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We want IPL to succeed: CA
‘Aussies low on confidence’
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Duleep Trophy
Gloster to quit after tri-series
Sutil struggles on windy day
Billiton to sponsor Paralympic team
Jeev tied third
Punjab Police win 2-0
Ghosal, Joshna
advance
DAV enter final
Two players hurt in clash
Women’s sports fest begins
JCT, Bagan clash tomorrow
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We want IPL to succeed: CA
Melbourne, February 14 "In accordance with relevant ICC regulations and player contract requirements, players will not be offered player contracts or be permitted to continue to be a party to player contracts if, during the term of those contracts, those players take part in unofficial cricket events," CA said in a statement. "In connection with CA and state players, selectors will treat players who take part only in ICC-approved matches more favourably than those who do not," it said. CA, at the the same time, clarified it was keen to see the BCCI-backed IPL to go ahead. Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said the board was working through complex detail relating to existing contractual obligations which relate to Australian players' involvement in the IPL competition. "We have always said we want to see IPL succeed, but on the basis that it does not compromise ICC Future Tours Programme or ICC Events cricket," Sutherland said. "There is a lot of detail involved in aligning existing contractual obligations with those of this new Indian domestic competition," he said. "But we are approaching this with an open mind on trying to resolve the issue in a manner which allows IPL to go ahead with Australian player participation, when available, and allow the Champions Twenty20 concept to then be finalised so that Indian, South African, England and Australian domestic Twenty20 sides can meet in a tournament to decide the best of the best," he added. IPL can harm world cricket: Ponting
"If a guy is approaching the end of his international career anyway, and being able to play 44 days and stay in one form of the game, I'm sure is very attractive," Ponting said. "Particularly, if they have families and they are getting a bit sick and tired of the travel you do with international cricket, I am sure that is appealing to you," he said on the eve of Australia's one-dayer against Sri Lanka here. Ponting felt a proper schedule management to allow international players to participate in IPL might prevent their feared swaying from the international scene. "There are some programming issues the ICC and the boards are going to have to look at, may be carving out a window each year when this tournament can sit in. "Unless some time is given up then we might start losing the 33, 34-year-old players from international cricket," he said. More than 80 international cricketers have signed over to BCCI hosted IPL so far. Ponting's comments came a day after Adam Gilchrist rubbished concerns regarding a possible impact of IPL on the international cricket.
— PTI
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Perth, February 14 Sri Lanka stormed back into the reckoning in the competition with an eight-wicket win over India in Canberra on Tuesday and can go to the top of the table if they can put it across the world champions on the morrow, thereby relegating the Aussies to the bottom of the pile. "It is a good opportunity for us to go on top of the table. We've got back into the tournament and the guys can really build up on that confidence," Jayawardene said. Australia are coming off a defeat against India in their last match at the MCG and the Sri Lankan skipper indicated the hosts were low on confidence. "They (Australia) are a bit under pressure. In batting, there are two or three guys who have been consistently performing, but the rest haven't been. "In the past the Aussies have found ways to get back into games, but the last six months I don't think they've got that belief in themselves. If we can push them back from the beginning, we can create more pressure," Jayawardene said. The form slump in which rival captain Ricky Ponting finds himself also did not escape Jayawardene's attention. "He's had a quiet time and hopefully we can keep him under the same pressure he has been under for the last two months," he said. "It is in our interest to keep him like that." The hosts have made two changes in their playing XI they fielded against their last match against India in Melbourne with James Hopes and Brad Hogg coming in place of Stuart Clark and Brad Haddin. The Sri Lankans have not shown the desired consistency in the series and captain Mahela Jayawardene wants his players to work on this aspect of the game to be able to pose a threat to stronger teams. The Lankans had gone into the last match with five specialist bowlers at the expense of opener Upul Tharanga and it remains to be seen whether they deploy the same strategy against the world champions. It, however, looks unlikely that they would weaken their batting line-up by going for the additional bowler for a game which was not expected to be affected by the weather. The pace and bounce of the WACA pitch will also influence them to strengthen the batting. Hours of play: 10 am to 1.30 pm, 2.15 pm to 5.45 pm. — PTI
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Sledging within limits is OK: Pathan
