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Mukund hits ton, Sehwag fails
Abhinav Mukund |
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Zaheer Khan
American football to make big entry in India
Indian archers make a mark
Bhullar, Lahiri one shot off top spot
Hyderabad karting meet
India meet China in Asian Champions Trophy
British wrestlers add muscle to Katra meet
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India reach 232 for 4 * Mukund slams 113 * Sehwag, Gambhir fail * Dhoni falls cheaply
Northampton, August 5 The left-handed Mukund, under immense pressure to hold on to his place, was unbeaten on 113 at the tea interval, and it was his 132-run third-wicket stand with VVS Laxman (49), which propped up the visitors after the early departure of openers Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Mukund, who has aggregated a mere 64 runs from four innings in the first two Tests, is almost certain to lose his slot to Sehwag, even though the latter made only eight runs in the morning. Sehwag batted for just 30 minutes in the Indian innings, before he was adjudged lbw to fast bowler David Burton, who has not represented Northants in a first-class match since September 2010. Mukund's innings, however, is good news for the Indians as Suesh Raina, the other left-hander, did not seem too comfortable against short-pitched stuffs. Raina appeared to have understand the relevance of the day as he showed keenness to have a few runs under his belt as well. At one stage, he had hit three successive fours against tweaker Paul Best. Mukund and Raina, who resumed at the lunch-time score of 87 for two, rarely looked in trouble on a pitch that increasingly got better for batting. Mukund reached his century when he drove Best down the ground for a single. He had till then faced 138 balls and hit 17 fours. The young pace attack of Northamptonshire went flat out but the wicket, certainly, was not to their liking. Earlier, Sehwag (8) and his opening partner Gambhir (18) had both been dismissed in the pre-lunch session of the two-day game before Mukund (42 not out), along with VVS Laxman, unbeaten on 14, steadied proceedings. Sehwag's much-anticipated return to the fold lasted for 25 balls, during which he just one four, through the covers. Gambhir survived the first hour and hit three boundaries before he was dismissed in a manner similar to his more illustrious partner - declared leg before wicket as he played back with the ball keeping low. Sehwag cut the first delivery he faced to deep point but was at sea against the new-ball bowlers who obtained disconcerting lift and movement. The Delhi dasher, in fact, could have been dismissed many a times during his short stay of half and hour. His uncertainty must have sent a shiver down his spine as he opted for a pullover in the course of his innings. Gambhir lasted for an hour and a half but he too struggled to cope in conditions where the ball stopped at batsmen. The fact that the new-ball bowlers for Northamptonshire, Dave Burton and Luke Evans, have not played a single match this season, was of no advantage to the Indians who haven't had one big innings to their names so far this year. Abhinav Mukund, desperately looking to save his Test spot, batted stubbornly for 92 minutes, while Laxman, after an edge past the slips off the first ball he faced, looked assured during his 36-minutes stay. — PTI Scoreboard Indians 1st innings Yuvraj, Pietersen exchange online banter Northampton: Fierce on-field rivals, India's Yuvraj Singh and England batsman Kevin Pietersen have taken their battle to the virtual world with the duo engaging in an online banter in a social networking site. With Yuvraj being ruled out for the final two Tests of the four-match series due to finger injury, Pietersen took a dig at the Indian. "I see my mate @yuvsingh09 is out the Tests.. No more chicken & mushrooms or steak & ales for me now. Pity! They tasted good in Notts! ha ha," said Pietersen, who has been dismissed on a few occasions by Yuvraj's left arm spin in the past, in twitter.com. Not ready to take it lying low, Yuvraj responded: "@kevinpp24 hahaha..dont worry il be back with a new indian veg pie for you very soon !!"," referring to 'pie chucker' remark that Pietersen had made against Yuvraj in the 2008 series in India. However, the South African-born English middle-order batsman ended the conversation on a good note and tweeted: "@yuvsingh09 haha.. Good comeback!! Like it.. See you this afternoon.." Yuvraj sustained an injury in his left index finger during the second Test at Trent Bridge. The left-hander has been replaced by Delhi batsman Virat Kohli in the squad for the third Test at Edgbaston. — PTI
