Bangalore, November 3
A day after announcing his retirement, Anil Kumble today refuted suggestions that he had been under pressure from the cricket establishment to quit and made it clear that there was no "retirement scheme" under which senior Indian stars were calling it a day.

"There was no talk of BCCI telling any player to retire. I don't think any player needs to be told about when to retire. It (the reported retirement plan) is all false," Kumble told a press conference here.

"Nobody told me when to retire. Sourav (Ganguly) took his decision, I took my own decision, there was no pressure. Let's leave it to the individuals. Criticism is fine but don't do it without reason. Don't start questioning the ability of the players. There is no retirement scheme, that's rubbish," he retorted when pressed on the issue.

Kumble's comments came in the wake of speculation that he was under pressure to announce his retirement and Ganguly, who is to retire at the end of the Nagpur Test this week, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had all been given a deadline by the Cricket Board to hang up their boots by the end of India-England series this year.

Kumble said his successor Mahendra Singh Dhoni would prove to be a successful captain and Indian cricket was safe under his leadership.

"This is the right decision and now I hand over this role to Dhoni. We have a very able leader in him. Team is also looking very nice I am sure it will continue to move forward. Indian cricket is in safe hands," he said.

Asked about Dilip Vengsarkar's comments that his time was up a day before his retirement, Kumble said he prefers not to take such statements personally and instead thanked the former chief selector for giving him an opportunity to captain the Indian Test side.

"It is something which I don't take personally. That's his opinion. I don't know about it, some journalists came and told me about what he had said. I don't read newspapers so I don't know. But thanks to Dilip I got to be the captain of the team. I am thankful to all those who made it possible," he said.

On his future plans, Kumble said he is working towards opening an academy for budding cricketers.

"There are plans to start an academy, not immediately but in a couple of months. The groundwork has already started. I take interest in photography as well so may be I will try my hand at that," he said.

Kumble rated the tour Down Under earlier this year as toughest of his career as it required handling off-field issues that ranged from a race row to a bitter umpiring dispute.

"Every match is tough but the Aussie series was really tough. I had to handle a lot of things off the field. So it was hard and challenging," he said.

"So there were a few lows but that's part of the game. Its a tough day for me even today because my father passed away this very day five years ago," he added.

His retirement took almost everyone by surprise but Kumble insisted that he had made his plans known to people who mattered.

"There is no communication gap. There are so many news channels now. There is so much media involvement that you guys want a constant dialogue. You can't have that because certain things have to remain within the set-up," Kumble said.

"I think you should respect that and respect the cricketers. Don't pass judgement on their careers," he added.

Kumble said the only pressure he had to deal with was the one to perform and that was common for all his teammates.

"There is pressure to perform on all the players. As a team we need to achieve results. Unfortunately, people start focusing on individuals and forget that it's a team.

"And as long as we do well as a team, it will be great. One day, which is soon, we will dominate world cricket," he asserted.

Asked whether the captaincy came a bit too late for him, Kumble said, "Captaincy came at the right time. When you have played for 17 years, it's not possible to have captaincy for five years. Whatever is not in my control I am not worried, whatever happens, happens for good.

"I have performed really well. I have taken a decision at the right time. I am at peace after taking this decision. I want to take some time off now... it will be nice for a change." However, Kumble said he would miss the Indian dressing room.

"You do miss the dressing room. But I will see them achieve their goals," he said. 
— PTI

Melbourne, November 3
The "ultimate dusty-deck destroyer and one of the true gentlemen of the game" was how the media Down Under paid tribute to Anil Kumble, but insisted that the Indian spin legend went out as a "spent force" in the face of injury breakdowns and a dip in form.

"He leaves as the ultimate dusty-deck destroyer, Test cricket's third-highest wicket-taker and a reputation as one of the true gentlemen of the game," wrote 'The Daily Telegraph' paying tribute to the 38-year-old's 18-year career, which ended with a draw against Australia in New Delhi yesterday.

"It was the right move by the veteran leg-spinner, who had been under pressure on several fronts. With only three wickets in this series to that point, and with a miserable captaincy record of three wins in 14 Tests, it was time for the 38-year-old to go," it added.

Noted cricket writer Peter Roebuck felt the decision was well-timed as Kumble's magic was fast on the wane, highlighted by just three wickets that he took in the ongoing series against Australia.

"Kumble's retirement was timely. Throughout his career the old warrior has been a master of worn pitches. In the past few years, his powers have waned and the sorcerer has become a spent force," he said.

Describing Kumble as a hard-working cricketer, Roebuck said his workman-like approach set him apart from a maverick like Shane Warne.

