positives from the game were there. Gambhir was a revelation and Sehwag played a few audacious strokes. Harbhajan Singh bowled well and Indian fielders hit the stumps often enough.

It doesn't help to dwell on the negatives but they cannot be wished away.

India bowled too many boundary and six balls. They squandered a great start given by Sehwag and Gambhir. By Dhoni's own admission, they could not string together partnerships while chasing, etc., etc.

The remainder of the group league matches are against South Africa and England and India have to win both.

Some changes need to be made to the playing eleven. Not just for the sake of making changes but to induce some freshness in the thinking. There is no point in bringing players like Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla to the tournament and then leaving them out to warm the bench.

Dhoni has a different explanation though. After the match he said that the World Championships is not the place to be grooming players. Now that is a disappointing statement coming from an otherwise aggressive captain.

From what we have seen of Dhoni, he seems like a positive captain. But to be a successful captain he also needs to have that gambler's instinct. Playing people like Chawla, Sharma and Pathan might seem like a gamble. But sometimes these gambles have to be made.

That's how great battles are won. Or lost.

Sania doubtful for Sunfeast Open

2007-09-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

Sania Mirza returned home after a successful seven-week sojourn on the American hardcourts, but had some disappointing news for the Kolkatans: she may not feature in the Sunfeast Open, which begins in Kolkata on September 17. The wrist injury continues to nag her and is unlikely to heal in the next week. Addressing the media on Sunday, Sania admitted as much and also hinted that she might skip doubles in future. On Sunfeast Open I don't think I can make it this time.

The wrist injury that has been troubling me all these years got aggravated in the last two weeks. Whenever, I play on hardcourts, this injury becomes a bit serious. I hope it heals before the Sunfeast Open. On her coach I am doing well with the help of Gabriel Urpi. I want to continue with him and whenever he is not available, my dad is always there. Urpi is a great coach who understood my game well. He helped reduce my mistakes. Any plans of hiring a psychologist I never heard of players hiring a psychologist.

And I think it's a myth that players hire psychologists. I don't need one. I have good knowledge about my game and know how to tackle tough situations.

Federer wins 12th Slam title with fourth US Open victory

2007-09-10T05:48:00.000-07:00

Prabhjot Singh and Rajpal Singh led from the front as India inflicted a humiliating defeat on Korea to defend their Asia Cup hockey crown with an authority rarely seen in recent times. The two forwards had a busy day, striking twice apiece in the 7-2 victory and essaying big roles in the other goals that came India's way. It was a torrent that the Koreans could not escape from, not even during those moments when India were reduced to 10 men. If at all there were blotches on India's victory celebrations, it was the two yellow cards that were flashed at Sardar Singh for dangerous play and Prabhjot Singh for violent tendencies. The situation tended to go out of control when Prabhjot swung his stick with little thought at the stroke of half-time, apparently striking Kim Chul down. The situation was tense but eventually wiser counsel prevailed, leading to a contest that the huge crowd at the Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium will remember for a long time to come. One other occasion which turned out to be a poor advertisement for the game was when the Koreans walked out in protest against a decision by umpire Richmond Attipoe of Ghana, who disallowed a goal. The Koreans were convinced that Hong Sung Kweon's shot was taken from inside the circle when apparently it was not. What must have pricked their ego was the way India launched a breezy counter in the 42nd minute before Rajpal Singh launched a thunderous drive off Sardar for the team's fourth goal. On either side of this poor conduct, Korea were left either finding their feet or their rhythm. The speed, rapid switch of flank attacks and swift passing bouts to the circle were all there but they couldn't crack the Indian maze yet again. India defended in numbers and at times when they were beaten, the lion-hearted goalkeeper Baljit Singh rose to the occasion. The three penalty corners that he saved off Kim Byung Hoon in the second half and two others off the field deservedly fetched him the Player of the final award. Shivendra Singh's early goal again came as a buffer that India were happy to ride on. Jang Jong Hyun's equaliser off a penalty stroke, awarded after Baljit Singh obstructed Yoon Sung Hoon's progress came as a momentary dampener but once S V Sunil angled a corner hit by Dilip Tirkey, India regained their flow in no time. The penalty corners were a worry as Raghunath was again conspicuous by his absence. Dilip worked no wonders, neither did the variations. But they weren't unduly harried by this drawback as they had a frontline capable of delivering the goods. The third goal in the 31st minute projected exactly the Indian's mindset. Prabhjot started the move in his own half before allowing Sardar and Tushar the luxury of a one-two. He joined them late, drew goalkeeper Ko Dong Sik out in a flash before belting home. Rajpal's goal came next and by then, the Koreans were at the end of their tether. Ignace Tirkey's ludicrously simple goal in the 53rd minute reiterated the turmoil in Korea's minds.

