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‘Feels strange when a fan says you are God’
Sarwan, Chanderpaul frustrate England
Himachal shock Delhi
Pak-born spinner may soon play for SA
Imran Tahir
AIBA signs shareholders deal with IMG
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Beckhem
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Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm
JCT to play Chirag, Churchill Bros
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‘Feels strange when a fan says you are God’
New Delhi, February 19 Tendulkar, whose achievements with the bat have won him fans worldwide, says the adulation never ceases to surprise him. “I used to receive letters written in blood...but not any more. It feels strange when a fan comes and touches your feet and says you are God. I don’t feel comfortable with it, but it is the way they feel about you...that happened again just a couple of weeks ago actually,” he says. In a light-hearted interview published in celebrity magazine ‘OK!’, Tendulkar spoke about his love for Ferrari cars, his post-retirement plans and how he handles criticism.
Tendulkar said retirement thoughts were far away from his mind at the moment but he may start a business when he stops playing competitive cricket. “That’s a big question. I don’t know...I will definitely be involved with the game. “When I retire, that is when the doors to other opportunities will open. As of now, other than just promoting various products, I haven’t opened the door to anything else. Maybe I’ll start a business,” he said. “I don’t know when that would be yet, but that will be the time I will focus my energy in different directions. Right now it’s only focussed in one direction -- that is cricket,” Tendulkar said. Asked when was the last time he received some constructive criticism, the batting maestro said, “Criticism is hardly ever constructive. I try and stay away from newspapers when I am playing. You get to read so many things that are not constructive, but somehow the guy who is writing it all seems to think that it's constructive.” Tendulkar said his celebrity status has helped him wriggle out of situations that would be difficult to handle for a commoner. “There’s one time that I remember clearly...we were in Australia playing some exhibition games - it was around 1994. I was out with two other players and when we got back to the hotel, the rest of the team had already left for the airport. “They had packed my bags and gone and there were no mobiles or anything. We had no way of reaching them,” he recalled. “We were to fly from Sydney to Melbourne - we had no tickets, no passports, nothing. I got to the counter at the airport and explained the situation. “The guy at the counter recognised me and he gave us three boarding passes from Sydney to Melbourne...without passports, without tickets. I felt that I was truly special,” he said. Asked when was the last time he spent an entire day without watching any sport, the 35-year-old batsman replied, “On December 31 last year. I spent time with my family in Mussoorie about 7,000 feet above sea level looking at the snow-capped mountains. It was freezing and we went for a long walk. I was a fantastic feeling. That was the day when I didn’t watch sports at all.” On the one moment he felt proud of, Tendulkar said, “I was truly proud of our performance during the Chennai Test. We won against England on the last day.” Asked about the most recent prank he had played on a teammate, Tendulkar said, “I am always doing that...a while ago, we had gone to a restaurant and we actually fooled Yuvraj Singh. We put wasabi on a toast and told him it was a delicious spread that he must try. He almost ate it. We stopped him at the last minute. When was the last time he did something which he wished he hadn’t? “Probably the last innings I batted in Mohali. I felt that I shouldn’t have played that shot. I got out on it. (Smiles) That’s what I feel every time I get out,” he quipped. — PTI
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Sarwan, Chanderpaul frustrate England
St John’s, February 19 Sarwan was 73 not out and Chanderpaul unbeaten on 40 as the home team, chasing an unlikely victory target of 503, reached lunch on 196 for three at the Antigua Recreation Ground. Heavy rain caused a 75-minute delay to the start and when play got underway Chanderpaul and Sarwan survived some lively bowling from pacemen Steve Harmison and James Anderson. As the pitch settled down the pair grew in confidence, bringing up their 100 partnership in the last over before the break. Earlier, England went into the final day seven wickets away from a victory that would tie the five-game series at 1-1. England captain Andrew Strauss set West Indies a mammoth target of 503 to win after declaring at 221 for eight at the Antigua Recreation Ground yesterday and then picked up three wickets as the hosts reached 143-3 at the close. Although the pitch in the hastily rearranged match has endured well, West Indies do not have a good record of batting for survival in recent years and England will be bitterly disappointed if they cannot turn their dominance throughout this Test into victory. With huge responsibility on his shoulders, West Indies skipper Chris Gayle looked in good form as he moved to 35. But, as in the first innings, a loose stroke cost him dear and he was rapped on the pads attempted to sweep Graeme Swann’s off-spin. At 81 for two, any thought of a record run chase, that would have to surpass their own world record fourth innings total of 418 at this ground six years ago against Australia, had surely been discarded by West Indies who were now in a simple survival battle. Ryan Hinds’ disappointing return to the West Indies side continued as he opted to try and drive Stuart Broad in the first over for the England seamer and managed only to give Owais Shah for a simple catch. A half-century from Alastair Cook provided the backbone of England’s innings with Kevin Pietersen (32), utilising his controversial switch-hitting, and Paul Collingwood (34) chipping in with useful scores as the tourists stepped up the run-rate. Scoreboard England (first innings): 566-9 dec West Indies (first innings): 285 England (second innings) 221-8 dec West Indies (second innings): Gayle lbw b Swann 46 Smith lbw b Harmison 21 Sarwan not out 73 Hinds c Shah b Broad 6 Chanderpaul not out 40 Extras (b-4 lb-5, nb-1) 10 Total (three wickets, 64 overs) 196 Fall of wickets: 1-59 2-81 3-96 Bowling: Anderson 14-3-37-0, Broad 13-2-33-1, Swann 21-4-63-1, Harmison 11-1-28-1, Flintoff 3-1-12-0, Pietersen 2-0-14-0.
