New Delhi, October 23
Mahender Singh Dhoni said with Test matches finishing under three and a half days or four days, fans were expected to throng to Test venues, though he admitted that Twenty20 cricket had a greater pull due to the definite nature of the contests, lasting three hours. “It’s about excitement, though Test cricket has its own fan base”, he said.

The stand-in-Indian captain for the second Test at Mohali, who arrived late for the launch of the Champions League Twenty20 due to a delayed flight, refused to answer when asked whether he was ready to step into the shoes of Anil Kumble as Test captain. He said now people expected exciting finish to Test matches as well, and that was the reason for the thin attendance in some of the Test venues in the country.

Dhoni said there was no problem for a player to play in all the three formats of cricket--Test, ODI and T20--provided the player understood the innner call of his body. He said no player will now risk playing at the hightest level if he was not 100 per cent fit. “You know about your body, and a professional player will not play unless he’s 100 per cent fit. Prevention is better than cure”, Dhoni noted.

Dhoni said Twenty20 cricket was exciting because players took risk in batting. He said on a good track, it was possible to score 350 odd runs in T20. When asked what target he had put for himself for the next five years, Dhoni said he was not looking into any long term plans “but plenty of cricket and keeping fit”. India’s new star on the pace horizon Ishant Sharma said it was not possible to use reverse swing in Twenty20. He said he preferred to bowl long spells, which was not possible in T20, and hence it constricted his style a bit.

In the inaugural T20 Champions Awards, Laxmi Ratan Shukla was the only Indian to pick up an individual award, for the best bowling strike rate in an innings (1.6, 3 wickets) for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the first edition of the IPL. Brendon McCullum of Kolkata Knight Riders picked up the highest individual score (158 runs) while Shaun Marsh of Kings XI Punjab got the best batting average award (68.44, 616 runs).

Sohal Tanvir of Rajasthan Royals took the best bowling figures in a match (six for 14) while foreign players of England and South African clubs picked up the other four awards. Sialkot Stallions got the award for winning 16 T20 matches in a row.

Kiwi Brendon McCullum, Australian Shaun Marsh, English batsman Graham Napier, Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, ace speedster Sohail Tanvir, South Africans Yusuf Abdullah and Charl Longeveldt, L.R.Shulka, Middlesex big hitter Tyron Henderson were felicitated for their electribying performances in domestic T20 cricket, leading into the Champions League T20.

Chairman of the Champions League Lalit Modi said due to time constraint, the first edition of the Champions League will be restricted to just seven days, starting on 3 December while the second edition next year will span 16 days.

The Champions League will be fought among eight teams divided into two groups. The matches will be played in Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.

Group A: Chennai Super Kings, Victoria Bushrangers (Australia), Titans and Middlesex Crusaders.

Group B: Sialkot Stallions, Rajasthan Royals, Western Australia Warriors 
and Dolhpins.

The inaugural match between Victoria Bushrangers and Dolphins will be played in Mumbai while Chennai will host both the semi-finals and the final. A galaxy of international cricketers and cricket officials attended the impressive launch of the Champions League.

Cuttack, October 23
India Blue began their defence of the Challenger Trophy on a winning note, beating India Red by 49 runs in the opening game in Cuttack. The only worry for Blue captain Yuvraj Singh, apart from his disappointment with the bat, was the innings from M Vijay. With his 89, the Red opener kept up the fight for his team despite wickets falling at the other end, and he found some support from Manoj Tiwary.

However, his team’s hope ended when he fell, lured to go for the big hit by a flighted delivery from R Ashwin. The tailenders couldn’t put up a fight, and the conclusion was only made interesting as Red battled to avoid conceding a bonus point - they ultimately fell three short as Irfan castled No. 11 Mohnish Parmar.

Earlier, a blistering 94 from Robin Uthappa, and some late runs from Irfan Pathan helped India Blue to a challenging total of 235 for 9. The Blues chose to bat first, with captain Yuvraj Singh eyeing a score around 250, and they wouldn’t be disappointed with the effort, especially since the odd ball did keep low or stop on the batsmen. The effort of offspinner Mohnish Parmar, who took 2 for 36 in his ten-over spell was the stand out performance as the slow bowlers dictated the show for a major part of the day.

