Irfan Pathan (pic) is back in the Indian team after a long gap and he will like to grab this chance with both hands.

Sehwag and Gambhir need to pull up their act and come out with bigger contributions for India to take an unassailable lead and clinch their second ODI series in a row after the 5-0 whitewash of England. "We have to look at our top order. We have to click and fire. We have to give a good start as a team so that we can achieve any target or set any target for the West Indies in the coming games," said Sehwag after India lost at Ahmedabad.

‘Happy to be leading attack’

In the absence of Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar, the burden of leading the Indian attack against the West Indies in the ongoing ODI series has fallen on R Vinay Kumar and the pacer said that he is relishing this new role.

"It feels great to be leading the Indian attack. (Bowling with) the new ball suits me very well because I am more a swing bowler and the new ball helps me a lot," said the Bangalore-based bowler at the pre-match media conference ahead of the fourth and penultimate One-dayer here tomorrow.

Vinay Kumar has taken five wickets so far in the first three games of the five-match ODI series at an impressive average of 21.80, the best among the Indian bowlers.

Incidentally this argues very well with his career average of 34.18 from 14 ODIs and Vinay Kumar feels that the new ICC rule from October 1 that different balls will be used from the two ends in the one-dayers, has helped swing bowlers like him to move the ball for longer periods. "It (The rule) definitely helps the swing bowlers. Normally it used to stop swinging after a few overs. Now it keeps swinging till 15 overs. If there is no dew then the ball will reverse," he said.

Injured Bravo ruled out

West Indies today suffered a big blow ahead of their fourth one-day international against India here tomorrow as key batsman Darren Bravo was today ruled out of the crucial match because of left hamstring injury.

"Darren Bravo is out for next game. Like we showed when Shiv (Shivnarine Chanderpaul) missed a Test (third and last Test in Mumbai which ended in a thrilling draw), young (Kieron) Powell came in and took responsibility," West Indies skipper Darren Sammy said at the customary match-eve media conference at the Holkar Stadium today.

Sammy conceded the team will miss the classy left-handed batsman, who hurt his hamstring in third ODI at Ahmedabad, but said it would give an opportunity for someone else to step up and take charge. "Yes, we will miss Bravo in the line up. But it gives opportunity for someone else to come out and make a name for himself. Our team is definitely improving when we miss guys, the guys would come in and perform," he said. — PTI

Dubai, December 7
Following his consistent performance in the recent past, India's R Ashwin broke into the top 20 of the ICC ODI bowling charts for the time in his career, while batsman Virat Kohli moved one rung to be placed fourth in the latest ranking released here today.

Rohit Sharma, up 21 places to 35th, also improved thanks to his three half centuries in the ongoing series against the West Indies, but opener Gautam Gambhir lost seven places to be placed alongside South Africa's JP Duminy at 19th position.

With 620 points, Ashwin was ranked 18th, a jump of three places. The ever-improving Kohli has garnered 766 points and is placed alongside India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has lost a place.

South Africa's Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers and Jonathan Trott continued to keep the top three spots.

There was also good progress for West Indies' Ravi Rampaul in the bowling rankings who improved one place to 13th, while in batting those moving up included Lendl Simmons (up five spots to 25th), Darren Bravo (up 15 to 54th) and Andre Russell (up 34 to 76th).

After his strong showing in the recent three-match series in Bangladesh, Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez gained six places in the latest rankings and now sits just 19 ratings points behind team-mate Saeed Ajmal, who heads the bowlers' list.

New Delhi, December 7
The attacking firm of Jeje Lalpekhula and Sunil Chhetri delivered a goal apiece in the second half and Sri Lanka struck an "own-goal" as India drubbed the island nation 3-0 to sail into the semi-final of the SAFF Football Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here tonight.

India however, could finish only second in Group A, behind Afghanistan. Earlier in the day, Afghanistan walloped Bhutan 8-1 to take their total goal tally to 12 for and three against to top the group, whereas the hosts' tally was 7-1.

India will meet Group B toppers the Maldives in the first semi-final on Friday at 3 p.m. while Afghanistan will take on Nepal in the second semi-final at 6 p.m. India had beaten the Maldives in the title clash of the last edition after losing to them in the edition before.

Defending champions India needed only a draw against Sri Lanka to qualify. But they played an attacking, organised game to hit the mark in the 50th and 69th minutes through Jeje and Chhetri, while Lankan defender R. Warakagoda booted into his own goal, off a corner kick by Steven Dias, during injury-time play.

