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Tendulkar in squad for first two Tests
Sehwag, Yuvraj fashion Seniors win
Martyn, Muzumdar hit half tons
Ranbir for code of conduct for former BCCI bosses
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Zee moves SC over telecast rights
Zimbabwe probe collapses
India squander lead, draw with Pak
Punjab Police beat PSB, retain Gurmit hockey title
Canara bank storm into final
Mandi win soccer championship
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Tendulkar in squad for first two Tests
Bangalore, October 1 The national selectors decided to pick Tendulkar, who has been out of action for the past six weeks because of a tennis elbow, after receiving a medical report which stated that he was “progressing well”. He will, however, have to pass a fitness test before taking the field in the high-profile series beginning here on October 6. “Tendulkar’s fitness will be monitored on a day-to-day basis. His position will be ascertained and depending on his fitness before the match, he will be considered for selection,” BCCI secretary SK Nair said here after a two-hour meeting of the selection committee, which was also attended by captain Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright. Missing out on a berth in the squad was left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra, whose fitness is once again in doubt. There were no new faces in the squad with the selectors reposing faith in the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, both of whom struck centuries in the practice match here against India ‘A’ today to break a prolonged lean patch. Squad: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Aakash Chopra, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik. Zaheer, who did well in the Irani Cup and in the practice match here, had been sidelined from action with a hamstring injury and missed the last two Tests against Pakistan as also India’s three one-day engagements, including the Champions Trophy. The 23-year-old Kaif, a one-day specialist who has played just four Tests, earned a recall on the strength of his recent good form with the bat. On Tendulkar’s inclusion, Nair explained “we have got a medical report that he is progressing well. He is undergoing rehabilitation following the advice from board doctor Anant Joshi and team physio Andrew Leipus.” Nair also put to rest speculation about the opening combination, saying Chopra and Sehwag would do the job. The team has just one specialist keeper in Parthiv Patel, who was overlooked for India’s recent one-day tournaments. But the Baroda stumper’s good show both in front and behind the stumps in domestic outings helped him get the selectors’ nod ahead of Tamil Nadu keeper Dinesh Kaarthick, who earned his India cap during the NatWest Challenge last month. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik made another comeback to boost the spin department headed by Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Ajit Agarkar comes in as the third seamer following his convincing show in the ongoing tour match against the Australians. Asked whether any other names were discussed during the meeting, he said the selectors deliberated on the performances of batsmen Dheeraj Jadhav, Venugopal Rao and S Sriram. The selections were made by the newly-formed committee headed by Kiran More and comprising Pranab Roy, VB Chandrasekar, Gopal Sharma and Yashpal Sharma. The committee, formed only yesterday, sat down to first ‘select’ the skipper before finalising the squad. After unanimously deciding to retain Ganguly, the committe invited the Bengal batsman to attend the meeting alongwith the coach. All the players have been asked to report in Bangalore on October 4, two days ahead of the start of the first Test. The remaining three Tests would be played at Chennai (Oct 14-18), Nagpur (Oct 26-30) and Mumbai (Nov 3-7).
— PTI |
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Tendulkar to join team on Oct 3
Bangalore, October 1 |
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Sehwag, Yuvraj fashion Seniors win
Bangalore, October 1 India Seniors, commencing at 35 for no loss and needing 352 runs on the final day, overhauled the target of 387 with 13.1 overs to spare. While today’s knock would have done Sehwag’s confidence a world of good, Yuvraj’s century might just have come in the nick of time, saving him from being dumped from the Test side. Sehwag and Yuvraj, both dogged by recent poor form, took turns punishing the India ‘A’ bowlers, with the Delhi opener reserving special treatment for left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. The highlight of the match was one over by Kartik in which Sehwag hammered him for five sixes and a four. The bowler conceded 129 runs in his 26 overs. India ‘A’ skipper Dinesh Mongia attempted an experiment by deploying Kartik in the second over itself to try and tempt the openers into adventurism. Kartik’s tactics of bowling outside the leg stump against Sehwag in his first spell of six overs backfired soon. Every time he gave the ball air, the Delhi lad stepped out to hit him through the mid-wicket and the extra-cover regions and employed the conventional and reverse sweeps to telling effect. Such was his confidence that he brought up his 50, hitting Kartik for a six and lofted medium pacer Amit Bhandari for a mighty hit over long off for his 100. Sehwag’s 146-run knock was made in 178 balls, with 13 fours and nine sixes. The manner in which Yuvraj played did not betray any sign that he was battling for a place in the Test squad. The Punjab left hander batted with freedom and scored on all sides of the wicket, looking especially elegant in executing the cover-drive. Yuvraj’s innings of 115 contained 15 hits to the boundary and a solitary six. Mongia claimed the wickets of both openers in quick succession - Sehwag was caught at mid-wicket by S.S. Paul while attempting a big hit and Yuvraj fell after just one more run was added to the total by lobbing a catch to Asish Nehra at point.
