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BCCI re-brands domestic cricket
Ganguly may play in Challenger Trophy
Reetinder Sodhi stars in PCC’s win
Phau puts Rastogi in place
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PSEB, Ropar Hawks win
Santosh Trophy
Indian colts whitewash Pak
Judo team for Asiad
Priyanka wins gold
Doon School win opening matches Delhi beats
Punjab in u-13 cricket tourney Vivekanand institutes take part in indoor games
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BCCI re-brands domestic cricket
Mumbai, September 25 “We will have 70 days of domestic cricket live (32 matches) on television and we have re-branded the major domestic cricket events,” said BCCI vice president and marketing committee convener Lalit Modi at a press conference. Former Board chief I. S. Bindra admitted that the BCCI had in the past failed to market the domestic cricket as well as its international cricket programme and this initiative was a means to right the wrong. “I will be the first to admit we have failed to market domestic cricket properly in the past as compared to international cricket,” the Punjab Cricket Association’s president said. The Board officials said that efforts have been taken to see that the domestic matches that are set to be telecast do not clash with India’s international commitments. “Next year it will be 90 per cent,” said Modi. As per the re-branding initiative the three teams to play in the Challenger Series for the NKP Salve Trophy season-opening event in Chennai from October 1-4 will be called India Blue (formerly seniors), India Green and India Reds (formerly A and B). The other tournaments that are to be telecast live are Elite division of the Ranji Trophy (9 matches, including semis and final), Irani Cup (Ranji champions UP vs the Rest of India to be held in Nagpur from October 9-13), Duleep Trophy final in Kolkata (November 12-16), and the re-branded Deodhar Trophy (All Star Series for the Deodhar Trophy, 10 matches in all) and the one-day domestic knock-out tournament re-named as the Premier Cup (four preliminary ties, plus two semis and final) to be held from March 15-25. Modi admitted that the All Star Series in March, 2007, would be bereft of the top stars of Indian cricket who would be busy in the World Cup in the West Indies. “But from next season onwards the situation will be different. In fact there is a clamour from all the state associations that the stars should play in more domestic tournaments and we are moving towards this,” said Modi. “The new marketing initiatives in domestic cricket would be discussed at the marketing committee meeting here tomorrow,” he added. Nimbus chairman Harish Thawani said the telecast would be available for viewers in England, South Africa and Australia while efforts were on to make it available in the US too. Bindra said the aim of the BCCI was in making 300 players the stars of Indian cricket by paying all of them handsomely and marketing the domestic game instead of leaving the superstardom the preserve of a chosen 15 or so players who regularly play for the national team. “BCCI is looking at these initiatives as steps towards encouraging interest in domestic cricket. It will also bring an unprecedented amount of high-quality excitement to Indian and international audiences,” Modi said. “We intend to make domestic cricket events on par with other successful domestic sports brands in the world (like football and baseball) and the initiatives announced today are the first of a number of exciting plans that we have in store,” he added. No decision on foreign players yet
The BCCI today said it was yet to approve participation of foreign players in domestic cricket like the Ranji Trophy and this has to be discussed at the next working committee meeting of the BCCI after its AGM here on September 27 and 28. “The board has yet to take a call on the matter. It (allowing state units to hire overseas cricketers) is yet to be discussed and it will be done at the next working committee,” said I. S. Bindra. “Overseas players have played in Indian domestic cricket in the 1960s before it was discontinued. We are aware of the problems faced by England when it allowed two overseas signings per team in the English county cricket,” Bindra said. Talking on the same issue, with reports having come in that Maharashtra are keen to recruit England pacer Darren Gough to play in domestic cricket, Lalit Modi said, “an informal understanding has been reached (between associations) on the issue (not to allow foreign players).”