Indian hockey's night out

2007-09-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

Indian boxers may miss Olympic qualifiers due to govt apathy

2007-09-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, Sept. 10 (PTI): Their stupendous international success notwithstanding, Indian pugilists may have to skip the first Olympic qualifiers next month as the boxing federation is yet to receive its long-standing financial dues from the government.
"Even the thought of it is heartbreaking, but the fact is that right now we do not have the money to send the team to Olympic qualifiers next month," Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) General Secretary Col P K Muralidharan Raja said today.
Olympic qualifiers start with the World Championship in Chicago, from October 23 to November 3. IABF has announced a nine-member team, comprising newly-crowned national champions, for the event.
But the federation is unsure about the boxers actually making the trip.
"Until something happens at the very last minute, we are in no position to send the team. The boarding and lodging alone comes to USD 50 everyday there. We don't have that kind of money. The Sports Ministry keeps delaying the matter, it is very frustrating," Col Raja said

Santhi Soundarajan: Sport, Gender and Suicide in India

2007-09-10T05:36:00.000-07:00

Just a few months ago, Santhi Soundarajan was the butt of late night jokes on American television and the subject of outraged editorials in Indian newspapers as the Indian woman athlete who failed a gender test.
While news reports have it that shortly after Soundarajan won the silver in the women’s 800 metre event for India at the Asian Games in Doha last year, she failed a routine (but not compulsory) test carried out by a team of doctors (including a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist and internal medicine specialist). Their consensus? Soundarajan “does not possess the sexual characteristics” necessary to qualify as a female of the species.
Perhaps it was the outcome of Games officials seeing an Indian win a medal in a sporting event and thinking, Now what’s wrong with this picture?

Levity aside, this past week, Soundarajan, now stripped of her medal (featured above, first from left), made the news again when she was admitted to a hospital in her native Tamil Nadu for Well attempted suicide., there’s a shock for Chief Minister Karunanidhi - apparently a shiny new plasma TV and a check for a few lakh rupees isn’t a magical cure-all for having your life turned upside down.
Leading the life of a recluse and unemployed, this was the first anybody had heard of her since the results of the gender test were revealed. Although she has denied all allegations even in her weakened state, her doctors insist that she swallowed “veterinary medicines” in a bid to end her life. A few thoughts:
When somebody tries to commit suicide and you’re called to attend to them, kindly keep the details of your patient to yourself. The place for a doctor attending a high risk patient is by that patient’s bedside, not confirming the particulars of the case to whichever reporter that’s on the phone. She’s already been through a lot if she’s tried to kill herself, she doesn’t need your tuppence to help her that last remaining inch over the edge, alright?
Secondly, why is it that we’re only hearing about her now and in these circumstances? Immediately after the scandal broke there was a lot of stuff written up in the papers about the smelly state of affairs in Indian sport, especially women’s sport. Months and one successful sports movie later, everything is very Chak De and all the righteous indignation is about media coverage.
This is what really bothers me about the Chak De phenomenon. I loved the movie unreservedly and I agree with the point that so many have raised i.e. that our famous obsession with cricket has slowly strangled all other sport in India. I even agree with the argument that publicity has a lot to do with the popularity of a sport. Look at spelling bees, for example - I mean, spelling bees for crying out loud, people! All it took was one bizarre documentary full of kids going crazy under parental pressure and hey, presto! Memorizing the dictionary is now a sport and you can catch it on ESPN (funny post).
But coming back to Chak De, very little of the focus seems to have shifted to underlying point driven home relentlessly with everything but a sledgehammer throughout the movie: the apathy and downright criminal negligence on the part of the government authorities and officials who run Indian sport and the deep rot that has set into the “system”.

Weaknesses catch up with India

2007-09-09T04:04:00.001-07:00

It was a struggle to get out of St. Johns Wood station this morning, with a frenetic scramble for tickets clogging Wellington Road. Spectators were willing to pay ten times the actual amount and Lord's was the place to be in London.

All the excitement culminated in the most anti-climactic end to a competitive series. The one-sided contest seemed even more flat after the humdinger at The Oval. The freedom and expression that the teams displayed on Wednesday was rarely seen; instead there was attrition, a feature typical of when too much is at stake. Suddenly the teams appeared to have woken up to how big the prize was.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of this forgettable decider, let's get the big picture out of the way. England were the better side through the series and deserved winners. They were more consistent with the bat, aggressive with the ball, and far more athletic on the field. India played an important part in converting a long series into a cracking one but their weaknesses - especially in the field - were bound to be exploited over seven matches.

Now to two issues that were the talking points of the match. Today's was the sort of toss that's supposed to be a "good one to lose". Rahul Dravid won it and batted but soon found out that bowling might have been a better option. In similar conditions at Southampton and Edgbaston he'd chosen to bowl but realised that batting might have been better. The problem may lie with his tendency to win tosses but with seven batsmen you'd expect to counter conditions and put up a decent score.

India's problem might have arisen from a need to change their mindset - and the eventual failure to do so. They needed to switch from the throw-the-kitchen-sink-at-everything approach that was on display at The Oval to a knuckle-down-and-get-a-competitive-score here. Instead Sourav Ganguly, in the most torturous innings all summer, flayed as if in blindfolds and the rest attempted too much too early. A more grafted approach could have got them to 240, a total which could have proved tricky later in the day.

The second point of contention needs to be taken more seriously. Sachin Tendulkar, for the third time on this tour, was at the receiving end of a contentious decision. Actually it was quite a howler. It happened at Bristol, when he was sawn off on 99, and it happened here, at a critical juncture of a vital match. He'd just backed away and walloped Andrew Flintoff over cover, not once but twice, and promised more. He'd got his eye in and gauged the pitch. And then Aleem Dar, probably going on sound rather than sight, gave him caught behind when the bat had merely clipped the pad. Of course Dar is human, like the rest of us, but was this the time to reiterate that truism?

It was a point from which India never recovered. England gathered momentum and didn't look back. Chasing 187 was going to be tricky at the most and when Kevin Pietersen, for the first time all series, started reading Piyush Chawla's legbreaks it was time to draw the curtains. India's fielding inadequacies came to the fore and their part-timers weren't effective. If this was the one match you watched in the series, you'd have wondered how India had managed to win three games before today. Credit to India for overcoming their weaknesses to setup a classic finish but the weaknesses were so evident that they ultimately caught up.