With the pitch slowing up as the match progressed, it was vital for the Blue top order to take advantage of the favourable batting conditions early on. Ajinkya Rahane and Uthappa gave their side a solid start, putting on 87 at nearly five an over. They picked up the odd boundary against the medium-pacers, before Uthappa decided to take advantage of the field restrictions when legspinner Piyush Chawla came on.

However, the momentum given by Uthappa was squandered as Blues lost Rahane and Yuvraj quickly. Medium-pacer Vinay Kumar and Parmar kept the runs under check. Uthappa looked set for a hundred, but a lazy shot to midwicket off Rohit Sharma saw him fall for 94.

Ravi Inder made a painstaking 17, but Pathan provided the much-needed momentum to the innings with a run-a-ball 43. — Agencies

Scoreboard

India Blue

Uthappa c Tiwary b Rohit 94

Rahane c Chawla b Balaji 28

Yuvraj c Badrinath b Vinay 6

Kohli c & b Parmar 18

Karthik c Patel b Parmar 0

Inder b Balaji 17

I Pathan c Tiwary b Kumar 43

Ashwin b Chawla 11

P Sangwan b Kumar 2

Nanda not out 1

Trivedi not out 3

Extras (lb 11, w 1) 12

Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 235

Fall of wickets: 1-87, 2-94, 3-132, 4-132, 5-165, 6-191, 7-222, 8-231, 9-231.

Bowling: Kumar 10-0-34-2, Balaji 10-0-51-2, Vinay 7-0-30-1, Chawla 10-0-54-1, Parmar 10-1-36-2, Rohit 3-0-19-1.

India Red

Patel c & b Pathan 6

Vijay c Sangwan b Ashwin 89

Chawla c Karthik b Sangwan 9

Badrinath lbw b Nanda 10

Rohit c Inder Singh b Trivedi 2

Tiwary not out 45

Nayar st Karthik b Yuvraj 1

P Kumar b Ashwin 2

Vinay lbw b Nanda 5

Balaji b Ashwin 1

Parmar lbw b I Pathan 4

Extras (b 5, lb 5, w 2) 12

Total (all out; 45.3 overs) 186

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-63, 4-66, 5-144, 6-149, 7-158, 8-177, 9-178, 10-186.

Bowling: I Pathan 6.3-2-24-2, Sangwan 6-1-17-1, Trivedi 6-1-27-1, Uthappa 1-0-11-0, Nanda 8-0-35-2 , Yuvraj 8-0-35-1, Ashwin 10-0-27-3.

Karachi, October 23
A court has lifted the life ban imposed on former Pakistan captain Salim Malik for alleged involvement in match fixing, his lawyer said on Thursday. Shahid Karim said a civil court judge had removed the ban and fine, which were imposed following a probe into alleged match-rigging, declaring them illegal.

“It’s decided that the imposition of penalty and life ban were beyond the powers of the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) and could not have been done and had no legal basis,” Karim said. Malik, who played 103 tests, was banned by the board in 2001 on the recommendations of a judicial inquiry commission, which carried out a 18-month probe into allegations of match-fixing made against Pakistani players.

The commission recommended a life ban for Malik and fines on other senior players including Wasim Akram, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis. Malik had challenged the ban in the Supreme Court, which referred the case to the civil court. “It is a big day for me,” Malik told Reuters. “I am overjoyed that finally this stigma of match fixing is gone.”

Malik said he would be discussing the possibility of filing a lawsuit for damages against the board. “I am relieved to be exonerated of these charges,” he said. “But I have suffered a lot of mental trauma and loss of reputation in these last seven eight years.”

Malik plans to get straight back to cricket and establish his own academy in Lahore. “Cricket is in my blood,” he added. “I had served Pakistan cricket for 19 years before I was banned.” Tafazzul Rizvi, legal counsel for the Pakistan board, said the PCB would abide by the court’s ruling. “If the court has passed an order we will honour it,” Rizvi said.

But a senior board official said the detailed court orders would now be sent to the legal counsel of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for study. “Under the existing terms the legal counsel of the ICC will give his report to the executive board which has to ratify the order after which Malik will officially be cleared of the ban,” the official said. — Reuters

Melbourne, October 23
Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne has challenged the beleaguered Ricky Ponting-led team to stand-up and show that they were made of champions’ stuff by tactically fighting out the blues against India.

