New Delhi, November 3
A not-so-happy situation created by the Services cricket team opting out of their Ranji Trophy match at Srinagar was finally solved late in the evening when the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) apologised for its act and agreed to play its match in the valley.

The SSCB termed its act as “An administrative slip-up in despatching its team”. The SSCB, that is presently headed by the Vice Chief of Naval staff, today apologised to the Board of Cricket Control of India and sought fresh dates to play the match, officials said. Originally the four-day match was slated to commence today.

Earlier this morning, the BCCI disqualified the services team from participating in the 2009-10 edition of the Ranji Trophy, in accordance with the rules of the BCCI pertaining to domestic tournaments, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.

The apology of the SSCB and the realisation of having caused a major international embarrassment came after the Ministry of Defence sought out the facts. Worried officials in the Ministry and also the PMO, sought to control damage caused by the team. While on the one hand, the PM and Sonia Gandhi had visited the state, the act of the services team opting out of the match did not gel with the over all scenario in J&K where conditions are said to be improving.

Sources said it was being looked into as to who in the official hierarchy asked the Services cricket team not to play its scheduled match in the valley. The questions being raised were if there was any security concern or was there a specific tip-off of some incident being planned against the team?

The services cricket team is open to players from the Army, Navy and Air force. It has been a main line participant in the Ranji Trophy and in the past boasted of a few Test-players also. In the past some matches involving J&K cricket team had been hosted in Jammu while the home ground of the Services in near Palam Airport in Delhi.

Earlier this morning former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, slammed the services team for refusing to play its Ranji trophy match in Srinagar.

Ajaccio (France), November 3
World Champion Viswanathan Anand tamed former World Champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia in successive two encounters to win the rapid four-game chess series 3.5-0.5 here. The Indian, who was leading the series 1.5-0.5 after winning the first game and drawing the second with the Russian at Bastia, beat Karpov in both the remaining games to ensure a spectacular victory.

It was a Queen's gambit declined by Karpov in the first game and Anand got an opening advantage after Karpov did not place his queen properly. Karpov's position became passive and he was saddled with the task of just defending with little counterplay to the end of the match that lasted 30 moves.

“His Queen on 'c5' was in trouble as I had ways to threaten it. After (gaining the advantage) white is better and pressing, he slowly ran out of time trying to defend," Anand said after the first game. In the last game Anand was in no mood to relent either. Playing the black of a Nimzo Indian defense, Anand faced the Capablanca variation and gained early lead in development.

As the game progressed, Karpov missed the thread of the position completely amid complexities and had to pay heavy dividends as Anand's forces simply cruised into his territory. Karpov resigned after 32 moves. "I tried to play aggressively as black was ahead in development. It is just too complicated to give an exact opinion," Anand said after his series victory. Anand will now move to Moscow to take part in the Tal Memorial chess tournament, commencing from November 5, which is arguably the toughest event of the year. — PTI

New Delhi, November 3
Injury woes continue to hound the Australian cricket team in the ongoing ODI series against India with pacer Peter Siddle becoming the latest to head back home due to a side strain he picked up during the fourth one-dayer in Mohali.

"Cricket Australia today confirmed Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle will return from Australia's Tour of India after experiencing some left side stiffness during last night's victory over India in the fourth ODI at Mohali," CA said in a statement. Siddle bowled just five overs during Australia's 24-run victory last night and physiotherapist Kevin Sims said though the injury was not very serious, he did not want to take a chance with the pacer's fitness.

"Peter's injury does not appear to be a serious problem but it is unlikely he will be able to safely bowl within the next week which would therefore not allow him to have any further participation in the tour.

"With this in mind we have made the decision that Peter will return to Australia where he will reviewed by Cricket Australia medical staff to ensure he is available for selection at the beginning of the Australian summer," Sims said. CA's National Selection Panel is currently discussing the possibility of a replacement player joining the squad and an announcement would be made later. Every passing match has multiplied Australia's injury problems in the ongoing series. The world champions landed here a depleted side, missing vice-captain Michael Clarke. — PTI

Chandigarh, Novemer 3
The day belonged to Ravi Inder Singh. The diminutive opening batsman stood firm among the ruins facing a formidable Mumbai bowling attack. He completed a chanceless hundred to rescue Punjab in their opening match against champions Mumbai in the first Ranji Trophy Super League - Group A match at the Sector 16 cricket stadium here today. Ravi Inder slammed 104 as the hosts finished at 242 for nine at close of play.