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Una, February 19 Set a victory target of 282, Himachal lost their first wicket early on when Shikhar Dhawan took a fine catch off the bowling of Sumit Narwal. However, Sangram and VS Malik took charge and scored at a rapid pace, hitting the Delhi bowlers to all corners of the ground. Malik hit as many as seven boundaries. He was dismissed by Pradeep Sangwan. Earlier, electing to bat, Delhi had a nightmarish start with Dhawan going back in the third over with just 10 runs on the board. —UNI In other mathces l
Haryana defeat Services by two wickets l
Punjab end losing streak defeating Jammu & Kashmir by six wickets Scoreboard Delhi: Chopra c Indulkar b Diwan 100 S Dhawan c Indulkar b Malik 7 Kohli c Sangram b Malik 23 Manhas c Dogra b Sarandeep 38 R Bhatia not out 77 Yogesh run out 9 Narwal not out 6 Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 14, nb 1) 21 Total (for 5 wickets, 50 overs) 281 FoWs: 1-10, 2-63, 3-144, 4-240, 5-267. Bowling: VS Malik 10-1-56-2, J Mehta 10-0-51-0, V Bhatia 10-0-42-0, Kuldeep Diwan 9-1-46-1, Sarandeep 7-0-43-1, Mukesh Sharma 4-0-37-0 Himachal Pradesh: Sangram c Yadav b Sangwan 57 Mukesh c Dhawan b Narwal 20 VS Malik c Nagar b Sangwan 31 P Dogra lbw b Manhas 44 Indulkar c Yadav b Sangwan 7 Mannu not out 70 R Dhawan c Yadav b Kanjania 1 Kuldeep st Yadav b Nagar 14 Sarandeep c Nagar b Awana 17 V Bhatia not out 5 Extras (b 5, lb 3, w 8) 16 Total (for 8 wickets, 49.2 overs) 282 FoWs: 1-25, 2-84, 3-123, 4-135, 5-193, 6-194, 7-225, 8-266. Bowling: Narwal 8-0-54-1, Parwinder Awana 7-0-55-1, Sangwan 10-0-51-3, R Bhatia 4-0-26-0, D Kanjania 10-1-37-1, Yogesh 6.2-0-31-1, Manhas 4-0-20-1. |
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Pak-born spinner may soon play for SA
Johannesburg, February 19 He will represent the South African Board President's XI against the tourists in Potchefstroom from Friday. “He will give us an option we've never really had. He's a high-quality leg spinner. I’m excited about having him with us. If you look at our team, probably the one component that has been missing all the way through has been this kind of bowler. He's gone through all the processes, he's been playing domestically here for about three years, he married a South African girl, and he's about to become a naturalised South African. He's going to be an invaluable contributor,” says Arthur. Tahir was on the verge of Test selection in 2005 when he represented Pakistan A, but had to reject Pakistan selection for four years before South Africa could get their hands on him. — ANI
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AIBA signs shareholders deal with IMG
New Delhi, February 19 In a three-day Executive Committee meeting in Milan that concluded yesterday, AIBA President Ching Kuo Wu signed the agreement with IMG, whose senior vice-President Julian Brand was present at the meet. “The business plan was agreed upon between AIBA and IMG which basically translates into a green signal for the event and now the things like the format, the schedule and the international franchisees would be finalised by the member countries. These things are expected to be sorted out by the World Championship in Milan in August-September," AIBA's PR and Communications Director Richard Baker told PTI from Milan. Each franchisee will have 10 boxers, three of whom foreigners, for the tournament that will be contested on home and away basis on weekends. The boxers can look forward to a financial windfall from event as besides getting a yet-to-be-disclosed prize money for each bout won, they will also have the cushion of a fixed package from their respective franchises. “We are delighted to partner with AIBA in the World Series of Boxing and we look forward to working closely with AIBA and the National Federations to further develop this exciting new boxing competition," Julian Brand said in a statement issued by AIBA. — PTI
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Sunny stays ahead on mishap-hit day
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 19 On Day II, Sunny Sidhu in a Maruti Gypsy from Amritsar was leading the Xtreme Category. Today, the rally went past Pokhran, the site of India’s nuclear tests. On Thursday, the rally traversed some 370 km; of this, 138 km constituted the competitive section. Rallyists are expected to reach Jaisalmer late at night. As expected, first timers are having a great difficulty surviving in the toughest Indian rally. Women contestants turned out to the doughty ones as all participants are well set to get into the third day of the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm.
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JCT to play Chirag, Churchill Bros
Chandigarh, February 19 The first match against Chirag will be of immense importance for JCT as the two teams are languishing close to the drop zone. JCT with 17 points from 15 games are placed 9th while Chirag are placed right below them with 16 points from the same number of matches played. Three points here can lift the JCT outfit upto seventh position, depending on other results. Churchill are still vying for top honours and are placed third with 27 points from 15 games. After a disappointing run on-the-road this season, Sukhwinder Singh’s men will have to ensure that they make the most of all their home matches. The club has been hit by mid-season injuries to key players like Baljit Sahni and Balwant Singh, but now with the duo back in their ranks, no excuse would go down well with the loyal followers. Both matches will begin at 2.30 pm local time. |
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He doesn’t receive letters written in blood any more, but Sachin Tendulkar says that he does not feel comfortable when a fan touches his feet and tells him he is God.
Having waited for four years to be eligible to play for South Africa, Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir is likely to make his debut for the national side soon.
New Delhi, February 19