“When the chips are down and you are challenged as a group and as individuals, the great players and the champions stand up. This is how you separate and define the good teams and individuals from the great,” Warne said.

“Mohali’s gone, deal with it. Say well played and carry yourself well, hold your head high. But deep down use it as motivation and keep that hunger that’s inside alive,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

Warne, however, agreed it was difficult to beat India in India “Even with the best of teams” besides the atmosphere was suffocating with fans and media crowding from every quarter.

“This is where experience and calm heads rise to the top, and Ponting and (Michael) Clarke as leaders will become crucial, sitting around over a glass and chewing the fat with the team and coming up with some new plans. Talking tactics as a group is important,” he said.

“Be the man to drag the team along and in the right direction, be prepared for whatever the opposition throws at you, fight and never give up, don’t be afraid and start thinking negatives and what ifs,” he added.

Warne, who proved his captaincy skills in the inaugural IPL season by leading a bunch of dark horses to the title victory, said there was no need to write off any youngsters. “No need to sharpen the guillotine or write off any players just yet. Sure, India have had the wood on Australia in their last four Tests in Perth, Adelaide, Bangalore and now Mohali. The scoreline reads: India 2 wins, Australia 0, draws 2. Not great, but no need to panic,” he said. — PTI 

New Delhi, October 23
Feroz Shah kotla, the lucky ground for Test captain Anil Kumble, will host the third Test between India and Australia and its curator Radhey Shyam Sharma said he will prepare a track which will suit ‘Jumbo’s’ bowling style.

Kumble has an outstanding record at the Feroz Shah kotla; in six Test matches here, he has picked up 55 wickets, including all ten in an innings against Pakistan, at an average of 15.42.

Sharma has been preparing pitches at the Feroz Shah Kotla since 1996 and the forthcoming Test match between India and Australia will be the last time he will prepare a Test match wicket.

In his final Test match in-charge of the pitch, he wants to give Kumble the kind of pitch he relishes bowling on. “This will be my parting gift to Kumble. Even though he has risen to great heights as a cricketer, Kumble is a lovely human being at heart. Whenever he comes to Delhi, he always takes time out to sit and chat with me. I’ve always made wickets that suit Kumble” he added.

Speaking about the wicket for the forthcoming Test match, Sharma said, “This wicket against Australia will give some assistance to seamers initially but the spinners can come into play as early as on third-day morning. There will be no dust but the ball will tend to grip the pitch and get more turn. There’ll be a bit of uneven bounce.” — UNI 

Patiala, October 23
Punjabi University, Patiala, has further enhanced it’s reputation for beong a pioneer in sports as five of the university’s archers - Kapil, Amarinder Singh, Nisha, Mamta and Gaganjot Kaur - have qualified for the Commonwealth camp that will begin from November 1 in Kolkata. They qualified for the camp during selection trials that were held at Salt Lake City, Kolkata, on October 17 and 18. Director Rajkumar Sharma, director, sports, Punjabi University, said he was delighted with their achievement.

On being questioned about the preparation, the director said the archers were in good best form and were currently training under university coach Jiwanjot Singh for the forthcoming All-India Inter-University that would be held from November 1 to 5 in Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh. Soon after that, they would go to Kolkata to attend the camp, he added.

When asked about other facilities being provided to the players, the director said these players were being provided free food and hostel facilities. “The equipment used in archery is very expensive. Earlier, these players lacked proper equipment but lately we have provided them with latest equipment, which is very expensive and the cot runs into lakhs,” he added.

Nisha, Mamta and Gaganjot are the first-ever girls from the university archery team to have been selected for the camp. “We are very hopeful as we are being given the best of facilities. Our coach who has also trained the Indian team is paying attention to every small thing and our performance is improving day by day,” they added.

Coach Jiwanjot Singh was equally excited about their future prospects. On being asked about the medal prospects, he said, “Though all players are in their best form, Kapil, Amarinder and Gaganjot are currently shooting at par with current international ranking. Lets cross our fingers for the forthcoming games.”

Jaipur, October 23
Heralding a new chapter in ‘sportonomics’ in the wake of the T-20 revolution in cricket, the Rajasthan Royals team management today announced its strategic package to cash on the popularity of the team after it won the inaugural T-20 IPL championship.