— PTI
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Ganguly may play in Challenger Trophy
Mumbai, September 25 The trio was among the 30-strong probables’ list announced for the ICC Champions Trophy on August 9 but failed to make the final 14 member list. All the 30 probables named for the Champions Trophy, to be held in India from October 7-November 5, are expected to be included in one of the squads — India seniors, India A and B — for the high-profile domestic event to be held under lights in Chennai from October 1-4. The probables list contains all the 15 members of the national squad led by Rahul Dravid which failed to reach the final of the DLF Cup in Malaysia plus Zaheer Khan, Venugupal Rao, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Kartik and Piyush Chawla. Players out of action for long due to injury — Ashish Nehra, Laxmipathy Balaji and Murali Kartik — should also make it to the list of 36 players (each team comprising 12 each), along with three others, as per indications. It will be the outgoing national selection committee’s last job before it’s reconstituted in the BCCI AGM, scheduled here on September 27 and 28. If selected Ganguly, who has vowed to force his way back into the national squad, would have the ideal chance to showcase his prowess as one of the premier one-day batsman in cricketing world with an accumulation of over 10,000 runs. In the absence of national coach Greg Chappell, who’s taking a break before rejoining the team on Oct 6, another support staff member — biomechanist Ian Frazer — has been named as the coach of the Seniors’ team. Former India all-rounder Robin Singh would be the coach of India A while Lalchand Rajput, a former India opener, is to be in charge of India B, according to BCCI sources. The following 30 players had been picked in the preliminary list of probables for the Champions Trophy on Aug 9: Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, M S Dhoni, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Mongia, R P Singh, Suresh Raina, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Venugopal Rao, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath, S Sreesanth, Tejinder Pal Singh, VRV Singh, Dinesh Karthick, Parthiv Patel, Zaheer Khan, S S Paul and Piyush Chawla.
— PTI
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Reetinder Sodhi stars in PCC’s win
Chandigarh, September 25 The other teams, which made it to the semifinals are Minerva Academy and ONGC. Put into bat first, PCC’s skipper Reetinder Sodhi played a gritty innings of 53 off 86 balls after the early dismissal of openers Ravneet Ricky (1) and Ravi Inder (6). Bipul Sharma contributed with 44 from 41 balls to help the team reach 237 for 8 in 50 overs. Off-spinner Shamsher Singh with 3 for 35 was the most successful bowler for RCA. RCA too lost their opener Rohit Sharma (1) early. Dishant Yagnik (55 off 98 balls) and Nikhil Doru (27 off 44 balls) stabilised the innings but RCA were bowled out for 175 in 44.2 overs. VRV Singh finished with 4 for 35. Reetinder Sodhi was declared man of the match. In the second match played at DAV College, Sector 10, IOC got the better of Air India by 34 runs. IOC compiled 221 for 8 in 50 overs. In reply, Air India could only manage 187 in 47.2 overs. The match between ONGC and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) played at DAV School, Sector 8, was won by the former by 30 runs. Batting first, ONGC piled up 201 for 9 in 50 overs. In reply MCA were bundled out for 171 in 48 overs. In the match played at Sector 3, Panchkula, Minerva Cricket Academy routed PCA Colts by five wickets. Winning the toss, PCA Colts made a modest total of 148 runs in 50 overs. Minerva reached the target of 150 runs in 44.1 overs. Brief Scores: PCC: 237 for 8 in 50 overs (Sodhi 53, Sharma 44 n.o., Shamsher 3 for 35); RCA: 175 all out in 44.2 overs (Yagnik 55, Nikhil 27, VRV Singh 4 for 35). IOC: 221 for 8 in 50 overs (Phadke 68, Zafar 58, S Trivedi 3 for 41); Air India: 187 all out in 47.2 overs (D . Jadhav 69, Ojha 25, Rohit 3 for 35). ONGC: 201 for 9 in 50 overs (Sandeep 52, Gagan 36, Avishkar Salvi 3 for 61); MCA: 171 all out in 48 overs (Thakkar 40, Shetty 25, Sanghvi 4 for 38). PCA Colts: 148 for 8 in 50 overs (Kakkar 40, Unial 26, Rahat Elahi 3 for 24); Minerva: 150 for 5 in 44.1 overs (Sumit 32, T.P. Singh 31, Amit Uniyal 1 for 27).
