Dubai: England was fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its six-wicket defeat against India in the first Test at Chennai, which was played between December 11 to 15.

ICC match referee Jeff Crowe imposed the fines after England was ruled to be one over short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration.

In accordance with the ICC Code of Conduct regulations governing over-rate penalties, players are fined five per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.

As such, Pietersen was fined 10 per cent of his match fee while his players received five per cent fines.

The offence is contrary to Section J of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to slow over-rates. For such offences, the decision of the ICC match referee is final and binding. — UNI

India's decision to delay the declaration in the second innings against England at Mohali has drawn flak from the British media here which was unequivocal to say that the home team sacrificed the second Test for personal glory.

India gave England an improbable target of 403 to win the second Test at Mohali with just 43 overs left in the match yesterday.

At lunch India had taken a lead of 367 with Gambhir and Yuvraj both nearing their centuries.

However, India decided to give the two batsmen an opportunity to score their hundreds which both the batsmen failed to achieve.

''It is to everyone's credit that the series took place at all, and without off-field incident, but it was a shame that, in the quest for individuals' glory, India killed the second Test by batting on after lunch on Tuesday,'' Simon Hughes wrote for The Daily Telegraph' today.

He went to say that such decisions would make the longer version of the game less passionate in the sub-continent.

''Test cricket has little hope of regaining a passionate following in these parts with such skewed priorities. The fact that neither Gambhir nor Yuvraj reached their respective milestones underlined the Indians' myopic thinking. Other teams will argue they would have done the same thing.

''That does not make it right. In this performance-obsessed world, cricket is far too bound up with statistics,'' the newspaper added.

Former England pacer Angus fraser, in his column for 'The Independent', wrote that Dhoni knew that in short run chases the advantage lies with the batting side and that was the reason he delayed the declaration.

''With India's lead of 367 at lunch a declaration seemed imminent but Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to continue batting after the interval. Dhoni's decision will have been influenced by wanting to offer Yuvraj the chance to score a hundred in his home city” Fraser wrote. — UNI

Gautam Gambhir on his way to hit a six during the second Test against England at Mohali on Friday. Tribune photo: Pradeep Tewari

Dubai, December 24
India opener Gautam Gambhir has muscled his way into the top 10 of the Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time in his career after a stellar performance against England in Mohali.

The 27-year-old from New Delhi made 179 and 97 and has jumped 10 places in the rankings to become the highest-ranked Indian batsman, in 10th place.

Gambhir was in 37th place in October but had rocketed 27 places after scoring 824 runs in five Tests at an average of 82.4.

While Gambhir has made movement in the right direction, his team-mates Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman have slipped in the latest rankings.

Outside the top 20, Rahul Dravid has climbed two places to 28th while Yuvraj Singh has jumped 10 places to 46th.

India's player of the series against England, Zaheer Khan, has gained two places in the rankings to 12th position while his team-mate Harbhajan Singh has gone up two places to eighth.

England captain Kevin Pietersen has returned to the top five for the first time in 14 months and now sits in fifth place after jumping three places due to a magnificent innings of 144.

England's Andrew Flintoff has jumped two places to 14th spot while off-spinner Graeme Swann has rocketed 14 places to 60th position but left-arm spinner Monty Panesar and fast bowler James Anderson have slipped two and four places respectively.

Meanwhile, Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies has strengthened his hold on the top of the rankings by becoming only the 25th batsman in the history of Test cricket and the sixth West Indian to reach the magic 900-point mark.

There was no good news for Australia whose captain Ricky Ponting has dropped three places to ninth, his lowest ranking since October 2002.

Mike Hussey has slipped two places to sixth, Michael Clarke has dropped one place to 12th and Matthew Hayden has slipped three places to 16th.

The bowlers' list is still headed by Sri Lanka's iconic spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. — UNI

Colombo, December 24
Sri Lanka is unlikely to tour Pakistan with authorities reconsidering the decision of sacked Cricket Board Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga to support India's stance of not touring that country following the recent terror attacks in Mumbai.

"We follow a pro-India policy. We know the circumstances in which the Indian tour to Pakistan was called off. The tour (of Sri Lanka to Pakistan) is unlikely," top sources told PTI.