The Patiala batsman virtually waged a lone battle. Though wickets kept on falling at regular intervals at the other end, Ravi Inder went about his job facing the rival seam attack comprising the likes of Zaheer Khan, on a comeback after the injury, which has kept him out of the Indian squad for the current ODI series against Australia, former India seamer Ajit Agarkar, Dhawal Kulkarni and offie Ramesh Powar.

Ravi Inder and Uday Kaul steadied the innings somewhat after the early fall of opener Sunny Sohal, who was sent back by Zaheer. When the hosts were inching towards safety with 88 on board, Agarkar struck, sending Kaul back, having him caught behind. Kaul scored 28.

Losing more wickets in a jiffy, from a comfortable position of 80 for one, the hosts slipped to 133 for 5 as Zaheer and Agarkar proved handful. Gaurav Gambhir along with resolute Ravi Inder tried to stem the rot but in vain as as Kulkarni dismissed Gambhir when the batsman was playing on 21.

Ravi Inder, on the other end, looked assured, and went about the job without fuss. He went on to complete his century, but perished soon thereafter, hoisting Agarkar needlessly towards the square leg cordon to be caught by Abhishek Nayar. During his 104-run knock, Ravi Inder faced 251 balls and struck 17 fours and a six.

Manpreet Gony played some bold strokes towards the end, denying any further success to Mumbai. Gony remained unbeaten on 30, while Love Ablish, back into the squad after his stint with the ICL, was yet to open scoring.

Seeking a comeback into the Indian squad, Zaheer bowled with a nice rhythm and claimed three scalps, while Agarkar, bowling with a lot of guile without stretching himself much, emerged the most successful bowler, finishing with a four-wicket haul.

“To score of century against such a formidable attack comprising Zaheer, Agarkar, Kulkarni and Powar speaks a lot about the talent of the batsman. It goes on to prove that Ravi Inder is ready to play top-notch cricket,” Punjab coach Bhupinder Singh Sr said.

About the score the hosts ended up at close, the former India seamer said that a total of 260-270 with six or seven wickets down would have been better.

Scoreboard
Punjab: (1st innings)
Sohal c Samant b Zaheer 2
RI Singh c Nayar b Agarkar 104
U Kaul c Samant b Agarkar 28
T Kohli c Khanvilkar b Zaheer 14
Dharmani c Samant b Zaheer 9
Kakkar lbw b Agarkar 2
Gaurav Gambhir c Kukreja b Kulkarni 21
Sharma lbw b Kulkarni 11
Gony not out 30
Harmeet lbw b Agarkar 0
Ablish not out 0
Extras (b 1, lb 4, w 3, nb 13) 21
Total (9 wickets; 86 overs) 242
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-80, 3-111, 4-120, 5-133, 6-178, 7-200, 8-233, 9-237.
Bowling: Zaheer 16-3-45-3, Agarkar 22-10-41-4, Nayar 10-3-30-0, Kulkarni 21-5-68-2, Powar 17-3-53-0.

Chandigarh, November 3
“Don’t read too much into reputations. Our beating Canada is a big positive step. They might not be the best, but in terms of ranking they are above us. So the 6-0 scoreline has to be considered as progress made and also as a big step ahead in terms of achieving larger goals next year,” says India’s star hockey player Rajpal Singh after he returned to the city from India’ Canada tour.

“It is a lot like India, with so many NRIs and PIOs. We were really comfortable and the victory made it even sweeter. Canada were the first team to qualify for the World Cup, and we look at this as confirmation of our efforts that we beat them at home by such a big margin,” he added.

Looking ahead Rajpal said, “The big tournament is the Champions Challenge. Our camp starts in Pune from tomorrow, and then on November 22 we head to Spain for a week’s training. Our aim has to be nothing but Gold. We cannot be thinking about anything else. The top team goes through for the Champions Trophy and we want to be that team.”

He further added that the team was gelling well and all players were looking forward to training at the camp in Pune. “It has been a good six-eight month period for us. We have felt the progress in our game and it is coming out in terms of results as well. But this is just the beginning and we have to keep up the hard work.”