New Delhi, June 7
Krishnamachari Srikkanth did not say it in so many words but the selection committee chairman today gave ample hints that lack of fitness cost Yuvraj Singh his place in the Indian team for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

"This is the best possible side...I'm not going to speak about any individual player," Srikkanth told reporters, preempting questions on Yuvraj's exclusion.

Fitness has been a problem with Yuvraj, who seemed to have gained weight of late and was seen fielding in the deep and not in his customary point position. Srikkanth said fitness was one of the main criteria while picking the Indian squad and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was happy with the selection.

"A lot of stress was given on the fitness of a player. Fitness and fielding are very important. We have gone through the record of last one year and did a detailed analysis. It was a lovely discussion with the captain. This is the best possible squad and I think the captain is also convinced," Srikkanth said.

"In recent past, we lost some matches or struggled in some matches because of poor fielding. So the selectors put lot of stress on fielding," he explained.

Consistency was another factor in the selection process, he said.

"We also put stress on consistent performance. Lot of players have done consistently well and apart from the seniors, we blooded some youngsters as well so that they know what international cricket is all about," he said.

Talking about India's tri-series debacle in Zimbabwe where the second-string squad under Suresh Raina lost twice to the hosts, Srikknath refused to call it a setback. "I think it was all for the good in the sense that it allowed us to test the youngsters. How else do you test the youngsters? People say our selection backfired but how? "We wanted to know how good some of the youngsters are and know who are good enough to play in the next level and who all need some more time," Srikkanth said.

"Some people have this habit of blaming the selectors when things go wrong but ultimately it's the players who go out and play," said the chief selector. — PTI

Rustenburg, June 7
England midfielder Frank Lampard has warned his team-mates that discipline on the field will be a key factor for any World Cup success. The 31-year-old newly-installed vice-captain also rejected suggestions that striker Wayne Rooney might be easily provoked into hot-headed retaliation when England play the United States in their opening group C fixture on Saturday (June 12).

Mahilpur, June 7
With three days still to go for the World Cup Football tournament to start in South Africa, residents of this village, acknowledged as cradle of Indian football in general, and Punjab in particular, are already enjoying a rich feast of the sport and that too under floodlights. Though Mahilpur boasts of 30 of its players representing top teams in the national football league, it has many more promising players waiting in the wings who are leaving no opportunities to get “recruiters of top clubs” known of their talent.

And most of these future national stars are here participating in the country’s first ever-rural floodlights seven-a-side football tournament that has entered third year. Last night, it was young Ravneet Singh Bittu, Member of Parliament, Anandpur Sahib, who formally inaugurated the week-long tournament that features a record 16 teams this time against eight in the first edition and 12 in the second. The winners carry home a cash prize of Rs 21,000 while the second best team gets Rs 17,000.

One of the new entrants, Barrian Kalan, organised floodlights in the village playground for more than a week in its pre-tournament practice. The team on being accepted as a participant was bubbling with enthusiasm. Paddi, the defending champions, and Bhagtupura, that overcame a stiff opening round game against Jitowal via tiebreaker, also face a tough challenge from the hosts, the Mahilpur Club.

Gurkamal Bains, himself a top football player, and the brain behind the concept of seven-a-side tournament on a smaller ground with floodlights provided through use of two powerful 45-kilowatt generators, says that response has been fascinating. People wait for the tournament. By the time, it is 8 p.m.; almost everyone heads for the Government Senior Secondary School, the venue of the tournament.

Impressed by the turnout, Ravneet Singh Bittu not only announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh from his MPLAD funds but also promised the audience that next year he would bring in the union Sports Minister Manohar Singh Gill to witness this unique initiative of Gurkanwal Bains and his team. On a suggestion from Ravneet Singh Bittu, the organisers decided to go for two plasma screens for “replays” of some close goalmouth finishes. Interestingly, the organisers do not accept a team that does not have proper uniform, colours and formation.

“We do not compromise on discipline. Only experienced and established umpires and linesman are deputed to oversee the conduct of the game. Since the size of the playfield is reduced, the game is much faster necessitating two smaller halves of 30 minutes each in every match against the scheduled two halves of 45 minutes each,” adds Gurkamal Bains.

BRIEFLY

Zimbabwe beat Lanka
HARARE: Continuing their giant-killing spree, hosts Zimbabwe rode on Brendan Taylor's second ODI ton to pull off a spectacular eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in an inconsequential match of the cricket tri-series on Thursday. With both the teams having already made it to the summit clash, today's match was of merely academic interest but Zimbabwe proved that their back-to-back wins against India was no fluke as they upstaged Sri Lanka in the dress-rehearsal for Wednesday's final. — PTI

Somdev reaches career best 104th
New Delhi: Somdev Devvarman, who became the first Indian to qualify for the French Open main draw in 13 years, rose to a career-best 104th in the ATP rankings issued on Monday. Somdev jumped four places after qualifying for the main draw of the men's singles event at Roland Garros. Yuki Bhambri, though, lost a place to be 398th. There was no change in the doubles rankings of Leander Paes (6) and Mahesh Bhupathi (7) but Rohan Bopanna (50) returned to top-50 with a jump of four places. — PTI

Fans in firing line of Woods
Dublin: When Tiger Woods struggled on Sunday, his fans felt his pain - three of them literally. Woods hit three spectators en route his closing 72 at the Memorial, his fourth tournament of the year and his last tuneup before the US Open at Pebble Beach later this month. "I kept hitting everybody out there today," said Woods, who has a habit of giving an autographed golf glove to any spectator he hits. "Thank God I get them for free." Woods pulled his drive at the first and hit Jeramy May in the neck. — AFP

Former cricketer Kamath dead
Mumbai: Former Mumbai Ranji Trophy cricketer P K (Joe) Kamath, who was instrumental in shaping former captain Ajit Wadekar's career, has passed away. A bachelor, Kamath, a right handed batsman who played in 18 first class games in the 1950s and scored 816 runs with two centuries and later became a renowned coach, breathed his last here on Friday after prolonged illness. He was 81. — PTI

Webber to stay with Red Bull
LONDON: Formula One championship leader Mark Webber will stay with Red Bull next year, the team said on Monday. The Australian's contract had been due to expire at the end of this season. With Germany's Sebastian Vettel already confirmed for 2011, Red Bull will continue with an unchanged line-up. — Reuters