Mumbai, March 11
Pakistan's attacking middle-order batsman Misbah ul- Haq, who almost took the Twenty20 World Cup away from India, was one of the top stars to go under the hammer in the second auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday. He went for $125,000 to Bangalore's Royal Challengers.

Another prize catch was South Africa's Ashwell Prince, who was picked up for $175,000 by Mumbai Indians.

The next big catch was England all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, who was grabbed by Jaipur for $100,000. He became the first England player to be auctioned at the IPL.

Thus far English players had not figured in the auction as their county season overlaps with the IPL. It now transpires that Mascarenhas' team Hampshire will issue him a no-objection certificate to play in the IPL.

Although there were 18 foreign players up for grabs, the focus was on the India under-19 players whose fee was fixed at $30,000.

Bangalore got India under-19 captain Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami while Delhi snapped up local lad and left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan. Taruwar Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja went to Jaipur, while Kolkata took Siddarth Kaul and Iqbal Abdulla. Mohali will have Tanmay Srivastava and Ajitesh Argal.

Mumbai Indians went for Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey while Chennai Super Kings took Napoleon Einstein and Abhinav Mukund, the two Tamil Nadu players from the U-19 World Cup squad.

Among the foreign players coming under the hammer, Jaipur signed up South African fast bowler Morne Morkel ($60,000), Australian all-rounder Shane Watson ($125,000) and Pakistan left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir ($100,000).

Kolkata bought Pakistanis Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez for $100,000 each.

Mohali paid $300,000 for Australian James Hopes and $50,000 for his mate Luke Pomersbach as well as $150,000 for New Zealand bowler Kyle Mills.

Bangalore also signed up Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak ($50,000) and New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor ($100,000). — IANS

Karachi/Melbourne, March 11
Australia today scrapped its cricket tour of Pakistan barely a few hours after twin bomb blasts rocked Lahore, a decision which cleared the decks for their star cricketers to take part in next month's Indian Premier League (IPL).

Shortly after the blasts which left a number of people killed, Cricket Australia (CA) conveyed the decision to Pakistan board, putting an end to months of speculation on whether the tour would go ahead.

The two boards issued a joint statement, announcing that new dates for the tour would be decided soon.

“We are very sorry that the tour could not take place at this time. This was a difficult decision based on independent review of the circumstances prevailing in Pakistan at the moment,” CA chairman Creagh O'Connor said.

“We wish no loss to Pakistan Cricket Board and look forward to undertaking this tour in the near future," he said.

Australia were scheduled to tour Pakistan later this month but the deteriorating law and order situation since the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December first led to trimming of their itinerary and eventually its postponement.

CA chief executive James Sutherland told reporters in Melbourne that they tried their best to make the tour possible but had to postpone it after the latest carnage.

"We've left no stone unturned, we wanted to play this tour. (But) our absolute priority has been the security and safety of our players and our employees," he said adding that the CA also considered the Australian government's advice in the matter.

Sutherland made it clear that the tour would not happen before next year. "There's a couple of windows in 2009 and 2010 and there might be a little bit of massaging in order to make that happen," he said.

Sutherland said the option of neutral venues was also considered but Pakistan was "desperate for the tour to proceed on its home soil".

The CA and PCB said in a joint statement that the tour would be scheduled soon by "the chairmen of the two boards when they meet in Dubai next weekend to further discuss possible dates for the deferred tour."

"The ICC Future Tours Programme is complex and changes require extensive consultation with other member boards with whom Australia and Pakistan have existing commitments. This process will be undertaken over the coming weeks," they said.

PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf said, "We are obviously very disappointed at this decision. I guess there is not much we could do and sincerely hope that the tour of Australia to Pakistan can materialise at the earliest opportunity."

The Australian government, which had a travel advisory warning against travel to Pakistan, said it was pleased with the decision.

"I welcome today's decision by Cricket Australia and the Pakistan Cricket Board to postpone the Australian cricket team's planned tour of Pakistan," said foreign minister Stephen Smith.

