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SL Tour of India 3rd Test: 9.30 am
Ranji Trophy |
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Sports ministry sets cat among pigeons
World School Athletics C’ship
Reena gets a ‘lift’ to glory
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SL Tour of India 3rd Test: 9.30 am
A 2-0 victory margin in the series would take India to the top of the ICC Test rankings table, two points above current number one South Africa. Dhoni’s men appear to carry too big an arsenal, especially in batting, for the comfort of the visiting team which needs to buckle up and leave behind the morale-shattering innings defeat in Kanpur. Dhoni has been lucky with the toss in the first two Tests, though his team faced down the barrel at 32 for four on the first morning of the series at Ahmedabad before being rescued by the tenacity of Dravid and the grit of Yuvraj. Focussed on winning series, not rankings: MSD
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said his team was not giving much thought to the prospect of becoming world's number one Test side as it would only add to the pressure when they take on Sri Lanka in the third and final match starting here tomorrow. Leading 1-0 in the series, Dhoni said thinking about the rankings would not let the side focus on the task at hand. “Winning the series is important but at the end of the day, if we do that, it will reflect in the ratings. We are not thinking about the ratings because we don’t really want to play under pressure,” Dhoni said on the eve of the third and final Test at the Brabourne Stadium here. Lanka hoping to exploit Gambhir's absence
Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara today said his team would look to exploit Gautam Gambhir’s absence from the Indian batting line-up in the third and final match to notch up their maiden Test win in the country. “We hope to exploit Gambhir’s absence. He is the batsman in form, he has scored a lot of runs this year, two hundreds against us in two Test matches. The absence of a quality player leaves a gap,” Sangakkara said in the pre-match press conference. Sreesanth hurts finger
In-form Indian pacer S Sreesanth today hurt his finger in the nets but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni assured the injury was not serious and the speedster would play the third and final cricket Test against Sri Lanka starting here tomorrow. Sreesanth hurt the little finger of his right hand while practising at the nets but Dhoni played down any injury scare ahead of the match. — PTI |
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Ranji Trophy
Mohali, December 1 Himachal could only manage 197 in their first essay but had somewhat clawed their way back into the game at the call of stumps with Punjab precariously placed at 37 for 2 when bad light stopped play with 13 overs left for the day. Gony emerged as the the wrecker-in-chief and claimed his first five-wicket haul of the season taking his tally to an impressive 25. Gony once again bowled his heart out and generated enough pace on the helpful Mohali strip to trouble the visitors. He only conceded 34 runs in his 17 overs. Punjab skipper Dharmani won an important toss today and expectedly asked Himachal to bat first in the overcast conditions. Love Ablish drew first blood in the third over of the day by cleaning up Thakkar with team’s score reading 8 for 1. He took two more quick wickets and the visitors were at one stage tottering at 33 for the loss of three wickets. Gony came as first change and in his fifth over of the first spell enforced a thick edge off Mukesh Sharma with Kaul making no mistake in the second slip. The visitors were 88 for the loss of 6 wickets at lunch and a score of even 125 looked a distant probability. For the visitors, Indulkar (60) stood tall among the ruins and managed to hold one end tight and took his team to a respectable total of 164 before his patience ran out and he pushed hard an out-swinger from Gony and perished. He was caught by Bhalla in the covers. Kuldeep Diwan played a timely knock of 56 not out that saw Himachal almost reaching the 200-run mark. Punjab started on a shaky note in the third session and lost Bhalla early. Kaul and last match’s century maker Kohli were at the crease when the day ended. Brief Score: Himachal (Ist Innings) 197 (Indulkar 60, Gony 5 for 47); Punjab (Ist Innings) 37 for 2 (Kaul 15 not out, Malik 1 for 7) J&k manage 171 Madhya Pradesh firmly settled themselves in the driving seat after first skittling out Jammu and Kashmir for paltry 171 and then ending the day at 117 for the loss of two wickets. Brief Score: J and K (Ist Innings) 171(Hardeep 41, Sudhindra 5 for 39) Madhya Pradesh (Ist Innings) 117 for 2 ( Saxena 70).
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Sports ministry sets cat among pigeons
Bathinda, December 1 The Sports Ministry’s directive has sent officials of almost all NSFs scurrying for cover as a majority of them feel that discontinuation of grants at this stage will hamper their preparations for the Commonwealth Games. The Sports Ministry doles out grants to NSF for holding state and national championships in various age categories. However, last year some NSFs did not submit their ‘grant utilisation certificates’ forcing the Sports Ministry to call for audited accounts. The presidents and secretaries of NSF are planning to take up the matter with IOA president Suresh Kalmadi. A Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) official remarked, “The sports ministry has taken up the issue at the most inopportune of times. Just when we are holding training camps in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, the ministry has tightened the noose around us. If the grants are stopped, from where will the money come for these camps?” A sports ministry official claimed, “Most of the NSFs’ are studies in lethargy. We had to wake them out of their slumber. Moreover, we should know where our money is going. The Commonwealth Games are just 10 months away and it is just that we have tightened the screws to ensure that the erring NSF’s treat this directive as a wake up call.” The Ministry, in a related development, has also asked these Federations to furnish details of technical officials they have on their panels. This apparently has been done to ensure that non-technical officials do not hold crucial positions in federations. Details about the selection procedures adopted by the NSF’s too have been sought by the ministry. Federations have also been asked to provide the Ministry with details of experience the selectors have in their respective NSFs. The NSFs have also been asked to launch their respective websites by December 31 and post all the relevant financial records there.
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World School Athletics C’ship
The boys team comprises of four boys from Delhi and one each from Chandigarh and Haryana. The girls team comprises of two athletes from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The squad is as following: Boys: Avinash (Chandigarh), Mandeep (Haryana), Ankit, Manish, Sikander and Jeetinder (Delhi). Girls: Aarti, Sangeeta (Uttar Pradesh), Sonmati (Tamil Nadu) and Jubi (Kerala).
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Reena gets a ‘lift’ to glory
Patiala , December 1 Dr Rajkumar said, “This was a proud moment for the university. I am glad that our students have not only started competing at the international level but have won various medals as well. Reena is a very bright player and I wish her many more wins in life. I am sure she is going to make it bigger than this soon. I would also like to congratulate her family for her achievement.” On the other hand, Reena was very excited about her win. She said it was like a dream come true. “Though I had been working hard for many years but this win has actually given a big boost to my career. I am thankful to my coach and Dr Rajkumar for providing me the best training. I promise them that I would continue to perform well and fulfill all their expectations.”
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Mumbai, December 1
Asks NSF’s to submit audited accounts of last 3 yrs
Mumbai, December 1
Chandigarh, December 1