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Phau puts Rastogi in place
Mumbai, September 25 The Indian teenager, a wild card recipient, tried his best to compete with the world 66th-ranked Phau but failed in his effort and was soundly thrashed 6-0, 6-3 on the main court at the Cricket Club of India. The 359th ranked Rastogi was broken in the first, third and fifth games of the opening set which ended in only 28 minutes. He put up a vastly superior show in the second, but again was broken twice in the third and ninth games to drop it in 30 minutes and with it the match. The 26-year old Phau hit powerfully from the baseline, served 12 aces, moved on quicksilver feet and had a lethal backhand to boot. He toyed with his Indian rival throughout the match, which was their second-ever meeting, having clashed in the qualifiers of the Rotterdam indoor tournament in 2004. Rastogi, totally nonplused in the opening set, found the bearing in the second and managed to hold his service in the opening game for the first time in the match that boosted his confidence a bit. But he was broken by Phau, whose father is Indonesian and mother German, in the third game to trail his rival 1-3. Rastogi showed glimpses of a fightback when he battled his way from 15-40 down to hold his serve in the seventh game, but a bout of nerves when he was serving at 3-5 helped the German to break him for the second and final time in the set and fifth overall. A forehand hit wide by Rastogi gave the German the point, set and the match and a place in the second round against Japanese qualifier Gouichi Motomura who ousted another qualifier Jasper Smit of Nederlands 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-5).
— PTI |
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PSEB, Ropar Hawks win
Chandigarh, September 25 In the third match, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, edged out Central Industrial Security Force 7-6 via sudden death after the two teams were level 2-2 in the stipulated period. The tie breaker also failed to break the deadlock as the two teams converted four strokes each. In sudden death that followed, Amolak Singh tilted the scales in favour of RCF by converting his stroke while Cyril Ekka of CISF failed to find the target. The Ropar Hawks-COE tie was closely contested in which Sukhjinder Singh excelled for the winners with a superb hat-trick. The Patiala outfit initially enjoyed the upper hand and even took the lead with a field goal through Kamaljit in the 29th minute but Ropar Hawks retaliated with the equaliser three minutes from the breather when Sukhjinder Singh scored a field goal. Centre of Excellence once again took the lead through Amritveer who scored off a short corner in the 48th minute to make it 2-1. But thereafter, Ropar Hawks, displaying complete dominance, struck in quick succession. Sukhjinder’s field goals in the 52nd and 54th minutes turned the tables on the Patiala outfit while another one by skipper Varindera Kumar took the tally to 4-2 in favour of the Ropar lads. It was Sandeep of the Patiala team who narrowed the margin to 3-4 with a field goal just four minutes from the end to give his team some consolation. In the second match which stretched to the tie-breaker, PSEB had to wait till the 33rd minute to open their account when Jagjit Singh deflected a hit into the goalmouth. A penalty corner conversion by Nilesh in the 44th minute brought Canara Bank back on even terms and the Bangalore outfit went 2-1 up five minutes later when Ronald Kiran was on target off another short corner. It was 10 minutes from close that PSEB managed to restore parity through a field goal by Jatinder. In the battle of strokes, Harjinder Singh, Gurdeep Singh, and Varinder Singh were on target for PSEB while Ronald Kiran was the lone scorer for Canara Bank. Tuesday’s fixtures: Chandigarh Hockey Academy v Corps of Signals at 2.45 pm; CHA XI v RCF at 4.15 pm; PSEB v Central Railway at 6 pm.
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Jharkhand thrash Tripura
Faridabad, September 25 Five minutes into the second half, Dharmendra Deogam widened the margin before Tripura pulled one back through Utpal Choudhary on the hour. Mohan rounded off Jharkhand’s campaign with his third goal in the 88th minute. In another cluster 8 clash at the same venue, Tamil Nadu defeated Uttaranchal 1-0, with Raman Vijayan producing the lone goal for the winners in the 56th minute. At Gurgaon, Gujarat and Nagaland featured in a goalless draw in a cluster 6 tie. — PTI
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Indian colts whitewash Pak
Karachi, September 25 Off-spinner Sumeet Sharma was the wrecker-in-chief taking 5 for 36 to end the tour on a high. The victory helped the visitors clean sweep the series 4-0 against their arch-rivals in their own backyard. The whitewash was all the more sweet for the Indians as it came close on the heels of their two-nil victory in the Test series to round off an extremely successful tour of Pakistan. Chasing 192-run target, Indians started on a slightly shaky note as they lost openers Pervez Aziz, for a duck, and Sunny Sohil, for 12 But Jadeja, who was adjudged man-of-the-match, batted with flair and responsibility. He struck 14 fours and three sixes as he faced 114 ball. He also stitched a 82 run partnership with B Sumanth (48 off 58 balls) after the visitors lost three wickets for 16 runs. Jadeja shared another valuable 83-run stand with Tanmay Srivastav (25 no) before being caught by Imad Wasim at silly mid-on off spinner Mohibullah. India reached the target for loss of six wickets with 6.5 overs to spare. For Pakistan, pacer Mohammad Naved took 3 for 39. Earlier, Pakistan juniors were restricted to a modest 191 for eight in their allotted 50 overs. Their main scorers were Zeeshan Mushtaq with an unbeaten 44 and Rana Adnan 38.