"Whereas Warne was a gambler with a hand of aces, the Bangalorean was a dentist armed with a drill. Once he had the victim on his chair nothing escaped his attention.

"He has always been willing to bowl, has always been grumpy and fierce and competitive. Batsman might master him but none could destroy his will," Roebuck said.

"He never gave up, and with unyielding will and high intelligence, made the most of his abilities. He scored a Test hundred and never let his side down. A thousand pities the Australians did not speak to him in Sydney.

"Throughout he has retained his dignity, it has been an immense contribution, and he did not outstay his welcome by a single day. Even in his retirement he served the side and Indian cricket," he added.

'The Australian', meanwhile, called Kumble a giant of the game who unfortunately did not make a very successful captain.

"While Kumble will not be remembered for his captaincy, he was a giant as a player," wrote the daily.

The newspaper said Kumble's retirement paves the way for Mahendra Singh Dhoni as skipper, which is a step in the right direction for Indian cricket.

"It is fitting that Dhoni, the bubbly and charismatic one-day and Twenty20 captain, should take over the side."

Roebuck agreed and said Kumble, for all his fighting spirit, would not have been able to battle the injury breakdowns.

"Harbhajan was waiting in the wings and Amit Mishra had been taking wickets. Dhoni was ready to take over. And his pal Rahul Dravid was near the end. Also, he was just plain sore. Man cannot keep fighting, not against his own body. Sooner or later he must listen to it," he explained. — PTI 

London, November 3
Ian Chappell has joined the increasing chorus of opinion that Australia are slowly losing their status as the world number one team which they have held with little challenge for more than a decade.

Chappell felt because of Australia's weak bowling attack, opposition teams like India , having good opening batsmen, would milk runs and it would be increasingly difficult for the Aussies to win Test matches, as is currently happening in India tour.

"Australia are rarely a poor side but this team is nowhere near the class of yesteryear. They still know how to fight to the death, as India have found out in Delhi, but they are now a flawed team," the former Australia captain said.

"There's a lack of balance in the bowling attack that could easily see the selectors occasionally risk playing four faster bowlers and rely on part-timers like Andrew Symonds and Clarke to handle the slow bowling duties.

"Teams like India, with a good opening combination, are going to regularly set Australia stiff targets and they are going to find it harder to win Test matches," he wrote in his column in 'Sunday Telegraph'.

The former captain said Australian batting was still scoring runs with the quartet of Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke doing their job but it is the bowling department which is cause of concern.

"There's not too much wrong with Australia's batting; they have battled India's spinners on a helpful but slow Ferozeshah Kotla pitch and displayed an admirable mixture of caution and aggression. Sure, they still have a few tremors when the ball swings, whether it be old or new, but they have one champion batsman in Ricky Ponting and three very good players in Hayden, Hussey and Clarke. While this quartet are around there will always be runs to play with.

"Unfortunately, the bowlers are now giving up runs at a greater rate than batsmen can score them. In India's previous two innings Australia have claimed just 10 wickets and the back-breaking process has seen them haemorrhage 927 runs," wrote Chappell, considered one of the shrewdest brains in world cricket.

Chappell agreed that Australian pacers have got little help from the slow Indian pitches but made it clear that their Indian counterparts were more penetrative.

"Sure, it's India, and the pitches aren't helpful to pace bowlers, but the problem for Australia is that the rest of the world's batsmen have seen Brett Lee and co blunted, and this will give them hope. Give a good batsman hope and he'll quickly move up to faith and expect charity.

"Lee has shown glimpses of form, and it appears he may be getting over his recent marital trauma. Time will no doubt heal even further, and a better guide to his bowling form will be his performance in Australia against the potentially strong South African line-up.

"Both Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson have also suffered from the slow pitches. However, it will be a concern that both the Indian pace bowlers, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, have looked more penetrative than the Australian trio when the ball is old," he said.

However, spin department is the one which Chappell painted the most grim picture.

"And then we come to the slow bowling, which these days is a poor imitation of the exceptional Shane Warne-Stuart MacGill era of class spin bowling that served Australia so well. Australia's lack of a front-line spinner is chronic and there don't seem to be any viable options." — PTI

Karachi, November 3
Pakistan cricket authorities were shocked as prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf today left for New Delhi to play in the Indian Cricket League, jeopardising his international career even as he was named in the national squad for series against the West Indies.

PCB officials confirmed they have learnt from Yousuf’s wife that he would be playing in the ICL, dealing a severe blow to the national team which has witnessed a series of defections to ICL in the recent years.

“He didn’t tell us anything about his plans. His leaving like this for India and confirmation he is going to play in the ICL has come as a shock to us,” PCB’s director cricket operations Zakir Khan said in a hastily arranged press conference.