Ending all speculation that Royals were floating a public issue by selling 49 per cent of stakes, the team management albeit went public in a limited way. It announced forming of Royal Army, which will have five clubs of fans as members, who would have different benefits and privileges besides opportunity to dine, travel, and even train with the team.

Unlike selling the shares, that could have provided dividends to the buyers apropos the success of the team in the forthcoming Champions League and the next year’s IPL championship, the members of these clubs would avail special benefits only.

Vice-president Rajasthan Royals, Ravi Krishnan told reporters that five unique membership clubs ranging between Rs 4,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh per annum is up for grabs. Sawai Bhawani Singh, scion of erstwhile rulers of Jaipur opened the membership today. He was the first to take membership of the Maharaja Club, which offers the best privileges.

Besides, the Maharaja Club, the other four clubs with membership fee were Captains Club at Rs 60,000, Royal Lions at Rs 6,000, Royal Buggles at Rs 4,000 and Young Royal Clubs at Rs 5,000 open only to children between 5-15 years.

The Maharaja Club would have at maximum 400 members, who would be part of pre-season and post seasons cocktail parties, seats close to the team, free ticket in all the seven matches hosted by the Rajasthan Cricket Academy in Jaipur and special discounts in others. They would have special photo and autorgraph opportunites. Other clubs will not have all these opportunities.

Jalandhar, October 23
On better goal average Javed Hockey Club, Gojra (Pakistan) entered the semifinals of the Silver Jubilee Indian Oil Servo Surjit Hockey Tournament, in progress here at local Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, today evening. 

In pool ‘B’ league match Javed Hockey Club, Gojra (Pakistan) beat Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala by 11-2 and earned full points. Javed Hockey Club, Gojra (Pakistan) with one win and one draw earned 4 points each in pool ‘B’ league matches, but on better goal average Gojra boys reserved their birth in the semifinal. In the 7th minute of the game Gojra boys went ahead when Tariq Aziz scored (1-0).

Khashif Ali increased the lead in the 10th minute (2-0). Trailing by 0-2, RCF stared their attacks from left flank and managed to reduce the margin through Kuljinder Singh . In the 19th minute Ranjodh Singh posted a field goal and equalised the score (2-2). At half time Gojra team lead by 5-2. The second half game was a one-sided affair and the Javed Hockey Club added six more goals to register an easy win. 

Karnal, October 23
Men and women weightlifters of CRPF dominated on the third day of 57th All-India Police games here winning four gold and two silver medals. In Women weightlifting competitions W. Nandani Devi of CRPF clinched the gold in 58 Kg category while Nagnabi Chanu (CRPF) bagged gold in 63 Kg category. Prishta M Garag and Somi Rani Chanu, both CRPF won the silver in these categories.

Results: 58 Kg Weight Lifting (Women) final: 1) W Nandni Devi (CRPF) 80+108=188 Kg, 2) Prashita Mangraj (CRPF) 80+95=175 Kg, 3) P Lakshmi Prabha (Tamilnadu)52+63=115.

63 Kg. Weight Lifting (Women) final: 1) Poireinganbi Chanu (CRPF) 90+105=196 Kg, 2) Soma Rani Chanu (CRPF) 83+106= 189 Kg 3) Kalpna Sawant (Maharastra Police) 60+75=135 Kg; 56 Kg. Weight Lifting (Men) final: 1) J. Durga Parsad CRPF 100+125= 225 Kg, 2) T.H. Basanta Meite CRPF 93+118=211 Kg, 3) Gurpal Singh Punjab Police 88+118=206 Kg; 62 Kg. Weight Lifting (Men) final: 1) T Kumar CRPF 115+130=245 Kg, 2) Surjeet Singh BSF 107+134=241 Kg, 3) Neeraj Kumar BSF 102+133= 235 Kg; 73 Kg. Judo final: 1) Kamaljit Punjab Police 2) Ram Ashrey UP Police, 3) Satpal Chaudhary BSF, 4) Rakesh Kumar Punjab Police; 81 Kg. Judo final: 1) Virender Singh ITBP, 2) Shamsher Singh Punjab Police, 3) Pankaj Sharma Punjab Police, 4) Sukhwinder Singh SSB. 