Jeje put India ahead five minutes into the second half when he dispatched a rebound, off Chhetri, into the net. Chhetri himself struck the second when he beat two defenders in the air to head in a free kick by Clifford Miranda. Then Chhetri, Jeje and others made several charges at the Lankan goal but missed the target narrowly. The honour of getting India's third goal was taken up by the visitors to ensure that the hosts moved up in style.

But it was not all smooth sailing for India in the first half though. Lanka proved more than a handful, almost matching the hosts in moves. India had more shots at the goal, but a crowded Lankan defence and the hosts' ineptitude to convert close chances kept the scoreboard blank.

Chhetri, Jeje, Miranda and Climax Lawrence, as usual, dominated the attacks. The roving Syed Rahim Nabi, barring one good try at the goal, was shackled at the back, as the fast-moving Lankans posed real threats to the Indian goal in counter-attacks, particularly the lone ranger up front, L.A. Nipuna Dewinda Bandara. In defence, captain WRD Ruwanthilaka made quick clearances both in ground and aerial duels to blunt many of India's threatening raids.

Jeje was more visible in the attack today and along with Chhetri, kept the Lankan goal under sustained pressure. Anthony Pereira, Chhetri and Jeje came close to hitting the mark but they narrowly missed the target to retire for the interval with an empty scoreboard.

Earlier, Afghanistan indulged in a slaughter of the innocents when they pumped in eight goals with one against to trounce Bhutan. Afghanistan earned seven points from three matches and emerged the best team in either group.

Bhutan, on the other hand, let in 16 goals, which was more than the combined goals scored by the other five teams in the two groups.

London, December 7
Didier Drogba's brace propelled Chelsea into the UEFA Champions League knockout stage as the Londoners beat Valencia 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. Drogba's third-minute opening goal gave the Blues a dream start while a mistake by defender Victor Ruiz helped Ramires score the second midway through the first half.

A brilliant ball by Spaniard Juan Mata and smart finish by Drogba in the 76th minute paved the way Tuesday for the hosts into the last 16 of the tournament with a top of the table finish in Group E.

Bayern Leverkusen, who led the group before the last round of matches, laboured to a 1-1 draw away to Genk. The German side also entered the next round while the third-placed Valencia now head for the Europa League.

Elsewhere, Marseille grafted an unlikely victory in Germany beating Borrussia Dortmund 3-2 and in the process confirming their berth in the knockout stages along with English giants Arsenal who lost 3-1 away to Olympiacos FC on the night.

Barcelona were at their dominating best with a second string side, romping home to a 4-0 win over BATE Borisov. Italian giants AC Milan too progressed from Group H behind last last year's winners, thanks to a 2-2 draw with FC Viktoria Plzen away at Synot Tip Arena in Prague.

In Group G, APOEL FC who had already qualified for the last 16 lost 0-2 to the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk while Zenit St Petersburg too qualified by the virtue of a goalless draw against FC Porto. — IANS

Jaipur, December 7
Karan Goel made a career-best 167 while Mayank Sidhana and Amitoze Singh too struck fluent centuries to help Punjab declare their first innings on 597 for eight on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Division match against Rajasthan here today.

In reply, Rajasthan were 50 for one at the close of play with Aakash Chopra (18) and skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (20) remaining unbeaten.

Melbourne, December 7
Australia were today dealt a blow ahead of the much-awaited four-Test series against India as teen pace sensation Pat Cummins was ruled out for "most" of the matches due to a heel injury.

The 18-year-old picked up the injury during his seven-wicket haul on debut against South Africa in Johannesburg last month. Initially the injury was thought to be not too serious and he was expected to be back in action for the opening Test against India here starting December 26 but fresh scans have revealed that he might be sidelined until mid-January.

"The medical staff took a decision that Patrick's recovery versus previous scans did not seem consistent and proactively made the decision that further scans were required," Cricket Australia General Manager Pat Howard said.

"These scans have revealed a bone stress injury which pushes out his recovery by a few weeks. This wasn't picked up in the initial scans done in South Africa. Unfortunately this, when combined with Patrick's young age to prepare for Test cricket, means that he will miss much of the Indian series.

New Delhi, December 7
Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist reckons the team, which remains injury-free, will go on to win the much-anticipated India-Australia series Down Under.

"It will be quite difficult to predict the result. I think both the teams are evenly matched, particularly when it comes to the batting department. On the bowling front, though, whichever team plays full strength and remains injury-free will go a long way in winning the series," Gilchrist said.

The former Aussie great had earlier mentioned that the series will provide India with an opportunity to register their first-ever victory in Australia as the hosts have been going through a transitional period.