Newly appointed Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said Yousuf’s sudden departure was hard to explain as he never got a chance to interact with him on his future with the national team. “Until we get an official confirmation from Yousuf himself we can’t say much right now. But if he has joined the ICL then he would be banned from all cricket in Pakistan,” Zakir said.

Travelling to India on the same flight with Yousuf was PCB director general Saleem Altaf, but even he had no inkling to the batsman’s plans. “I asked him where he is going. He just told me he is going to India on a private visit and would return after two days,” said Altaf, who was travelling to New Delhi to attend a World Cup meeting.

Sources close to Yousuf said he was disillusioned with the Pakistan team management and captain Shoaib Malik for quite sometime and his patience snapped when he was left out for the Twenty20 four-nation tournament played in Toronto last month.

“Yousuf was not happy that the selectors and the board didn’t make efforts to ensure he got a visa for the tournament,” one source said. The PCB said Yousuf was not considered for the Twenty20 event since the Canadian embassy denied to grant him visa.

Zakir said under PCB rules, no player who has taken part in the ICL is eligible to play in Pakistan. Presently 18 players have been banned by Pakistan for being associated with the ICL including top names like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzak, Saqlain Mushtaq, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami and Rana Naved. Yousuf's decision to join ICL comes after he had filed an appeal in the Mumbai High Court against the stay order issued by an arbitrator barring him for playing in any other league. The arbitrator had found Yousuf guilty of breaching ICL’s contract after he initially signed with them and then later changed his mind, returned the advance and decided to join the Indian Premier League instead. — PTI

Dubai, November 3
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has achieved his career-best ranking but former skipper Rahul Dravid has dropped out of the top 20 for the first time in 11 years in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Gambhir, who scored 206 and 36 in the drawn third Test at New Delhi, has rocketed 11 places to the 18th position. He had started the series in 37th position but has climbed 18 places after three Tests in which he has scored 463 runs.

Indian captain Anil Kumble, who announced his retirement from international cricket, is the only bowler to have retained his place in the Rankings for Test bowlers as he ended his illustrious 132-Test career at the 19th position.

It is, however, his lowest ranking since January 1993 when he had dropped out of the top 20 after the Newlands, Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Despite being the third leading wicket-taker (619) in the 131-year history of Test cricket behind Sri Lanka's Muthiah Muralitharan (756) and Australia's Shane Warne (708), Kumble never quite scaled the 900-point mark and never reached the top spot despite being a regular fixture in the top 10.

His highest ranking was second which he achieved in November 1995 after the Chennai Test against New Zealand.

The 37-year-old stalwart also gained four places in the batting and one place in the all-rounders’ table to finish his career in 86th and 12th positions respectively.

Man of the match VVS Laxman, who scored 200 not out and 59 not out,has jumped five places to 11th with a place in the top 10 now firmly within his sights.

However, Dravid's slide in the batting ladder continues and following two knocks of 11, the former India captain has dropped eight places to 26th. It is the first time he has dropped out of top 20 since January 1997 when he slipped to 25th after the Johannesburg Test against South Africa.

Dravid has lost 10 places since the start of the series in which he has scored 117 runs.

Opener Virender Sehwag has also lost ground after a disappointing Test and has dropped three places to 13th.

Sachin Tendulkar has retained his 19th position but Sourav Ganguly has slipped one place to 24th spot.

It has been a forgettable Test for the bowlers as the rankings of all the strike bowlers have taken a beating. The only bowler to benefit was Virender Sehwag whose 5-104 in Australia’s 577 has lifted him nine places to 48th.

Australia's new ball pair of Stuart Clark and Brett Lee slipped one place each to third and fifth respectively while India's pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma dropped two and five places respectively.

Zaheer now shares the 15th spot with Pakistan's Mohammad Asif while Sharma is in 36th position.

For Australia, opener Matthew Hayden has returned to the top 10 after knocks of 83 and 16 not out. The Queenslander has climbed two places to ninth position.

However, Mike Hussey, who took over the number-one tag from the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul after the first Test in Bangalore, has slipped one more place to fourth while Michael Clarke has also dropped one position to 14th. - UNI

Sao Paulo, November 3
An emotional Lewis Hamilton admitted he was virtually lost for words and did not know he had succeeded when he became the youngest man to win the Formula One drivers’ world championship.

The 23-year-old Englishman, needing a top five finish to be champion, only seized fifth place for McLaren Mercedes again, after losing it, on the final lap of a tense, dramatic and rain-hit Brazilian Grand Prix won by his title rival and local hero Felipe Massa of Ferrari yesterday.

