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Dilly-dallying continues
Gwalior ODI tomorrow
Harbhajan, Gambhir set for Test recall
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Arsenal beat Reading to go back on top
Top golfers for Johnnie Walker Classic
7 Punjab boys in Nehru hockey team
All-Punjab affair in final
Rushmi shocks Tara
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Dilly-dallying continues
New Delhi, November 13
Pawar, after a meeting of the BCCI office-bearers here today, said Lalchand Rajput will continue to hold the position of "cricket manager" till the end of the Pakistan team's tour. The BCCI has been dilly-dallying in the appointment of a full time coach ever since the exit of Greg Chappell, and it was believed that the Board will announce the name of a new coach after the office-bearers' meeting today. The Board president said a final decision on the new cricket coach will be taken "as soon as possible after discussion with the coach selection committee." The coach selection committee consists of former captains Sunil Gavaskar, S Venkataraghavan and Ravi Shastri. They were scheduled to meet in Mumbai on November 3 but the meeting was postponed due to Gavaskar's absence. The committee was earlier scheduled to meet on September 28 in Bangalore but that meeting too had fallen through. Pawar said the Board had received around 25 applications for the coach's job, and the coach selection committee would screen them before finalising a suitable candidate. India have been without a full time coach after Greg Chappell relinquished the position of the chief national coach following India's early exit from the World Cup in the West Indies. Chandu Borde managed the team during the Indian team's tour of England while Ravi Shastri donned the mantle of the coach during the team's short tour of Bangladesh. BCCI to support Brazil, China, Cuba In an expected move, the BCCI here today made it clear that it is seriously considering to ask the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to postpone the next year's Asia Cup Cricket Tournament to prevent a clash with its prized venture, the 'IPL'. After a crucial meeting of the board's office-bearers here today, BCCI President Sharad Pawar informed that the ACC will meet next month in India to decide the date of the 9th edition of the Asia Cup. However, BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla informed that the date for the Asia Cup would be finalised after taking into consideration all the participating team's preference. ''The dates of the Asia Cup should be convenient to all participating nations. Tentatively, it will be held in June,'' he said. Interestingly, earlier the Asia Cup was scheduled to be held in April next year in Pakistan. But the BCCI's prized venture, the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL), too is scheduled to start at the same time and would coincide with the Asia Cup, following which they convinced the ACC to postpone the sub-continent event. Apart from these issues, the BCCI also decided to extend full support and co-operation to Brazil, China and Cuba to develop their game and spread it's wings in those countries. ''We have decided to extend all the facilities to Brazil, China and Cuba to develop the game there,'' Mr Shukla informed.
— UNI
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Gwalior ODI tomorrow
Gwalior, November 13 Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association's Chief curator Samundar Singh Chauhan said he has prepared a perfect batting wicket for the match and any score around 280 would be chaseable. "It's a perfect batting track because I believe people want to watch exciting and high-scoring matches," he said. "The wicket will not deteriorate much and any score around 280 will not be difficult to chase," he said adding "there will be little role for spinners in the match." India lead the ODI series 2-1 and a win here would seal it in their favour before the fifth and final match at Jaipur. Tinge of green was visible on the pitch at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium but Chauhan said with two days remaining for the day-night affair, the grass will be pruned. "There is light grass on the surface but we are rolling it down to turn it into brown. Actually, we do not want sideways movement otherwise the match will be a low-scoring one. "The temperature during the day is 33-34 degrees while in the night it dips to 12-13 degrees. So there is a possibility of heavy dew. We have chemical spray but it is not of very good quality. We are trying to get a better machine from Delhi by tomorrow," he said. India have won six out of the eight matches it has played here. The defeats include a 73-run loss to the West Indies in 1988 and 69-run defeat at the hands of minnows Kenya in 1998.