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Chennai, August 5 Harbhajan, who sustained a Grade-I abdominal tear, has been advised four weeks' rest and is unlikely to get fit in time for the shorter formats beginning with a lone Twenty20 game on August 31 and followed by the five one-dayers from September 3. According to Board sources, senior pacer Zaheer Khan may be rested for the ODI series keeping in mind the tight schedule of the national team that includes Test series against the West Indies and Australia. Yuvraj Singh who fractured his left index finger is another doubtful case as it is still not clear as to how much time it would take for him to regain full fitness. While veteran Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag are likely to be available, Parthiv Patel is likely to replace Wriddhiman Saha as the second keeper as he is considered a better batsman. Mumbai youngster Rohit Sharma, who was awarded the man-of-the-series in West Indies, is another certainty along with Tamil Nadu off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel have also sealed their places in the squad. Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra, who had recently bowled at the India nets before Lord's Test will certainly be an option for the selectors as he has submitted his fitness certificate to the Board. Paceman Ranganath Vinay Kumar was also in the reckoning for a place in the squad considering that conditions in England will favour the quick bowlers. However, there is certainly going to be some debate as to who will be the reserve batsman in the squad. Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane are fighting for that particular slot. — PTI
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American football to make big entry in India
New Delhi, August 5 According to the founder of the game, Sunday Zeller, the first season will be held at the custom-fit stadium at Pune among eight teams from Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Punjab and Pune. Zeller said each team will play the other twice, which will add up to 56 games, plus two play-off games to decide the top teams. He said American football was an inherent part of the American way of life. “With a history of 100 years, the game has acquired cult status in the US, which can be mapped alongside its history. India has been known to assimilate cultures like very few countries have done, and that, coupled with the immense pool of talent, makes it an ideal choice for a concept like EFLI.” The EFLI will work on franchisee model and like all franchise sports, the team ownership will be determined through auctions. The bidding will be open to Indian and non-Indian owners, to make it a truly international event. Richard Whelan, CEO of EFLI, said that they have been working with the Government of India and Sports Authority of India (SAI) to bring American football to India and SAI recently allowed its facility in Balewadi (Pune) to be used for an orientation programme conducted by EFLI. Whelan said the Elite Football Federation of India will share 15 per cent of its revenue with the Ministry of Sports, which will go towards maintaining many of its ongoing programmes and facilities. “One of the purposes of EFLI is to promote football as a culture,” added EFLI Chief Operating Officer Manohar Bangera.
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Indian archers make a mark
Patiala, August 5 India will compete for four gold medals and one bronze medal during the last days of the tournament. Deepika Kumari has become the sole Indian archer to enter the final of the Recurve Individual event and will take on China to become World Cup champion. She, along with Jayanta Talukdar, with vie for gold against the US in the Recurve Mixed round event as well. The women’s teams of both Compound and Recurve have reached the finals whereas the Recurve boys will play for the bronze medal. Though the Recurve women had already won silver in this series, it is for the first time that the Compound women have made it to the medal match. In the women’s events, the Recurve team consisting of Deepika, Chekrovolu Swuro and Bombayla Devi will take on Ukraine in the gold medal match whereas the Compound team of Gagandeep Kaur, Jhanu Hansdah and Manjusha Soy will take on the US in the final. The Recurve men — Talukdar, Thupuvoyi Swuro and Vishwas — lost to China in their semi-final match and will now compete with Ukraine for the bronze medal. Talking to The Tribune from Ogden, Gagandeep said that the Indian squad was delighted with their performance and were all set to take on their rivals on the final day of the meet.