As Massa triumphed and then celebrated, briefly, Hamilton caught and passed German Timo Glock of Toyota to turn his day from despair to joy after earlier appearing to have controlled his own race by cruising towards fourth or fifth place.

A late shower of rain then created chaos and saw Hamilton change tyres and fall back to sixth before he made his final desperate charge to recover and claim fifth.

But as he said afterwards Hamilton was not even sure that he had won the title when he finally crossed the line in teeming rain and near-darkness in front of 100,000 spectators at the Interlagos circuit.

“We did it, we did it,” he shrieked. “But honestly I did not know if we had when I crossed the line. I was thinking ‘shoot!’ I am just not sure - have I done enough? Did we get it? And they told me and I felt just ecstatic. We had made it. You can forget everything else that has happened before now. This is the best and it was the toughest race of my life.”

“It has come from 16 years of hard work and dedication and respect.” Massa who finished the season in style with a dazzling win in front of his home crowd ended up in tears as he stood atop the victors’ podium. He had won six races this season to Hamilton’s five but missed the championship 98 points to 97.

“It has been such an emotional day for me, I drove a perfect race and everything went to well,” he said. “Then the rain came at the end again and I knew what was happening. We thought it was going to happen and it almost did, then I saw Lewis passing Timo Glock and I suddenly had such a lot of emotions.”

Chandigarh, November 3
Murray Goodwin's efforts went in vain as Ahmedabad Rockets crashed to a 13-run defeat against Dhaka Warriors in the ICL 20s Indian Championship match at Tau Devi Lal Stadium here tonight. Chasing a victory target of 182 runs set by Warriors, Rockets finished at 168 for 8 in 20 overs.

The former Zimbabwean batsman Goodwin kept the Rockets in the hunt. When he fell after scoring 59 with 104 on the board in 12 overs, Rockets were still in with a chance. But the fall of skipper Damien Martyn, Heath Streak, Baburao Yadav and Bhima Rao too soon with not much addition to the score spelt trouble for Rockets.

S Sriram and Sumit Kalia tried their best at the fag end hitting some lusty strokes, but the task was too tough for the duo. Former India ODI player Sriram hammered 16-ball 23, while Kalia was more belligerent slamming 7-ball 17. The efforts, however, were good enough just to reduce the margin of defeat as the Rockets fell short of victory by 14 runs.

The 38-year-old Bangladesh left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique put the skids in the Rockets' chase, claiming 3 for 31.

Young opener Nazimuddin earlier cracked a whirlwind 48 as Warriors were off to a brisk start even as Shahriar Nafees and Aftab Ahmad fell early. All rounder Alok Kapali chipped in with more than run-a-ball 26 before being castled by Sriram.

Fireworks by Mahbubul Karim down the order (45 runs, 24 balls, 4x4, 3x6) meant that the Warriors were in too strong a position. Lanky Australian seamer Jason Gillespie was the pick of the bowlers and claimed three wickets, while Sriram got two.

Brief scores:

Dhaka Warriors: 181 for 7 in 20 overs (Nazimuddin 48, Mahbubul Karim 45 not out, J Gillespie 3 for 29, S Sriram 2 for 37) beat Ahmedabad Rockets: 168 for 8 in 20 overs (Goodwin 59, S Sriram 23 not out, D Martyn 21, M Rafique 3 for 31, T Baisya 2 for 39).

Chandigarh, November 3
Sunny Sohal scored a brilliant century, in the Ranji Trophy Elite division match between Delhi and Punjab, to ensure that both teams ended the first day on an even keel in New Delhi today. Yuvraj Singh could not get into any sort of form as he scored a six-ball duck, as Ashish Nehra also made a comeback after missing most the entire last season.

But the star of the day was definitely Sohal, the 20-year-old right-handed batsman, who is playing only his second first-class season. Sohal drove with authority and blunted the Delhi bowling attack’s increasing dominance over the visitiors. Sohal also came in ahead of Yuvraj and stitched a useful partnership with Ravi Inder Singh, who was ultimately snared by an inspired and in-form Pradeep Sangwan.

Scoreboard

Punjab (1st innings):

Inder Singh c Kohli b Sangwan 37

Goel b Nehra 2

Sohal c Sangwan b Nanda 110

Yuvraj c Dhawan b Sangwan 0

Dharmani b Nanda 16

U Kaul not out 28

A Kakkar not out 30

Extras (lb 6, w 2, nb 6) 14

Total (5 wickets; 85.2 overs) 237

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-80, 3-92, 4-139, 5-176.

Bowling: Nehra 21-7-66-1, Bhandari 16-3-48-0, Sangwan 17-2-6-56, Bhatia 13-6-25-0, Nanda 18-5-36-2.