— PTI
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Harbhajan, Gambhir set for Test recall
Mumbai, November 13 Also set to be named in the squad, to be captained by veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble, are stylish middle order batsman V V S Laxman and Test openers Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Kaarthick. It remains to be seen whether Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan too get a recall. Sehwag was ignored following his dismal show in the three-Test rubber against South Africa in which he aggregated just 53 runs in six innings. Harbhajan, the 57-Test-old off-spinner with 238 wickets in his bag, last played in a Test eleven in April-May 2006. The 26-year-old Punjab bowler was not in the team for the tours of Bangladesh and England earlier this year after failing to make it to the playing eleven against South Africa though he was part of the squad. He has already recaptured his one-day slot and has shown very impressive form in the 50-over format at home in the last two series. Kartik's absence from the Test rankings has been even longer. The left-arm spinner, who has played only eight Tests since his debut in 1999-2000, last figured in the final 11 against South Africa at Kanpur in 2004-05. The Railways' slow bowler's improved performance in the one-day format since his recall out of the blue against Australia in the previous home series merits a comeback, especially in home conditions. However, he may not make the playing eleven in the presence of Kumble and Harbhajan. Test specialist Laxman and former captain Rahul Dravid, no longer figuring in the ODI squad, would lend meat to the packed middle order which has Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly besides wicket keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in it to give it a very experienced and solid look. Left-handed Yuvraj, who is in prime form in the shortened format of the game, may have to wait for his chances to get into the playing eleven with so many other stalwarts ready to occupy the middle order slots. But his presence would obviously put extra pressure on Laxman and Ganguly to perform. The dark horse seems to be Sehwag with his great Test record, mainly as an opener, especially Pakistan. The Delhi marauder has not exactly set the Ganges on fire since his recall to the ODI squad in place of Dravid, but the selectors might be tempted to include him because of his potential to destroy attacks. Sehwag, who is averaging 50-plus in 47 out of 52 Tests as opener and has scored all his three 200-plus knocks while launching the innings, could get a look-in only if the selectors choose to strengthen the already bulging middle order. For the opening slot there are three in contention who are expected to be picked in the team, first-choice openers Jaffer and Dinesh Kaarthick and reserve Gautam Gambhir who has been in very good nick in the T20 and 50-over games. The selectors have the option to give a chance again to Irfan Pathan, who too has done well since his re-induction into the one-day squad, to shore up the pace attack expected to include Zaheer Khan, R P Singh and S Sreesanth. The Baroda youngster has not figured in Test cricket since he was recalled home midway through the series in South Africa after showing indifferent form. Pathan was not considered to be good enough to be included in the playing XI in any of the Tests against the Proteas and had last played a Test in the West Indies. Young guns like Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary and S Badrinath may have to wait for their turns with the plethora of batting riches the team possesses in the middle order.
— PTI
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Colombo, November 13 Nursing a grouse against the selection committee, Atapattu described them as a bunch of 'muppets headed by a joker'. Mohinder Amarnath, who played a key role in India's only World Cup title win in 1983 had also described the Indian selectors as a ''pack of joker'' after he was dropped from the side. The 36-year-old opening batsman had blamed the selectors for the team's current poor showing and attacked them with a stinging remarks. A rattled Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) today said it would take strict disciplinary action against Marvan Atapattu for his outburst but said that they are not thinking of recalling the former captain from the team which is touring Australia. The SLC expressed its shock and disappointed at Atapattu's comments but added, ''Sri Lanka Cricket does not wish to disrupt the ongoing tour of Australia, specially as the second Test in Hobart will commence on November 16.'' ''However, Sri Lanka Cricket is very distressed and disappointed about statements made by Marvan Atapattu on the selectors and will take necessary disciplinary action on his return to Sri Lanka,'' it said in a statement. Coach Trevor Bayliss and skipper Mahela Jayawardene however wanted Atapattu to remain with the team saying his experience was vital to the team's performance. Jayawardene made it very clear that he wants Attapattu to stays put with the team, saying, ''I want him in Hobart. He is a brilliant player and an asset in the dressing room where he contributes so much to the confidence of the team.''
— UNI
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Roger Federer honoured as year’s top player
Shanghai, November 13 The Swiss was assured of finishing 2007 ahead of Spanish rival Rafael Nadal in the ATP Tour's Champions Race after winning his hometown title in Basel at the end of last month. Federer, still licking his wounds after Monday's shock defeat by Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in his opening round-robin match at the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, paid tribute to Nadal. “This year was very special because I was behind Nadal and won it back,” said Federer in an on-court ceremony before the Spaniard's match against compatriot David Ferrer. “It's the fourth consecutive year for me to finish as number one. It's an amazing run I'm
on and I'll try my best to maintain it in 2008.” — Reuters
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Arsenal beat Reading to go back on top
London, November 13 Goals from Frenchman Mathieu Flamini after 44 minutes, Ivorian Emmanuel Adebayor after 52 and Belarussian Aleksandr Hleb 12 minutes from time lifted Arsenal to 30 points from 12 matches. United have 30 points from 13 games. Both teams have goal differences of plus 17 but Arsenal are top, having netted 27 to United's 23. Flamini, who had not scored for Arsenal since December, put his team ahead with a close-range deflected shot after a good passing move. Adebayor made it 2-0 with a curling shot inside keeper Marcus Hahnemann's far post, chalking up Arsenal's 1,000th Premier League goal. Hleb added the third after twisting past the keeper and lashing home when it appeared he might lose control of the ball. Arsenal, who were last beaten in any competition on April 7, could easily have won by a bigger margin on a chilly night at the Madejski Stadium. Adebayor hit the post in the third minute and the same player had a goal harshly ruled out for offside in the second half. Nicky Shorey took advantage of rare confusion in the Arsenal defence to grab a consolation for Reading three minutes from time.