— PTI
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Judo team for Asiad
Patiala, September 25 The team: Boys: Navjot Chana 60kg, Parminder Singh 66 kg, Virender Singh 73 kg, Sahil Pathania 81 kg, Anil Kumar 90 kg, and Sanjoy Singh 100 kg. Girls: Bembem Devi 48 kg, Anita Chana 52 kg, Nirupama 57 kg, Landhoni Devi 63 kg, Jeena Devi 70 kg, and Devia 78 kg.
— UNI |
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Priyanka wins gold
Ropar, September 25 About 1200 women from all over the state are taking part in this three-day sports festival. Ropar SSP Kapil Dev inaugurated the festival while international athlete Jasmine Kaur took the oath. Director Sports Punjab and former hockey captain Pargat Singh, who was also present on the occasion, said the sports department will recruit 170 coaches in the state and have sent a proposal in this regard to the state government.
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Doon School win opening matches Patiala, September 25 The results of the team events held today are: Under-14: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Baroda, defeated Mayo College, Ajmer, (6-4) (3-6), (6-5) (7-2)-Tie breaker; Hyderabad Public School, Hyderabad, defeated Daly College, Indore, (6-3) (6-1) and Doon School, Dehra Dun, defeated Birla Public School,
Pilani, (6-1) (6-1). Under 16: Doon School, Dehra Dun defeated Daly College, Indore, (6-1) (6-0), LK Singhania School,
Gotan, defeated Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Baroda, (6-0) (6-4) and YPS, Patiala, defeated DPS, RK Puram, New Delhi, (0-6) (6-2). Under-18: Doon School, Dehra Dun defeated DPS, RK Puram, (3-6) (6-2) (6-1), YPS, Patiala, defeated Mayo College, Ajmer, (6-2) (6-3) and Hyderabad Public School, Hyderabad, defeated Daly College, Indore, (6-0) (6-1).
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Delhi beats Punjab in u-13 cricket tourney Patiala, September 25 As per a press note issued here, the Punjab team, which batted first, managed to gather 150 runs in 60 overs of first innings by losing six wickets only. The Delhi lads collected 171 runs for all out. Shiv Luv of Amritsar took five wickets by spending 35 runs, Udit Hari Mehta of Ferozepore, who made his debut in national level cricket championship, took three for 31 and Mohit Handa took two for 25.
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Vivekanand institutes take part in indoor games Banur, September 25 In the meet, students of all institutions of Swami Vivekanand Group i.e. Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology
(SVIET), Swami Vivekanand College of Pharmacy (SVCP), Swami Vivekanand College of Eduaction
(SVCE), Swami Vivekanand School of Management (SVSM) and Swami Vivekanand School of Mass Communication
(SVSMC), participated in indoor games like badminton, table tennis, carrom and chess with full enthusiasm. Addressing students, SVIET Chairman, Mr Ashwani Garg, announced that SVIET has been celebrating 2006-2007 as the “year of sports”. Teachers also participated in the games and prizes were given. Results: Badminton (Women Singles) 1
Suchi, 2 Amrit; (Men Singles) 1 Sarbjit Singh, 2 Piyush Mishra. Chess: 1 Summit, 2
Yogesh. Carrom: 1 Sushesh Narianan, 2 Inderpreet. Table Tennis: 1
Tanav, 2 Rohit.
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Sania’s ranking jumps to 59th Team announced Badminton meet Chess meet Softball tourney Atwal tied 21st SD College win
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