Scoreboard

Himachal (1st innings):

M Gupta c Saini b Rana 5

Sangram c Sumit b Budhwar 7

B Thakkar run out 8

V Indulkar c Rana b Dhruv 20

P Dogra c Sunny Singh b Dhruv 34

Mukesh c Vashisht b Rana 3

A Mannu c Sunny b Budhwar 11

Sarandeep b Budhwar 9

V Bhatia lbw b Budhwar 0

AK Thakur b Budhwar 8

VS Malik not out 0

Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 1, nb 4): 8

Total (all out; 52.2 overs): 113

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-16, 3-43, 4-49, 5-64, 6-90, 7-94, 8-94, 9-107, 10-113

Bowling: J Billa 13-3-30-0, S Rana 10-3-25-2, S Budhwar 13.2-4-30-5, Sunny Singh 5-2-5-0, Dhruv Singh 9-4-17-2, AB Sonkar 2-0-3-0.

Haryana (1st innings):

Saini c Gupta b Malik 20

R Dewan c Gupta b Malik 12

Sunny c Sangram b Malik 10

Sumit Sharma c Gupta b Malik 4

S Rana lbw b Malik 2

A Sonkar b Sarandeep 7

A Lavasa not out 3

G Vashisht not out 0

Extras (lb 1, w 4, nb 3): 8

Total (6 wickets; 32 overs): 66

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-36, 3-42, 4-48, 5-55, 6-65

Bowling: A Thakur 13-6-18-0, V Malik 15-2-37-5, Sangram Singh 2-0-9-0, Sarandeep Singh 1-1-0-1, V Bhatia 1-0-1-0.

Chandigarh, November 3
Team Thunderbolt were the overall team winner of the Raid de Himalaya-2008, winning four out of the top 5 overall positions in the rally. Suresh Rana, who has won the Raid-de-Himalaya for a record five times, won this year in the T-1 category (Modified vehicles) in a Gypsy King. The 32-year-old from Manali has been winner of this rally in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. He finished second with Team Thunderbolt in the Desert Storm Rally earlier in 2008.

“Winning the Raid de Himalaya is a great thing. Every year, the rally throws up new challenges and I have tried my best to face them. The support of Team Thunderbolt is the driving force that pushes us. I hope that the government also pays some attention towards motor rallying as it has a lot of attraction for people,” Rana said.

In the Cars category, Anil Sharma of Team Thunderbolt won the first position in a Mitsubishi Lancer. Delhi’s 58-year old Anil Sharma had won his first rally (the Himalayan Rally) in a Fiat car in 1984.

In the T-2 (stock of normal jeeps category), Chandigarh’s H.S. Bawa of Team Thunderbolt won in a Gypsy. Team Thunderbolt drivers had seven entries and won four out of the top 5 positions. The other major teams to participate in the event were Indian Army and Team Godwin from Meerut.

Team Thunderbolt owner Rajiv Bali said: “This is an amazing rally. It was great to see the way that each one of our drivers perform and work as a team.”

The rally was flagged off from Shimla on October 2 and finished after seven days in Leh. The rally went through Kargil also. There were over 130 entries in the rally in 2008, including 70 in the 4-wheelers category.

Team Thunderbolt has five national rally champions in its ranks. They are 2004 national championship winner Anil Wadia, Sandeep Sharma (2005 national champion), Sanket Shanbag (2006 national champion), Suresh Rana (2007 national champion) and Sandeep Sharma (2008 national champion).

Jalandhar, November 3
The 57th All-India Police Games, 2008, would be held at Punjab Armed Police (PAP) headquarters, Jalandhar Cantt from tomorrow onwards. The four-day national level games will conclude on November 8.

Conducted under the All-India Police Sports Control Board, New Delhi, this time the competition among the country’s police forces would be held in 18 disciplines. And Punjab police has been allotted games in four disciplines namely basketball, handball, kabaddi and volleyball.

Addressing the media ADGP Rajan Gupta said as many as 1,300 participants from 27 state Police, CPO’s, UT including players of national and international repute would take part in the games. “The boarding and lodging facilities of the players have been done at PAP, CRPF and BSF. Though the participation of the players is less this time due to the upcoming assembly elections in some parts of the county but the state presidents and secretaries of all the games would be present throughout the games. Apart from this we have invited famous players of PAP as guest of honour for the quarter finals and final matches”, he said.

“Last year the games in these four disciplines were held at Chattisgarh in which the basketball and volleyball teams of Punjab won gold medal. We also won a silver medal in kabaddi and bronze medal in handball”, added Gupta.