Mumbai, November 10
Temperamental paceman S Sreesanth, whose on-field antics have often landed him in trouble, was today surprisingly included in India's 15-member squad for the first two cricket Tests against Sri Lanka starting November 16 in Ahmedabad.

Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan expectedly returned to the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury, which had kept him out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the ensuing Champions Trophy in September. The team to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni also includes Tamil Nadu players opener Murali Vijay and middle-order paceman S Badrinath, while pacers Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel were ignored.

Nehra did reasonably well in the ongoing one-day series against Australia, failed to find a place in the squad announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection panel here. The selection of Sreesanth raised eyebrows as the Kerala pacer has not really done anything significant in the domestic circuit since recovering from a back injury.

The selection seems all the more baffling given the fact that the bowler, who has a history of disciplinary indiscretions, was only last month given a final warning by the BCCI to mend his ways.

The 26-year-old Sreesanth will return to the Test fold after more than a year having played his last Test in April 2008 against South Africa in Kanpur. India last played a Test match in April this year against New Zealand and the players to miss out from that squad are pacer Laxmipathy Balaji, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and Dhawal Kulkarni.

Batsmen Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Praveen Kumar, who are playing in the ongoing series against Australia, were not considered for selection for the three-match Test series.

As expected, the veteran batting duo of Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman retained their places. Barring Sreesanth's comeback, there were no major surprises in the squad, which has eight specialist batsmen, three pacers, three spinners and one wicketkeeper in Dhoni.

Zaheer’s return will bolster the pace department which also has an off-colour Ishant Sharma, who has been retained despite his indifferent performance in last few months.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will lead the spin attack with leg-spinner Amit Mishra and young left-armer Pragyan Ojha supporting him. While Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir will open the innings, Murali Vijay has been picked as reserve.

After the Test series, the Sri Lankans will play two Twenty20 matches and five one-dayers.

Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Pragyan Ojha, S Sreesanth and S Badrinath.
— PTI 

Worried with the workload of frontline pacer Mitchell Johnson and in-form all-rounder Shane Watson, Cricket Australia today asked the duo to return home immediately to have adequate rest before a busy summer ahead. National Selection Panel chief Andrew Hilditch said he and his colleagues consulted medical and coaching staff and "the NSP has decided Mitchell and Shane will depart India as soon as possible." "Mitchell and Shane will return home to Australia to commence preparation for the 3 mobile Test series beginning in Brisbane on 26 November and the programme that follows," Hilditch said in a statement. — PTI 

Mohali, November 10
M P Arjun was bang on target with his six-wicket haul to skittle out Punjab on a seamy PCA track for a modest total of 221 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Super League “A” encounter here today.

Arjun bowled with aggression and control in overcast conditions to deal decisive blows and managed to see the back of Punjab’s top five batsmen.

 After a decent start of 40 for no loss in the first session, Punjab were at one stage reeling at 48 for 3. Thanks to the lack of application by the middle order, the hosts did not really recover and kept on loosing wickets at regular intervals.

Ravi Inder Singh top scored with a well accumulated 63 and tried to hold one end. But once he left with the team’s score at 114 for 5, even a total of 200 looked a distant reality.

At the tea interval, Punjab were placed at 152 for 5 with skipper Kakkar (30) on the crease. He and debutant Vishwas Bhalla (24) looked to build up a partnership and batted patiently for their runs. But after doing all the hard work, Kakkar edged one from Ashwin and the wicket keeper obliged with a swift display of glove-work. At that stage Punjab were 174 for 7.

Alferd Absolom removed any chance of late charge by the tailenders with his fiery spell late in the innings. Though Gony and Harmeet tried to add some respectability to Punjab’s score with a flurry of boundaries, it all ended with Gony’s timber being castled by an inswinger.

The visitors were struck an early blow and ended the day after being reduced to 12 for one, as Harmeet sent back opener Abhinav for nine.

Scoreboard

Punjab (1st innings), Sohal b Arjun 7, R Inder Singh c Rayudu b Arjun 63, U Kaul c Laxman b Arjun 6, T Kohli lbw b Arjun 0, Dharmani lbw b Arjun 23, Kakkar c Abhinav b Yadav 30, Bhalla lbw b Arjun 24, Sharma b Absolem 16, Gony b Absolem 20, Harmeet not out 10, Ablish lbw b Absolem 0, 

Extras :(b 1, lb 4, w 3, nb 14) 22, Total (all out; 76.5 overs) 221, Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-47, 3-47, 4-106, 5-113, 6-168, 7-174, 8-196, 9-221, 

Bowling: Absolem 19.5-2-56-3, Khader 17-3-50-0, Arjun 19-3-47-6, Yadav 18-1-59-1, Quadri 3-0-4-0; Hyderabad (1st innings) Suman not out 2, Abhinav lbw b Harmeet 9, Absolem not out 1, Extras 0, 

Total: (1 wicket; 4 overs) 12, Fall of wickets: 1-9, Bowling: Harmeet 2-1-2-1, Ablish 1-0-9-0, Gony 1-0-1-0.