— Reuters
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Top golfers for Johnnie Walker Classic
New Delhi, November 13 The prestigious tournament will be played at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon from February 28 to March 2. The trio will join world number nine Vijay Singh of Fiji in the strong field for the event. "I am looking forward to playing the event," said Scott. "I have heard so much about India and how golf is growing there but I've never been there, so it will be exciting to be in Delhi for the Johnnie Walker Classic next year," he added. The 27-year-old was the youngest winner of The Players' Championship in US PGA Tour when he won the event in 2004. The Australian has had fine season so far with a second-place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and a win at the Shell Houston Classic on the US Tour, giving him a total of 13 victories worldwide. Englishman Poulter has won five European Tour titles since turning pro in 1994. Though he has not secured a victory this season, a second place in the British Masters and a number of solid performances on the US Tour has seen the 31-year-old rise to 29 in the world ranking. Scot Montgomerie, on the other hand, has a prolific career spanning 20 years He has topped the European Tour Order of Merit a record eight times and won 40 tournaments around the world. This year he secured the European Open at the K Club in Ireland, his first win since the UBS Hong Kong Open in December 2005 and came the week after he finished third in the French Open. First played in Hong Kong in 1990, the Johnnie Walker Classic was the first tournament to be jointly sanctioned by the European, Asian and Australasian golf Tours. It has been played in seven countries and at 12 golf clubs over the past 17 years. Past winners of the prestigious event include golfing legends such as Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Ian Woosnam and Retief Goosen.
— PTI
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7 Punjab boys in Nehru hockey team
Bhopal, November 13 The team is being fielded for the first time as a special case for the tournament, according to Jalaj Chaturvedi who has been named as its manager-cum-coordinator. “The announcement was made at the conclusion of a coaching camp at the Sports Authority of India Centre in nearby Gaura village,” he said. Seven of the selected players belong to Punjab, five are from Uttar Pradesh, three from Madhya Pradesh, two from Orissa and one from Manipur. The team: Arpit Chaudhary (MP), Tejasvi Rao (Orissa), both goalkeepers; Paramjit Kumar (Punjab), Amit Prabhakar (UP), Ramashankar (MP), all deep defenders; Deepak Singh (UP), Kotajit Sen (Manipur), Barkat Singh (Punjab), Jokim Minj (Orissa), Jagrup Singh (Punjab), all midfielders; Taranjit Singh (Punjab), Amir Khan (UP), Manpreet Singh (Punjab), Abhinav Walter (UP), Asif S. (MP), S Shankar (UP), Simranjit Singh (Punjab) and Prabhdeep Singh (Punjab), all forwards. While Gundeep Kumar (Punjab) is the chief coach, Lal Thanga (Mizoram) and Basant Singh (Central Reserve Police Force) will be coach and assistant coach respectively.
— UNI
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New Delhi, November 13 In the first semifinal, Government School, Jalandhar, downed local challenger GHP School, Shahdara, 3-2 while SGPS Academy, Ludhiana, piped Lyallpur Khalsa School, Jalandhar, 1-0. Government School, Jalandhar, took an early lead when Jaswinder Singh scored a field goal in the fifth minute. Vickram Sangwan brought the Delhi boys level in the 26th minute before Manjinder Singh converted a penalty corner in the 33rd to give Jalandhar the upper hand going into the break. In the second half, both teams grabbed a goal apiece as Jalandhar emerged victorious to claim a berth in the final.
— UNI
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Rushmi shocks Tara
Pune, November 13 Former national champion Rushmi defeated fourth seeded compatriot Tara Iyer 6-4, 6-2. In another upset, unseeded Ukrainian Katerina Polunina caused ousted seventh seed Nungnadda Wannasuk of Thailand 6-4, 6-1. Meanwhile, Sixth seed Italian Silvia Disderi ousted local Shalini Sahoo 7-5, 6-1. Shalini committed several errors at the net to help her opponent collect five games in a row to win the set 7-5.
— PTI
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London, November 13
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