Adelaide, February 14 A day after BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said the board would seek a ban on sledging at next week’s ICC chief executive committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Irfan was pleasantly inclined in favour of sledging. “Sledging has been part of the game and carries a certain charm about it. As a fast bowler, personally, I don’t think staring down at a batsman or similar such stuff is bad,” he told reporters, adding a rider: “But it should be within limits.” The paceman, who has not looked back since his heroics in the Perth Test, is absolutely delighted with his form and fitness. He also want fans not to worry too much about a few youngsters who haven't been getting their chances. “Their time would come. So far only four matches have been played. Quite a few games are still left. I don’t think there is need to worry too much. They would have their opportunity,” Irfan said. He also spoke in defence of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, while his word on Ishant Sharma’s rise was predictable. And the seamer also had a special Valentine’s Day message “Happy Valentine’s Day to all; send me a lot of roses.” Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar stayed away from the outdoor and went for the indoor nets, which has been his routine since the one-day series began at the start of this month. — PTI
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Wellington, February 14 Fleming will leave the game with a stack of records to his name. He is New Zealand’s most capped player and leading run-getter in both Tests and one-day cricket. He is also his country’s most successful captain. He skippered the side for more than a decade and led them to Test series wins over India, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He also led the Black Caps to victory in the 2000 Champions Trophy in Kenya and to the World Cup semifinals in 1999 and 2007. A stylish left-hander and excellent slips fieldsman, Fleming has played a record 108 Tests since making his debut in 1994 and captained his country on 80 occasions, winning 28 times. He scored 6,785 runs at an average of 39.73 and a highest score of 274 not out, against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2003, unselfishly declaring in sight of a triple-century. For all his success, Fleming was often criticised for his failure to convert good starts into bigger scores, registering 43 half-centuries but only nine hundreds. Fleming also played 280 one-day internationals, compiling 8,037 runs and a high score of 134 not out against South Africa at the 2003 World Cup in arguably his finest performance. He became New Zealand’s youngest Test captain when he was appointed skipper at 23 but lost the captaincy to his close friend Daniel Vettori last year. Fleming said he planned to start up a new career but, like many international players who have recently retired, also intends to play in the lucrative IPL. — Reuters
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Duleep Trophy
Rajkot, February 14 North secured five points and are leading the table with 10 points. Resuming at their overnight score of 28 for 1, East Zone, who managed just 143 in the first essay, once again caved in against the disciplined bowling of VRV Singh and leg-spinner Amit Mishra and were bowled out for 243. They were set an unlikely target of 677 to win the match after North Zone scored 360 and 459 for two in their two innings. Only Anustup Mazumdar (82; 14x4) and Manish Vardhan (83; 17x4) put up some resistance. The duo came together after departure of East Zone skipper S Das (33 runs, 6x4) and raised hopes of a draw by adding 168 for the fourth wicket. But the departure of Mazumdar, who was run out, triggered a batting collapse as East Zone lost their last five wickets for the addition of just five runs. Niranjan Behera did not bat in the second innings too duo to a sustained fracture. VRV Singh, who did not bowl yesterday because of fever, today returned figures of three for 46, while leg-spinner Amit Mishra took two for 37. Brief scores: North Zone (1st innings): 360 East Zone (1st innings): 143 North Zone (2nd innings): 459 for 2 dec East Zone (2nd innings): 243 (Manish Vardhan 83, Anustup Mazumdar 82; VRV Singh 3-46, Amit Mishra 2-37). Vadodara: Brilliant bowling by offie Yusuf Pathan (five for 35) and medium pacer Siddharth Trivedi (four for 28) helped West Zone enter the final of the Duleep Trophy, notching up a dramatic nine-wicket victory over England Lions on the fourth and final day of their group B match here on Thursday. West Zone, who needed an outright victory against the visitors in order to make it to the final, rallied in a splendid manner through Pathan and Trivedi as they bundled out their opponents for a paltry 165 and then rattled up the 27 runs required with 12 mandatory overs to spare. West Zone had led by 139 runs after the first innings. West Zone will take on defending champions North Zone in the final to be played at Mumbai from February 19. Brief scores: England Lions (1st innings): 355 West Zone (1st innings): 494 England Lions (2nd innings): 165 (Ed Joyce 66, Adil Rashid 39; Yusuf Pathan 5-35, Siddharth Trivedi 4-28) West Zone (2nd innings): 28 for 1 (Sahil Kukreja 12 not out). — Agencies
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Gloster to quit after tri-series
New Delhi, February 14 Gloster, who had replaced Andrew Leipus as the physio of the side in February 2005, has conveyed his decision to the BCCI. “Gloster does not want to continue. He has expressed his desire to quit. He has informed the board regarding this,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI. Shah said the board would look for a new physio for the home series against South Africa in March-April. Of late, Gloster was under pressure following a spate of injuries plaguing the Indian pacers. Former players like Javagal Srinath had pointed a finger at the physio for not being able to curb the problem. “I think the physio should answer why our pacers are breaking down so often,” Srinath said last month. Gloster had replaced Andrew Leipus in 2005 after working with the Bangladesh team for four years.