Bathinda, November 10
Hungarian Imre Juga, chief coach of the Indian weightlifting squad, has resigned, plunging the controversy-ridden Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) deep into trouble.

For some inexplicable reason, the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) top brass have not made Juga’s resignation public. Juga sent in his papers on October 31 to the executive director (Teams wing), SAI, New Delhi.

Juga was roped in on May 27 this year by SAI on the recommendation of the IWF at a salary of $5000 per month. The IWF had expected to use his experience to cleanse the sport from the malaise of doping and indiscipline. His contract was to run till the Commonwealth Games.

A a SAI official remarked, “The Hungarian coach had been given a $5000 per month contract by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) apart from accommodation and other perks, his tenure running through the Commonwealth Games. The IWF has been under the scanner in recent months, with the newly formed National Anti Doping Authority already looking to trap weightlifters suspected to be avoiding dope tests.

“India has had to suffer the ignominy of being twice banned from international competitions (in 2004 and 2006) due to rampant doping by its competitors, including in the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games.”

However, with Juga’s resignation, all efforts to clean the dope-infested sport have again been consigned to the back burner.”

In his resignation letter, Juga has not touched upon the issue of doping although he has listed a litany of other reasons for sending in his papers. He has said he and some members of the IWF were not on the same wave length. He has also questioned the selection process of the IWF and with it the preparations of the lifters for the CWG was also put under the scanner by Juga, who came to India with more than 40 years of experience in international weightlifting.

Jalandhar, November 10
A star-studded Indian Indian Oil, Mumbai, entered the semifinals of the 26th Indian Oil Servo Surjit Hockey tournament defeating RCF, Kapurthala, 2-1 at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

Indian Oil dominated the proceedings right from the word go and put in a fine display of attacking hockey. Indian Oil opened their account in the 12th minute when Deedar Singh sounded the board by converting a penalty corner 1-0. Four minutes later Arjun Antil posted a field goal to make it 2-0.

The Mumbai outfit earned penalty corners in the 6th, 11 and 30th minute but failed to capitalise on the opportunity. At half time Indian Oil lead the game by 2-0.

The second half saw Indian Oil holding most of the posession in the midfield, but they missed the finishing touch in the final third. RCF scored a consolation goal to cut down on the lead, when Gurpreet Singh posted a field goal to make it 1-2.

In another match of the day Punjab & Sind Bank, Delhi, edged out Indian Air Force, Delhi, 6-3. At half time PSB were leading by 3-1.

Patiala, November 10
Man Singh and Arti Rao dominated on the first day of the 53rd National Shooting Championship Competition (NSCC) in Shotgun Events, which got underway at the NMBGC Shooting Ranges at Patiala here today. In the Skeet Shooting men’s category, Man Singh finished as maximum scorer with 72 points at the end of third round. A.D.Peoples and Hoshang Noria stood at second and third place with 71 and 70 points, respectively, at the end of third round.

Similarly, at the end of third round in the skeet shooting women category, Arti Rao was on top with 64 point, whereas Saniya Sheikh and Rashmee Rathore stood at second and third place with 60 and 48 points, respectively. The round four and five of the men’s competition will be held tomorrow, followed by the women and men’s final.

Notably, under the aegis of the National Rifle Association of India, the New Moti Bagh Gun Club Patiala is hosting the 53rd NSCC. More than 100 shooters in various categories are taking part in the tournament. Apart from some of the country’s top shooters, the participants include industrialist and Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Lad and Raninder Singh.

Other prominent participants include Ronjon Sodhi (World Champion), Col Rajyavardhan Rathore (Olympic Silver Medalist), Manvjit Sandhu (World Champion), Mansher Singh (four time Olympian), Man Singh, Capt PPS Guron, Darius Chenai, Mairaj Khan, AD Peoples, Sangram Dhaiya, Shagun Chowdhary, Shreyasi Singh and Arti Singh Rao.