— UNI |
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Martyn, Muzumdar hit half tons
Mumbai, October 1 Jaffer made a defiant 48 while Mazumdar cracked an unbeaten half century to help Mumbai close the day on 150 for four in 57.2 overs after an extended last session of play to make up for lost time on the opening day. Earlier, the visitors made 302 for seven declared, built around a solid 71 by Damien
Martyn, to make most of the only warm-up match of the tour. In reply, Mumbai were tottering at 80 for three before Jaffer and Mazumdar pulled the team out of the
pits. Muzumdar completed his half century towards close to remain unbeaten on exactly 50, in 127 minutes and off 92 balls, while Vinod Kambli (26) fell in the last over of the day in fading light to Shane Watson after helping the former add 70 runs for the fourth wicket in 21 overs. This was after opener Jaffer had defied Aussie pacemen Glenn McGrath, who was penetrative as well as economical, and Brett Lee for over two and a half hours in making 48 after the early loss of his opening partner Vinayak Mane. Australia (1st innings): (overnight 159-3) Langer c Samant b Agarkar 24 Hayden c & b Bahutule
67 Katich c Indulkar b Kulkarni 30 Martyn retired hurt 71 Hodge c Indulkar b Powar 30 Clarke run out 10 Gilchrist not out 42 Watson lbw b Kulkarni 0 Lee c Indulkar b Powar 21 Extras
(lb-3 nb-4) 7 Total (7
wkts, decl) 302 FoW: 1-69, 2-108, 3-146, 4-206, 5-227, 6-248, 7-302 Bowling:
Agarkar 15-3-35-1, Powar 29-2-104-2, Salvi 9-2-24-0, Kulkarni 25-5-65-2, Bahutule 23-3-71-1. Mumbai (1st innings): Mane c sub b McGrath
3 Jaffer lbw b McGrath 48 Indulkar lbw b Hauritz 13 Muzumdar not out
50 Kambli lbw b Watson 26 Extras (b-4 nb-6) 10 Total
(4 wkts) 150 FoW: 1-6, 2-64, 3-80, 4-150 Bowling: McGrath 13-7-8-2, Lee 14-3-36-0, Watson 5.2-0-11-1, Clarke 4-0-11-0, Hauritz 16-1-56-1, Katich 3-0-18-0, Hodge 2-0-6-0.
— PTI |
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Ranbir for code of conduct for former BCCI bosses
New Delhi, October 1 Ranbir Singh, who arrived at the Indira Gandhi domestic airport here today to a rousing welcome, after defeating Union Minister Sharad Pawar in the BCCI presidential election in Kolkata on Wednesday, without naming anybody but obviously referring to Raj Singh Dungarpur of the Cricket Club of India (Mumbai) and Indrajit Singh Bindra of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), said the unwarranted remarks by them in the media had created avoidable confusion in the run-up to the BCCI elections. "Such remarks have brought a bad name to the Board", he noted. Ranbir Singh made it clear that he was now the Board President and not "president-elect". "I have taken over as the Board President", he asserted. Outgoing President Jagmohan Dalmiya has also told the members of the BCCI that "Ranbir Singh is the authorised president". Mr Dalmiya has been elevated as the patron-in-chief of the Board at a special meeting of the BCCI held in Chennai on September 12 though the decision has been challenged in a court, and his promotion, therefore, will be ratified only at the meeting of the Board in Kolkata on October 26 as the 75th Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) yesterday has been adjourned till then. "The very fact that I addressed the media after the Board elections made it clear that I have taken over as the Board President. There is no ambiguity about it", Ranbir Singh clarified here today, in an exclusive interview to The Tribune. Analysing the voting pattern in the BCCI elections, he admitted that some cross voting had indeed taken place. "A few votes I thought were mine did not come my way", he said, without any rancour. He was, however, saddened that a unit from the North — PCA —had orchestrated a campaign against him though it was North Zone's turn to occupy the President's chair this time. He said if the PCA or Mr Bindra for that matter had any difference of opinion with him, it could have been sorted out across the table, instead of indulging in subterfuge, and bringing in an "outsider" like Sharad Pawar, who otherwise represents Maharashtra, to contest from the North. "It was not in the interest of the game", Ranbir noted. As a result, the PCA representative was denied the right to vote at the Board meeting. Mr Walia from the PCA was reportedly allowed to attend yesterday's meeting by Mr Dalmiya only after a lot of cajoling and persuasion. Mr Ranbir Singh said his immediate task would be to ensure that the four Tests against Australia, and the two Tests against South Africa in the coming winter and the one-day match between India and Pakistan on November 14 in Kolkata to mark the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the BCCI, were conducted smoothly. |