His views were endorsed by Andrew Symonds who felt that India can put pressure on the young and inexperienced Australian bowling line-up to earn a favourable result.

"Indians can put pressure on the young Australian players. They have a good opportunity to beat Australia in their home country. I think there are good chances of India beating them," Symonds had suggested.

Gilchrist meanwhile said that the on-field rivalry between the teams was "gaining a bit of history" since Australia's series loss to hosts India in early 2001.

"It was one of the best Test series ever. It set a terrific rivalry between the teams. The build-up to the forthcoming series is exciting," the left-hander, one of the all-time best wicketkeeper-batsmen, revealed during a promotional event here today. — PTI

BRIEFLY

2012 Indian GP on Oct 28
New Delhi: After the stupendous success of this year's inaugural edition, next season's Indian Grand Prix Formula One race will be held on October 28 at the Buddha International Circuit at Greater Noida. The 2012 Indian GP will be the 17th of the 20-leg championship, this was decided at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) here today under the presidency of Jean Todt, the FIA President. The meeting confirmed the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar. Until today's meeting, the 20-race calendar had been in doubt but the United States Grand Prix at a new circuit to be built in Austin, Texas, has been confirmed as well as Kingdom of Bahrain's race, cancelled this year due to civil unrest. — PTI

Indian wrestlers miss out
New Delhi: India missed out on participation in the Wrestling Test event for the London Olympics after the organisers denied permission to the team as none of the country's wrestlers had made the cut for next year's mega-event so far. "The team won't be flying to London as none of our wrestlers has qualified for the Olympics so far, which the organisers said was a pre-requisite to participate in the tournament," the president of the Wrestling federation of India (WFI), Dushyant Sharma told PTI over phone from Jammu. As many as 18 wrestlers, including four women in different weight categories, were scheduled to visit London this week for the Test event. — PTI

Air Force, Army win
NEW DELHI: Air Force came from behind to defeat Northern Railway 3-2 in the Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament at the National Stadium here on Wednesday. Lovepreet scored to put Air Force in the lead, but Sajjan Singh and Raju gave Railways a 2-1 lead at the break. On resumption, Lovepreet hit home two more goals to help Air Force win. Army XI drubbed Navy 4-1 after being locked 1-1 at the interval. Sunil Ekka scored a brace while Chittranjan Singh and Mahadik scored a goal each for Army. Heera Singh netted in the consolation goal for Navy. — TNS

Anand shocked by Nakamura
London: World Champion Viswanathan Anand let go off an excellent position after losing to Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the fourth round of the London Chess Classic here today. After 11 successive draws in a row, including nine draws in the just concluded Tal Memorial at Moscow, the loss today proved to be too costly for Anand as he fell to joint seventh spot in the nine-player round robin tournament, wherein the soccer-like scoring system is in use. Anand, Howell and Adams share the seventh spot with just two points apiece. — PTI

Walia manager for Aus tour
Chandigarh: Punjab Cricket Association's Joint Secretary, G S Walia, has been appointed as media manager for the forthcoming India's tour to Australia. According to a communication received by the PCA from the BCCI today, Walia would be joining the team at Chennai on December 10, two days before the team is scheduled to depart for Down Under. Walia was also the media manager of the Indian team that toured Pakistan in 2006 and also travelled with the Under-19 youth team which toured New Zealand in 2007. — TNS

Preparatory camps for WSH
Mumbai: The preparatory camps for all the teams in the multi-million dollar World Series Hockey will begins on Saturday. Most of the international players and coaches will arrive in India and assemble with their respective squads before Saturday, a statement from WSH, a joint initiative of Nimbus Sport and Indian Hockey Federation, said. The first batch with international stars like Sung Min Lee (South Korea), Stephenson Lloyd James (New Zealand) and Andreu Enrich (Spain) have already arrived, and the next set of international players including the Pakistanis will be arriving in the next couple of days, the statement added. — PTI

Ponting has no regrets
HOBART: Ricky Ponting said on Wednesday he has no regrets about quitting the Australian captaincy and welcomes having fewer responsibilities ahead of this week's second Test against New Zealand. Ponting led Australia in 77 Tests before he stood down as Test and one-day skipper after the World Cup earlier this year, making way for deputy Michael Clarke to take charge. Ponting, who turns 37 this month, has continued as a batsman in the Test team and is lining up for his seventh and possibly final Test at Hobart's Bellerive Oval where he began his first-class career with Tasmania in 1992. — AFP