When contacted, Sri Lankan Sports and Recreation Minister Gamini Lokuge said he would hold discussions with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the issue.

"We are reconsidering the decisions taken by Arjuna Ranatunga," Lokuge said adding that the Foreign Ministry would also be consulted on the proposed tour.

Ranatunga, who was sacked as the SLC Chairman yesterday, had last week confirmed the cricket team's visit to Pakistan after the Bangladesh cricket series.

"We have a duty as a friendly neighbour in the region to help Pakistan when it is needed most," the head of Sri Lanka Cricket, Ranatunga had said.

An SLC official said they agreed to take India's place and ask the hosts to scrap two Twenty20 games and turn them into one-day matches.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had sent an invitation to the Sri Lankans after the Indian government pulled the plug on its cricket team's tour of Pakistan, scheduled to start from January 4.

“Arjuna Ranatunga, the President of Sri Lankan Cricket Board has sent an answer in the affirmative to our invitation.

“We are now working out the final details of the series," Saleem Altaf, chief operating officer of the PCB, had said after the tour was confirmed by the SLC.

Altaf had last week also said in Karachi that Sri Lanka would be playing three Tests and three one-dayers besides taking on Pakistan in a Twenty20 game.

Nabha, December 24
CISF, New Delhi, and EME, Jalandhar, rolled into the last eight stage of the 33rd All-India Liberals hockey tournament by notching up contrasting wins against their respective rivals at the Ripudaman college grounds here today.

The other teams to make the last eight cut were PSEB who beat Central Railway, Mumbai, 2-1 and Corps of Signals who brought down Ropar Hawks 6-5.

CISF played percentage hockey to overcome a spirited Sports Hostel, Lucknow, 6-5 after taking the tie breaker route.

For the winners G Balakrishnan sounded the board off an indirect penalty corner midway into the first half. The euphoria had yet to die down when the equaliser came through from centre half Surya Nath who scored off a solo effort. After changing sides, coach Ajay Singh made some clever substitutions, which meant that CISF went into attacking mode straightaway.

Minutes into the second half, Parveen Ahsan, who was brought in as a substitute, fed Cyril Ekka with a measured pass after hoodwinking a horde of players on the left flank. A cool Ekka controlled the bouncing ball and even as he was being hemmed in by the defense he unleashed a withering shot from top of the striking circle which brooked no resistance whatsoever from the Lucknow goalkeeper.

However, the Delhi outfit’s joy was shortlived when Sports Hostel midfielder F.Khan scored off a rebound to equalise sending the match into the tie breaker. It was here that the CISF goal tender Bhushan Kumar held his nerves to palm of two shots in the process enabling his team to chart out a laborious 6-5 victory.

The second match between EME, Jalandhar and West Central railway, Jabalpur, was a drab affair but the Jalandhar team always held the upper hand although the solitary goal verdict they registered does not mirror this supremacy of EME.

Fatehgarh Sahib, December 24
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) today defeated Dalbir Academy, Patiala, 1-0 in the Baba Jorawar Singh Baba Fateh Singh Sheheedi Football tournament held today at Mata Gujri College.

A large number of spectators thronged the college campus to watch the matches amidst biting cold and foggy weather. Players of both teams showed impressive strength amidst loud cheers and applause. The sides kept up their water-tight defences and neither goal was breached in either half, despite the end-to-end action on display.

The match was finalised with a tie-breaker wherein CRPF scored the solitary goal while the players of Dalbir Academy failed to open their account handing the CRPF men a 1-0 win.

In the second match of the day between PSEB, Hoshiarpur, and BSF, Jalandhar, PSEB won 3-2. T. K. Srinivasan of BSF scored the first goal in the fifth minute of the game. Kuldeep Singh of PSEB drew level for his team in the 25th minute, but BSF again scored in the 40th minute and took the lead at 2-1.

Jagjeet Singh of PSEB hit a thunderous strike to bring his team back on level terms in 60th minute. PSEB once again showed their strength amidst loud cheers by the gathered crowd and scored the third goal with the help of forward Sarabjeet Singh.