Gurdaspur, October 23
Maintaining their supremacy in gymnastics, Gurdaspur girls today lifted the team championship in the sub-junior category by scoring 164.7 points in the 48th Open Punjab state gymnastic championship being held here. Earlier, the girls had lifted the same title in the junior category yesterday.

The all-round championship title in the sub-junior category went to the Gurdaspur girls. The title of all round championship in sub-junior boys category went to Patiala.

Other results: Sub-junior girls

Opratus Championship

Vaulting Table: 1) Kamni Singh (Gurdaspur), 2) Situ (Patiala), 3) Lovely (Gurdaspur); Uneven Bars: 1) Kamni Singh (Gurdaspur),2) Situ 6.60, (Patiala),3) Lovely 6.40; Beam: 1) Kamni Singh (Gurdaspur),2) Lovely (Gurdaspur),3) Situ (Patiala); Floor Ex.: 1) Kamni Singh 9.90 (Gurdaspur), 2) Lovely (Gurdaspur), 3) Situ (Patiala)

Sub-junior boys

Opratus Championship

1) Deep Kumar (Patiala), 2) Sunny Chohan (Ludhiana),3) Hardit Singh (Ludhiana), Pommel Horse: 1) Hardit Singh (Ludhiana),2) Sunny Chohan (Ludhiana), 3) Randeep Singh (Jalandhar); Roman Rings:1)Randeep Singh (Jalandhar), 2) Khush Preet Singh (Ludhiana),3) Sandeep Ramola (Patiala); Vaulting Table: 1) Hardit Singh (Ludhiana), 2) Khan Bhadur (Patiala), 3) Fateh Singh (Jalandhar); Parallel Bars: 1) Randeep Singh (Jalandhar) 2) Sandeep Ramola (Patiala), 3) Deep Kumar (Patiala); Horizantal Bar: 1) Sandeep Ramola (Patiala), 2) Gurpreet Singh (Jalandhar) 3) Gurpreet Singh (Ludhiana).

BRIEFLY

ST PETERSBURG
Bopanna-Mirnyi advance in St Petersburg: India’s Rohan Bopanna and his new partner Max Mirnyi defeated third seeded Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev in the opening round of the $1,049,000 St Petersburg Open here. Bopanna and Belarusian Mirnyi pipped the Russian-German pair 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour to move into the quaterfinals. The unseeded Indo-Belarusian pair dropped their serve twice in the first set but compensated by breaking their rivals as many times to take the lead. — UNI

BASEL
Paes-Dlouhy sneak into quarterfinal at Basel: Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy survived a scare before beating Jurgen Melzer and Todd Perry in the first round of the euro 891,000 Swiss Indoor ATP tournament here. The third seeded Indo-Czech pair shrugged off the initial hiccups to beat the unseeded Autrian-Australian pair 2-6, 6-3, 10-6 in one hour and nine minutes to advance to the quarterfinals of the hard-court event. The winners saved one breakpoint in the first set but dropped their serve twice to hand the first set to their rivals. They had enough chances to draw parity in the second set but could convert just one of the five breakpoints. However, that was enough to claw their way back into the match. — PTI

NEW DELHI
Let Dhoni be Test captain: Akram: With India’s superb win over Ausralia in the Mohali Test, former Pakistan allrounder Wasim Akram said it is time for the selectors to hand over the reins of the Indian team to MS Dhoni. “Dhoni has got a hang of it. Let him be the captain now. He did a wonderful job of leading the side in Mohali,” Akram said yesterday. “India are doing well with a young team. That’s the way it should be. It is Dhoni’s time now,” he added. India’s captain in the limited overs format of the game, has so far led the team to two wins in as many Test he has captained the team in. — UNI

MELBOURNE
Benaud’s Baggy Green to be auctioned: Former Test captain Richie Benaud’s Baggy Green cap is expected to fetch up to $25,000 at an auction next month. Benaud led Australia from 1958 for 28 Tests and never lost a series. His cap goes under the hammer at Leski Auctions here on November 5 and is expected to sell for between $20,000 and 25,000. Auctioneer Charles Leski said Benaud was one of the few sporting greats in Australia to carve out an international career as a broadcaster. — UNI