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Zee moves SC over telecast rights
New Delhi, October 1 Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Zee before a three-judge Bench, headed by Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde, described the BCCI move as an action to “overlook” the fact that a Constitution Bench was seized of the matter. “Even when the Supreme Court was hearing Zee TV’s petition, the BCCI yesterday announded its decision to award the telecast right for India-Australia series to Sony. This will render the entire proceedings before the court infructous," Jethmalani said. He said Sony with its $ 120 million bid earlier, was the lowest bidder, while Zee had emerged the highest bidder with the contract being awarded to it for $ 303 for next four years, which was cancelled later by the board ‘arbitrarily’. The Bench said since the matter was being heard by a Constitution Bench, Zee’s fresh application would be listed for hearing before it on October 5. It, however, asked how the BCCI had asked Sony and Ten Sports to telecast when it had earlier told the court that the domestic coverage would be done by Doordarshan. BCCI counsel AM Singhvi said that Ten Sports had only been engaged to prepare the coverage to provide live feed to Sony. “The live feed would also be proveded to Doordarshan,” Singhvi said. Prasar Bharti also cries foul Meanwhile, Prasar Bharti said it would move the Supreme Court on the award of domestic telecast rights to Sony Television and Ten Sports. Prasar Bharti CEO KS Sarma told mediapersons here on Friday that the right ought to have been given to the public service broadcaster as it was the third highest bidder after Zee and ESPN-Star. |
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Zimbabwe probe collapses
Harare: A formal hearing into allegations of racism in Zimbabwe cricket, set up here by the International Cricket Council (ICC), collapsed in disarray on Thursday when the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) and the rebel players refused to budge on witness procedure.
One of the adjudicators, South African Justice Steven Majiedt said they had no alternative but to “terminate these proceedings.” The impasse was caused when the ZCU demanded that three of its directors should be allowed to hear what the players had to say.
— AFP
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India squander lead, draw with Pak
Lahore, October 1 India, who were leading 4-2 with just 13 minutes to go for the match, paid the price for being a trifle casual as their arch-rivals bounced back strongly to score two goals in a span of 10 minutes to maintain their 2-1 lead in the series. A mid-field blunder saw Akhtar Ali scoring in the 57th minute before a 67th-minute strike by Rehan Butt helped Pakistan level the score in the final match of the Pakistan-leg at the National Hockey Stadium. The teams would now proceed to India tomorrow to play the remaining four matches of the Friendship Series to be held in Delhi (Oct 4), Chandigarh (Oct 6), Amritsar (Oct 8) and Hyderabad (Oct 10). Vikram Pillay (15th), Sandeep Singh (39th), Arjun Halappa (49th) Ignace Tirkey (51st) scored for the Indians while Pakistan struck through Sohail Abbas (14th and 42nd), Akhtar Ali (57th) and Rehan Butt (67th). The Indians played superbly for most part of the match but a sloppy display towards the end dashed their hopes of winning the match and squaring the series. Pakistan drew first blood in the 14th minute when Sohail Abbas, with his powerful drag flick, converted a penalty corner but the lead lasted barely a minute as the Indians equalised following a tearaway counter-attack. Vikram Pillay, superbly backed up by Tushar Khandekar, sent the ball home off a rebound (1-1). The Indians had more ball control in the first session while the Pakistanis had more chances. The hosts had a chance to surge ahead again in the 32nd minute when Rehan Butt made a solo run from the right and beat the defenders but he fumbled while taking the shot near the goal and custodian Adrian D’souza brought off a fine save. The Indians also had their chances but they faltered at crucial moments but still Vivek Gupta, Tushar Khandekar and VS Vinay displayed fine understanding and coordination and kept the rival defence on their toes. The Indian defence was solid and Dilip Tirkey looked in full command.