— PTI
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Sutil struggles on windy day
Jerez (Spain), February 14 Taking over from Vitantonio Liuzzi for the second day of the three-day test, Sutil struggled to find a good balance as high winds swept the track throughout the day. Realising the futility of his effort, the German driver then concentrated on race simulations, starts and putting more mileage on the new parts tested and, to his credit, completed 86 laps with no major mechanical problems. Though he managed to cover 373 km yesterday, Sutil’s best lap time of 1min 22.244 was the slowest of the lot. “Even though the weather today was clear, the winds were so strong that it was difficult to do any real work on set-up as we had planned,” Sutil said. “Sometimes the balance was good, sometimes it was bad and you just couldn’t tell very much from the laps. We still managed to do 86 laps though with no mechanical problems, which is useful, particularly after we had a shortened day last time,” said the driver. Red Bull’s Australian driver Mark Webber (1:18.628) posted the fastest time ahead of the Williams duo of Nico Rosberg (1:19.091) and Kazuki Nakajima (1:19.215). Local hero and Renault driver Fernando Alonso (1:19.710) recorded the fourth fastest time, while former team-mate at McLaren, Lewis Hamilton (1:19.857), was sixth behind BMW’s Robert Kubica (1:19.829).
— PTI
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Billiton to sponsor Paralympic team
New Delhi, February 14 Announcing this here today, Aditya Narayan, president of BHP Billiton India, said, “Our support of the Indian team is not only a natural extension of our association with Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, but is also a recognition of the extraordinary achievements of our nation’s Paralympic athletes.” BHP Billiton is also the official medals sponsor of the Beijing Games and will provide the raw material to produce Olympic and Paralympic medals. Former cricket captain Kapil Dev, also a member of the Paralympic Committee of India, thanked BHP Billiton for its support and hoped that the association would set the trend for further corporate support. “If 10 per cent of the money that is being spent on cricket in the country can be invested for such sporting activities, it will be great help to these unsung heroes.” he said. India will be represented in athletics, fencing, swimming, shooting and powerlifting for the games that will conclude on September 17. The Indian contingent will leave for Beijing on September 2. On the occasion, three Arjun awardees — Rajender Singh, Naresh Kumar Sharma and Devender — were felicitated by sporting celebrities which included Kapil Dev and Ajay Jadeja. Jagsheer Singh, Giriraj and Deepa Malik were also honoured on the occasion with mementos. — UNI
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Jakarta, February 14 Australia’s David Bransdon and Joost Luiten of The Netherlands carded identical rounds of 64 to share the lead as rain did not allow 42 other players to complete their rounds. They will return early tomorrow to complete the first round in the $ 1.2 million co-sanctioned event between the Asian Tour and European Tour. Joining Jeev at tied third were Liang Wen-Chong, Prayad Marksaeng, Juan Abbate, Kyron Sullivan, Philip Golding and Felipe Aguilar. Determined to erase the poor memories of last week’s Indian Masters in Delhi where he failed to make the cut, Jeev ignited his title charge with a solid ball-striking display, closing his round with a birdie on the final hole. Playing the back nine first, Jeev parred the 10th before unleashing a birdie hat-trick to take the turn at three-under. On the way back, he dropped a shot on the third hole but made amends with birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth to finish just one shot adrift of the joint leaders. Among Jeev’s compatriots, Arjun Atwal looked in good nick too and the Orlando-based Indian was four-under with one more hole to go when rain left him stranded. Similarly, Gaurav Ghei ended the day at three-under with six more holes to go. India’s top golfer Jyoti Randhawa mixed five birdies and three bogeys to finish with a card of 68, one shot ahead of Delhi lad Shiv Kapur. Playing his back nine first, Kolkata pro Rahil Gangjee was even-par after three holes when he had to run for cover. It, however, proved an erratic outing for Amandeep Johl (75) who was done in by a treble of double bogeys. — PTI
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Punjab Police win 2-0
New Delhi, February 14 Punjab Police, dominating the match from the outset, scored the first goal through Amandeep Singh three minutes before half-time off a pass from Harshdeep Singh, while Gurbinder Singh added the second goal two minutes before the final whistle. Though Peerless also earned a couple of scoring chances, Debjit Bhowmick made a hash of them. Harshdeep of Punjab Police was adjudged the Man of the Match. The match between BSF and SBT also provided lots of sparks, but BSF dominated due to the two quick strikes in the span of four minutes by Harpreet Singh, who also scored the third goal to record a hat-trick. SBT reduced the margin in the 39th minute when Dennis Afan Mark converted a pass from Mohammad Harish. BSF inflicted two quick blows on their rivals at the fag end through goals from Harpreet and Balraj Singh, with the latter converting a spot kick. Harpreet was named the Man of the Match.