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Bhullar, Lahiri one shot off top spot
Malaysia, August 5 The Indian team shot a brilliant 64 in the fourball (better ball) format and moved to 200, just one shot behind the leaders, Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat of Singapore. The Singaporeans, who started the day three ahead of India, had a 66 in the third round of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup Asian Qualifying today. Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri, shot two eagles in a flawless round of 64 at the Seri Selangor Golf Club here. Lam and Mamat fired six birdies against one bogey. Lahiri, aiming to qualify for his first World Cup with Bhullar, fired the team's first eagle of the day on the par five fifth hole before Bhullar sank a second eagle on the 13th hole from six feet. Lahiri, looking forward to his first World Cup appearance in November, said, "We played solid. It was a good improvement for us in the last two days. We also didn't drop a shot, which was good. I played very well on the front nine and Gaganjeet was unstoppable on the back. Overall, it was a great team effort. There's a little bit adrenalin, fist pumping and cheering in our camp, but I think it works for us.”— PTI
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India thrash Maldives
Kathmandu, Augst 5 Vanlalduatsanga (45+2 and 54th) struck twice, while Daniel Lalampuia (31st), Raja Rawat (37th) and Prakash Mojumdar (63rd) were the other scorers. With the win today at the Dashrath Stadium, India finished second in the Group A and they take on Group B winner in the second semifinal to be played on August 8. India started on aggressive note right from the outset with the Thomas Joseph-coached side making numerous inroads in the opponent citadel by launching series of attacks. Their hard work paid off when a Nabin Raba shot from the outside of the 18-yard box in the 31st minute was fumbled by the rival goalkeeper for Daniel Lalampuia to score off the rebound. — PTI
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Hyderabad karting meet
New Delhi, August 5 The eventual winners of the series will participate in the World Championship that will bring together National champions from some 55 countries. The fourth round of the championship has attracted 33 entries - eight in Micro Max, 13 in Junior Max and 12 in Senior Max. The qualifying races and two heats in each category will be held tomorrow while the Pre-Final and Final rounds are scheduled for Sunday. In the Senior Max category, Kolhapur’s 17-year old Chittesh Mandody leads the pack with 259 points from two wins and a second place finish, followed by Chennai’s A Sandeep Kumar, just 18 points adrift.
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India meet China in Asian Champions Trophy
New Delhi, August 5 The top six teams from the last Asian Games held at Guangzhou (China) in 2010 will participate in the men’s event while the top four teams will vie for honours in the women’s category. Though the women’s inaugural championship was held at Busan (South Korea) last year, this will be the first edition for the men. Both will be held on a round-robin format. Following are the Indian teams’ fixtures: Men’s: India vs China (Sept 3); Japan vs India (Sept 4); India vs Korea (Sept 6), Malaysia vs India (Sept 7), India vs Pakistan (Sept 9); classification matches and the final (Sept 11). Women: India vs Korea (Sept 4); India vs Japan (Sept 6); India vs China (Sept 8); bronze medal match and final (Sept 10).
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British wrestlers add muscle to Katra meet
Katra, August 5 Shiv Kumar Sharma, president, J&K Indian Style Wrestling Association and Member J&K Sports Council, confirmed this to The Tribune. “We have received confirmation about participation of three British wrestlers in the event,” he said. “We hope that their participation gives a boost to our efforts of making this event truly global in the coming years.” Adding to its stature of an international event will be the increased prize money of rupees one lakh this time for the winner. Earlier the winner used to get Rs. 51,000 along with traditional Gurj and Patta. The event will be held on the traditional mud akhara at Vivekananda Stadium, Katra. The event attracts roughly 30,000 spectators, but the organisers expect the number to increase this time. Sharma said that besides Pakistan, wrestlers from northern states of India including J&K, UP, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh would participate. Besides contributions by the local traders and general public, the one day competition is funded by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, J&K Tourism and the Municipal Committee, Katra. Though the event originated as a local dangal in 1983 at a cost of Rs. 15,000, it became part of the annual Navratra Festival in 2005 and acquired its present name. It is a measure of its increasing status that the estimated cost of organising it has increased to Rs. 10 lakh.
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Virender Sehwag failed to get going in his first game of 
the tour, but Abhinav Mukund impressed with an unbeaten century to propel India to 232 for 4 shortly after tea on day one of their two-day warm-up match against Northamptonshire, here today.
The left-handed Mukund, under immense pressure to hold on to his place, was unbeaten on 113 at the tea interval, and it was his 132-run third-wicket stand with VVS Laxman (49), which propped up the visitors after the early departure of openers Sehwag and Gautam
Gambhir.
Malaysia, August 5