— PTI, UNI |
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Punjab Police beat PSB, retain Gurmit hockey title
Chandigarh, October 1 The winners led by a solitary goal at the end of the first half. The first half saw a complete Punjab Police domination and as team manager and ex-India captain Pargat Singh said, players’ fitness was the key to their success. Making optimum use of his bench strength, Olympian Pargat Singh occasionally pulled out players to give them some rest. As on earlier occasions, the Punjab Police attack spearheaded by Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon, his brother Daljit, star Indian forward Gagan Ajit Singh and Gabbar Singh functioned like a well-oiled machine giving the Punjab and Sind Bank defence several anxious moments. Soon after commencement of the proceedings, Punjab Police mounted pressure through Gagan Ajit, whose cross from the right flank, though well directed, went abegging as Sarabjeet failed to intercept. A free hit by Prabhjeet, too, was deflected away by a rival defender. Gagan Ajit kept lurking in danger zone and on one occasion his trademark reverse hit was blocked by Punjab and Sind Bank skipper Baljit Singh Saini. Another move engineered by Baljit Singh Dhillon who raced down the middle before relaying the ball to Gagan Ajit only to receive it back went waste as Baljit’s subsequent hit was off target. It was in the 27th minute that Punjab Police finally broke the deadlock. Baljit’s pass to Sarabjeet saw the latter quickly putting Satwinder Singh in possession. Standing inside the ‘D’. Satwinder turned around and took a powerful reverse hit which brooked no resistance (1-0). Punjab Police earned their first penalty corner in the 30th minute but Prabhjeet’s hit was blocked by Punjab and Sind Bank goalkeeper Teja Singh. Another short corner also went waste as Baljit Singh Dhillon’s drag flick sailed high over the horizontal. After the breather, Punjab and Sind Bank regrouped and their attacks appeared more purposeful. Baljit Singh Chandi’s fine hit was padded away by Punjab Police goalkeeper Manpreet Singh who displayed good anticipation. In the 40th minute, Punjab Police earned another penalty corner but again Baljit Singh Dhillon’s drag flick sailed high over the bar. Punjab Police badly missed the services of ace drag flick expert Jugraj Singh, seriously injured in a road accident last year, who nevertheless was present on the bench to cheer his team-mates. Punjab and Sind Bank had a golden chance to equalise in the 49th minute when Baljit Singh Chandi was fed a tailor-made pass by Parminder Singh. However, despite an open goal in front of him, he failed to intercept the ball and wasted the golden opportunity. Thereafter, Punjab Police were once again in complete control with Gagan Ajit attempting a reverse hit while falling down but the goalkeeper brought off a fine save. The second goal for Punjab Police came in the 65th minute when a hit by Satwinder was neatly deflected into the goalmouth by Gagan Ajit Singh, who was positioned near the goalkeeper (2-0). With hardly a few seconds to go for the long hooter, Gagan Ajit once again found the target in similar fashion after Daljit had done the spadework (3-0). Satwinder Singh of Punjab Police was declared the ‘man of the match’. The teams: Punjab Police:
Manpreet Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Prabhjeet Singh, Kuljeet Singh, Satnam Singh, Avtar Singh, Satwinder Singh, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Daljit Singh Dhillon, Tejbir Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh, Sarabjeet Singh, Gabbar Singh, Jasbir Singh, Balwant Singh, and Baljeet Singh. Punjab and Sind Bank:
Teja Singh, Davinder Pal Singh, Sharanjit Singh, Baljit Singh Saini, Davinder Singh, Rajbir Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Baljit Singh Chandi, Parminder Singh, Ravi Pal, Ajit Pal Singh, Maninder Singh, Sandeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Navpreet Singh, and Rajwinder Singh. Umpires:
Satinder Sharma and GS Sangha |
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Canara bank storm into final Chandigarh, October 1 Put in to bat Canara Bank scored 239 before being bowled out in 48.3 overs. Chasing a victory target of 240 runs, All India Associate Banks were dismissed for 201 in 45.3 overs. Brief scores: Canara Bank all out in 48.3 overs (Bharat Chiply 58, GK Anil Kumar 47, Sunil Joshi 57, A Akhil 2 for 46, D Bundela 3 for 51, D Manohar 2 for 27). All India Associate Banks:
201 all out in 45.3 overs (D Manohar 69, Tilak Naidu 42, Pawan Kumar 36 not out, N C Aiyappa 2 for 31, C Raghu 2 for 48, Sunil Joshi 5 for 22).
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Mandi win soccer championship
Nahan, October 1 Mandi mounted pressure from the very beginning. It’s centre forward Hitender Thakur scored first goal of the game in the 9th minute. With another goal scored by Sushil Sen, Mandi were leading by 2-0 at half time. In the second half, Sirmour district made several attacks. Ankush Thapa scored for Sirmour to make it 2-1. Earlier in the semifinal, Mandi beat Kangra by 2-0 and Sirmour defeated Shimla by 2-0 to enter the final. Mr A.B. Singh, ex-MLA presided over the concluding ceremony and gave away the prizes. |
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Bangalore, October 1
In video: Kaif says
he's desperate to find place in India's Test team.(