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Ghosal, Joshna
advance
Kuwait: Saurav Ghosal and Siddharth
Suchde were the only Indians left in the men’s singles event after two of their compatriots, including former national champion Ritwik Bhattacharya, crashed out in the second round of the Asian Squash Championship here.
Among the women, national champion Joshna Chinappa and fellow Indian Anwesha Reddy also moved into the second round. Ghosal advanced to the third round of the prestigious tournament after beating Kuwaiti Nasser Al Rashed 9-3, 9-1, 9-2 in the opening round and another local hope Ali B Al-Ramezi 9-2, 9-2, 9-2 in the second round yesterday. Suchde, meanwhile, first got the better of Iranian Mahd Reza Sadeghpour 9-6, 9-5, 9-1 in a 44-minute contest before defeating Taipei’s Huang Cheng Yao in the second round. However, Ritwik and Naresh Kumar crashed out in the second round. Ritwik breezed past Kuwaiti Shallan Ahmed 9-7, 9-3, 9-1, in merely 19 minutes before Kuwaiti Mohd Y Hajeyah tamed the Indian 9-4, 3-9, 9-5, 6-9, 10-8 in a 93-minute battle. Naresh suffered a similar fate. After a comfortable 9-0, 9-3, 9-5 win over Sri Lankan Aruna Hewage, he was outplayed 1-9, 4-9, 1-9 by Hong Kong’s Wong Wai Hang.
— PTI
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DAV enter final
New Delhi, February 14 DAV waged a grim battle to pip SGGS College, Chandigarh, 2-1, while in other semifinal, the Bhopal side outplayed Lyallapur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, 3-1. DAV took the lead in the 25th minute through Lakhwinder Singh. Chandigarh boys drew parity when Rajesh Kumar scored off a penalty corner. However, Ajay Kumar managed to score the winner for Jalandhar in injury time. The final is slated for tomorrow.
— UNI
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Two players hurt in clash
Gwalior, February 14 ''When the score was 4-3 in the Corps' favour, a dispute erupted between Jabalpur's Taj Khan and Jalandhar's Jasbant,'' said Joint Secretary (Organisation) Satyapal Singh Singh Chouhan. Khan sustained a head injury and Jasbant hurt his leg. Tournament Director Hanuman Prasad Tiwari and Joint Director Avinash Sharma imposed a single-match ban on Jasbant and Khan. The Signals' men eventually won 5-3.
— UNI
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Jalandhar, February 14 In hockey, the following matches were held: Jharkhand-Delhi (2-0), Madhya Pradesh-Karnataka (7-1), Himachal Pradesh-Maharashtra (4-2) and Gujarat-Andhra Pradesh (8-2). In Kho Kho, the matches were held between Madhya Pradesh-Himachal Pradesh (9-3), Kerala-Andhra Pradesh (6-5), Delhi-Tamil Nadu (14-9), Maharashtra-Jammu and Kashmir (13-2), West Bengal-Gujarat (17-11), Karnataka-Goa (10-5), Punjab-Chandigarh (15-2), Uttar Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (15-1), Jammu and Kashmir-Meghalaya (14-2), Madhya Pradesh-Jharkhand (8-4) and Assam-Goa (13-7). Basketball: Tamil Nadu-Karnataka (39-9), Punjab-Jammu and Kashmir (55-11), Chandigarh-Madhya Pradesh (35-5), West Bengal-Uttarakhand (50-6), Maharashtra-Kerala (35-18), Andhra Pradesh-Haryana (38-26), Delhi-Uttar Pradesh (67-42), Tamil Nadu-Meghalaya (43-14) and Jharkhand-Madhya Pradesh (12-9). Earlier, the meet was declared open by Sports Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike and the best march past trophy was awarded to Jharkhand whereas Goa bagged the runners-up trophy. — UNI
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JCT, Bagan clash tomorrow
Ludhiana, February 14
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Perth: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting today expressed his concern over the cash-rich Indian Premier League's potential to sway some vital experience from the international cricket and advised that the Twenty20 competition be fitted into the ICC's Future Tours Programme.