With Australian cricketers having no engagements in April, taking part in the cash-rich IPL has now become a distinct possibility for the likes of Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey, Brett Lee and Matthew Hayden who have signed lucrative contracts with the franchises. — PTI 

Kolkata, March 11
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan today made his “debut” as a corporate boss in real life with the launch of the Knight Riders, the IPL Kolkata cricket team, which he owns with film actress Juhi Chawla.

Sourav Ganguly is the captain and John Buchanan is the coach of the Shah Rukh’s Team Kolkata, which includes Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar, among others.

With Sourav and Buchanan flanking him, King Khan, at a crowded press conference in a hotel here, formally launched his sports company — King Khan & Co — which will be controlling the Knight Riders, the Kolkata cricket team.

The team’s mascot named "Hoog-lee" is a royal Bengal tiger sitting on the river bank. The team's outfit is in black and golden colours.

The team's theme song, “Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo” (We will work hard, fight and win) was sung repeatedly on the videos as Shahrukh detailed out the plans of publicity and entertainment he had chalked out with Soni Entertainments and other partners.

Music directors Vishal and Shekhar have composed the theme song which has been sung by Bappi Lahiri, Usha Utthup, Vishal and Shekhar.

Shahrukh said he had left all cricket matters to Sourav and Buchanan to decide and he hoped with the involvement of these two doyens of the world's cricket, his team would come up as an outstanding cricket team.

Shah Rukh said if the present venture emerges commercially viable, he would also make investment in other sport. His purpose would not be to make money only but to upgrade these neglected sports and identify sporting talents to develop them in the right direction.

During the function, Buchanan, Sourav and CAB president Prasun Mujkherjee were presented golden helmets by Shah Rukh Khan.

New Delhi, March 11
Brian Lara has been ruled out of the Indian Cricket League's Edelweiss 20s Challenge due to a forearm injury which he sustained six weeks ago.

In his absence, former New Zealand opener Nathan Astle will lead the Mumbai Champs in the ongoing Twenty20 tournament.

Lara injured his forearm while playing for Trinidad and Tobago and now has his left forearm in a cast.

Mumbai Champs physiotherapist Danny Redrup has said that Lara sustained a substantial distal ulna fracture which in some cases requires surgery.

''His arm was placed in a cast for five-and-a-half weeks. An X-ray taken in New Delhi showed slow but aligned healing.

''Due to the extent of the structural damage, Lara is still in significant discomfort when holding his bat. It is predicted that another two to four weeks will be required for appropriate healing to facilitate some batting practice,” Redrup said.

Mumbai Champs had taken the field without Lara in yesterday's match against Delhi Giants. — UNI 

New York, March 11
World number one Roger Federer overcame a stiff challenge from Pete Sampras in an dynamic exhibition match between two of the greatest male tennis players of all time.

The 26-year-old Swiss stylist was tested hard by his 36-year-old American foe before prevailing 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (8/6) before a crowd of 19,000 at Madison Square Garden.

Sampras, who retired from competitive tennis in September 2002, ran into trouble early, dropping his serve in the opening game yesterday.

Federer displayed brilliant court stewardship. He broke his foe one more time in the ninth game to run away with the first set in 29 minutes.

In the second set, Sampras levelled with some solid serving.

Then, Federer grabbed the momentum. The seven-time Wimbledon champion fell 0-2 in the ensuing set but staged a remarkable comeback, reeling off five-straight games to go up 5-2 and 30-all. But Federer regrouped and snatched the victory in the tie-breaker when a Sampras backhand sailed wide.

Federer had edged Sampras two times in a three-city Asian exhibition tour last November with the American veteran coming on top in their last meeting in Macau, China. — AFP

New Delhi, March 11
Arjun Atwal’s sensational Malaysian Open triumph helped him leapfrog 140 places up the ranking ladder even though compatriots Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh slid.

Atwal, who was ranked a lowly 343 last week, is now at 203 even though the Orlando-based Indian still remains way behind compatriots Randhawa, who remains India's highest ranked golfer at 75.

Randhawa, who was the joint halfway leader in Kuala Lumpur this weekend before eventually finishing tied sixth, was ranked 72nd in the previous chart.

Jeev, at 90, remains the only other Indian in top 100 even after slipping four places in the latest rankings.

Indian Masters winner S.S.P. Chowrasia managed to improve his standing by a rung and is placed 165th. — PTI